Actually, the one that Guardiola should hate the most for making Barcelona reluctantly sever a wrist and give up a championship is Liverpool.

Of course, he does hate them. However, Liverpool is a team he's about to face. He can get his revenge soon. And since I've sacrificed the domestic league, there's no way I can't even get past the semi-finals!

Barcelona has no problem taking an opponent seriously!

Guardiola is just that confident. So all he's thinking about is how to deal with that bastard Mourinho if Real Madrid also makes it to the Champions League final.

As for Liverpool right now...

Alright, let them experience the terror of Barcelona first!

※※※

Liverpool is now divided into two parts: the Liverpool first team plus Chen Hero, and the Liverpool reserve team plus Chen Hero.

These two teams alternate constantly, but they don't intersect.

It's like two different worlds.

While the first team is on vacation, Chen Hero is with his reserve teammates, being drilled by Clarke.

"Work harder! Be more serious! Fight harder! This is the FA Cup semi-final, don't think that just because you've played at Wembley Stadium before, you're anything special! I'm telling you, it all means nothing!"

Clarke's loud voice echoed across the reserve team training ground, clear for everyone to hear.

No one had time to even glance at Clarke, because the training intensity for the reserves was really high. If they lost focus even for a moment, they could make a mistake, and the consequence of making a mistake was hearing Clarke's piercing whistle and seeing him rushing over in a rage. The best thing to do at this time was to lower your head and pretend to be humbly admitting your mistake, which might reduce Clarke's anger a little.

Clarke's temper wasn't always this bad. At least, the reserve team players of the past had never seen Clarke so angry.

But after Chen Hero ambitiously proposed his Reserve Team Legend Plan, Clarke became a different person, filled with passion during training as well.

Of course, some players found this passion unacceptable and couldn't adapt.

Those who couldn't adapt were eventually eliminated.

The players who were able to stay were all those who met Clarke's requirements.

They rallied around Chen Hero, faithfully executing the tactics in the game, without the slightest alteration or懈怠 (xièdài - slackness).

That's why the Liverpool reserve team was able to reach the FA Cup semi-finals once again.

But the Liverpool reserve team isn't just satisfied with reaching the semi-finals.

If that were the case, then he could have given the reserve team a vacation long ago, instead of training them to the death now.

Although the training intensity was high, no one complained.

Everyone was gritting their teeth and persevering.

Because they knew that this was their chance. The last reserve team was their role model. They'd come this far, if they couldn't hold on at the last moment... wouldn't that be a pity?

And... look at Chen Hero, who is training with them under Clarke's drill, a big star in the first team, but he doesn't demand any special privileges, nor does he slack off. He's just as serious as they are...

Just for this work ethic, the reserve team players felt that Chen Hero's success was well-deserved.

If it were them, they'd be happy if they didn't get carried away after achieving success. In front of players from lower-level teams who weren't as good as them, they would always put on airs. That's just human nature.

But Chen Hero didn't reveal the slightest bit of such emotion.

Playing alongside someone like this, even if the whole team was just making him look good and serving as a foil, the reserve team players were willing!

While the first-team players were enjoying their two-day vacation, these reserve-team players were training hard.

For their dreams, and for their perseverance.

When Chen Hero threw himself into this fiery training, he felt the passion of the reserve team players.

He liked this feeling.

It felt really good to be striving together towards the same goal.

※※※

Two days later, the Liverpool reserve team appeared at Wembley Stadium. This was their second time at this stadium this season.

Compared to the first time, the Liverpool reserve team players were clearly much calmer this time.

They no longer cared about Wembley Stadium's magnificent stands and the arch, nor were they surprised by the various modern facilities in the locker room. They didn't even take out their phones and cameras to take pictures together.

They were like a group of battle-hardened veterans. Although they hadn't played many games, Chen Hero had unconsciously influenced the whole team with his temperament.

At the pre-match press conference, reporters gathered.

Facing the cameras and flashes, Martin O'Neill, as the nominal head coach of this Liverpool team, looked very calm.

