Liverpool and Mourinho's Real Madrid are somewhat similar.

They both place great emphasis on defense.

Emphasizing defense is a Liverpool tradition, and it's also a Mourinho tradition.

When two teams that both value defense meet, expecting a passionate, all-out attacking battle would be idiotic.

Liverpool, at their home stadium, has a bit more of an attacking style, being more proactive, but only to a limited extent. Real Madrid simply put on a defensive counter-attacking stance.

Despite the heated war of words before the game, it was clear that both teams were very cautious in this match.

This disappointed many people – after such a fiery exchange of trash talk, they had expected a fierce attacking battle.

In fact, Martin O'Neill was also frowning about this. He had originally thought that Chen Hero's stimulation of Real Madrid, and such harsh stimulation, would definitely make Real Madrid try their best to attack in this game, so he could take advantage of the situation and play a defensive counter-attack, just like they did against Juventus.

Who would have thought that Real Madrid would curse back, but on the field, they remained unmoved and still followed their own steps. This showed that they had not been blinded by anger, and they remained calm, still knowing what they should do. They weren't like Juventus, who, because of Chen Hero's provocation, had their whole team explode, and even the coach couldn't stay calm.

While frowning, Martin O'Neill couldn't help but admire Mourinho's ability to manage a team to this extent, it could be said to be perfect.

Admiration aside, this also meant that this game would be even more difficult.

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Because both sides valued defense and were cautious, goals were slow to come. Both sides were fighting in the midfield, and there weren't many exciting shots or defensive moments.

This made many neutral viewers who had eagerly planned to watch a strong match feel bored.

Especially those fans who were not in Europe, they had to endure the pain of jet lag to watch this game, but they didn't see the exciting scenes they had imagined, so they were inevitably disappointed.

The first half ended with a 0-0 score!

This score made Martin O'Neill very dissatisfied, but Mourinho was very happy.

In an away game, a 0-0 result was acceptable to Mourinho, although 3-3 would have been even better.

Drawing with the opponent away from home and then slowly finishing them off at home was Mourinho's strategy. That's why he was so conservative and cautious. He now has supreme power at Real Madrid, and no one can interfere with him except for club president Florentino, not even the Madrid media can criticize him, otherwise, he will give the media a hard time.

Before, when he first arrived at Real Madrid, if he had dared to play so cautiously, he would have been criticized by the media for tarnishing the glory and tradition of Real Madrid. Now, everyone doesn't talk about it anymore, they just cheer for Mourinho.

So Mourinho can do this with confidence, he uses any means to win.

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"The first half of the game is over, neither side has scored, Liverpool was forced to a 0-0 draw by Real Madrid at home!"

"Mourinho's strategy should be to ensure a draw in the away game, and he has already succeeded halfway."

"This first half is not good news for Martin O'Neill, no goals are the biggest problem. Liverpool has the most sharp attacking combination in all of England, but they can't do anything about Real Madrid's defense, it seems that during the halftime break, Martin O'Neill will have to make adjustments to address this..."

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Back in the locker room, Liverpool's players were a little frustrated, they had originally wanted to break the deadlock in the first half and score a goal.

Unexpectedly, they didn't score a single goal, and now they only had forty-five minutes left, they had wasted forty-five minutes!

Martin O'Neill also realized that being so cautious would not lead to anything, no matter what, the situation was stronger than people, even if he was worried, he had to take the initiative. If they didn't concede a goal, but ended up with a draw, then the away trip would definitely not be easy.

"Alright, lift your heads up, lads," he said to everyone.

"We were too conservative in the first half, we need to be more active and proactive in the second half. Now is not the time to think about whether we will concede a goal, we must score first. In the second half, our full-backs should be bolder when pushing forward to assist, but after completing the assist, they must quickly return to defend."

O'Neill still cared about defense, if they could avoid conceding a goal, they should...

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On the other side, Mourinho praised the performance of the Real Madrid players.

His players had indeed done a great job, executing his tactical requirements very well, and not letting Liverpool score. This was what Mourinho always cared about, scoring more goals was not as important to him as not conceding goals.

Then he began to analyze what Liverpool would do in the second half and how Real Madrid should respond.

"Liverpool will definitely strengthen their attack in the second half, because they didn't score a single goal in the first half. If they don't score a goal in the whole game, they are doomed. So they will launch a full-scale attack in the second half. No matter how fierce the attack is, don't panic, find the right opportunity to launch a quick counter-attack... But, but! Pay attention to this but!"

