Chapter 266 League Champion

The next day's newspapers, television news, and the internet were filled with news about Liverpool winning the league title four rounds in advance.

Although the media gave Chen Hero's achievements the cold shoulder, they couldn't do the same for Liverpool's achievements.

Although this season wasn't over yet, Liverpool had already created or were about to create a series of new records.

First, they broke the record for consecutive wins in English football history.

The previous record for consecutive wins was fourteen games, jointly held by Manchester United, Bristol City, and Preston.

This record was not just for the Premier League, but for all of English professional leagues, including the Premier League, the Championship, League One, and League Two.

Manchester United set this record in the 1904-1905 season. Bristol City then equaled the record in the 1905-1906 season. The most recent team to achieve this record was Preston, who equaled it in the 1950-1951 season.

Since then, no team had been able to reach this great record.

Even Arsenal, with their forty-nine-game unbeaten run, failed to achieve fourteen consecutive wins.

But Liverpool broke this record.

This season, after a 3-3 draw with Manchester United at their home, they began a dazzling series of victories.

From the tenth round to the twenty-fifth round, a total of sixteen league games, Liverpool won them all.

If it hadn't been for the controversial penalty in the game against Everton, Liverpool would have been able to continue breaking this record.

In addition, they were also close to another record in English football history: the most wins in a single season.

This record was set by Doncaster in the 1946-1947 season. At that time, there were forty-two games, and Doncaster won thirty-three of them, drew six, and lost three.

Currently, after defeating Manchester City, Liverpool already had thirty-two wins in a single season. As long as they win one more game, they will tie Doncaster's record. Two more wins and they will create a new record that belongs only to Liverpool!

In addition to approaching the record for the most wins in a single season, they were also approaching another record: the highest points in a single season.

In the history of English football, including all professional leagues, the highest points in a single season was Sunderland in the 1998-1999 season. At that time, they were still in League One, which later became the Championship. They eventually dominated League One with one hundred and five points, returning to the Premier League.

This was the highest points under the three-point system.

Of course, this was actually related to the fact that there were more games in League One at that time. There were twenty-two teams in League One, and a season had forty-two games, so it was not surprising to have this many points.

However, the Premier League only has thirty-eight games, and it is difficult to achieve this feat in these thirty-eight games. Teams as strong as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea have never done it. They haven't even reached one hundred points.

But now, Liverpool had done it.

Or rather, were about to do it.

With the league only in its thirty-fourth round, Liverpool had ninety-eight points, seven points away from the record of one hundred and five points. These seven points were almost guaranteed in the remaining four league games. If Liverpool didn't immediately lose their momentum after winning the championship, but still wanted to win the championship with an undefeated record, then those seven points would definitely be in their hands.

They only needed to win three more games to break the record.

In addition to these sure things, they could also challenge the record for the most club goals in a single season.

This record is currently held by Aston Villa, who set it in the 1930-1931 season. That season, Aston Villa scored an astonishing one hundred and twenty-eight goals.

Liverpool currently has one hundred and two goals, twenty-six goals away from this record.

The hope wasn't great, but it wasn't completely impossible.

It all depends on whether Liverpool is willing to do it.

Twenty-six goals in four games, an average of six and a half goals per game. With Liverpool's current strength and form, if they really want to do it, they can.

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These records that have been completed or are about to be completed are the dazzling pearls and diamonds on Liverpool's league championship crown.

If it was just winning the championship, many teams could do it. There has to be a champion every season, so just being a Premier League champion is just so-so.

But if you can be different from most teams while winning the championship, it's all thanks to these records.

Arsenal and Preston have both won the league undefeated, and even Liverpool accomplished this feat in the 1893-1894 season.

But an undefeated season, the most consecutive wins, the most points in a season, the most total goals for the team, the most wins… and finally, the league champion. In the entire history of English football, there is no other team with so many auras combined.

Liverpool with Chen Hero are destined to rewrite history!

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After Liverpool won the league title four rounds in advance, Martin O'Neill announced that the first team would have two days off, allowing the players to rest and release all the fatigue and pressure they had accumulated throughout the season. Then, they would prepare for the game against Barcelona with a light load.

