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Mourinho didn't plan to wait until the second half of extra time to counterattack. Who knew how many more goals Liverpool could score before the end of the first half if this offensive continued?

Putting himself in the other's shoes, he believed that if he were the Liverpool coach, he would definitely not shrink back to play defensive counterattacks after scoring a goal, but would take advantage of the momentum to try and score more goals before the end of the first half. Even if they could score one more goal, it would be like consolidating their victory. That way, even if the opponent pulled a goal back in the second half of extra time, there would be no worries.

He believed Martin O'Neill would plan the same.

So, if he continued to defend desperately, it would only further lower the team's morale while making Liverpool even more rampant.

To give Liverpool a head-on blow, Real Madrid had to take the initiative.

Liverpool would definitely not expect Real Madrid to launch an immediate counterattack after just conceding a goal. They might even be caught off guard and not know what to do. These were all opportunities for Real Madrid.

Ronaldo, his eyes burning with a fervent light, told his teammates Mourinho's latest instructions.

When the game restarted, a visible change took place in Real Madrid.

Instead of ending the attack hastily and retreating to defend, they attacked aggressively. Marcelo, a full-back who loved to attack, also pushed forward. Before this, Marcelo had been strictly forbidden from crossing the halfway line.

As soon as Real Madrid's offensive surged, Liverpool's defense immediately felt the pressure.

After all, they had fought for more than ninety minutes, and their stamina had dropped sharply.

Martin O'Neill saw this as well, so he quickly made a substitution, replacing Götze with Agger.

But this didn't mean Liverpool would take the opportunity to shrink back and play defensive counterattacks.

Mourinho guessed correctly. After scoring a goal, Liverpool wanted to continue scoring. So their offensive wouldn't stop unless the referee blew the whistle to end the first half of extra time.

Next, the two sides began to present a wonderful back-and-forth battle for the audience in front of the TV and the fans in the stadium!

In fact, there wasn't much tactical content; it relied more on the individual abilities of the players. But the momentum was amazing, so it felt like a lively match.

The viewers cheered and applauded.

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"If they had played like this earlier... this is a true peak showdown!"

"Real Madrid is the same; they only get anxious after conceding a goal. If they had known this earlier, why did they wait?"

"I originally thought there was nothing to look forward to in extra time; it would be better to just go straight to a penalty shootout. Now it seems I was wrong, and terribly wrong! The two sides have instead unleashed an attacking frenzy in extra time, making the game exciting all of a sudden... and all of this is because Chen Hero broke the deadlock for Liverpool!"

In this kind of crazy back-and-forth attack, time always seemed to fly by.

The first half of extra time ended quickly. When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the fans were even a little annoyed—because such an exciting match was interrupted by this anticlimactic whistle!

There was no so-called halftime break between the two halves of extra time. The players simply switched sides and started again.

But the reality was that all teams would use this time to switch sides to rest during extra time. They would deliberately walk slowly, whether they were really out of energy or pretending. In any case, no one would jog all the way to switch sides. They would walk slowly, even deviating from their path to go to the sidelines and ask the coaches for water. And both coaches would seize this last bit of time, standing at the very edge of the coaching area, shouting instructions to the players who came to drink water.

After all this fuss, even without further rest, this change of sides would take two or three minutes.

For the players, this was precious rest time.

This match was no exception.

Although the fans couldn't wait for the second half of extra time to start immediately, the players were really exhausted. They were all walking slowly on the field, taking the opportunity to recover their stamina.

They all knew that the next fifteen minutes would be fifteen minutes of a storm, and they had to have enough stamina to support their bodies. Otherwise, whoever ran out of stamina first would collapse first.

Defeat would be like a landslide, and leading by one goal at that time wouldn't mean anything at all.

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The players from both sides, having taken a short break during the change of sides, finally stood in their respective positions. The second half of extra time was about to begin.

With a whistle from the referee, Ronaldo kicked the ball to Higuaín and then charged forward.

Behind him, Real Madrid's attack horn sounded.

In the first half, Liverpool had besieged Real Madrid's goal with a barrage of attacks and ultimately scored a goal.

In the second half, it was Real Madrid's turn to bomb Liverpool.

There was no need to observe; it was clear in advance.

Liverpool's physical energy wasn't enough to support thirty minutes of relentless attacks. They would definitely rest in the second half. And Real Madrid was already down by a goal, so conserving energy was meaningless. They would naturally release all their remaining power and invest it in the attack, striving to equalize the score in the second half.

These fifteen minutes were the final battle.

Both coaches stood on the sidelines, anxiously looking at the field. At this time, they couldn't help at all. They could only rely on the players themselves.

