Messi suddenly understood how Cristiano Ronaldo must have felt back then. At that time, Messi was at his peak, and Ronaldo was desperately chasing after him. Messi repeatedly won the FIFA Ballon d'Or and World Player of the Year awards, while Ronaldo? He became Messi's foil time and time again.

It wasn't easy to have a player who was universally recognized as being as good as him constantly playing second fiddle.

He thought that if he continued to play like this, he would become the greatest player of all time, unparalleled before or since.

At that time, some media outlets had even begun to calculate when he would catch up with Pele's thousand-plus goals and at what age.

Being able to be compared to one of the greatest players in football history was enough to show how popular Messi was at the time.

But what about now?

He has become Chen Hero's supporting actor, again and again.

He tried desperately to break this fate, but only sank deeper.

Was this the feeling Cristiano Ronaldo had back then?

※※※

Chen Hero never paid attention to the feelings of losers.

With three goals in the bag, he felt that the game was basically decided.

He didn't believe that Barcelona would cause any trouble in the second half. If Barcelona dared to, he would hit them with another heavy blow.

He lowered his arms and looked around at the Barcelona players. Like a lion surveying the people in its territory.

Then he was drowned by his teammates.

His teammates rushed up wildly, hitting him hard on the head, shoulders, back, arms, and chest.

"Great job, Hero! You've completely stunned them!"

"It looks like we can really finish them off in the first leg!"

"Ahahaha! We can go to Barcelona for vacation in the second leg!"

"It's so great! Let them be arrogant, let them be sore losers! This time, we'll shut them up completely!"

Everyone celebrated and cheered in front of Barcelona's goal.

Among a large group of green-shirted Barcelona players, Liverpool's red flower was in full bloom.

※※※

After the game restarted, Liverpool's offensive slowed down somewhat—they also needed to rest, and it was impossible to maintain a high-intensity pace all the time. So Chen Hero's hat-trick was very timely. This goal completely reassured the Liverpool players. Otherwise, a two-goal lead would still be unsettling, and they would have to attack desperately before the end of the first half to suppress the restless Barcelona.

Now... looking at the confused eyes of the Barcelona players on the opposite side, you could tell that they were done for.

So they could relax and slow down the pace, saving some energy.

They slowed down, and Barcelona didn't press up to attack.

From this, it could also be seen that the Barcelona players were somewhat absent-minded and unwilling to fight.

And Guardiola didn't yell at these players from the sidelines.

He was now also considering what to do in the second half, so he really wasn't in the mood to care about the players on the field.

And so, until the end of the first half, the score was still 3:0, with Liverpool leading at home.

When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the commentators lamented that the first half was too unexpected.

Perhaps some people thought that Liverpool could eventually win at home, but who would have thought that Liverpool could so easily take a three-goal lead at home?

"Although this game has only been half played, it has exceeded all of our expectations... Before the game, when Chen Hero said that he would completely resolve the suspense in the first leg, we all thought he was either joking or playing psychological warfare... We didn't expect him to be serious! Liverpool are serious! They really want to completely end the suspense of the two-legged match in the first leg!"

The commentator sighed.

"I have to say, we didn't guess this point before the game, so I think Guardiola must not have thought that Liverpool would be serious either. So the whole team wasn't fully prepared in the preparation..."

During the halftime break, the commentators and guests on various TV stations began to discuss a question:

"Having conceded three goals in the first half, can Barcelona still turn the situation around after returning to their home court?"

Most people were pessimistic about this, thinking that even if the score didn't change, it would be difficult for Barcelona to turn the situation around at home.

Even if Barcelona could score four goals against the defense-oriented Liverpool at their home stadium, was Liverpool's offense just for show?

Barcelona could hardly stop Chen Hero from scoring at the Nou Camp. And as long as Liverpool can score at the Nou Camp, Barcelona is doomed.

This damn away goal...

Even the commentators and guests who supported Barcelona were frowning at this time, feeling that the matter was very棘手 (jí shǒu, thorny).

※※※

It wasn't just these guests who felt the matter was very tricky, but also Guardiola.

