Chapter 1 Chen Hero's Words

After Chen Hero's words were transmitted to Barcelona by the media, they did indeed cause a reaction there.

Many Catalan media outlets ridiculed Chen Hero for being too arrogant.

"Just because they beat us once in the Champions League final last year, does that mean they have the strength to always defeat us?"

"... It's too arrogant! That's why no matter how good Chen Hero's achievements are, he will never win the respect of fans and media around the world like our Messi!"

"End the suspense in the first leg? Hahahaha! This is the funniest joke I've heard this year... no, in my life!"

"That damned Chinese! Who does he think he is? What kind of team does he think Barcelona is? He actually compares us to Dortmund! This is simply the greatest insult to us! We must hit back hard at their home stadium! Let them know that in today's football world, Barcelona still has the final say!"

There were angry voices, disdainful voices, and sarcastic voices.

But all the voices had one thing in common.

No one believed what Chen Hero said was true.

Even within the Barcelona team itself, that was the case.

The players in the Barcelona squad who were already unhappy with Chen Hero now had even more reason to be unhappy with him.

They expressed their anger at Liverpool and Chen Hero during training breaks or in the locker room. Some older players were explaining to new teammates who had just transferred to the team last summer why Barcelona had such a big hatred for Chen Hero. Thus, the hatred for Chen Hero within the Barcelona team was passed down from generation to generation, and may even have the opportunity to become a Barcelona tradition in the future...

Guardiola, who saw all of this, confirmed his idea - this was Liverpool's psychological warfare.

They hoped to anger the Barcelona players through Chen Hero's provocation, causing them to lose their minds and composure, and then fall into the trap carefully prepared by Liverpool at their home stadium.

This was too obvious!

Over the years, Chen Hero had been acting as Liverpool's spokesperson, often provoking disputes and wars with various teams. Because of him, Liverpool's image had declined a lot. But it seemed that the Chinese boss and general manager of the Liverpool club didn't have any objections to this... Over the long term, Liverpool, this century-old English powerhouse, was afraid that it would become the same level as a nouveau riche hick...

But what did this have to do with him?

Guardiola wouldn't worry about Liverpool's future.

So he just sighed in his heart and moved on.

What he was thinking about now was how to keep his players from being fooled.

It had to be said that although Liverpool's approach was despicable, it was quite useful against Barcelona.

Because Barcelona players had a lot of dissatisfaction with Chen Hero, and this dissatisfaction had accumulated over time to a very terrifying level - as long as Chen Hero's name was mentioned, they would feel disgusted from the bottom of their hearts.

So Chen Hero's provocation had an added effect on Barcelona.

It was precisely for this reason that Guardiola was very sure that Chen Hero was playing psychological warfare on behalf of Liverpool and Barcelona.

Two days before the game, Guardiola gave the players a special tactical lesson.

He didn't tell everyone any tactics.

He was there to pour cold water on everyone and extinguish their anger.

"I've noticed some commotion in the team these past few days, and I know why."

Guardiola said.

"I also understand very well why you have such a reaction. But none of this means that I agree with your approach. I think you should all be smart people, haven't you seen that this is actually Liverpool's psychological warfare? Their purpose is to arouse the hatred and anger in your hearts, and then make you lose your composure! What you are doing now is falling for his trick! If you really do that and lose the game in the end, are you going to let him laugh at you for not being smart enough?"

This last sentence hit the Barcelona players' fatal spot.

Why didn't they want to lose to Liverpool? If Liverpool didn't have Chen Hero, losing would be losing, and they would only be sad for a day at most.

But Liverpool had Chen Hero, and if Barcelona lost to them, then they would not only have to endure the pain of losing the game, but also suffer the ruthless ridicule and humiliation of Chen Hero, that bastard. Who could accept such a result?

No one could!

Guardiola's words gradually calmed down many Barcelona players. Once they calmed down, their IQ returned to normal levels.

They all realized - yes, what kind of person is Chen Hero, who doesn't know? What he said must be a bluff, plus he's trying to stimulate us and make us lose our composure. Once we lose our composure, they will probably have many ways to deal with us at their home stadium...

At this time, we must not get angry, we must not be angry, we must not fall into that bastard's trap!

