Chapter 1 The Air Raid Siren

The air raid siren startled Guardiola. Then he realized that the sound shouldn't be heard in the Champions League final.

Because no matter how popular Chen Hero was in St. Petersburg, the Gazprom Arena was a neutral venue. As a neutral venue, it should maintain neutrality and objectivity, and should not have any obvious bias towards one side.

This would be considered unfair competition.

If this were Liverpool's home stadium, Anfield, it would be fine; it was their own home, and there was nothing to say.

The problem was that the Gazprom Arena was not Liverpool's home, so why were they so blatantly biased towards their opponents?

When Messi scored, they simply gave a brief introduction. When Chen Hero scored, they were as excited as if they had scored themselves. Was this how a neutral venue behaved?

Guardiola quickly protested to the fourth official: "Is it in accordance with the principles and spirit of fair competition for the live broadcast of the final to do this? Our team can feel hostility everywhere here! I want to complain about them!"

The fourth official quickly appeased the furious Guardiola: "I will write this in the match report, but you need to control your emotions, Mr. Guardiola."

Not only Guardiola, but UEFA President Platini in the VIP box also looked quite unhappy.

If he had to choose an object to award the trophy to between Liverpool and Barcelona, it would definitely be Barcelona. He liked Barcelona's football, he liked Guardiola, and he liked Messi. But that was not enough for him to support Barcelona unilaterally, mainly because Liverpool had forced his hand.

Because Liverpool had Chen Hero.

And Chen Hero and Platini were very at odds.

No matter who it was, anything was better than letting Chen Hero lift the trophy.

If the final was between Real Madrid and Liverpool, he would not hesitate to stand on Mourinho's side.

His previous animosity towards Mourinho mainly came from the battle of football philosophies, which could be regarded as a "public feud." If both sides resigned, this hatred would no longer exist, or if they changed their minds one day, they would shake hands and make peace.

But the personal feud between Platini and Chen Hero was entirely due to their mutual dislike. Such personal grievances were almost impossible to resolve. Both of them were very proud people, one in a high position, and the other unruly. Even if it was the end of the world, it would be impossible for them to bow their heads and admit defeat.

When the air raid siren sounded, he was also startled. After he reacted, he was very dissatisfied with the Gazprom Arena's behavior.

He whispered a few words to a UEFA official sitting behind him, who nodded, then got up and left his seat, quickly disappearing out the door.

Platini turned his head and continued to watch the field, but his mind was no longer on the game...

※※※

After Chen Hero scored, Barcelona seemed to be deflated, and did not continue to organize any threatening attacks.

They retreated to defend desperately.

If they let the other side score another goal before the end of the first half, and the gap between the two sides was widened to two goals, then the game would really be hanging in the balance...

So they chose the most stable way, defense.

How many times have you seen Barcelona defend so desperately?

Many people had their eyes opened today.

Just for this scene alone, it was worth the price of the ticket!

There were definitely not many teams that could force Barcelona to defend so desperately... No, it should be said that there were none at all! Even Mourinho's Real Madrid did not have that ability. It was always Barcelona attacking, while they defended and counterattacked.

But Liverpool did it... Or rather, Chen Hero did it.

Barcelona was afraid of Chen Hero's scoring ability and had to retreat to defend desperately.

However, in the next few minutes of the game, everyone's minds were not on the game. The fans in the stands and the commentators were still talking endlessly about Chen Hero's goal.

To immediately respond after Barcelona scored a goal just one minute ago, not many people could do that, but Chen Hero did it. It was truly amazing!

Pavlov was now completely convinced.

The current Chen Hero was much more powerful than the Chen Hero he had first encountered.

Far beyond his imagination.

He gave Phil Jackson a thumbs up: "It's lucky for you Liverpool to have such a great guy, Phil."

Jackson smiled: "Who says it isn't! I don't know how many people are cursing us because we have Hero and they don't. Hahaha!"

※※※

The first half of the game came to an end. Thanks to Pepe and Chen Hero's goals in the forty-second minute, Liverpool temporarily led Barcelona by a score of 2:1.

Guardiola breathed a sigh of relief.

It was good that they were only one goal behind. He was very confident in his team's strength. If they were only one goal behind, they would definitely be able to turn the game around in the second half with the team's strong attack.

He had already decided to compete with Liverpool on goals, so he was not too concerned about how to defend Chen Hero in the second half.

But he still had to sigh about how Chen Hero had become even more powerful than when they had met a few years ago.

This kind of power was not discovered through watching match recordings and studying, but through personal experience.

Although he thought Chen Hero was really powerful, Guardiola did not change his determination to defeat Liverpool in the final.

Because Guardiola had no way out in this game. He didn't know if his team could reach the Champions League final for three consecutive seasons, so this season was the last chance.

