Liverpool and United suffer scandalous defeats

Soccer has yet to discover the true extent of the coronavirus pandemic.

The absence of an audience in the stadiums seems to have consequences that are as unthrilling for the players as they are scandalous on the scoreboards.

This Sunday, the trend was out of control.

The Bayern, the Champions of the Champions, was on the verge of drawing in his field before the Hertha (4-3) in a fateful afternoon of Kimmich;

United equaled the biggest win in their history in the First Division at Old Trafford against Tottenham de Mourinho (1-6);

and Liverpool, the penultimate model of total success, which seemed grown after the conquest of the Premier, closed its visit to the Aston Villa field suffering the worst defeat in its history (7-2).

Thiago was not, sick with covid, nor Sadio Mané, the last infected.

Instead of the winger, the newly signed Diogo Jota played.

In the goal the owner, Alisson, replaced by the Spanish Adrián, did not appear either.

Men often explain how teams work.

Casualties weighed heavily on Liverpool's game, but not so brutally.

Aston Villa's first goal was the consequence of a poor start by Adrián, who gave the ball to Grealish on the edge of the area.

The ingenious English hitch assisted Watkins, author of the 1-0.

It was minute four and nothing suggested that a

was coming

AST

7

-

two

LIV

Aston Villa Emiliano Martínez, Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett, Ezri Konsa Ngoyo, Matthew Cash (Al Muhammadi, min. 79), Grealish, Barkley, Douglas Luiz (Marvelous Nakamba, min. 79), Trezeguet (Bertrand Traoré, min. 86), John McGinn and Ollie Watkins Liverpool Adrián, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, A. Robertson, Joe Gomez (Curtis Jones, min. 60), Naby Keita (Minamino, min. 45), Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino (Milner, min. 67), Diogo Jota and Salah

Goals1-0 min.

3: Ollie Watkins.

2-0 min.

21: Ollie Watkins.

2-1 min.

32: Salah.

3-1 min.

34: John McGinn.

4-1 min.

38: Ollie Watkins.

5-1 min.

54: Barkley.

5-2 min.

59: Salah.

6-2 min.

65: Grealish.

7-2 min.

74: Grealish.

Referee Martin Atkinson Yellow cards Virgil Van Dijk (min. 37), Douglas Luiz (min. 45) and Marvelous Nakamba (min. 91)

Liverpool's reaction was energetic but not decisive enough, nor forceful, nor precise.

Aston Villa did not invent anything new.

Dean Smith's team practices the old 4-4-2 with a daring forward, Watkins, a powerful playmaker, Barkley, and a

, Grealish, who is a demon with the half lowered.

From his boots came the 2-0 play, after catching the defense that Van Dijk was moving at mid-out;

he teamed up with Watkins, who did a

, and capped off his performance by scoring two more himself.

Klopp stared open-mouthed, consulted with his assistants, made changes.

Everything began to enter the Villa.

Three of the goals were rebound.

Salah replied with two goals to mitigate the embarrassment.

The result is for the annals.

No one had ever scored more than six goals for Liverpool.

Klopp: "We made huge mistakes"

"Aston Villa played direct, intelligent, energetic football," said Klopp; "They did a lot of good things and we didn't. They got the chances and we didn't. We made too many mistakes. Huge mistakes, starting with the mistake they caused. 1-0. After 1-0 we lost the thread of the game, and it is not an excuse. We allow rude counterattacks. We did not know how to protect the ball in places where you cannot afford to lose it. "

"It is historical for Tottenham, historical for my boys, and I cannot deny that it is historical for me," said José Mourinho.

On his return to Old Trafford, the stadium that was his home in the darkest period of his coaching career, Mourinho must have felt like taking it out.

In a big way, too, because his new team, Tottenham, gave United a full-blown beating: 1-6.

The win equaled the worst defeat in United's history at their stadium.

The last time occurred on October 23, 2011, in front of the City of Pellegrini, a day that Balotelli got up inspired, or was inspired between Silva and Agüero.

This Sunday, more than execution, it was a case of self-destruction.

Mourinho was elated.

"We prepare very well tactically and also psychologically," said the Portuguese.

"We were so prepared that not a penalty against and a 1-0 in the first minute affected us."

Preparation, you know, is the responsibility of Mourinho.

Success corresponds to him, he says.

But the reality seems more complex.

Everything originates from the fundamentals.

The Tottenham that Mourinho inherited from Pochettino a year ago is a much more defined club and team than the United that Solskjaer inherited from Mourinho at Christmas 2018. That was a lost ship at sea with a breach in the hull.

Today is a shipwreck.

The absence of the public deepened the general discouragement of its players, as lost as they were sad.

Davinson Sánchez knocked down Martial in the Lloris area when the timer counted half a minute into the game.

Fernandes scored the penalty and, with the advantage, the whole painful truth of United was exhibited.

Comeback at point blank range

Hardly demanded by a Tottenham that Mourinho has managed to organize in its most fortified version, United began to give away goals.

Up to four delivered on a tray in the first part.

The 1-1, at the exit of a throw-in that Pogba deflected, against all logic, towards his area, so that once there the ball bounced from Maguire's head to Bailly's head in an absurd succession that ended with Maguire tackling his teammate, Shaw, in a desperate attempt to stop Lamela from finishing in the small area.

Ndombélé took advantage of the nonsense to shoot De Gea at point-blank range.

The 1-2 was the product of Kane's ingenuity to take a free-kick that took Bailly and Maguire by surprise, overwhelmed by the run and Son's definition.

Once the comeback was achieved, Tottenham remained in their field with four defenders and three pivots, Sissoko, Hojberg and Ndombélé, waiting for the quick transition with Kane, Lamela and Son.

The deployment led to the counterattack auction.

It was not necessary to go so far.

In the 27th minute, as the players prepared for a corner on United's area, there was an apparently banal struggle.

Lamela let go of Martial's elbow and the Frenchman gave him the most naive, mellifluous, and repressed slap in memory on a playing field.

The referee, of course, expelled Martial.

With one less, United multiplied its defects.

Indefiniteness, disorder, lack of faith.

Some were going to press, others stayed, and others regretted it.

Matic, Pogba and Fernandes tried to share the midfield and stepped on each other.

The center-backs didn't even know what boots they were wearing and upstairs Radford would turn off intermittently: he's great for a second and disappears for an hour.

Bailly delivered a ball to Kane two meters from the penalty spot at 1-3 and Aurier and Son doubled down at Maguire and De Gea in the action that preceded the 1-4.

Aurier and Kane, from a penalty, sealed United's torment.

Bayern's 8-2 against Barça in the last Champions League could have been something exceptional.

It could also be the norm of the new normal.