‘100 million euro man’, worries were washed away… Played for 45 minutes and ‘exploded 4 goals’

[인터풋볼] Reporter Park Ji-won = ‘The 100 Million Euro Man’ Darwin Nunes smiled broadly. There was concern over the recent two matches without a goal, but he immediately responded with a pot trick.

Liverpool defeated Leipzig 5-0 in the pre-season match held at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany on the 22nd at 2:15 am (Korean time).

Liverpool used a 4-3-3 formation. Dias, Firmino, Sala, Thiago, Fabinho, Keita, Robertson, Van Dyke, Konate, Arnold and Adrian participated.

Liverpool took the lead early in the first half. In the 7th minute of the first half, Sala exchanged a pass with Firmino Lee Dae-il in a penalty arc match. Afterwards, he shook the net with a calm shot towards the corner of the goal from a no-mark chance.

From the second half, it was ‘Nune’s Time’. Nuñez replaced Firmino at the start of the second half, and it took only two minutes to score. Teammate Dias took the penalty kick (PK), and Nuñez took the kick to finish.

When he succeeded in breaking through the blood, he flew up. Just four minutes later, another goal was scored. Liverpool’s high position pressure was successful in the 6th minute of the second half, and Arnold took over and gave it to Nunez, who was infiltrating. After driving the ball, Nuñez broke through the net with a low, fast shot towards the far post.

He completed a hat-trick and a pot-trick in succession. In the 22nd minute of the second half, Elliot lightly pushed in a ground cross, and in the 44th minute of the second half, he opened the goal of Leipzig with a roll kick from the outside of the box. Liverpool won 5-0 thanks to four goals from Nuñez.

Nunes joined Liverpool this summer in the transfer window. In the 2021-22 season at Benfica, he boasted ‘crazy stats’ with 34 goals and 4 assists in 41 official matches, raising expectations. The transfer fee was a whopping 100 million euros (regarding 134 billion won).

However, the previous two pre-seasons were disappointing. In the match once morest Manchester United (0-4) and Crystal Palace (2-0), he showed a colorless and odorless performance. At the decisive opportunity, the shot went far out of the goal, and the movement was heavy. In the match once morest Palace, he was put into the second half and played for 30 minutes before being substituted.

Fans ridiculed Nunes as the ‘second Andy Carol’. However, Nunes was not discouraged, and in his third game he showed his true worth and succeeded in satisfying everyone. Director Jurgen Klopp, who looked at the ground from the broadcast screen, was also satisfied with a smile.