Liverpool didn't announce their new plans to the public, but shrewd media outlets still found some clues because they smelled something unusual.

Before the Champions League game, there were two league games, and Liverpool won both. One was a 2-0 away win against Blackburn. The other game was the Merseyside derby, with Liverpool narrowly winning 1-0 against Everton at home.

It was normal for Liverpool to beat Blackburn away, but what was abnormal was that the number of goals was too low. They could score seven against a team like Chelsea, but only two against Blackburn, even if it was Blackburn's home ground. Immediately, those teams that had been crushed by Liverpool felt unbalanced...

If the two-goal victory over Blackburn only made those teams that had been abused by Liverpool feel uncomfortable, then the next game surprised many people.

The second game was the Merseyside derby. In fact, the Merseyside derby had been a mere formality for more than ten years. Even during the nine months when Chen Hero was suspended, Everton had not beaten Liverpool at their home stadium, and the gap between the two sides was huge. Everton had completely become a foil for Liverpool.

But in the end, Liverpool only won by one goal, which surprised many people. They originally thought Liverpool would easily win by a large margin.

Unexpectedly, Gerrard started rotating players in this game, and most of the main players didn't play, so Liverpool only won by one goal at home.

This really surprised many people.

With the difference in strength between Everton and Liverpool, and at Liverpool's home stadium, Liverpool should have won by four or five goals to be considered a win.

But Liverpool really only won by one goal.

Chen Hero scored the only goal of the game. If it wasn't for him, Liverpool might not have won.

Something must be wrong.

Many people noticed Gerrard's rotation.

In the first half of the season, the team also faced the dual challenges of domestic league and Champions League group stage. At that time, Gerrard didn't use rotation because he knew that if he did, the result might be a double failure. So he gritted his teeth and insisted on using a main lineup.

Who would have thought that in the second half of the season, he would suddenly start rotating players.

Actually, rotation isn't impossible. Not rotating like in the first half of the season was also surprising.

But if Liverpool rotated, everyone thought they should give up the Champions League and ensure the domestic league. After all, what are Liverpool and Chen Hero's biggest wishes this season? Everyone knows. They value this league title very much this season. If they really had to choose one of the two, they should decisively give up the Champions League and choose the domestic league.

How could it be like now, rotating players in the domestic league and saving the main players for the Champions League?

Did they plan to give up the domestic league?

Even if they were still behind, it wasn't a reason to give up the domestic league. After all, they weren't far behind. After their pursuit, they were only eight points behind Arsenal, who were in first place. Judging from Liverpool's performance after January, their form was good, and their momentum was good. This eight-point gap was nothing to them.

There was no reason to give up the domestic league.

If they thought the domestic league was already settled, and they could definitely win the league title, wouldn't that be too confident? After all, they were still eight points behind... If they thought they could win the league title so easily now, they would probably suffer a big loss in the end!

So after seeing their performance, everyone was a little confused.

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Inter Milan's coach, Stramaccioni, was studying Liverpool's recent games. Liverpool's strange performance in the last two games naturally caught his attention.

He was also puzzled by Gerrard's rotation. Logically speaking, Liverpool's focus this season should be on the domestic league.

The feud between Liverpool and Manchester United is well known.

Did Liverpool want to use all their main players in the Champions League? For this reason, they could only rotate players in the domestic league?

This explanation seemed reasonable, but it didn't make sense at all, because... why would they do this?

Liverpool's goal this season was the league title, which was also Chen Hero's biggest wish before retiring. Chen Hero has already won ten Champions League titles in his career, the most Champions League titles won by any player in history. The Champions League title shouldn't be attractive to him, right?

So why would Liverpool specifically rotate players for the Champions League?

Stramaccioni couldn't figure it out.

Although he didn't understand, he still had to prepare. He prepared on the premise that Liverpool would use all their main players in the Champions League game.

Stramaccioni was "back for a second stint." This was his second time coaching Inter Milan. He had coached for three seasons before, winning one league title and one Italian Cup title, but he had difficulty in the Champions League. That was when Liverpool completely monopolized the Champions League title. Not to mention Inter Milan, no other European powerhouse could snatch this honor from Liverpool.

