Chapter 1016 The Power of Media

The power of the media is limitless. Since they intended to handle Chen Hero's matter with a low profile, it really was handled that way.

After two days, people stopped discussing Chen Hero breaking the single-season goal record again.

Under the guidance of media, they started discussing other things, like the second leg of the match between Liverpool and Napoli.

Actually, there wasn't much to discuss in this game because the suspense was already gone. In the first leg, Liverpool won against Napoli 3-1 on their home turf, leading by two goals in the aggregate score, and also having three away goals. These three away goals basically shattered Napoli's hopes of advancing to the next round.

Even if Napoli scored two goals at Anfield, winning the game 2-0, they would still be eliminated due to fewer away goals.

Unless they could win against Liverpool by more than three goals on their home turf, they were doomed.

But the question was, did they have the ability to do so?

The answer was obvious: no.

So this game was without suspense, and probably no one would care about it except for the fans of both sides. Actually, even some of the fans might not care that much unless they were die-hard fans. Who would be interested in a game with no suspense?

But the media still had to guide everyone to focus on these things, just to shift public attention and prevent them from dwelling on Chen Hero breaking the single-season goal record for two consecutive years.

Many people thought they were adults with mature worldviews, values, and senses of right and wrong, and would not be easily swayed by others. They were only half right. They were indeed not easily swayed by ordinary people, but they never considered that living in this society, they were always influenced by various people. The biggest influence came from the media. A person might become angry or happy because of media reports, which was evidence of being influenced.

If a person only reads right-wing media for a long time, their views will also tend to be right-wing. The reverse is also true.

So many people actually do not have the real ability to distinguish right from wrong. They often believe whatever the media says.

If the media says someone is a murderer, then the vast majority of people will believe that person is the murderer. They will not even consider why they are so sure, just because of the clues given by the media?

Actually, it's just blind following.

Because the media tells them how things are, they naturally believe it.

※※※

The game against Napoli really wasn't worth paying much attention to.

Even the Liverpool players didn't feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

After all, the advantage from the first game was too great.

Even Martin O'Neill sent out a rotation lineup in this game.

Now Liverpool was fully capable of playing with two lineups. After several seasons of transfers and construction, this team was no longer the kind that could only move forward on one front and had to give up other fronts.

Of course, no matter how the rotation was, Chen Hero would not be absent.

Before the game, Mazzarri expressed the same view as in the first game at the pre-match press conference.

That was——"I know it's very difficult for Napoli to qualify for the next round in this game. But our goal has never changed. We will go all out in this game. This has nothing to do with winning or losing, it is the spirit of a professional team."

It is very respectable to go all out even when you know there is no hope.

Perhaps many media outlets disliked Liverpool, but they were generous with their praise for Napoli.

So what was Liverpool's answer to such a dedicated Napoli?

Chen Hero said solemnly in response to a reporter's question: "We will also go all out to defeat them!"

He really did what he said and didn't hold back at all in the game.

He led the other Liverpool teammates in launching a fierce attack on Napoli's goal.

Similarly, Napoli did not give up.

Even though they knew they were no match, they still launched sharp attacks.

From a neutral perspective, this game may not have been considered exciting. For the fans of both sides, it was not a tense and stimulating game either.

This was a moving game.

Even though they already knew the outcome of the game, the Napoli fans continued to sing loudly in the stands, cheering for their players.

This singing never stopped, from the first minute of the game to the last minute.

Even the Liverpool fans were moved by them. If fans of other teams dared to do this at Anfield, they would have been suppressed by overwhelming boos and even louder singing.

This time, they didn't do that. They even stopped their own singing, allowing the Neapolitans' singing to become the only sound in the stadium.

This actually couldn't change Napoli's fate, but at least it could express respect for the team and the team's fans.

Because of Chen Hero, Liverpool had a good relationship with the fans of Zenit Saint Petersburg and Napoli. If they liked each other, there would naturally be less conflict.

At the end of the game, Liverpool scored 2-1 against Napoli at home. Chen Hero scored a goal, Liverpool won, and Napoli also scored a goal.

Even if they were eliminated, Napoli could be said to have no regrets.

After all, they encountered such a strong team like Liverpool and were still able to get two goals from them, which was already very difficult.

It should be noted that these goals were not scored because Liverpool deliberately let them in.

They relied on their true strength and their will to get two goals.