Before the game, he confidently told his players that Chen Hero's so-called "completely end the suspense in the first leg" statement was just playing psychological warfare with them, hoping to disturb their minds.

But the reality slapped him hard in the face.

Now he was not only in pain because the team had suffered a defeat, but also felt very embarrassed.

Because he was wrong.

He could admit his mistake to the players on this issue, which wouldn't be too difficult.

What was difficult was how to make his players regain their courage and confidence after apologizing?

In this game, Chen Hero's three goals had already destroyed the morale of these people.

He could see it.

In the past, Barcelona had always been the one to destroy the morale and confidence of their enemies, which made many people ignore a reality. They thought that Barcelona was invincible, incomparably powerful, and had no weaknesses. But in fact, although Barcelona is called the "Universe Team," it is still a team on Earth. Like other teams, they are composed of earthlings, have emotions, and have emotional ups and downs.

Since they can be momentarily flustered after conceding a goal, why can't they be destroyed by others?

They will also give up on themselves, feel despair, and be discouraged.

This is all very normal and has always existed in Barcelona. It's just that everyone has forgotten it.

Guardiola knew his team very well.

It was unrealistic to expect to reverse Liverpool in this game. If he forced his players to fight Liverpool desperately during the halftime break, he believed the result would be even worse. While fighting desperately, the opponent might have already killed Barcelona.

And these players may not even be interested in fighting to the death.

After thinking about it, Guardiola felt that he should admit defeat and give up those unrealistic ideas.

He spoke.

"I'm sorry, everyone. Because of mistakes in our work, we underestimated our opponents, so we are now encountering such a painful defeat... What I want to tell everyone is that admitting defeat is sometimes a sign of strength. What we should do now is to admit defeat... but this is not the same as giving up. We can no longer win the game in this match, but at the very least, we can choose to lose as little as possible. Conceding three goals is not the end of the world. As long as we don't concede any more goals in the second half, when we return to our home stadium, I think we still have a glimmer of hope, which is worth our 100% effort to pursue..."

"So, everyone. In the second half, we must defend at all costs. Put aside those boring ideas and pride. At this time, nothing is more important than survival! As long as we don't concede any more goals, we can survive! Then, return to our home stadium... Let's repay all the humiliation we have suffered today tenfold!"

At the end, Guardiola raised his voice, and he was infected by his own豪情 (háo qíng, heroic spirit).

Yes, as long as you can survive, there is hope for a comeback... If you lose too much in this game, then everything will be over.

And in order to survive, all those ideas such as "Barcelona's tradition is to attack," "How can gorgeous artistic football do that ugly defensive tactic," "Park a bus in front of our Barcelona goal? We never bother to do such a thing" are all stumbling blocks!

They must all be discarded!

At this moment, the proud Guardiola disappeared. For victory, he can also use any means.

He didn't even bother to think about whether the Catalan media and fans would spare him if he really relied on this kind of dead-end defense to keep the score at 0:3, and successfully reversed Liverpool when he returned to his home stadium.

Chen Hero actually forced him to this point...

Probably few people would believe it if they said it.

But it really happened.

It has to be said that Chen Hero is so terrifying that he can make a proud person give up his ideals, even if only temporarily, which is not easy.

※※※

It has to be said that Guardiola still has a high prestige in the team. After all, many of these players were brought up by him, and they became world-class superstars under him.

So his words, especially the last sentence, successfully aroused the blood of the Barcelona players.

Yes, as long as they can get through this game and keep a life to go back.

When they return to the Nou Camp, recuperate, and then fight Liverpool to the death at the Nou Camp, they will definitely repay everything they suffered in this game tenfold!

They always believed that the reason why this game turned out like this was because they were caught off guard by Liverpool and were somewhat careless.

This is definitely not a demonstration of the normal strength comparison between the two teams.

When they really get serious in the second half, Liverpool can forget about scoring another goal!

First of all, they have to survive.

Live to return to Barcelona.

In the second half, you Liverpool bastards, don't even think about scoring another goal on us!