Guardiola saw the anger in the eyes of many Barcelona players extinguished, and their eyes regained clarity. He smiled.

It seemed that he had nothing to worry about anymore.

"Okay, the following is the real tactical lesson, let's continue to analyze Liverpool's usual tactics, and our countermeasures..."

※※※

Chen Hero's words not only made Guardiola think it was psychological warfare, but even Liverpool's coach Martin O'Neill thought so too.

While Guardiola was still thinking about how to get his players to recover from their anger, Martin O'Neill patted Chen Hero on the shoulder when he saw him and smiled approvingly: "Well done, Hero! You played this psychological warfare so well! I think those Barcelona kids are so angry with you right now that they're about to explode!"

Unexpectedly, Chen Hero's expression was stunned.

"Psychological warfare?"

Seeing him like this, Martin O'Neill was also stunned: "Is there a problem, Hero?"

"Do you think this is psychological warfare, boss?"

"Eh, isn't it?" Seeing Chen Hero's expression, O'Neill was also puzzled and felt something was wrong.

"Of course not, boss!" Chen Hero shook his head and said. "Every word I said was from the bottom of my heart! I really intend to completely end the suspense of the semi-final in the first leg!"

O'Neill gasped, then stared blankly at Chen Hero, his mind unable to react.

This wasn't psychological warfare?

It was real?

Hero actually really intended to end the suspense in the first leg?

Was he crazy or was I crazy? Or was this world crazy?

Our opponent is Barcelona! It's Barcelona! Even if they're not as good as before, they are still one of the top three teams in European football today, no ambiguity! Just because we won them once in the final last year, does that mean we can say such big words?

Chen Hero sighed when he saw Martin O'Neill's face full of undisguised disbelief.

"I said, boss... It's okay if other people don't believe me, but you're my boss, you can't not believe your own player."

O'Neill was a little embarrassed to have his thoughts seen through, but his embarrassment was only for a moment. He then frowned and raised his own question: "It's not that I don't believe you, Hero. It's just that your idea is too... too shocking. Have you seen what the media has been saying these past few days? They either think you're deliberately using this humiliating language to anger Barcelona, or you're really crazy..."

"I'm not crazy, and it's not psychological warfare. That's just what I think, boss."

"But I don't think we have the strength to completely defeat Barcelona at home... Of course, I believe we will eventually go to the final, but this needs to be decided through two games..."

Chen Hero shook his head: "No, we must completely defeat Barcelona in the first game!"

In Chen Hero's view, this wasn't a question of whether Liverpool had the ability to do it, but whether Liverpool was willing to do it.

So he didn't say "we definitely can", he said "we must".

O'Neill also keenly captured the meaning of the difference in his words.

He asked: "Why must we?"

Chen Hero didn't directly answer the question, but instead asked O'Neill: "Boss, how do you feel about us sweeping all the championships this season?"

O'Neill didn't understand why Chen Hero suddenly asked this question. But he honestly said his thoughts: "It's great, Hero. This feeling is awesome! We are now the team that the entire European football world is watching..."

Chen Hero nodded: "Then have you forgotten that we once said that we would win so many championships every year?"

O'Neill was slightly stunned, then he remembered.

After Liverpool won the Club World Cup this season, Chen Hero had such a conversation with him.

In the conversation, Chen Hero showed him his shocking ambition... Yes, that was the real shock, in front of that ambition, what was completely solving Barcelona in the first leg was simply insignificant...

"You see, since we are going to be a team that wins so many championships every season in the future, how can we allow such a team to always be around us and cause trouble? So, we must completely destroy Barcelona in this game and break their courage! So that in the future, as long as they see our Liverpool name, they will involuntarily tremble, lose control of their bowels, and be unable to take care of themselves! Only in this way will Liverpool's hegemony be unhindered!"

Chen Hero's words were ambitious and full of domineering.

But these words frightened Martin O'Neill next to him. He didn't expect Chen Hero to be thinking so far ahead.

After a long while, he suddenly reacted: "But even if you destroy Barcelona, there's still Real Madrid..."

This time Chen Hero snorted from his nose: "Real Madrid? Not to be feared! If they are lucky enough to enter the final, then we will completely destroy them in the final!"