Because they won the championship four rounds in advance, Liverpool's preparation time for the semi-finals increased from five days to ten days, so Martin O'Neill was confident enough to give the team two days off. Even so, there were still eight days left.

This decision was welcomed by all the first-team players.

They could relax, sleep in at home, spend time with their families, or go on a shopping spree. Or they could simply take the car for a nearby excursion.

Only Chen Hero couldn't rest.

Because the FA Cup semi-final was in two days.

Their opponent was Aston Villa.

The opponent's strength wasn't too strong, and they had a great chance of entering the final—in fact, you could say it was a one hundred percent chance. The reason for not saying that was because football is still round, and no one knows what accidents might happen at that time. Just like Liverpool's Merseyside derby against Everton at home...

After playing the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, it was the league again. Liverpool will play Wigan Athletic at home.

After playing this league game, it was followed by the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

The thirty-sixth round of the league was sandwiched between the two semi-finals.

After the semi-finals, there were the last two rounds of the Premier League.

After the Premier League, there was the FA Cup final.

If Liverpool could get past Barcelona, there was also a Champions League final waiting for him. The date was May 25th, which was Chen Hero's twenty-eighth birthday.

Only after he played this final would his season be over, and he could take a breath and rest.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, Chen Hero's life without even a day off was really miserable.

But for Chen Hero, he enjoyed it.

Because every game he participated in brought him one step closer to the ultimate mission in his heart.

By winning trophies and scoring goals season after season, he believed that he would eventually completely surpass Messi and become the undisputed number one in the world of football! There would be no one else who could compare to him!

With a goal in his heart, he was full of motivation and fighting spirit.

Maybe one day he would get tired of constantly winning championships and scoring goals, but that would definitely be after completing all the tasks.

At the very least, Chen Hero, who was not yet twenty-eight years old, had a burning passion for football at this moment, and there was no sign of it extinguishing.

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Guardiola thought for a night.

Just considering one question—which should he give up, the Champions League or La Liga…

Yes, this was the countermeasure he came up with: cut one's wrist like a brave man!

Obviously, it was now Liverpool who were waiting at their leisure, not Barcelona.

If Barcelona didn't want to be eliminated by Liverpool in the semi-finals, they had to make a choice—it was absolutely impossible for the current Barcelona to afford to advance on both fronts at the same time.

In fact, Barcelona's current strength was still very strong, and there was absolutely no problem in dominating Europe.

There were only two teams in all of Europe that could give Barcelona a headache. One was their deadly rival in Spain, Real Madrid. The other team was Liverpool, who had recently become their new deadly rival.

Logically speaking, Barcelona was already amazing with only two threats in all of Europe.

But the problem was that these two teams that could threaten Barcelona were all together.

The three teams met like this…

It has to be said that Barcelona's luck was really bad.

If it was just dealing with one team, Guardiola wouldn't have to worry so much.

With Barcelona's ability, it was normal to defeat Liverpool or Real Madrid.

But dealing with two teams at the same time was beyond Barcelona's capabilities.

If Guardiola thought that his team could take on Liverpool and Real Madrid one after another in two weeks, the harsh reality would definitely make him regret it.

In fact, Guardiola himself knew that this was not going to work.

He couldn't deal with two strong enemies at the same time. There had to be a priority.

That is, he had to give up one opponent.

So, should he give up the domestic league or the Champions League?

Guardiola made a decision after a night of consideration.

Give up the domestic league.

Although Real Madrid was hateful, even if they were defeated, they would only win a league title.

But the Champions League title was more important to Guardiola now.

This was explained in last season's Champions League final.

Since the Champions League was more important, Guardiola would definitely give up the league without hesitation.

Moreover, it wasn't like he had no chance to defeat Real Madrid.

As long as he could get past Liverpool, he could enter the final. And once Real Madrid also made it to the final… Guardiola didn't mind letting Real Madrid see the terrifying Barcelona in this final that was watched by all of Europe!