Anfield Stadium, Liverpool.
In the thirty-first round of the Premier League, Liverpool welcomed Arsenal at home.
With the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Roma scheduled for midweek, Rafael Benítez made several adjustments to his starting line-up.
Pepe Reina started in goal. The back four consisted of Fábio Aurélio at left-back, Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher in central defence, and Álvaro Arbeloa at right-back. The midfield three featured Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, and Javier Mascherano in the holding role. Up front, the attacking trio lined up with Yang Yang on the left, Peter Crouch through the middle, and Jermaine Pennant on the right.
Dirk Kuyt and several players who had featured heavily in recent matches were named on the bench.
Arsenal stuck with their familiar 4-4-2 formation.
Jens Lehmann stood between the posts, with Gaël Clichy, William Gallas, Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Eboué forming the back line. The midfield quartet was Alexander Hleb, Denílson, Cesc Fàbregas and Abou Diaby, while the front two were Júlio Baptista and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Both teams knew each other inside out. There were no secrets left between them.
Arsenal kicked off, but Liverpool seized the initiative from the very first whistle.
Mascherano was immediately aggressive. Within moments of the restart, he intercepted a loose pass from Arsenal and quickly laid the ball off to Gerrard. The captain took a touch and unleashed a thunderous long-range shot from fully thirty yards.
The effort sailed wildly high and wide.
Just twenty-eight seconds had elapsed, and Liverpool had already recorded their first shot of the match.
Yang Yang clapped his hands toward Gerrard with a speechless expression, as if to say, "What on earth was that?"
Gerrard scratched the back of his head, grinned sheepishly, and jogged back into position.
This was not like Yang Yang's opening long-range strike against Barcelona that had earned widespread praise. Gerrard had simply seen an opportunity and decided to try his luck. Unfortunately, the connection was poor and the ball flew off target.
No one in the Liverpool dressing room could have guessed the captain's sudden impulse.
Although the early shot carried no real threat, Liverpool's attacking momentum continued to build smoothly.
In just the fourth minute, Arbeloa surged forward on the right and combined neatly with Pennant. The Spanish right-back delivered a dangerous low cross into the penalty area. Crouch used his considerable frame to shield Kolo Touré, held off the defender, and poked the ball home from close range.
1–0!
The goal was almost too straightforward.
Crouch wheeled away in delight, sprinting toward the corner flag where he broke into an enthusiastic robotic dance to celebrate. The sight of the two-metre-tall striker performing his trademark celebration against Arsenal's pair of centre-backs—who both stood around 1.80 m—left Yang Yang struggling to keep a straight face.
After taking the lead, Liverpool maintained their high press and continued to squeeze Arsenal. The Gunners refused to lie down and mounted several threatening counters, yet they struggled to break through Liverpool's midfield stranglehold.
In the thirty-fifth minute, Aurélio advanced with the ball and slipped a pass inside. Yang Yang made a sharp diagonal run that drew Eboué out of position before deftly laying the ball back to the overlapping Aurélio. The Brazilian left-back drove into the box and delivered a precise cross from the left side of the penalty area. Crouch rose unmarked and powered a header into the net from point-blank range.
2–0!
Crouch had his second of the afternoon. Once again he charged toward the touchline and launched into another energetic robotic dance, his face lit up with pure joy. Clearly, dominating Arsenal's two shorter centre-backs was proving thoroughly enjoyable.
Yang Yang's own performance remained relatively quiet throughout the first half. With Liverpool in complete control and the lead established early, there was no need for him to expend maximum effort. Managing his energy wisely was simply part of professional discipline.
Much of Liverpool's dominance stemmed from the outstanding contributions of the rotated players.
In the first half alone, Mascherano and Xabi Alonso combined for twenty-two tackles—an astonishing tally that set a new Premier League record for the season. Mascherano in particular stood out, winning duel after duel while showing excellent composure and vision when stepping forward with the ball. His performance left a lasting impression.
At half-time, Benítez praised the entire team warmly and urged them to keep the same intensity, push for more goals, and further erode Arsenal's morale.
After the break, Liverpool's level did not drop at all.
In the sixtieth minute, just before Yang Yang was substituted, Aurélio whipped in a dangerous set-piece from the left. Daniel Agger rose highest and powered a header past Lehmann to make it 3–0.
Arsenal managed a reply in the seventy-third minute when they converted a corner kick, but Liverpool responded swiftly. In the eighty-first minute, substitute Dirk Kuyt provided a precise assist for Crouch, who completed his hat-trick and made the final score 4–1.
Liverpool had dismantled Arsenal with a commanding 4–1 victory at Anfield. It was a thoroughly satisfying afternoon for the Reds.
...
After the match, Liverpool's commanding 4–1 victory over Arsenal drew unanimous praise from Fleet Street.