Later, after the contract expired, Inter Milan did not renew Stramaccioni's contract. Stramaccioni also planned to go to other places to gain more experience, so he left Inter Milan.

After wandering around, coaching Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, and other teams, he was now re-hired by Inter Milan.

Under his leadership, Inter Milan has re-emerged. He has coached Inter Milan for four seasons in his second stint. In these four seasons, he has won two league titles and three Italian Cup titles for Inter Milan, as well as two Italian Super Cup titles. Of course, the most important thing is that under his leadership, Inter Milan has regained the Champions League title. Although only once, it is enough for Stramaccioni to step into the ranks of European famous coaches.

Because of his outstanding performance, Inter Milan renewed his contract for three seasons.

It can be said that he is currently a representative of the backbone of European football coaches.

Mourinho is old, and Stramaccioni is likely to replace him.

Stramaccioni's success is reasonable. Faced with an unclear situation, he is still careful and makes the most serious preparations.

Although he has won many championships, he is still very humble.

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The Champions League Round of 16 is about to begin.

The media on both sides also started hyping it up.

The biggest highlight of this game is Chen Hero's return to the Champions League stage after nine months. What kind of performance can he bring to everyone? On the domestic league arena, he has already responded to the doubts with practical actions. Can he still do this in the Champions League arena?

After all, the Champions League is not the Premier League. The games in the Champions League knockout stage are much higher level than the Premier League.

His excellent performance in the Premier League doesn't mean he can perform just as well in the Champions League.

It's normal for people to view this game with such suspicion.

The Italian media was divided into two factions. One faction questioned Chen Hero's performance in the Champions League. What they said was well-founded and made people believe it.

They cited the example that Liverpool had not won the Champions League title in the last six seasons to show that Chen Hero was not omnipotent. Liverpool lost the league title because Chen Hero was suspended for nine months, which made sense. Because when Chen Hero was not suspended, Liverpool had always been the league champion. Even a fool could see how important Chen Hero was to Liverpool winning the league title.

But when Chen Hero was not suspended, Liverpool had not won the Champions League title for five seasons. This shows that even with Chen Hero, Liverpool may not be able to win in the Champions League. Chen Hero may still have dominance in the Premier League, but in the Champions League, his power is obviously weakened.

This also shows that the Champions League is more difficult and higher level than the Premier League.

Therefore, there is nothing to be afraid of Chen Hero's comeback.

He couldn't help Liverpool win the Champions League title in the first place, and now he has been suspended for nine months and is nearly forty-one years old. In terms of his physical condition and strength, it is even more impossible.

So Inter Milan doesn't need to worry. Facing Liverpool with Chen Hero, they can completely defeat them.

The view of this faction of media is the most acceptable, and many people think they are right.

Because in the last six seasons, they have seen Liverpool's performance. Chen Hero can no longer rely on his own strength to help Liverpool reverse the situation. This is a change that everyone has witnessed.

They don't believe that after being suspended for nine months, Chen Hero has become even more powerful...

Another faction believes that Chen Hero's comeback is a major benefit for Liverpool. He may not be able to bring any direct increase in strength to the team, but he can boost the team's morale, which can be seen from Liverpool's games after his comeback. Liverpool after the team's morale is boosted is very terrible. Although, today's Liverpool can no longer monopolize the championship, they have not won the championship for six seasons. But even so, they are still strong contenders, or have the ability to disrupt the situation.

Moreover, another faction obviously didn't understand a problem—even if Liverpool can't win the championship, they can always enter the top eight, top four, or even the final. This is the Round of 16. In the past six seasons, Liverpool have only stopped at the Round of 16 twice due to strong strength, and have passed the Round of 16 four times.

Doesn't this explain the problem?

Inter Milan doesn't need to worry about whether Liverpool can win the Champions League title. Even if they don't win the championship, as long as they can defeat Inter Milan and eliminate you, that's enough. Where Liverpool finally stop is their own business, and Inter Milan will stop in the Round of 16.

No matter what Liverpool and Chen Hero are like, they have this strength at least.

Not many people support this view, because most people firmly believe that Inter Milan's strength is stronger than Liverpool's. In their opinion, Liverpool will not only fail to win the championship, but will definitely fail to defeat Inter Milan in the Round of 16!