Chapter 95: The Clash of Red and Yellow

There are no weak sides in La Liga.

Dai Zhiwei had finally come to understand that firsthand.

After that painful 3-2 loss to Real Madrid, Villarreal stumbled again in the thirty-fifth round of La Liga, held to a goalless draw at home by Real Sociedad.

Villarreal fired as many as twenty-six shots in this match, and Dai Zhiwei alone accounted for seven of them, four on target, yet not one found the net.

Fortunately, the teams chasing them in the standings were not much more convincing, so the Yellow Submarine still held an eight-point cushion, comfortably within safe bounds.

The men of the Yellow Submarine, having unexpectedly dropped points, had no extra time to dwell on the question of Champions League qualification, because in just three days they would face Liverpool in the Europa League semifinals.

This was the first meeting between the two sides in European competition.

Villarreal had faced English clubs thirteen times in Europe, recording three wins, six draws, and four defeats; in their last ten matches against English opposition, they had drawn six and lost four without a single victory. Still, in the 2005-06 Champions League qualifiers, the Yellow Submarine had swept aside Liverpool’s city rivals Everton with two 2-1 victories. Their most recent clash with an English club had come in the 2011-12 Champions League group stage, when Villarreal were battered 3-0 at home and 2-1 away by Manchester City.

Liverpool had met Spanish clubs thirty-two times, with thirteen wins, ten draws, and nine defeats, giving them a slight edge overall. But in their last four encounters they had won only once and lost three times, leaving them firmly on the back foot. Their most recent meeting with Spanish opposition had come in last season’s Champions League group stage, when Liverpool were swept aside by Real Madrid, 3-0 at home and 1-0 away.

On Spanish soil, Liverpool had lost their last two matches by 1-0 scorelines to Madrid’s two giants, but in the five before that they had gone unbeaten in four, with one draw, and had won away at Real Madrid, Barcelona, Real Betis, and Deportivo La Coruna in succession.

Klopp wanted to repeat Manchester United’s feat of winning the Europa League and earning a place in next season’s Champions League, but it would not be easy.

In this Europa League semifinal, a contest watched by the entire footballing world, neither manager sprang any surprises; each named his strongest available lineup.

Villarreal:
Goalkeeper: Asenjo
Defenders: Mario Gaspar, Ruiz, Bailly, Costa
Midfielders: Suarez, Pina, Bruno, Dos Santos
Forwards: Soldado, Dai Zhiwei

Liverpool:
Goalkeeper: Mignolet
Defenders: Moreno, Lovren, Kolo Toure, Clyne
Holding midfielders: Joe Allen, Lucas
Midfielders: Lallana, Coutinho, Milner
Forward: Firmino

In truth, Klopp had once considered signing Dai Zhiwei during the transfer window, because after Suarez’s departure, the Reds’ attack had never been particularly convincing. But Dai Zhiwei had no desire to go to Liverpool. With Firmino and Benteke already there, he would struggle to win a starting place from the outset, and might even end up as only the third or fourth option in the forward line, condemned to scraps of playing time.

As the match began, Liverpool looked a little sluggish amid the wild jeering of the fans at the Stadium of Song, while Villarreal, on home turf, took control of the game.

In the second minute, Villarreal struck first. Fullback Mario Gaspar surged forward and delivered a ball from the right, and Pina’s shot from the edge of the center of the box was palmed away by Mignolet, whose concentration at the opening whistle was unusually sharp.

“So, Karius isn’t in goal after all?”

At the instant Pina struck the ball, Dai Zhiwei had already burst forward at speed, ready to pounce on the rebound, only for Mignolet to prove that he was not the Liverpool keeper infamous for gifting goals through elementary blunders.

Three minutes later, Villarreal came close to taking the lead. Lucas cynically clipped Suarez just outside the penalty area, and Pina whipped in the free kick, only for it to drift narrowly wide.

Dai Zhiwei kept making off-the-ball runs in Liverpool’s half, using his relentless acceleration to leave even Joe Allen, a man famed for his stamina, gasping for breath.

But Liverpool were not to be dismissed so easily. Firmino drove forward with the ball, only for Ruiz to cover at the crucial moment and avert the danger.

Asenjo received Ruiz’s back-pass and immediately launched a long ball toward Dai Zhiwei in midfield. Dai Zhiwei heard movement behind him and knew Joe Allen was closing in again.

With a twitch of the left shoulder, he feinted once to draw Allen’s attention, then suddenly cushioned the dropping ball with the outside of his right boot and spun away in one fluid motion.

What a gorgeous control and turn!

The usually aloof sports channel of China Television had not chosen to broadcast this match, but many domestic fans had by now grown used to watching online streams, and Huang Ping, calling the game on Penguin Live, was lavishing praise on Dai Zhiwei’s dribble.

