Seeing his team concede a goal in the final moments, Martin O'Neill didn't throw a tantrum on the sidelines, nor did he look regretful. He simply stood there, motionless, his face completely calm.

It was as if the conceded goal had nothing to do with his team.

But Martin O'Neill had been mentally prepared for this.

In fact, Martin O'Neill had been making arrangements ever since they eliminated Real Madrid on their home turf.

Before the match against Arsenal, he had fully mobilized the players' physical strength and willpower, forcing them to unleash tremendous energy and easily win against Arsenal at home, but this was also equivalent to exhausting all the stamina that was originally reserved for the Champions League semi-finals. Therefore, the team would definitely have physical problems in the Champions League semi-finals.

He had been waiting for it from the very beginning of the match.

He was a little surprised that it didn't happen until the end of the game—were these players' willpower so strong?

He hadn't noticed it before...

Especially Liverpool under Dalglish, with basically the same players, but a completely different team. They could collapse at any moment.

It seemed that the match against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu had really given the Liverpool players endless confidence and strength, and even their willpower had become firm.

This was a valuable asset, more valuable than reaching the Champions League semi-finals!

Since they were already out of energy, they might as well not fight it...

Martin O'Neill began to prepare substitutions.

※※※

Faced with Bayern Munich's comeback, Liverpool seemed powerless. After the game restarted, they didn't launch a frantic counterattack to widen the gap between the two sides and minimize the impact of Bayern Munich's away goal advantage.

They simply couldn't run anymore.

Martin O'Neill began to make substitutions constantly, not to strengthen the attack or anything, but to replace those exhausted Liverpool players who were cramping.

Sánchez, the goalscorer, was substituted, Carragher was substituted, and Van der Wiel was also substituted.

Chen Hero was still on the field. Martin O'Neill didn't expect him to score, but he had to rely on him to prevent Liverpool from conceding another goal.

Sure enough, deterred by Chen Hero's power, Bayern Munich slowed down after scoring a goal and seemed to have no intention of attacking.

One side had no intention of attacking, and the other side had no strength to attack.

In the end, the game ended with a score of 2:1.

Liverpool won a victory at home, but Bayern Munich had an away goal. Neither side suffered a loss.

But it added many variables to the next round of the match.

※※※

After the match, the media were concerned about two issues: one was Chen Hero's record-breaking nineteen Champions League goals, and the other was the fatigue shown by Liverpool in the final moments of the match.

The first question was directed at Chen Hero.

After the match, Chen Hero accepted interviews with reporters while shirtless—not because he had exchanged jerseys with anyone, but because he just wanted to show everyone his muscles and the huge tattoo on his back that he was so proud of. This was also a way to show his strength.

"Yes, I know, I know these are the nineteen goals that broke Messi's record!" Chen Hero nodded and then suddenly laughed: "But I think you shouldn't ask me this question, you should ask Messi. Ask him what he thinks about his record being broken so quickly. This is the shortest-lived football record in history, right?"

He laughed wickedly.

"I have no thoughts, I just think... it's awesome!" Chen Hero said loudly, then he pointed at the camera lens: "My next goal is the top of the Champions League all-time goalscoring list! Now, run quickly, run faster, so you don't get caught up by me so quickly, that wouldn't be fun..."

He issued a challenge to Messi.

Although he didn't name names, everyone knew who he was targeting.

Messi, yes, it was Messi.

Some reporters at the time felt that no wonder Messi hated this person so much. From Messi's point of view, Chen Hero was indeed quite annoying. If you win, you win, but you have to bring up the loser for everyone to see. How can any loser feel good? No wonder Messi would rather die than admit defeat. Even though he was already seven goals behind, he still hadn't said he would admit defeat. Admitting defeat would be an even more miserable death, and who knows how Chen Hero would humiliate him!

What's the difference between Chen Hero's approach and "killing prisoners of war"? Any opponent who encounters Chen Hero will fight desperately, rather die than submit, just to avoid being humiliated by him after losing...

Of course, these people didn't think about another result, which is what if you still lose after fighting to the death?

It's not like fighting to the death can guarantee a win. Anyway, you're going to lose, is there any difference?