If they succeeded, Barcelona would be able to declare their resurgence to the world. If not... the team would suffer a rather heavy blow.

His prestige was still there, but prestige was a consumable. If they never won a championship, even the most prestige would be squandered and they would gradually lose the trust of others, ending up leaving in dismay.

Guardiola could not accept such an ending. He was already one of the best coaches in the world. He had experienced the most beautiful scenery in the world, climbed the highest peaks in the world, and after seeing those things, he could no longer go back to being an ordinary coach and accept a losing ending.

So he had to win this game.

※※※

In Liverpool's locker room, Martin O'Neill looked serious.

It was obvious that the players' nervousness had disappeared after the first half of the game, especially Chen Hero's performance had given them a boost of confidence. Their lead had made them a little complacent.

This was not a good sign. He had to pour cold water on them.

"Alright, gentlemen. First, calm down from your complacency. We were able to take the lead in the first half, and I have to say that there was an element of luck in it, so don't pay too much attention to the score in the first half. You must know that our opponent is Barcelona, and I think you all know how strong they are. If you think that leading 2:1 will make Barcelona surrender, then you are too naive. Have you all forgotten the saying that a one-goal lead is the most dangerous score in the world? So be more careful and cautious in the second half, and don't be careless!"

After Martin O'Neill's words, the players' expressions did change.

That's right, a one-goal lead was the most insecure score... They were only one goal ahead, and they were already complacent. It was really not right...

※※※

While Martin O'Neill was pouring cold water on Liverpool, Guardiola was busy adding fuel to the fire, encouraging his players.

They had just tied the score for a minute, and then they were overtaken again. This was really too demoralizing.

Even Barcelona, who had experienced many battles, would inevitably appear unprepared and demoralized when faced with such a situation.

Guardiola naturally had to encourage them and tell them that it was no big deal.

"Remember that you are Barcelona. Do you understand the meaning of this name? Barcelona will never let the gain or loss of a goal affect their overall performance. It's just that the other side was lucky enough to score a goal. We are only one goal behind. The difference of one goal is simply not worth mentioning for us!"

※※※

The two coaches were busy arranging tactics for the second half and giving their players psychological counseling.

The fans in the stands were chatting and waiting for the start of the second half.

Pavlov was chatting with Phil Jackson and his companions when he heard his cell phone ring.

He answered the phone and hadn't said two words when his face changed. He frowned and looked very angry and annoyed.

Phil Jackson, who was next to him, saw his serious expression and restrained the smile on his face.

After hanging up the phone, Phil Jackson asked with concern: "What happened?"

Pavlov nodded: "Do you remember the air raid siren after Hero scored?"

"Of course I remember, I was just about to ask you what that was..."

"That's a unique way for our Zenit fans to cheer for Hero. When Hero was still playing for Zenit, the live broadcast would sound an air raid siren after he scored at home. As long as you heard this sound, you would know that Hero must have scored. Because at that time, Hero was best at headers. The way he jumped up and headed the ball was just like a bomber taking off, so we used this method to celebrate Hero's goal..."

Pavlov briefly explained, and Phil Jackson and his companions suddenly realized: "So that's how it is!"

"But I received a call that UEFA protested about what just happened. They believe that this violates the principles of fair competition and that our stadium is biased towards Liverpool... Damn it! These damn bureaucrats! If this final was at Anfield, would they simply refuse you entry?" Pavlov cursed. The air raid siren was the Zenit fans' way of expressing their feelings for Chen Hero, but now this way of celebrating was banned because of protests from UEFA and Barcelona.

"This is our unique way of cheering for Hero, and now they just said a word and won't let us use it... Damn it!" Pavlov was very unwilling.

Phil Jackson frowned, then smiled: "They can control the stadium, but they can't control the fans."

Pavlov looked at him.

"We can use our own voices to make the sound of an air raid siren during the game... If the machine doesn't work, we'll use human voices. UEFA can't block everyone's mouths, right?"

Hearing Jackson say this, Pavlov's eyes lit up.

That's right, we can use our own mouths!

Zenit fans had done this before. In away games, Chen Hero scored, and the away stadium would naturally not play the sound of an air raid siren to cheer for Chen Hero, so they used their own mouths to shout out the sound of an air raid siren.

Anyway, this sound was very simple, easy to learn, and completely not difficult.

Pavlov slapped his forehead. How could he have forgotten this!

What was said was done. He took out his phone: "I'll call my people, you call your people, tell them about this situation, and make sure to shout in unison when the time comes!"

Phil Jackson laughed as he held the phone: "No problem!"

Pavlov was very happy. He laughed loudly: "I can't wait to see the expressions on the faces of the people from UEFA and Barcelona when we make the sound of the air raid siren ourselves! Hahahaha!"