AC Milan was ultimately thrashed by Liverpool 4-0 at their home ground, resulting in a 6-0 aggregate score and their elimination from the competition.

Two legs played, six goals conceded, and none scored.

Such a defeat was simply humiliating.

The aftermath triggered a major earthquake at the Milan club.

The conflict between Zlatan Ibrahimović and Allegri had become public and intense.

The Swede once again openly criticized Allegri's inaction after the match.

"Did he get up from the bench even once during the entire game? Did he make a single adjustment? No! Not even once! He just sat there on the bench and watched us get slaughtered!"

Ibrahimović placed all the blame for the loss on Allegri, clearly seeking a scapegoat. He was also diverting attention away from his pre-match boast about going head-to-head with Liverpool.

Allegri continued to play dumb to his accusations: "I didn't hear him say that to me. If he has any opinions about me, I think he'll tell me to my face. He doesn't seem like the kind of coward who likes to talk behind people's backs."

He subtly mocked the Swede. But his approach was much smarter than Ibrahimović's. He didn't publicly admit to having a conflict with Ibrahimović. With the team already losing by a large margin, the Swede's actions only made AC Milan even more embarrassed—losing the game was one thing, but internal strife! It was a joke for fans and the media worldwide!

So, when Allegri lightly denied Ibrahimović's criticism and chose to cover up the internal conflict, it became clear to discerning observers who was truly acting in the best interests of the team.

Allegri didn't need to prove his innocence to the media; he only needed to prove it to Berlusconi and Galliani. As long as the two executives trusted him, he would have the opportunity to prove himself to the fans and media again. Sooner or later, he would vent all his anger!

Now, the priority was to get rid of Ibrahimović, the black sheep of the team.

So, when he heard the reporter say that Ibrahimović had openly attacked him again, he was actually very happy. Because in his view, the more Ibrahimović did this, the closer he would be to leaving Milanello.

Since the Swede was eager to leave, he had no intention of trying to keep him.

However, he wouldn't actively push him away; that would be too deliberate and unwise.

He just needed to watch the frustrated Ibrahimović continue to make mistakes.

In the recently concluded match, he had received the support of the entire team, but everyone had seen his performance.

His prestige within the team had plummeted.

As for the fans, probably not many people believed that the Swede could really be their savior.

Most importantly, what were the attitudes of the club's higher-ups, Galliani and Berlusconi?

That was all he cared about.

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The next day, Galliani found Allegri and expressed the club's support for him.

He didn't say much, but Allegri was already very clear about who the ultimate victor in his war with Ibrahimović would be.

Ibrahimović was not as skilled as Hero, and his ability to unite the locker room was far inferior. In the locker room, he could only become a scourge. Now, some players in the locker room were already dissatisfied with Ibrahimović's selfishness during matches.

The Swede's actions in the game were simply cutting himself off from the people!

He knew he had made the right bet!

Referencing Mourinho, he had used a game loss to consolidate his position. This was simply a classic case in football!

Although the two had previously had conflicts, at this moment he was very grateful to Mourinho for the inspiration—so that's how you can lose a game!

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The earthquake and turmoil following AC Milan's loss had absolutely nothing to do with Chen Hero or Liverpool.

Chen Hero wouldn't know that his three goals had changed the fate of a team and a person.

For other Liverpool players, reaching the Champions League final meant they could rest well before then.

They had already won the league title in advance, so there was no need for them to work hard to win games anymore.

But for Chen Hero, his battle was far from over.

In the league, even if the team had already won the championship in advance, most of his teammates had no goals, but he did.

His goal was to break Dixie Dean's single-season record of sixty goals this season.

In addition, he had to lead the reserve team to participate in the FA Cup.

Finally, there was naturally the Champions League final.

None of these three tasks were easy.

At the same time, Martin O'Neill also made adjustments.

To give Chen Hero and the reserve team more time to train together, he scheduled the reserve team's training sessions at the same time as the first team's.

This way, Chen Hero could train with the reserve team during daily training, further enhancing their chemistry.

