Benitez stood on the sidelines, now slightly calmer, as the game seemed to return to normal.
The first thirty minutes of the first half had Benitez frantic because his team was too passive—this passivity wasn't just in terms of the game's flow, but Luton's tactics were making things very difficult for Liverpool.
This also cost Liverpool two goals, a heavy price indeed, and the Liverpool players' expressions turned grave; their earlier ease was gone.
Benitez was observing his opponents.
The Spaniard thought he had given this team enough respect before the game, but he didn't expect Gao Bo's team to still give Benitez 'surprises'—two big surprises.
So now Benitez had to re-evaluate his opponents.
Now Luton was focused entirely on defense—they had two goals in hand, so Benitez could understand their approach.
But the problem now was that Liverpool's attack was running into difficulties.
Liverpool was originally very good at expansive, long-passing attacks, with two wingers stretching the field and then using accurate long passes to shift the opponent's defense, after which Torres would receive the ball on the weak side to create threats.
Of course, Gerrard's forward surges from central midfield were also a major pillar of Liverpool's attack.
But now both legs of Liverpool's attack seemed to have been cut off.
Xabi Alonso was marked closely by Drinkwater, preventing him from making long passes, and even more surprisingly for Benitez, Kanté was actually able to perfectly contain Gerrard!
Wasn't this kid only seventeen years old?!
Benitez watched Kanté, who was once again sticking to Gerrard, forcing him to pass the ball back.
In addition to Luton's targeted deployment against Liverpool's key players, Luton's overall formation was what Benitez particularly admired.
Luton maintained an absolute numerical advantage on the side with the ball, and every Liverpool player in possession seemed to face at least two or three defenders!
This made Liverpool's penetrating attacks difficult. Moreover, the discipline and speed of Luton's formation shifts were admirable! Their dense formation moved from left to right, almost completing the shift in a matter of seconds.
The coordination was very high! This was no ordinary iron barrel formation, but a shield—a shield that could move flexibly from side to side.
Benitez glanced at Gao Bo not far away.
To come up with such a set of tactics showed that this Chinese man's understanding of football tactics had reached a certain level!
Master Benitez was very obsessed with studying tactics, but now was not the time to study the opponent's tactics.
Facing such an opponent, how could he break through their defense?
Forcing their way through the middle wouldn't have a high success rate, and Benitez also saw the threat of Luton's counterattacks. Adam White's speed was simply too fast, forcing Benitez to be cautious.
After a dead ball situation, Benitez called Kuyt over. He whispered a few words in Kuyt's ear, and Kuyt nodded repeatedly before returning to the field.
Gao Bo also saw the scene of Benitez calling Kuyt over to give instructions.
He immediately became nervous. What were they going to do now?
Gao Bo had to take Master Benitez's on-the-spot tactical adjustments seriously, no matter what, but he couldn't hear what Benitez was saying.
....
At this moment, the camera focused on Torres, Liverpool's number one striker.
Torres looked a bit depressed. He hadn't been able to get any chances in this game. The Spanish Golden Boy was stuck in Luton's dense crowd and didn't even have many opportunities to touch the ball.
So far,
Liverpool hadn't created any particularly threatening chances against Luton's defense, which also led to Torres not being able to put on a good performance.
As one of the most sought-after strikers in football today, Torres had almost disappeared in the first half.
Gao Bo didn't have anyone specifically marking Torres, but the defense against Xabi Alonso and Gerrard was essentially to cut off the connection between these two midfielders and Torres.
After losing the support of the midfield, it was also very difficult for Torres to have a good performance.
And the few times Torres received the ball were all outside the penalty area, but when Torres got out of the penalty area, Luton's defenders were not polite to him.
"Absolutely can't let Torres have the chance to get the ball in the penalty area! If he goes outside the penalty area to receive the ball! The best way is to stick to him and not let him turn around! Make him uncomfortable!! If he has any chance to turn around and shoot, knock him to the ground!!"
Although Torres didn't have a specific person to take care of him, the defense against him was actually the top priority of Luton in this game!
Therefore, in the pre-match deployment, the defense against Torres took up a large amount of space.
And just at this moment, Torres suddenly pulled to the other side....
Gao Bo saw this scene on the sidelines. He was just about to shout for someone to pay attention to Torres when Kuyt suddenly passed the ball after receiving it on the right.
The football flew high, over the penalty area....
On the other side, Luton didn't have many defenders. Torres chested the ball down!
Without Gao Bo's reminder, Luton's formation quickly moved over.
Kevin Keane and right-back Mitchell-Piran rushed up at the same time!
"Torres gets the ball in the penalty area! He's facing Luton's goal head-on!!" Wrightkinson stood up. "If I remember correctly, this is the first time Torres has gotten the ball in the penalty area facing Luton's goal head-on!!"
Liverpool fans in the stands also began to look forward to it.
Torres stopped the ball and then broke forward directly!
He first made a feint to break inside, then quickly cut the ball, past Mitchell-Piran, completing the breakthrough from the baseline direction!!
This made Luton's penalty area a little flustered.
George Park filled in to defend Torres, while the other players nervously looked for someone to defend.
Several Liverpool players rushed into the penalty area!
Liverpool had created such an opportunity for the first time in this game!
However, Torres, who broke into the small penalty area, didn't think about passing the ball anymore. As a super striker, although the angle of attack was very small, Torres still chose to shoot from a small angle!!
"Torres shoots!!!!!"
Wrightkinson shouted from the commentary box.
When Torres received Kuyt's pass, Gao Bo was already watching the penalty area very nervously.
And after Torres completed the shot, Gao Bo covered his face with his hands.
Even if he gave Claude a card that increased his save success rate by 15%, he wouldn't be able to save this ball—this was an absolutely dead corner in a theoretical sense!
The football hit the inside edge of the far post and rebounded into the goal!!
"Fernando...Torres!!" Along with Wrightkinson's shouts, there were tens of thousands of Liverpool fans on the scene!
After scoring, Torres spread his arms and ran at Wembley.
Gao Bo looked at the red number nine figure.
Yes, this was Torres, Torres at the peak of his form!! Just give him a little bit of space.....Luton's goal was lost.
The brilliance of a superstar helped Liverpool pull back a goal!