The Times noted that Liverpool had not played at full throttle. Yang Yang, Steven Gerrard, and Xabi Alonso had all operated below their peak level, and once the advantage was secured early, the trio appeared to play with a degree of restraint.
"This was clearly at the instruction of manager Rafael Benítez, with the Champions League quarter-final against Roma in mind next midweek."
The standout performer of the afternoon was Peter Crouch, who claimed a hat-trick. It was the first senior hat-trick of the tall Englishman's career and earned widespread acclaim across the media.
Yet the biggest talking point for most outlets was the impressive showing from several of Liverpool's rotated players.
Fábio Aurélio delivered two assists — one for Crouch and one for Daniel Agger. His defensive work on the left flank was rock-solid, while his attacking contributions were equally eye-catching. The Brazilian received near-universal recognition for his performance.
On the opposite side, Álvaro Arbeloa also impressed, particularly with his role in the build-up to Crouch's opening goal. His quick combination play with Jermaine Pennant down the right created a dangerous overlap that led directly to the first strike.
However, the player who truly stole the headlines was Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano.
The Times described him vividly: "Mascherano patrolled the midfield like a sharp-eyed hound. Neither Fàbregas nor Denílson could escape his keen sense of anticipation. His running power was exceptional; he seemed to be everywhere, relentlessly chasing down every loose ball throughout the ninety minutes."
The Liverpool Echo was equally complimentary, praising not only his tackling and interceptions but also his composure on the ball and intelligent passing. "He actively seeks out supporting runs and consistently finds the best passing lanes to progress the play."
The Daily Telegraph went further, calling Mascherano a rare midfield talent. "His partnership with Xabi Alonso reached the level of Europe's top double-pivot combinations tonight. The understanding between them was particularly impressive."
So far in the Premier League, Mascherano had featured twice for Liverpool, and both outings had been near-perfect.
His performances had finally silenced the doubts that many fans and pundits had held about the winter signing.
In a post-match interview with Liverpool's official website, Mascherano expressed deep gratitude for the trust shown by Rafael Benítez. "He came to meet me personally in the London Docklands and convinced me to join Liverpool. At the lowest point of my career, he gave me real hope."
He also spoke warmly about his teammates, especially Yang Yang.
"He is an incredible player who always produces extraordinary moments on the pitch. But for me, what matters most is that he is an outstanding teammate off the field as well. He has given me so much help and advice, especially during the periods when I wasn't getting many minutes."
"Even at half-time today, after we had only played forty-five minutes, he told me in the dressing room that after tonight's game I would become a favourite of the Liverpool fans. Those words gave me extra confidence and motivation for the second half. I just wanted to help the team win and keep pushing forward."
Although Yang Yang's own performance had been relatively subdued in the 4–1 win, the media did not criticise him. On the contrary, several major outlets, including The Times and The Daily Telegraph, actively offered explanations for his quieter display.
The Times suggested: "Yang Yang clearly focused his attention on helping his teammates score rather than adding to his own tally."
The Daily Telegraph added a lighter touch: "Yang Yang probably enjoyed watching Crouch dance too much!"
The Sun offered a more conspiratorial angle: "Yang Yang has already scored twenty-three goals this season. With Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo showing no real signs of catching him in recent weeks, he may have simply lost some of his personal hunger for goals and started focusing on creating for others."
A few tabloids even speculated that tension existed between Yang Yang and Crouch, suggesting the latter's hat-trick had somehow overshadowed their relationship.
Those rumours were quickly put to rest when Crouch spoke to Liverpool's official website.
"I'm getting on better and better with Yang Yang. He is an excellent teammate. Even when he doesn't score himself, he still contributes massively to the team."
"Fighting him for top scorer? No, no, I never thought about that. I couldn't compete with him anyway. I think it's very realistic for him to reach twenty-five goals this season, and everyone — including me — will do everything we can to help him get there. He only needs two more."
Crouch's comments once again highlighted the strong spirit of unity within the Liverpool squad and the healthy relationship between the two forwards.
If, in the early days after Yang Yang's arrival, Crouch had occasionally seen him as a rival for the team's leading scorer role, that mindset had completely disappeared — especially after the Barcelona ties.
The reason was straightforward: Crouch had realised he simply could not compete at Yang Yang's level.
Even in this match, where he scored a hat-trick against Arsenal, the second goal had originated from an attack initiated by Yang Yang, while the third had come from a free-kick situation created by the Chinese forward.
In truth, Yang Yang had played a decisive part in all three of Crouch's goals.
Crouch understood this perfectly and recognised that Yang Yang had been deliberately creating opportunities for him.
More importantly, he knew that if any serious friction developed between them, Liverpool would only make one decision: sell him and bring in a striker who could harmonise with Yang Yang.
For that reason alone, cooperation was the only sensible choice.
...
