Chapter 1 The Beginning

Five minutes into the game, the Barcelona players and fans suddenly realized a problem—in these five minutes, Liverpool had taken two shots, but they hadn't even managed one!

Was this normal?

Not having a shot within five minutes was normal.

But their opponents had taken two shots in those five minutes, while they hadn't even managed one. That was not normal.

And it wasn't just that they hadn't had a shot. Barcelona hadn't even managed to enter Liverpool's 30-meter zone... not even once!

That was even more abnormal!

With Barcelona's powerful attack, they couldn't even get into their opponent's 30-meter zone!

These abnormalities combined made the game feel subtly wrong.

Guardiola was the first to spot the problem.

Liverpool's aggressive pressing in the frontcourt had never been seen before.

Even at the beginning of a game, when they needed to bombard the opponent to score goals, they didn't defend like this. They would retreat to their own 30-meter zone and set up a defensive line there. No matter how the opponent attacked, they would first ensure that their defense wouldn't collapse and that the players wouldn't lose their positions.

But now, Liverpool's defense was more aggressive than ever, even... radical! They wished they could just surround Barcelona's penalty area and start snatching the ball, so they couldn't even get out of the penalty area.

Liverpool's performance in this game was very unusual. If Guardiola couldn't see that, he wouldn't deserve to be a qualified coach.

But what if he did see it?

He still had to think about why Liverpool was doing this.

By doing this, Liverpool was leaving a huge gap behind them. As long as Barcelona broke through once, Liverpool's goal would be in danger.

The risk they were taking was huge, so why were they still doing it?

Then he noticed the statistics for the first five minutes.

Liverpool had a lot of attacks.

An idea popped into his head.

Could it be that Liverpool wants to attack us head-on at home?

The thought had barely surfaced when he was startled.

His first reaction was disbelief.

But then he thought of what Chen Hero had said before the game.

"We will completely solve Barcelona in the first leg!"

Is this Liverpool's way of solving it?

Guardiola's face revealed a hint of disdain as he figured it out.

In his opinion, Liverpool's attempt to completely solve Barcelona with this method was simply naive!

But if that were the case... it would be simple. Attack! Let's see who has the stronger attack!

With that thought, he didn't get up but continued to sit on the coach's bench.

He had nothing to worry about. He just needed to watch the game. The game would naturally develop in a way that favored Barcelona.

Guardiola settled down on the coach's bench.

He didn't know that he had missed an opportunity, an opportunity that could have saved him and his team's fate.

※※※

Five minutes later, the situation in the game was still Liverpool attacking and Barcelona wanting to attack.

As the second five minutes began, Liverpool's attack didn't decrease at all. Their defense was still pushing forward as usual, launching a crazy press in the middle and frontcourt.

Guardiola's performance was very calm. However, the Barcelona players on the field were very unaccustomed to Liverpool's defense.

They were making mistakes continuously under Liverpool's pressure.

Only Messi was a bright spot. His dribbling was still sharp.

However, because he was farther from the goal, his dribbling distance also increased, which decreased his final successful dribbling rate.

On the other hand, Liverpool's attack was like a tide. Even if they didn't ultimately form a shot, they could give people a feeling that "Liverpool has faintly gained the upper hand."

They couldn't say why they felt this way, but that was how they felt.

Their feelings were not supported by theory but existed as a fact.

Liverpool really suppressed Barcelona!

The Liverpool fans in the stands were happy to see this scene—it proved that Liverpool was already the best team in the world! Barcelona was no match for them!

But what made them happy was not just this...

※※※

High-level coaches always have this psychological misconception—they think that tactics can solve all problems.

As long as their tactics can restrain the opponent's tactics, then the victory of the game will belong to them.

Sometimes they ignore the fact that there are many factors that determine the outcome of a game, and sophisticated tactics are just one of them.

Collectivism is certainly worth promoting, but the brilliance of individual heroism is also something that no one can erase or ignore.

It is possible that an insignificant little person can change history, and it is also possible that a star's flash of inspiration can become the turning point of a game.

And neither of these two teams lacks people with this ability.

Liverpool organized passing to move the ball back and forth on the edge of Barcelona's penalty box, looking for opportunities.

