"Do you want to replace him?"
Benítez asked, frowning.
He didn't need to name the player; the question was obvious to everyone on the bench.
Pako Ayesterán had been watching Yang Yang's tireless runs down the left flank and took a moment to consider before replying.
"It depends on how you look at it."
"What do you mean?" Benítez asked, genuinely puzzled.
"From the head coach's perspective, yes, you should take him off right now. With a six-goal lead, there's no point in risking him any longer. Not just for the first leg—we could practically announce our place in the semi-finals already. The priority should be preserving his fitness for what comes next."
One of Benítez's favourite phrases was that a manager must always think long-term, not just about the next match but about the weeks and months ahead. By that logic, pulling Yang Yang off made perfect sense.
"But I get the feeling you're against it," Benítez said, eyeing his assistant curiously.
Ayesterán gave a small smile. "You've seen how hard he's working. He really wants a goal tonight."
Benítez nodded slowly. He had noticed the determination in Yang Yang's play, but he still didn't fully grasp it.
Five assists. That was already an extraordinary return. After the final whistle, even the most demanding fans in the world—or the sharpest journalists—would struggle to find fault with him. Wasn't that enough?
Five assists in one game, and he still wanted to score on top of it?
Was it really necessary?
"In your mind, it probably isn't," Ayesterán continued. "Better to save the energy for something that actually matters instead of chasing an optional goal."
Benítez nodded again. That was exactly how he saw it.
Ayesterán's smile softened. "But you have to understand—and respect—that this is who he is."
"Some things can't be calculated on a spreadsheet. We might not fully comprehend why he's so relentless in his pursuit of excellence, or why he sets the bar so impossibly high for himself. But we do have to accept that this same character is what has brought him this far. It's what makes him the player he is today."
Benítez fell silent. He still didn't entirely understand.
"I think you should give it some thought," Ayesterán suggested quietly. "And respect what the player wants."
Benítez frowned, weighing the words. In the end, he was persuaded.
He would never admit it out loud, but he knew he was nowhere near as good as Ayesterán when it came to handling players. Many of the potential flashpoints and quiet tensions between him and the squad had been defused by his assistant over the months.
So even though he couldn't quite follow Yang Yang's reasoning, he decided to trust the advice.
"Then we'll have to take Crouch off instead," Benítez said evenly.
The big man had taken a knock to the head earlier anyway. Better to get him down, get some ice on it, and let him rest.
...
In the 70th minute, Liverpool made their second substitution: Peter Crouch came off, replaced by Jermaine Pennant.
The tall English striker had already scored once and put in a strong shift despite the knock to his head earlier in the game. He walked to the touchline with a satisfied nod, accepting the warm applause from the Anfield crowd as he made his way to the bench.
With Pennant on the pitch, Liverpool's shape shifted noticeably. Dirk Kuyt moved up into the central striker role he had occupied earlier in the season, while Pennant took up position on the right wing.
The intention was clear: Benítez wanted Pennant's direct running and crossing ability to create more space and chances for Yang Yang.
Yang Yang felt the shift almost immediately. He sensed the coaching staff's support and a quiet warmth spread through him.
To be honest, his insistence on staying on the pitch had been a touch selfish, even individualistic.
But he wanted a goal—really wanted one.
In the previous match against Arsenal, Liverpool had won comfortably 4-0, yet he had not found the net.
Tonight against Roma, the team had already put six past Doni, and still Yang Yang's name was missing from the scoresheet.
Of course, he had been outstanding in both games—five assists tonight alone—but as the side's leading goalscorer this season, going two key matches without scoring gnawed at him. It simply wasn't enough to satisfy his own standards.
After Pennant's introduction, Benítez tweaked the team's approach further.
Yang Yang was given licence to roam more freely across the front line, drifting wherever the space appeared.
Fábio Aurélio received greater freedom to push forward and overlap. The Brazilian left-back was dangerous going forward—his crossing and set-piece delivery were among the best in the squad—and he had the technical quality to function almost like an extra midfielder in possession. Defensively, his positional sense and tackling ability remained sharp despite his slight frame.
His only real vulnerability had always been his injury record. Since working with Dutch fitness coach Winston Bogarde, however, Aurélio had been following a specially designed strength programme aimed at building muscle resilience and reducing the risk of recurring problems. Progress was steady, but it demanded patience and consistency—not something that could be fixed overnight.