"Our goal? Our goal is definitely the championship. I've already said, this season, we're going to win seven championships, and the FA Cup is obviously one of them. In the future, you don't need to ask any more questions about the strength of the Liverpool reserve team, because I won't answer them even if you do. If you still have any doubts, I suggest you go and watch the League Cup and FA Cup matches this season."

He said these words very rudely, but they also sounded very domineering.

However, the reporters present didn't accuse him of being rude or arrogant.

Because he had the confidence to say that...

They had already won five championships this season, and six championships last season, and two championships in the two seasons before that. He had won thirteen championships in less than four seasons as the head coach of Liverpool, which was almost comparable to Guardiola's first time coaching Barcelona.

With so many championships to back him up, even the most non-domineering person would slowly start to become domineering...

Of course, many reporters secretly sighed that Martin O'Neill was really lucky! How did Liverpool choose him in the first place? How many of the championships he won at Liverpool had anything to do with him? Wasn't it all thanks to Chen Hero?

If they couldn't question the ability of the Liverpool reserve team, then they could talk about O'Neill's past with Aston Villa.

Everyone knew that before coaching Liverpool, Martin O'Neill had coached Aston Villa.

So, did he have any special feelings for his old club?

"I don't have any special feelings. I left Villa four seasons ago. I had a very good time at Villa, and I'm very grateful for that experience. As for now, the two sides are just opponents."

Martin O'Neill cleverly handled the question.

※※※

Martin O'Neill might not have any special feelings for Aston Villa. But Aston Villa fans missed him very much. Especially when they saw Martin O'Neill doing so well after jumping ship to Liverpool...

Many people felt jealous -- if it weren't for that damned cheapskate Randy Lerner, would the team be afraid of even a Liverpool reserve team now?

At the pre-match press conference of Aston Villa's head coach Paul Lambert, which had just ended...

Lambert looked very cautious.

Even when facing a reserve team, he didn't show the aura of a head coach of a Premier League team at all.

When answering the reporters' aggressive questions, he seemed evasive. He answered vaguely to questions such as "What do you think are your chances of winning this game?" and "Can you comment on the strength of the Liverpool reserve team?"

Obviously, if he told the truth, it would hurt the team's morale. But if he were to lie through his teeth and say that Aston Villa would definitely beat the Liverpool reserve team, that would be angering Chen Hero. And what would be the consequences of angering Chen Hero? Everyone in the Premier League knew that.

So, in the end, he could only be vague, saying a lot of nonsense, but ultimately not giving any answers. This way, he wouldn't hurt the team's morale, nor would he anger Chen Hero.

But that's what he thought. How could Aston Villa fans not see that Lambert lacked confidence in his team?

But they couldn't blame Lambert, because Aston Villa really didn't have much confidence when facing the Liverpool reserve team.

That's why they missed Martin O'Neill so much now. Since Martin O'Neill left Villa, the chairman of Villa club, Randy Lerner, simply opened up and sold players, which led to a sharp decline in the team's strength. They used to be able to qualify for European competitions every year, but now they would be thankful if they could just avoid relegation.

What could such a team use to compete against the Liverpool reserve team, which had high morale and Chen Hero?

※※※

On the day of the match, Liverpool fans in red jerseys poured into Wembley Stadium from all directions.

There were quite a few of them, and they clearly outnumbered the Aston Villa fans in claret jerseys.

After all, Liverpool had a greater advantage in this game, and Aston Villa fans felt that their team was doomed to lose. In that case, who would be interested in watching a game that they were destined to lose?

The fact that so many people came was enough to show the loyalty of Aston Villa fans. If it were in the Italian league, almost half of the stands would be empty.

Liverpool fans sang songs, waved their team flags and scarves, and entered Wembley Stadium with their good mood.

This was their second time at this stadium this season, and their fifth time in two seasons.

Thanks to Chen Hero, they were the fans who had come to Wembley Stadium to watch games the most.

In order to express their support and gratitude to Chen Hero and this brave reserve team, they would use the highest decibel cheers in the entire Premier League today to send the team to the clouds and plunge Aston Villa into the abyss!

You'll Never Walk Alone. It wasn't just the Liverpool first team that enjoyed this treatment, the Liverpool reserve team did too!