...
Some people say that every person has a city in their heart.
In the world of football, every city has its own man.
Raúl in Madrid, Gerrard in Liverpool, Maldini in Milan…
These players have spent their entire careers — and sometimes their whole lives — writing stories of unwavering loyalty.
And in the city of Rome, that man is Francesco Totti, known to all as Il Capitano.
Yang Yang had admired Totti for a long time, though he had never faced him in person.
Many might argue that Totti's name did not carry the same global weight as some others, but Yang Yang firmly believed he was one of the finest superstars of his generation.
At the very least, that was how Yang Yang saw it.
Totti had once come very close to joining Real Madrid. The deal had been almost completed, yet in the end he chose to remain in Rome. Many people felt it was a pity, believing he could have achieved even greater things at a bigger club.
For Yang Yang, however, that decision only deepened his respect. He knew how incredibly difficult it was to turn down Real Madrid. For any professional player, it was almost an irresistible temptation.
Staying or leaving — both choices deserved respect, but Yang Yang admired Totti's decision even more.
So when a reporter mentioned Totti during a pre-match interview, Yang Yang's immediate response was light-hearted yet sincere: "I grew up watching Totti play."
It was half a joke, but not entirely. Totti was already thirty years old and had been playing senior football for well over a decade.
Yang Yang went on to express genuine respect for the Italian captain, calling him a truly great player and saying he felt proud to be able to compete against him.
"When I see Totti at Anfield, the only thing I will say to him is: welcome to Liverpool."
Perhaps because of Yang Yang's respectful tone toward a senior figure, Totti responded in kind during his own media interviews.
"Yang Yang is already a fantastic professional player. But I hope he doesn't play too well, because we intend to beat them on their own ground."
Totti was realistic about Roma's situation. This was the first time in more than twenty years that the club had reached the Champions League quarter-finals. The squad lacked experience, especially when it came to playing tough away knockout matches in England. He openly stated that a draw would be a satisfactory result.
"I prefer to see this as a normal journey. We play our game, we take what we deserve. Of course, if we want to make our fans happy, then we need to do more and do it better."
While the exchanges between Yang Yang and Totti remained courteous and full of mutual respect, the atmosphere between the two managers was markedly different.
In his pre-match press conference, Rafael Benítez did not hold back.
"I say it without any hesitation: Yang Yang is currently the best player in the world, even though he is only twenty years old."
Luciano Spalletti fired back quickly.
"I don't know much about Yang Yang. On the contrary, I believe Totti is better than anyone."
But Benítez was not finished. "Totti is certainly strong, but the players I worry about most are De Rossi and Mancini. Those two are Roma's most dangerous threats."
Spalletti, for his part, made it clear that Roma would not devise any special defensive plan focused solely on Yang Yang.
"Some teams might do that, but we prefer to defend as a unit. We will not change our tactical approach just because of one opponent, even if that player is Yang Yang."
...
The atmosphere ahead of the match was extremely tense.
Media outlets in both England and Italy enthusiastically fuelled the pre-match hype. La Gazzetta dello Sport even organised a tongue-in-cheek "WAGs showdown," inviting fans to vote and compare the players' partners on its website.
In the defenders' category, Roma's Matteo Ferrari was dating the Italian-Venezuelan supermodel Aída Yéspica. She was a frequent subject of tabloid gossip, with persistent rumours linking her to figures such as former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which had earned her a somewhat risqué "coquette" reputation in parts of the Italian press.
As a result, Ferrari's girlfriend cruised to victory in this round with an impressive 95 points.
In midfield, neither side produced a standout candidate. Roma put forward the girlfriend of Swedish winger Christian Wilhelmsson, a popular young idol back home in Sweden. She received a respectable 75 points from voters.
Steven Gerrard's partner, Alex Curran, enjoyed strong popularity in Britain, but she clearly did not appeal as strongly to Italian tastes and also scored 75 points. The category ended in a tie.
Up front, Il Capitano Francesco Totti's girlfriend, Ilary Blasi, remained hugely popular in Italy and scored 90 points, placing second overall among the Roma partners.
For Liverpool, Peter Crouch's girlfriend Abbey Clancy had gained considerable fame during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, within the squad, it was Yang Yang's girlfriend Su Ye who claimed the top spot in the WAG rankings, propelled by the striking photographs from the recent Zurich award ceremony.
Ever since Yang Yang had appeared at the FIFA gala, Su Ye had been widely featured and followed by media around the world. When La Gazzetta dello Sport ran its official online poll, Su Ye achieved a near-perfect score of 99 points in just two weeks.
She not only recorded the highest individual score but also attracted the largest number of votes by some distance. The result was undisputed.
In its commentary, the fashion-conscious Gazzetta dello Sport observed: "Many people assume there is a vast difference between Eastern and Western standards of beauty. In reality, true beauty transcends borders."