In addition, since Liverpool had already won the league title in advance, Martin O'Neill also planned to have more reserve team players join the first team for the next three league games, honing them in the league and giving them more game experience. This way, they wouldn't perform poorly due to lack of experience when the FA Cup final came around.

You had to know that the feeling of a final was completely different from that of a semi-final. In the semi-final, the opponent might not have been giving their all, but in the final, there was absolutely no possibility of not giving their all.

Moreover, allowing reserve team players to participate in domestic league games could also give first-team players valuable rest time, preparing them for the final Champions League match.

You had to know that after a long season, many players' physical condition had reached their limit by the end, and they could easily get injured, not only during games but also more likely during training.

Now, if the reserve team replaced the first team to play in the league, the first-team players could get more rest, and at the same time, they didn't have to train hard to prepare for domestic league games, which greatly reduced the possibility of them getting injured during training.

Besides, with the league at this stage, the championship had been won in advance, and not many first-team players were still focused on the league.

Martin O'Neill's arrangement could be said to be a win-win situation.

After returning to Liverpool, he specifically called the reserve team to the first team's training ground, and the two teams officially began to train together. At the same time, he announced his decision on the training ground.

As he expected, no one expressed any objections.

The reserve team players were very happy, and the first-team players were also happy to get a lot of rest time.

Thus, a strange preparation began.

For the FA Cup, the reserve team players got more opportunities.

For the Champions League final, the first-team players got enough rest.

It was a win-win situation, and no one hindered anyone.

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Therefore, when Liverpool challenged Hull City on the road on the weekend with six reserve team players plus four first-team substitutes, plus Chen Hero, everyone, including the media, the public, and even the opponent, was surprised.

They didn't expect Liverpool to field such a makeshift team to play in the league.

Although they had done this in the FA Cup and the League Cup...that was a cup game, but this was a league game, the highest-level competition!

Wait...

They quickly realized.

It seemed that Liverpool was doing this precisely for the FA Cup final, to give the reserve team more opportunities to participate in actual combat!

After understanding this, everyone was stunned—should they say that Martin O'Neill was really bold, or that he didn't take his league opponents seriously at all?

Poor Hull City, after all, they were also a Premier League team, but they were treated like this by Liverpool...

It was one thing to have them line up and applaud the defending champions before the game, that was etiquette.

But what Hull City couldn't stand was that they showed politeness, but Liverpool didn't—they actually used such a lineup to deal with them! It would be better to give beggars something better than this!

They were full of anger, wanting to give this arrogant Liverpool team a lesson at home.

But what they didn't expect was that the final result was that they were slaughtered by Liverpool at their home...

6:1!

Liverpool really showed no mercy!

Or rather, Chen Hero really showed no mercy...

Hero completed a hat-trick in this game, and his league goals for the season reached fifty-five.

At the same time, Martin O'Neill used all three of his substitutions in the game, replacing all first-team players with reserve team players.

As early as when Martin O'Neill announced this decision, the reserve team players were the happiest.

What were they working hard for in reserve team training and games? Wasn't it just to maintain their state and then attract the attention of the first team coach, so as to obtain the qualification to enter the first team?

Now, they didn't have to do this, they had already entered the first team, and they could play in official league games with the first team, instead of the reserve team league.

If they could perform well in these games, maybe they could stay in the first team permanently?

Chen Hero's spur-of-the-moment decision actually brought them such great benefits.

How could they not be happy?

Naturally, they were all trying to show their best form in the game, unwilling to waste this hard-won opportunity.

Therefore, this patchwork Liverpool was actually stronger than the pure Liverpool first team, and their desire to fight was also stronger.

So, it was only natural to send Hull City a slaughter...

It was just a pity that Hull City became Liverpool's training sacrifice for the FA Cup at their home.

Moreover, the remaining two teams, West Ham United and Newcastle, would also become sacrifices.

Using three Premier League teams as blood sacrifices, Liverpool would not allow the reserve team to fail in the FA Cup final!