Chapter 1 The European Super Cup

Liverpool's European Super Cup opponent was Feyenoord.

The Dutch powerhouse had gone through all kinds of hardships last season to win the UEFA Cup.

For the fallen Dutch giants, this championship was very inspiring.

At the same time, they were looking forward to continuing the inspiration—defeating Liverpool and winning the European Super Cup.

Although Liverpool performed well last season, this level of excellence had appeared many times in European football. It was just winning all the championships. In other leagues, this is called the "Treble," not a rare honor.

So they didn't think Liverpool's Quadruple Crown was anything to be afraid of, and it wasn't enough to make them cower before the battle.

The only thing that scared them was Chen Hero.

If Liverpool's performance last season made everyone feel commonplace, then Chen Hero's performance was absolutely extraordinary. He scored 105 goals in a single season and 500 goals at the young age of twenty-six... and he was also in excellent form in the new season.

But now there was good news—Chen Hero had gone to Monaco to attend the UEFA awards ceremony. He hadn't trained with Liverpool for the past few days and had to travel thousands of kilometers back and forth. Could his stamina take it? Would it affect his condition?

It definitely would!

This was Feyenoord's biggest advantage.

Liverpool's biggest threat was Chen Hero. As long as Chen Hero was in good shape, Liverpool would do well. If Chen Hero had a problem, it would be hard to say.

Right now... Feyenoord people thought Chen Hero was definitely not in good shape.

So the evening's game was worth a fight—if Feyenoord knew that Chen Hero wasn't affected at all, they wouldn't dare to mess with Liverpool even if they were beaten to death...

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The streets of Prague were filled with European Super Cup flags, various promotional posters and billboards were everywhere.

For many teams, the European Super Cup was just a dispensable competition. Many strong teams didn't focus on it. That's why so many super teams have won so few Super Cups.

But for the city of Prague, this event was, after all, a contest between the Champions League champion and the Europa League champion. It was a top European event, second only to the Champions League and the Europa League.

So they treated the game with very high standards.

At first glance, one would think that they were hosting the Champions League final here, not the European Super Cup.

Police cars led the way, traffic control, everything was no different from the Champions League final.

Except the stadium was a little smaller...

Eden Arena was rebuilt in May 2008 on the site of the original stadium of the same name, and can accommodate 20,800 spectators. This stadium and Sparta Prague's Letná Stadium are both used by the Czech national team.

As a venue for the Champions League final, the Eden Arena, which can only accommodate 20,000 people, was not qualified enough, but the Super Cup doesn't have such strict requirements for the size of the stadium.

The Stade Louis II in Monaco, which had hosted the Super Cup before, could only accommodate 18,000 people, which was smaller than this stadium.

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Small stadiums also have the advantage of being easily packed to capacity, making them look very lively.

The Eden Arena was already crowded at six o'clock.

By the time the game started at seven o'clock, the atmosphere was even more explosive.

Although this was a match between Liverpool and Feyenoord, because it was too far from both England and the Netherlands, not many real fans from the two teams came. There were also many local fans on the scene.

This was in line with Platini's intention to revise the Super Cup rules—to allow fans in more underdeveloped football regions to see the top games at their doorsteps.

To stimulate the enthusiasm of these fans and promote the influence of the European Super Cup.

The fans in Prague didn't let him down. These fans were very enthusiastic about being able to see a game of a powerhouse team like Liverpool at their doorsteps, especially Chen Hero's excellent performance last season. He had just won the UEFA Golden Globe Award and was the biggest star.

There aren't many opportunities to see such a star perform at your doorstep.

The stands were filled with all kinds of cheers, from Liverpool fans, Feyenoord fans, and local Prague fans.

But soon the cheers of the Prague fans remained the same, the cheers of the Liverpool fans rose to a higher level, and the voices of the Feyenoord fans disappeared.

Simple, because Liverpool scored.

Chen Hero, who Feyenoord thought was in poor condition, poor physical strength, and affected by continuous travel before the game, spread his arms and ran wildly on the field, celebrating his goal.

Where could anyone see any shadow of "poor condition" and "poor physical strength" from him?

They originally thought that Liverpool would be easy to bully in this game, but now they realized that they were completely wrong—this Liverpool was no different from the previous Liverpool!