These days, China had no shortage of Dai Zhiwei fanatics, praising him as though he were a man who could utterly overwhelm Messi and Ronaldo alike. But the domestic audience loved that sort of thing; after all, Chinese football had endured generations of weakness.

After turning, Dai Zhiwei did not keep dribbling. To quicken the counterattack, he slid a direct pass to Soldado, who had dropped back from the forward line, and then kept sprinting all the way forward.

However skilled one might be with the ball at one’s feet, there was still a difference between dribbling at speed and running without the ball. Free of possession, Dai Zhiwei instantly left Joe Allen behind, the midfielder who had not yet even turned fully around. Allen had already failed to keep up with him while Dai Zhiwei was dribbling, let alone now.

Liverpool had not yet organized any meaningful defense. Soldado laid the ball off first time to Dai Zhiwei, denying Kolo Toure the chance to make a foul.

Dai Zhiwei ran with the wind in his ears, Joe Allen hounding him from behind, yet the gap kept widening.

By now he was almost into the penalty area, with only Kolo Toure stepping up to cover. And when Dai Zhiwei drew level with him, Soldado’s pass arrived right on cue.

While running, Dai Zhiwei gave Kolo Toure the slightest bump with his shoulder, muscling the Liverpool center-back aside. He took the ball in stride with a deft touch and was already forcing his way into the box.

Seeing Dai Zhiwei about to enter the area, and with only his partner Lovren and Mignolet between him and the goal, Kolo Toure naturally dared not let him through.

Dai Zhiwei was shielding the ball brilliantly. There was no chance of a clean tackle, and even interfering with the shot might not have been enough. So Kolo Toure immediately decided to bring him down, accepting a free kick on the edge of the box if that was the price.

But Dai Zhiwei’s acceleration and pace were simply too much. Kolo Toure’s fingers could only catch the faint breeze stirred by his shirt.

Kolo Toure could not stop him. Lovren rushed across to help and went for the ball.

Yet he still did not understand just how terrifying Dai Zhiwei’s speed truly was.

Lovren watched in disbelief as Dai Zhiwei kept closing on the ball, as though the ball itself were racing toward Dai Zhiwei rather than toward him.

He dared not be careless and hurried after him with a burst of speed.

Bang!

The moment he took a single step into the box, Dai Zhiwei unleashed a thunderous drive.

When Kolo Toure slid in, all he saw were the clumps of turf kicked up by Dai Zhiwei’s strike. In front of him, Lovren instinctively turned his head aside to avoid that world-shaking shot.

Whoosh!

The rush of air whipped past Lovren’s face and stung him, and Liverpool’s defender could not help but feel a pang of relief that he had escaped that shot.

Mignolet had no time at all to react to Dai Zhiwei’s blast. He could only watch the fierce effort from twenty yards rip into the left side of his net.

Goal! What a magnificent rocket!

Huang Ping, who openly called himself Dai Zhiwei’s number one fan, was once again stealing the show as he roared in delight.

The whole of the Stadium of Song erupted. The sea of supporters, feeling that mere shouting could not express their excitement, began jumping wildly in unison.

The Liverpool fans who had traveled so far were only a tiny minority, and their silence did nothing to diminish the celebrations around the ground.

Villarreal’s supporters cried themselves hoarse, as if any softer a voice would fail to vent the flood of emotion inside them.

Dai Zhiwei sprinted madly along the touchline, demanding the cheers that were his due. He ran to the stands, stood before the most loyal of Villarreal’s fans, and mimed his gun-firing celebration.

And in the stands, thousands of Villarreal supporters answered with the same gesture. Though he had been at the club for only four months, Dai Zhiwei had already completely conquered the hearts of the crowd.

Marcelino, too, felt proud and delighted that he had brought Dai Zhiwei to Villarreal, though he conveniently overlooked, at least for the moment, that the signing had in fact been demanded by the club’s director and sponsors.

On the other side, Klopp on Liverpool’s bench looked utterly miserable. There was no resentment in his face, only deep and helpless frustration.

1-0!

Villarreal had taken the lead in the thirteenth minute, and Dai Zhiwei’s eleventh Europa League goal of the season had given the Yellow Submarine the perfect start. Liverpool’s away task had just become even more difficult.

Dai Zhiwei’s goal set the Stadium of Song alight, but it also roused Liverpool’s anger.

Klopp rose and came to the touchline. By then he was no longer barking at his players, but instead signaling calmly, directing his side to answer.

Liverpool were no longer the minnow side they had been in years past. Under Klopp, the Reds would not panic simply because they were trailing by a goal. Their opponents, on the other hand, would do well to be careful.