With Pennant stretching the right flank, Aurélio advancing on the left, and Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano providing a solid base in midfield, Yang Yang began to work methodically, hunting for his moment.
The chance arrived in the 76th minute.
Pennant collected possession on the right touchline and whipped in a dangerous, early cross toward the near post. Kuyt rose to challenge Cristian Chivu, but the two men collided and tumbled to the turf together just inside the six-yard box. The ball broke loose and rolled invitingly to the back post.
Yang Yang was there, virtually unmarked.
He took one touch to control it with the outside of his right foot, then calmly stroked the ball past Doni into the far corner.
Simple, direct and efficient.
The net rippled, and Anfield erupted once more.
Yang Yang's face lit up with pure, unrestrained joy. He sprinted away from goal, arms pumping, roaring in celebration as he raced toward the corner flag.
Behind him, his teammates converged in a wave—Gerrard, Pennant, Kuyt, Mascherano, all piling on with grins and back-slaps.
The Kop and the rest of the stadium chanted his name in unison, the sound rolling around the ground like thunder.
Five assists and now one goal. The performance was complete.
...
"This scene reminds me of a scene from a movie," Benítez said suddenly.
Pako Ayesterán turned his head sharply, caught off guard.
Do you watch movies?
Isn't your entire world just football?
Are you sure you're talking about a film and not the match we're watching right now?
He didn't dare voice any of that, knowing full well it would earn him a torrent of Benítez's famously sharp tongue and probably a shower of spit in the process. So he kept his tone neutral and asked carefully, "Which one?"
"The Shawshank Redemption. When the protagonist crawls out of the prison pipe and stands in the rain with his arms spread wide. It feels a bit like this moment—just without the rain tonight."
From the way Benítez said it, he almost sounded disappointed that the weather hadn't cooperated with a downpour to complete the parallel.
Ayesterán had seen the film, but he struggled to see the resemblance. Was it the pose? The sense of release? He couldn't quite pin it down.
Benítez rarely—if ever—mentioned anything outside football. Not in the dugout, not in training, not even in casual conversation. So why bring up a movie now, in the middle of an 8-0 demolition?
Then it clicked.
Transformation and rebirth.
Just as Andy Dufresne emerged from that sewer pipe into freedom, arms raised to the sky, Yang Yang had finally scored the goal he had been chasing all evening. The common thread was the turning point: from this instant onward, both had crossed a threshold.
Ayesterán thought back to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, who had produced back-to-back braces during the brutal Christmas fixture pile-up earlier this season. Everyone had seen it then—the moment the Portuguese forward seemed to grow in stature, to become something more decisive, more dominant.
Yang Yang would be the same after tonight.
The goal, coming after five assists and relentless pressure from the opposition defence, would mark a shift. He would carry away a deeper belief in his ability to control and decide matches single-handedly when it mattered most.
He was about to realise, truly realise, that he could dominate games on this level
…
When Yang Yang scored his goal, Liverpool were already leading 7–0.
At that moment Rafael Benítez finally made his second substitution, taking Yang Yang off and sending John Arne Riise on in his place.
Benítez had always had mixed feelings about the Norwegian left-back. He loved Riise's enthusiasm and vitality on the pitch, yet he remained deeply uneasy about his positional discipline and defensive reliability, which was why he had occasionally pushed him further up into midfield roles.
After Fabio Aurélio joined the squad, most people assumed the Brazilian would simply replace Riise. But the battle for the left-back spot had remained fiercely competitive all season; neither player had been able to make the position his own.
As Yang Yang walked off the pitch, more than 50,000 Liverpool supporters rose to their feet as one. A warm wave of applause and cheers swept down from every stand, with thousands chanting his name in unison.
There was no doubt about it — he was the master of this game tonight, the undisputed hero of Liverpool.
In this stadium, in this city, and across the world, countless fans were cheering for Yang Yang right now.
One goal and five assists. A perfect record that was not only impeccable but utterly compelling.
"Do your best!"
After embracing Riise, Yang Yang encouraged his teammates. Then, as he left the field, he hugged both Benítez and Pako Ayesteran.
He thanked the two coaches quietly for their trust and support.
Benítez remained his usual stoic self, expression unchanged. Ayesteran, however, broke into a wide, almost convulsive smile and congratulated Yang Yang warmly.
"After tonight," Ayesteran said, laughing, "even I've become one of your die-hard fans!"
Once Yang Yang was on the bench, Liverpool's attacking pressure showed no sign of easing.