Real Madrid's offensive surged like a tide, somewhat resembling Liverpool's in the first half.

And Liverpool took the opportunity to shrink back and play defensive counterattacks.

While resisting Real Madrid's tidal wave of attacks, they were also observing. As soon as they found a loophole, Chen Hero, that ferocious battering ram, would take advantage of the situation and smash the opponent to pieces.

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Cristiano Ronaldo was particularly active in the second half.

But he was a little too active. As long as the ball was at his feet, no one else could get his pass. He would definitely dribble the ball all the way forward and then suddenly take a long shot.

Although his long-range shooting skills were indeed very good, and several shots looked like they were about to go in, they didn't go in, did they?

Ronaldo wasted chances again and again, and time quietly passed in his wastefulness.

Real Madrid's players were also getting more and more impatient. At first, Higuaín, Di Maria, and others would still pass the ball to Ronaldo, but later, seeing that there was little time left, they simply went for it themselves.

Everyone wanted to be the hero who saved the team with his own strength and turned the tide.

Unfortunately, the names on the back of their jerseys weren't "hero".

On the other hand, Liverpool was playing their defensive counterattack against Real Madrid very comfortably. Although there weren't many opportunities, as long as one appeared, it could directly threaten Real Madrid's goal.

If it weren't for Casillas's extraordinary performance, the suspense of this game would have ended long ago.

It wouldn't have dragged on until the 115th minute of the match, with Real Madrid's players still struggling to survive.

But no matter how good a goalkeeper was, he couldn't help the team change the score. That was the most tragic thing about goalkeepers—their contribution to the attack was too small.

Not only that, but he also had to face enormous psychological pressure. Every time Liverpool launched a counterattack, Casillas was very nervous, fearing that he would concede a goal. Because if he conceded a goal, Real Madrid would be completely finished.

Now, Real Madrid's formation was getting higher and higher, with the center backs almost pressing past the halfway line. If Liverpool launched a counterattack, there probably wouldn't be two people in front of Casillas who could share the pressure for him.

But he couldn't ask his teammates to retreat to defend.

At this time, they could only attack.

All he could do was to block Liverpool's counterattacks with his own strength, ensure that the goal wasn't lost, and allow others to wholeheartedly besiege Liverpool's goal. Perhaps they could score before he conceded, then the situation would be reversed, and the whole team would instantly shrink back, rebuild a solid wall, and block Liverpool's offensive outside the door.

Then drag it to a penalty shootout.

At that time, he would truly be the hero.

But before that, the guy with "hero" printed on the back of his jersey was the most likely to become a hero...

As long as he scored another goal in a counterattack, Real Madrid would be done for!

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Real Madrid attacked again. This time, Ronaldo's dribbling collided with Pepe.

Although the two were very good friends in both Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team, now was not the time to talk about brotherhood.

Pepe stepped forward without hesitation and poked the ball away from Ronaldo's feet.

Pepe was the only player in today's football world who could stop Messi in a one-on-one situation. Stopping Ronaldo was naturally not a problem.

Stopping Chen Hero was impossible. Because Chen Hero's body was too strong. He simply ignored your defense and directly used his body to push it open. Pepe, whose body was not as strong as Chen Hero's, could only watch helplessly. This had been confirmed in Liverpool's training.

After poking the ball away from Ronaldo, Pepe didn't stop there. He took two steps forward, bypassed Ronaldo, and then dribbled the ball towards the front field himself!

Pepe's move took everyone by surprise, not just Real Madrid, but even Liverpool hadn't expected it.

Then Real Madrid's people reacted—a center back dribbling the ball up front meant there must be a gap behind him!

A group of people rushed towards Pepe.

And Liverpool's players also realized this. They had to meet Pepe!

Gerrard, who was closest, leaned towards the Portuguese center back.

Before the opponents surrounded him, Pepe passed the ball, passing it to Gerrard's feet. But he didn't stop there. He continued to rush forward, breaking out of Real Madrid's encirclement.

Then he made a gesture towards Gerrard, asking for the ball back.

Without thinking, Gerrard passed the ball back when he saw that he had broken through.

A one-two!

No, a two-three! This wall pass allowed him to shake off three Real Madrid players!

After receiving the ball, Pepe continued to run forward.

At this time, many surprised people suddenly remembered that although Pepe was a Portuguese international, he was a Brazilian. He grew up in Brazil, received football training in Brazil, and felt the style of Brazilian football. Even if he played center back, he played like a Brazilian center back! His ability to assist straight forward was very strong! In this regard, he was quite similar to his predecessor Lucio!

He was going straight for the enemy's lair!