After the game, Chen Hero and Hamsik exchanged jerseys. Hamsik had the Napoli captain's armband wrapped around his arm.

Holding Chen Hero's jersey, he said, "This is what I want for my daughter, she's your fan now!"

Chen Hero smiled upon hearing this: "Then should I sign it?"

"We don't care about signatures." Hamsik also smiled, and after laughing, he said to Chen Hero, "Our road has come to an end, good luck on the road ahead!"

Chen Hero nodded.

"I will definitely bring a Champions League trophy back for you!"

The two hugged again, and then separated.

※※※

The goal that Chen Hero scored in the game against Napoli was his one hundred and first goal of the season.

But not many people cared about this anymore. Since they had already broken a hundred, what was the difference between one hundred and one hundred and one?

Chen Hero himself didn't care either.

Goals are like money. At first, when you can earn five thousand yuan a month, you will be very happy, and when you can earn ten thousand yuan, you will be ecstatic. But when you can easily earn one million yuan a month, you will no longer treat money as money.

The same is true for goals. When you can only score thirty goals in all competitions in a season, you will feel that you have done a good job and are worth being happy about. But when you can easily score one hundred goals in a season, you will feel that it's just like that...

Scoring goals is no longer a matter of pride for Chen Hero. He has to keep scoring goals because he wants to see where his limit is.

How many goals can he score in a season...

He wants to leave behind indelible records in the history of world football and peaks that people can only marvel at but cannot conquer after he retires.

In this way, his name will always shine in the history of world football and will never lose its brilliance.

※※※

After Liverpool finished the Champions League, the next game was not the league, but the FA Cup.

This was the quarter-final of the FA Cup. If they won this game, the Liverpool reserves would be eligible to enter Wembley Stadium.

Although the reserves had already played at Wembley Stadium, who would think there were too few such opportunities?

For the Liverpool reserves, after the League Cup ended, the FA Cup was the day they looked forward to the most.

But for their opponents, the FA Cup was not so cute.

Because the only meaning for them to participate in the FA Cup was to be ravaged by a reserve team...

Who would feel good about that?

The Liverpool reserves' opponents in the FA Cup quarter-final were Manchester City, led by Boas.

Boas was a typical example of having a heart higher than the sky but a life thinner than paper.

When he came to coach Manchester City, he felt that he could use the Manchester City platform to achieve a new breakthrough in his life and prove to those who doubted his ability, letting them know that Boas's success was not accidental!

But...

Yes, the most terrible word in the world is "but."

But after coming to Manchester City with full of enthusiasm and ambition, Boas was restricted everywhere, mainly because he had a bad relationship with Aguero. The discord between the coach and the players was not just a "rumor." During this period, there were more and more news about Aguero going to Real Madrid, and some media even confidently said that Real Madrid had officially offered Manchester City 65 million pounds to buy Aguero.

Because of the discord between the coach and the players, Manchester City's results were not very good.

In the first half of the league season, Manchester City had been hovering around eighth or ninth place.

But for Boas, there was finally some good news. That was that he had finally achieved a decisive victory in the war with Aguero.

After the second half of the season, the team's results began to slowly recover, slowly approaching the top five.

And because of the improvement in results, he also received support from the club's senior management.

The club's senior management probably also saw from this that it was impossible to satisfy Aguero. Since he could drive away Mancini, he could carefully plot to drive away Boas again. But where could Manchester City find so many coaches with sufficient level?

There were many good players, and they could be bought as long as they spent money. But coaches were different. There were already few excellent coaches now, and even if you offered them money, they might not be willing to come. Especially after hearing that there was a difficult ball bully Aguero in the dressing room, they probably would be even more unwilling to come.

So after thinking about it, it was better to let the players go. The cost was lower.

So those news were actually true. Aguero was indeed not far from leaving Manchester City. Anyway, he had always wanted to go to Real Madrid...

After driving away Aguero, Boas's main task was to lead Manchester City back to the top four in the league and ensure that they could get a Champions League spot for the next season——yes, you read that right, it was the top four, not the top five. The fifth place could get a Europa League spot, but for ambitious coaches like Boas and ambitious teams like Manchester City, how could a small, dispensable Europa League satisfy them? Of course it had to be the Champions League!

So Boas didn't pay any attention to the FA Cup, which could also win a Europa League spot.

Since they were going to focus all their attention on the league.

They might as well not have this FA Cup!