Both the players who had come off the bench and those who had stayed on the pitch continued to show fierce fighting spirit.
Roma kept trying to attack again and again, only to concede again and again. Their spirit crumbled step by step under the relentless pressure.
By the last ten minutes of the match, they had abandoned any thought of counter-attacks and were focused purely on defence.
From the very first whistle, this game had been a complete defeat for AS Roma at the hands of Liverpool.
Sitting on the sidelines, Yang Yang felt a touch of sympathy for his opponents.
In truth, Roma's performance had not been bad. But they had made mistakes in the first half, and after Liverpool punished them, they continued to push forward, creating more opportunities for the home side and scoring goals against themselves. That was what had led to their gradual collapse.
If they had chosen to defend decisively after conceding the first goal — or even the second — the result of this match might have been completely different.
Sometimes football was like that. One single decision could send you straight to heaven or drop you into hell.
Therefore, football was round.
In the final stages of the game, Liverpool created one more chance. Kuyt collected the ball in the middle of the pitch and knocked it back. Fabio Aurélio, who had suddenly surged into the penalty area, struck a decisive shot and scored his first goal of the season.
The score in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final was finally locked at 8–0.
This not only set a new record for the biggest victory in a single match of the UEFA Champions League this season, but was also bound to shock fans and media reporters all over the world.
Especially the godly performance of Yang Yang.
...
...
Liverpool demolish Roma 8-0 at Anfield in stunning Champions League display!
Yang Yang delivers masterclass: one goal and five assists in record-breaking individual performance!
Yang Yang sets new UEFA Champions League mark with five assists in a single match!
Eight-goal thriller: Liverpool reach new heights in dominant European night!
Perfect evening at Anfield – and Liverpool owe it all to their talisman!
Red Army's ultimate weapon explodes – the long-awaited title dream feels closer than ever!
Whirlwind victory crushes Roma – Liverpool on the brink of European supremacy!
Disaster for Roma: Totti concedes Yang Yang is the world's best right now!
The day after the match, major newspapers around the world frantically reported on Liverpool's 8-0 victory over Roma.
Such a hearty victory, even happened in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. This is absolutely incredible. Everyone feels incredible, especially Liverpool, which was not strong in the past.
After Liverpool's stunning victory, The Times ran a striking front-page photograph of Yang Yang.
In the image, he is captured kneeling on the pitch directly in front of the Kop stand, head bowed slightly, arms spread wide in a gesture of quiet triumph as the sea of red scarves and roaring supporters fills the background.
Above the photograph, the headline consists of just two bold words:
PERFECT!
The Times devoted extensive coverage to Liverpool's extraordinary 8-0 demolition of AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg, reserving its highest praise for Yang Yang and describing his display as the most complete individual performance since his arrival in the Premier League.
"One goal and five assists. This occurred in the second leg of a Champions League quarter-final. At just twenty years of age, Yang Yang has quietly established yet another unprecedented record in Europe's premier club competition."
"Assists were not officially recorded in the UEFA Champions League until the 2003–04 season. Since UEFA began keeping track, Yang Yang has produced exceptional numbers every year. Most notably, he played a decisive role in Ajax's run to the 2003–04 title."
"Heading into the Roma tie, Yang Yang had already registered eight goals and five assists in this season's competition. After one extraordinary night at Anfield, those figures now read nine goals and ten assists. He sits atop both the goalscoring and assist charts in the tournament."
The Times dissected each of Yang Yang's five assists in detail, singling out the pass to Steven Gerrard as the pick of the bunch. The moment was remarkable because Yang Yang had his back to Gerrard at the time of delivery; he could not possibly have seen the captain's late run into the penalty area with conventional vision. Yet the through ball arrived at precisely the right weight and angle, allowing Gerrard to strike first time with comfort and power. The paper described it as bordering on the uncanny, almost as though Yang Yang possessed an extra sense on the pitch.
The article did not shy away from noting the several clear chances that went begging for Liverpool earlier in the match, including Javier Mascherano's miss from a similar position and a handful of other opportunities that fell to various teammates. Had those been converted, the piece suggested, Yang Yang's already exceptional night could have entered truly mythical territory.
"Across the ninety minutes, Yang Yang operated primarily through the centre and down the left channel, yet he demonstrated complete versatility. Long passes, short combinations, dribbling under pressure, precise final balls—he executed every aspect of the modern attacking midfielder's role to near-perfection. He appears, for the moment, to be a player without obvious weakness."