"It is the same as how Chinese people admire Monica Bellucci, while Italians are captivated by Su Ye."
Although Su Ye ultimately took the overall top honour, the Liverpool WAG group as a whole still finished slightly behind their Roman counterparts in the poll.
La Gazzetta dello Sport used the result to rally Roma fans, suggesting that since the wives and girlfriends had already claimed victory off the pitch, the team should now go out and beat Liverpool on it to complete the triumph.
Yet it was clear to everyone that, for a Roma side that had not reached the Champions League quarter-finals in twenty-three years, Liverpool — the team that had just eliminated the defending champions Barcelona — represented their toughest opponent of the season by some margin.
…
…
On 3 April, Anfield Stadium, Liverpool.
When the Slovakian international referee Ľuboš Micheľ blew his whistle for the second time, Steven Gerrard led the Liverpool players out of the dressing room.
Yang Yang walked at the very back of the line, as was his usual habit.
Every Liverpool player made their way down the narrow stairs. As they prepared to step into the players' tunnel, each one instinctively raised a hand and patted the famous Shankly slogan mounted at the top of the tunnel: "This Is Anfield."
Tall players like Peter Crouch had to bend at the waist and lower their heads to reach it, while shorter ones like Fábio Aurélio, who stood around 1.78 metres, only needed to rise slightly onto their toes.
This had become a sacred pre-match ritual for every Liverpool player.
Yang Yang was no exception. As he passed beneath the sign, he raised his right hand and gave it a firm pat.
He felt it was more than just a habit. It was a private ritual that reminded every man in the line that the game was about to begin and that they were stepping into the cauldron of Anfield.
At the mouth of the players' tunnel, the Roma team was already assembled and waiting.
The players from both sides came from all corners of the world. Although most were not personally acquainted, they exchanged polite nods and brief greetings.
European football, especially the big four leagues, was a small world in many ways. No one knew when they might end up as teammates at another club, so off the pitch courtesy was the norm.
Cristian Chivu, Roma's central defender, had previously played for Ajax and had even captained the Dutch side. He had left for Roma in the summer that Yang Yang arrived at Ajax, so the two had never been teammates. Still, the Ajax connection gave them some mutual friends and common ground, and they exchanged a few friendly words.
Ľuboš Micheľ consulted briefly with his refereeing team, running through the final pre-match checks and instructions.
Then Yang Yang spotted Francesco Totti again.
Il Capitano had been standing in the Roma line, chatting animatedly with Gerrard, but he stepped back for a moment, approached Yang Yang, and offered a polite greeting. After all, the two had already traded comments through the media in the build-up to the game.
"Tonight you'd better be careful!" Totti said with a chuckle.
Yang Yang nodded. He knew he would be facing Marco Cassetti and the French talent Philippe Mexès.
During his time at Ajax, Yang Yang had heard the name Mexès more than once. The gifted centre-back from Auxerre had once been courted by many of Europe's biggest clubs, yet he had ultimately chosen Roma. Now twenty-five years old, he had not quite reached the heights once predicted for him, but he had established himself as a regular starter for a competitive AS Roma side.
Size was not everything in football.
In the cut-throat environment of European football, simply holding down a starting place at a club like Roma was achievement enough for a player like Mexès.
…
Luciano Spalletti was regarded as one of the more innovative Italian coaches of his generation, known for his commitment to attacking football and tactical flexibility. At Roma, he had become famous for his strikerless system, with Francesco Totti deployed as a false nine.
Totti was pushed forward into the attacking role, supported by Amantino Mancini, Mirko Vučinić and Christian Wilhelmsson playing in the spaces behind him, while Daniele De Rossi and David Pizarro formed a double pivot in midfield.
The entire system revolved around Totti dropping deep to link play and dictate tempo, while the three attacking players made quick, diagonal runs into the channels behind the opposition defence.
Liverpool, however, were well prepared. Rafael Benítez had anticipated Roma's aggressive opening.
When the visitors launched their expected early wave of attacks, Liverpool dropped deeper and maintained a compact defensive shape. Benítez once again selected the double pivot of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, with Steven Gerrard positioned further forward in a more advanced role.
It was clear he had full confidence in this midfield trio after their strong display against Arsenal. Alonso and Mascherano did not disappoint. They quickly broke up Roma's rhythm, winning tackles and intercepting passes with sharp timing and disciplined positioning.
Unable to penetrate the midfield screen, Roma were forced into speculative long-range shots. In the first ten minutes, David Pizarro, Francesco Totti and Mirko Vučinić all tried their luck from distance, but none of the efforts seriously tested Pepe Reina.
After successfully absorbing the initial pressure, Liverpool gradually grew into the game and began to look for opportunities on the counter-attack.
After all, this was Anfield.