This was a little different from their direct style of play. Barcelona fans who didn't pay attention to Liverpool would find this Liverpool unfamiliar. Some people would even think that Liverpool was imitating Barcelona, a clumsy imitation. What good could come of such an amateurish performance?

What they didn't know was that after Gotze joined, this situation often occurred in Liverpool. After all, they couldn't rely solely on long passes and fast breaks from the backfield to win the world. As their strength increased, they would face many teams that would shrink back and defend from the start. At this time, positional warfare was also a skill that Liverpool had to master.

Gotze's transfer was also due to O'Neill's request.

In the constant horizontal passing, Liverpool was patiently looking for loopholes in Barcelona's defense.

Faced with such an attack, Barcelona seemed to be at ease, patiently dealing with Liverpool.

No matter where the ball was, as long as their defensive positions weren't messed up, Liverpool wouldn't find a chance.

The ball was passed back and forth a few times and even passed back a few times.

Pique suddenly felt that something was wrong.

What exactly was wrong?

In order to prevent Liverpool from crossing from the wing and finding Chen Hero, they were strictly guarding against crosses from the wing. This blocked Liverpool's path to cross.

It forced them to only pass from the wing to the center, and then from the center to the wing.

Logically speaking, this defense was successful. Liverpool could only go through the center. If they went through the center, Chen Hero's greatest weapon, the header, would not be able to play a role…

That's right, Chen Hero!

Where was that damn bastard?

At the thought of Chen Hero's name, the Barcelona center back quickly looked around.

He didn't see Chen Hero next to him.

Looking further, he didn't even see Chen Hero in the penalty area!

Suddenly, cold sweat climbed onto his forehead.

He couldn't find Chen Hero in his own penalty area. Didn't that explain the problem?

This meant the problem was serious!

As a center back, he had actually lost track of his defensive target!

In a panic, he turned his gaze to outside the penalty area.

The edge of the penalty area, the arc, no!

He glanced to the right again, still no!

Left…

He saw Chen Hero.

Right on the corner of the penalty box, on the very edge of Barcelona's defense.

No one knew when he had appeared there.

And it seemed that the Barcelona players hadn't noticed him in the first place…

Pique's heart tightened, and a bad premonition rose in his mind.

He opened his mouth to remind his teammates.

Just then.

Gotze passed the ball.

Not to anyone else. The ball went directly to Chen Hero's feet.

At this time, the other Barcelona players realized that Chen Hero was no longer in the penalty area…

But when did he get here?

Many people were wondering.

But now they couldn't bother to explore the answer to this question.

A group of people rushed towards Chen Hero.

Center back, full back, defensive midfielder, winger… they pounced on him from four directions.

Among them, right back Alves was in the path of Chen Hero's forward movement. As long as Chen Hero took the ball past him, he would fall into the trap.

And Pique had rushed up when he discovered Chen Hero, intending to block Chen Hero's shooting angle, and also intending to block Chen Hero's breakthrough with Alves.

But Chen Hero didn't dribble forward. After stopping the ball, he directly swung his left leg in place.

Followed by a shot!

His left foot was like the tip of a whip, quickly striking the ball.

With a bang.

The ball flew quickly along the grass toward the near corner of the goal!

Chen Hero chose a shooting time that no one expected, and also chose a shooting angle that no one expected!

He shot directly, heading straight for the near corner!

The ball went through between Pique and Alves.

Goalkeeper Valdes' reaction was obviously a beat slow—because he didn't expect Chen Hero to shoot so suddenly!

He fell to the ground and made a lateral save, but it was too late.

The ball went past his hand.

Then it grazed the post and plunged into the net…

Goal… goal!

※※※

When they saw the ball fly into the goal, everyone was stunned for a moment. Some people didn't believe their eyes. They widened their eyes and stared at the field, as if this would allow them to see more clearly.

Few people thought that Liverpool would score so early in the game.

You have to know that it wasn't even ten minutes yet!

But soon, a huge cheer rang out in Anfield, the sound deafening, sweeping the heavens and the earth, and the heart-palpitating aura came crashing down.

"We're ahead! We're ahead! In the eighth minute, we're ahead of Barcelona!" Liverpool club commentator Harry Levy shouted excitedly into the microphone.

But his voice was also drowned out by the cheers of the Liverpool fans.

"Long live Liverpool——!! Long live Hero——!!!"