"Only last weekend Liverpool crushed Arsenal 4–1 at Anfield, and a section of the support playfully ribbed Yang Yang on the terraces and online, suggesting he had 'forgotten his shooting boots'. It was harmless banter, of course, but his failure to score in that victory did raise a few eyebrows given his usual output."
"Last night, even as Liverpool raced into a commanding lead, Yang Yang spent long periods without finding the net himself. Instead he supplied five assists—an output that, on its own, would be considered remarkable. Only later did he finally break his personal duck for the evening with a well-taken goal."
"BBC Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen, commentating on the game, quipped early on that Yang Yang must have left his shooting boots at home once again. Yet when one examines the past two matches more closely, a more significant pattern emerges."
"Since his arrival at Liverpool, Yang Yang has carried enormous expectation. The widespread belief was that he would single-handedly transform the team's attacking potency—and he has not disappointed. In both the Premier League and the Champions League he has consistently been the side's principal goal threat."
"But over these last two fixtures a subtle yet encouraging evolution has become visible. Yang Yang is integrating more deeply into the collective. When opponents have doubled or even tripled up on him—as both Arsenal and Roma did—he has adapted intelligently, refusing to force individual moments and instead disrupting defensive structures through intelligent movement and decision-making."
"In both games he was heavily marked out of possession for large stretches, yet Liverpool's attack continued to flow freely around him. Against Roma, in particular, his unselfish play created chance after chance before he eventually added his own name to the scoresheet."
The Times concluded that these two performances offered definitive proof of Yang Yang's growing maturity.
"Yang Yang no longer needs to score early or often to decide matches. He can dictate them through vision, movement, and unselfish play—though when he does eventually score, as he did against Roma, the effect is devastating."
"A Yang Yang who does not score immediately is somehow even more frightening."
That was the newspaper's final, resounding verdict.
...
The Italian media has long been sceptical of foreign teams encroaching on what many regard as their domain. In the build-up to this Champions League quarter-final first leg at Anfield, Gazzetta dello Sport had taken a characteristically playful yet partisan approach.
Alongside their tactical previews and player profiles, the paper even organised a tongue-in-cheek "WAGs showdown," inviting fans to vote online and compare the partners of the Liverpool and Roma players.
The feature generated plenty of light-hearted clicks and banter in the days leading up to the match, with the clear subtext that Roma's glamour off the pitch would be matched by dominance on it.
Yet after Liverpool's emphatic 8-0 victory, the tone across the peninsula shifted dramatically. Even the most partisan outlets were forced to acknowledge the scale of the performance and offer genuine respect.
La Repubblica carried a detailed report of AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti's post-match press conference, capturing the evident dejection in his voice after such a heavy defeat.
The Roma head coach sat alone at the top table, shoulders slumped, the weight of the result plain to see. Still, he began by defending the early stages of the match.
"In the first ten minutes we played very well," he said. "We controlled the game, dictated the tempo, and created the better chances. At that point we genuinely felt we were close to scoring. One more push, one moment of quality, and we could have opened the scoring against Liverpool."
He paused, then continued more quietly.
"But Yang Yang's performance changed everything. From the moment he started to influence the game, we had no room to breathe. After the first goal went in, the match turned completely. The momentum shifted so quickly we couldn't recover. We simply lacked the experience to handle that kind of avalanche."
Spalletti singled out the inexperience in his squad as a key factor.
"On our side, only Francesco Totti and Christian Panucci have real experience of Champions League knockout football. The others—Cristian Chivu, Daniele De Rossi, and many more—are still learning at this level. When things go against you so brutally, you need that know-how to steady the ship. We didn't have it tonight."
He stressed how rapidly the goals arrived.
"The first few concessions came too fast, too suddenly. It was suffocating. There was no time to react, no chance to reorganise. In the blink of an eye we were three goals behind, and from there the game was gone."
Despite the humiliation, Spalletti was generous in defeat. He offered unreserved praise for both Yang Yang and Liverpool as a whole.
"Yang Yang was exceptional—unplayable, really. And this Liverpool team… they are, without question, one of the strongest contenders for the Champions League this season. They have everything: quality, intensity, belief. Tonight they showed why."
Italian journalists, however, were less forgiving of Spalletti himself. While acknowledging the brilliance of Liverpool and Yang Yang, several outlets questioned the Roma coach's in-game management.