Mourinho suddenly raised his hand and reminded everyone with a serious face.

"But, if our defense encounters danger, the pressure is great, and the opponent's attack is too swift, and they may break our goal at any time. Then we must immediately give up the attack and concentrate on defense! Remember, not conceding a goal is the top priority in this game!"

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Besides those fans, there were others who were paying attention to this game. That was Barcelona's Messi.

Whether it was Cristiano Ronaldo or Chen Hero, they could all be considered Messi's enemies.

Especially the latter.

Messi is currently competing with Chen Hero for the top scorer award.

So he is particularly concerned about Chen Hero's goal count.

So much so that he has even started watching Chen Hero's games.

In this game, Chen Hero didn't score a single goal in the first half, and he felt a little relieved.

The gap between the two is now four goals - Chen Hero has scored fifteen goals, while Messi has scored eleven.

In the last Champions League game, Chen Hero scored one goal, and Messi scored two.

Chen Hero hasn't scored this time, it would be even better if he doesn't score in the whole game.

Barcelona's game is tomorrow night, and Messi hopes to continue to close the goal gap between him and Chen Hero...

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After the second half of the game started, it was indeed as Mourinho said, Liverpool really wanted to score, and they pushed forward with all their strength.

For Real Madrid, shouldn't this be good news?

Nope.

Real Madrid's defense instantly felt enormous pressure. The Liverpool attacking combination, led by Chen Hero, caused a lot of trouble for Real Madrid.

Real Madrid players kept Mourinho's words in mind, and seeing their defense teetering on the brink of collapse, they didn't even think about attacking, they simply concentrated on defending, and holding on to this draw would be considered a win for them.

The scene in the second half was different from the first half, it was no longer a struggle between the two sides near the midfield, but Liverpool pushing forward with all their strength to besiege Real Madrid's penalty area, while Real Madrid contracted their defense and closed their doors.

Liverpool's number of shots increased, but because Real Madrid's dense defense was very effective, Liverpool could only take long shots, and with an outstanding goalkeeper Casillas, even though Liverpool's attack was fierce, they just couldn't score...

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"This is why I hate defensive football - such a good strong match, but it was ruined by negative and conservative tactical thinking! Mourinho's team is like two buses parked in front of the goal, completely blocking it. No matter how Liverpool attacks, they can't score! But what's the point of such a game? One side is pressing the other side to play, is this a game? This is a half-court attack and defense drill!"

The commentator angrily criticized Mourinho's conservative tactics.

Mourinho had heard such criticisms so many times that his ears were calloused, and he wouldn't take it to heart at all.

The commentators are angry, that's their business. Mourinho wouldn't sacrifice himself to take care of the commentators' emotions - he's not that noble, willing to sacrifice himself for others.

He also turned a deaf ear to the boos in the sky above Anfield Stadium.

He sat on the coach's bench, crossed his legs, and had great confidence in his team.

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The game went on like this until after the seventieth minute, and the score was still 0-0.

Some Chinese fans who stayed up late to watch the game were already yawning, and tears were squeezing out of the corners of their eyes.

This game was too boring! They were very disappointed!

What they had originally hoped to see was a strong match between Liverpool and Real Madrid, a contest between Chen Hero and Ronaldo, two of the world's top players, and a hearty, all-out attacking battle...

In the end, they didn't see anything.

It seems that the media's touted focus battle is not necessarily the best-looking... It was touted to the heavens before, but after watching the game, it was simply... a rip-off!

Chen Hero was closely marked by Real Madrid, wherever he appeared, there was a crowd of people, and he couldn't make any other moves at all. Real Madrid didn't have to worry about everyone going to defend Chen Hero, and being unable to defend against other Liverpool players. Because Real Madrid was contracting their defense, they all shrank back, so their penalty area was full of people, and there was always someone to take care of other Liverpool players.

And Cristiano Ronaldo was limited by Real Madrid's tactics and lacked counter-attacks, so he naturally didn't have many opportunities to perform. Occasionally taking the ball to attack Liverpool's defense, he was unable to pose any threat to Liverpool's goal due to the lack of support from his teammates.

Just when many people were sleepy and almost falling asleep, the situation on the field suddenly changed!