The other media didn't think so much. They didn't care about the fate of the losers at all. They just felt that Chen Hero's public challenge to Messi was a gimmick worth hyping up.

A showdown between two top strikers!

Hero has already surpassed Messi in the number of goals in a single season, and now he wants to compete with Messi in the total number of goals. This is a major event in football!

Watching the competition between the two is enough to keep everyone talking for a long time. This is a topic that can be hyped up for a long time.

Any media outlet that doesn't know how to seize the opportunity is a fool.

Thinking of this, everyone brought their microphones closer again: "Are you talking about Messi?"

After deciding to hype up this gimmick, the media naturally had to figure out who Chen Hero's opponent was. Although everyone thought it was Messi, they didn't understand Chen Hero's world. What if he was talking about Raúl? So it's better to hear him say Messi's name so everyone can hype it up without restraint.

Everyone knows Chen Hero's methods and skills for dealing with the media. He has sued English and Russian media outlets, and no one wants to be sued by him again.

Most people would avoid the question or admit it in a roundabout way, or simply deny it and say something like "I didn't say it was him", "Sorry, next question", "Seagulls follow fishing boats because they believe sardines will be thrown into the sea"... to change the subject.

In fact, the words of football figures have always tested the intelligence and comprehension of the audience. For example, the last sentence above is Cantona's famous saying, his actual meaning: "The media always revolves around me."

Goalkeeper Barthez once said: "Unconsciously, I fell in love with that round football, with its interesting and fickle rebound trajectory, sometimes making me fall."

In fact, what he meant was: "Even when I make mistakes, I can't help but love football deeply."

Kevin Keegan said: "If we beat them, I'll be very, very happy!"

What he meant was: "Manchester United beat Newcastle, they will win the championship."

The current Newcastle United coach Alan Pardew once said: "I don't like people who waste my time and energy. If you've seen the Harry Potter movies, you know the 'Dementors', they suck the hope, happiness and desire to survive out of people. So we have to get rid of those 'Dementors' and encourage those who are positive, they will promote the correct team spirit."

What he really meant was: "Always look on the bright side."

Former Hearts coach Eduard Malofeev said: "Unless it's a celebrity like Macmillan (former British Prime Minister) who talks to me, I won't answer. I feel like a bear, although it was hunted by a lion, it can't hurt the bear. I need to strengthen our discipline, the players are a bit absent-minded, I need to make them more focused."

What he meant was: "Uh, uh, um..."

Looking at these examples, you can understand why the media had to get Chen Hero to confirm that he was talking about Messi.

Generally speaking, people who are asked this question will not honestly admit it. They will imitate the examples above and add new famous quotes to the "Nonsensical Quotes of Football Figures".

But Chen Hero is not an ordinary person. Faced with this naked question, he also nakedly nodded and admitted it!

"Yes, I'm talking about Messi!"

The reporters were excited, they could even feel their adrenaline rising!

They could already smell the gunpowder in the air.

The world of football will not be peaceful... but we like it!

※※※

The question about the fatigue of the Liverpool team was directed at Martin O'Neill.

Only he could answer this question. It was impossible to ask the players, and you couldn't get the answer you wanted from the players.

Everyone thought that Martin O'Neill would stubbornly say that his team was all normal, and at least when he was about to go to the away game for the Champions League semi-finals, he must not weaken his momentum.

Who would have thought that Martin O'Neill would unexpectedly admit in public that the team was indeed in a very difficult situation.

"Yes, our team's physical strength has reached its limit... In fact, we were already very tired after playing Real Madrid. I was surprised that we were able to beat Arsenal at home..."

But he immediately changed the subject and did not admit defeat in advance: "But we are still confident, we will not give up, even if we run out of energy, we will fight to the last moment!" At the end, he even became a little excited and waved his arms vigorously.

The reporters below looked at each other and already understood.

They saw weakness from Martin O'Neill's suddenly excited action. Liverpool was indeed doomed. They had run out of energy, and not admitting defeat was just to prevent the team's morale from collapsing.

But how can such a team advance to the finals?

Anyway, no one was optimistic about them advancing to the finals, and many English reporters began to worry about Liverpool's prospects in the domestic league.

How can an exhausted Liverpool compete with a well-rested Manchester United?