Gazzetta dello Sport, in its match analysis, praised Yang Yang's "devastating" display and Liverpool's clinical ruthlessness, but did not hold back on the home side's coach.
"Spalletti has now been in charge of Roma for two full seasons," the paper noted. "In that time he has overseen three heavy defeats that stand out as low points: the 4-0 thrashing by Real Madrid in last season's group stage, the Coppa Italia exit to a lower-division side, and now this 8-0 capitulation at Anfield. Tonight's result is the most shocking of them all. Questions must be asked about his ability to adapt when the opposition turns the screw."
The Corriere dello Sport echoed the sentiment in more measured terms, describing Spalletti's tactical setup as "too open, too vulnerable" once Liverpool seized control, and suggesting the coach had underestimated the speed and precision of Benítez's counter-attacking transitions.
Across the board, the Italian press agreed on one point: this was no ordinary upset. It was a statement performance from Liverpool—and a night when even Roma's most loyal defenders could find little to criticise in the visitors' superiority.
...
The German tabloid Bild led with the massacre on its front page, splashing the 8–0 scoreline across the entire cover under the headline "Anfield Slaughter: Liverpool 8 Roma 0". The paper declared that Yang Yang had played like the best footballer on the planet during this match.
German analysts focused heavily on the tactical battle. They argued that Liverpool's system had completely neutralised Roma, especially in midfield, while the Reds' own attacking transitions had been lightning-fast. The speed at which they switched from defence to attack had left the visitors with no time to reorganise.
"Yang Yang's performance was truly extraordinary – one goal and five assists," Bild wrote. "This will rank among the proudest nights of his career. At the same time, it cannot be ignored that his brilliance was built upon Liverpool's overall superiority as a team."
Unlike many other European newspapers that focused almost exclusively on individual stardom, the German press placed greater emphasis on the collective. Even so, Bild's verdict was unequivocal:
"Before the season started, many critics questioned the wisdom of Liverpool spending €40 million on Yang Yang. With the campaign still far from over, every last doubter has been forced to change their mind. No one is calling him overpriced any more. Instead, people are praising Liverpool for pulling off one of the smartest pieces of business in modern football."
"It can even be said that Yang Yang is now the most valuable player in Liverpool's history – and this has become the most successful transfer the club has ever made."
Although both Barcelona and Real Madrid had already been eliminated in the round of 16, the Spanish media continued to follow the Champions League with intense interest, especially where Liverpool and Yang Yang were concerned.
After the Reds' 8–0 victory over Roma, the Catalan press responded with a mixture of awe and quiet justification. Their tone seemed to suggest that Barcelona's own earlier exit had not been due to any weakness on their part – it was simply that Liverpool were on another level entirely.
Don't believe us? Look at what they just did to Roma – eight goals!
Yang Yang quickly became the most talked-about player across Spain. Both Marca and AS – the two big Madrid-based dailies – openly regretted that the summer transfer saga with Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón had collapsed.
Not only had the move for Yang Yang fallen through, but none of the three star signings Calderón had publicly promised had materialised. Watching Yang Yang's Champions League masterclass, many Real Madrid fans could not hide their disappointment.
The Galácticos had now been knocked out in the round of 16 for three straight seasons.
The Catalan papers – Mundo Deportivo and Sport – went further. Both newspapers once again added Yang Yang to Barcelona's summer shopping list, arguing that a player capable of operating anywhere across the front line would be the ideal signing for the club. The only obstacle, they admitted, was his price.
"Given Yang Yang's current form, Liverpool will obviously never let him leave without a fight."
Across the continent the same story repeated itself. L'Équipe in France, De Telegraaf in the Netherlands, A Bola and Correio da Manhã in Portugal – every major European sports outlet joined the chorus of praise for both Yang Yang and Liverpool. Their reports were rapidly picked up and relayed around the globe.
Nowhere was the reaction more feverish than in China. The Chinese fans, already ecstatic, descended into outright carnival after the result reached home.
No one had expected Yang Yang to deliver such a spectacular leap forward in a single year.
At this point, nobody in China doubted any longer that Yang Yang could become the best player in the world. Everyone was beginning to realise that if he maintained this level of performance and if Liverpool went on to achieve something meaningful in the Champions League this season, then Yang Yang stood a genuine chance of finishing in the top three of the 2007 Ballon d'Or – or perhaps even higher.
All of this was territory Chinese fans had never dared to dream about before.
Now, Yang Yang was making it happen, step by step.