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Platini arrived in Prague after Chen Hero. He sat in the stands to watch the game, and at the post-match awards ceremony, he had to be responsible for presenting the awards to the winners.

After seeing Chen Hero score a goal, the expression on his face was very bad—he was not the protagonist of this game, so the camera couldn't capture him, and he could fully express his disgust for Chen Hero on his face.

Like now.

The expression on his face was as if he had just swallowed a thousand live flies, and those flies were still flying around in his mouth and throat, allowing him to feel this vivid touch, making him feel even more disgusted.

A very bad idea sprouted in his mind—perhaps he still had to present a trophy to Chen Hero in this game...

Damn it!

Why am I entangled with him?!

The gentle and refined Platini cursed in his heart.

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When the Feyenoord players discovered that Chen Hero was as good as ever, they lost their motivation and fighting spirit.

The following game was almost like a Liverpool performance, they unscrupulously used various offensive routines and shooting methods amidst the cheers of the Prague fans.

Chen Hero scored a hat-trick in this game.

Feyenoord only managed to score a goal near the end of the game, but this goal was of no use except to save their face.

And at this time, the Liverpool players themselves were absent-minded—they were waiting for the game to end, and then cheer for their second championship of the season.

The score was already 4:0 at the time, so what was the point of Feyenoord scoring a goal in this situation?

In the end, Liverpool defeated the Dutch powerhouse Feyenoord 4:1 at the Eden Arena in Prague.

"The game is over! Liverpool 4:1 defeated Feyenoord! They have won their second championship of the season! The second of seven championships! In just half a month, they have achieved two-sevenths of their progress!"

Amidst the cheers of the commentators, the Liverpool players stepped onto the podium to receive the award from UEFA President Platini.

Chen Hero was the first to step onto the podium again.

The smile on Platini's face was very strong, but it looked very fake no matter how you looked at it, because... it was too bright, it lost its authenticity.

He was using this exaggerated smile to cover up his true expression.

His true expression at this moment must be even more ugly than crying...

Chen Hero walked up with a bright smile on his face as well. This smile was very real, because he was really smiling, without concealing his true thoughts.

Walking up to Platini, Chen Hero took the initiative to say, "What a coincidence, Mr. Platini. You have presented me with three awards in four months!"

Platini smiled awkwardly, and then stuffed the medal directly into Chen Hero's hand. This time, he had learned from the previous two lessons and didn't even raise his hand. He directly gave the medal to Chen Hero.

As expected, Chen Hero didn't mean to bend down to let the other party hang the medal at all, and took the medal very smoothly.

This action was very natural, indicating that he had not thought about any other actions before. This made Platini even more proud of his foresight—this time, I didn't let you take advantage of me!

Holding the medal in his hand, Chen Hero said to Platini, "I will have to trouble you a lot in the future!"

Damn it! There will be a future? No way! Bastard!

When Platini heard Chen Hero's words, the hand he was about to retract paused. Ten thousand *cao ni ma* galloped through his heart, making his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

When he came back to his senses, Chen Hero had already stood aside. At this moment, the person standing in front of him was Götze, who was looking at the stunned Platini with a puzzled expression.

This made Platini realize his gaffe, and at the same time, he was even more upset with Chen Hero—unconsciously put me in trouble! Made me look ugly again!

He quickly adjusted his expression, showed Götze a charming French smile, then took a gold medal from the etiquette lady's tray, put it on Götze, and patted him on the shoulder, saying a few words of praise and encouragement.

On the surface, the UEFA president, who was stimulated by Chen Hero and was somewhat out of control, had returned to normal.

But deep down, Platini had decided that next time there was such a thing, he would rather sacrifice this opportunity to show off than give Chen Hero a medal!

Of course, silver medals are excluded.

He didn't mind enjoying the wonderful feeling of Chen Hero becoming a loser—if there was such a day...

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Finally, Gerrard took the European Super Cup, which was 58 centimeters high and weighed 24 pounds, from Platini's hand and raised it high. The whole audience was boiling, and red and white confetti was sprayed out, and then flew all over the sky.

The Liverpool players gathered around him, jumping up and down, vying to touch the trophy with their hands, cheering loudly.

The gold medals on their chests jumped with their movements, reflecting the dazzling lights of the stadium, shining brightly, dazzlingly.

This was their second championship of the new season!