Chapter 1 Articles and Special Reports

For a while, the media had been saturated with articles and special reports about Chen Hero's impending retirement.

The media had already planned to review Chen Hero's career from his very first season, intending to produce more than twenty installments. And this was just the plan of a few media outlets; others were also displaying their own unique abilities.

Things like "Chen Hero's Fifty Most Exciting Games of His Career," "Chen Hero's Five Hundred Most Wonderful Goals of His Career," "One Hundred Greatest Classic Moments in Chen Hero's Career," "Controversial Scenes in Chen Hero's Career"...

On the internet, it was even more serious. Videos about Chen Hero had practically become a plague, with everyone trying to commemorate him by making videos.

Although Chen Hero's temper and personality had been controversial in the beginning, after more than twenty years, he had still managed to capture a large number of fans worldwide with countless wonderful goals and overall control of the game.

This truly made those who disliked Chen Hero feel hopeless... Because it meant that from now until Chen Hero actually retired, every time they turned on the TV, computer, or opened a newspaper, they would see Chen Hero's name and photo.

The whole world was discussing Chen Hero, and even financial media were talking about Chen Hero as a successful case study in commercial development...

Regarding the constant presence of Chen Hero's name, those who hated Chen Hero found it extremely disgusting.

Newman. Gies, after tearing off his disguise, was no longer posing as a "Chen Hero supporter." Instead, he appeared before everyone as "a staunch Chen Hero hater." Faced with this situation, he publicly stated that it made him "sick."

"...We are a democratic country, a free country, but in this democratic and free country, a disgusting thing is happening! Countless people are engaging in personal worship of another person! This is appalling! We can worship God, but Chen Hero is clearly not God! This is England! Not a place where Chen Hero can engage in dictatorship and autocracy!"

However, these words of his were just to vent his anger—and he might not have even succeeded in that. Such a blatant and far-fetched attempt to link football and politics resulted in an article of very low quality, so no one wanted to publish it. In the end, he had to post it on his own blog.

But it attracted very little attention.

Because he was completely talking nonsense. Even his die-hard fans could see the flaws at a glance, making it difficult for them to sing his praises.

Not many people could express their thoughts as directly as Gies, because they couldn't find a good excuse or a good entry point. If they forcibly opposed Chen Hero, they would be seen as crazy like Newman Gies, that idiot.

Although they all liked to watch clowns, no one liked to be a clown.

So, they could only suppress their dislike for Chen Hero in their hearts, while comforting themselves: Anyway, this bastard is about to get out of here! Then we won't have to see his disgusting face anymore! We won't have to rack our brains about how to deal with him!

Those damned media outlets actually said that without Chen Hero, it would be lonely? Lonely my ass!

Who would miss him? Anyway, we won't!

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Chen Hero certainly didn't care about the nostalgia of his enemies.

He also had no time to think about retirement. There were still important things to do before retiring.

The domestic league was basically settled. Although Liverpool was one goal behind Arsenal, the whole world believed that Liverpool was destined to win, and he himself thought so too.

The other important thing was naturally the Champions League.

The Champions League title and the top scorer award.

He currently had eleven goals in the Champions League, ranking second on the Champions League scorer list.

Barcelona's Quique had fourteen goals.

The difference between the two sides was three goals.

Chen Hero could play at least two more games, and with his strength, scoring three goals in these two games was not difficult.

Moreover, Liverpool's opponent in the semi-finals was not Barcelona, but Bayern Munich from Germany, another veteran powerhouse.

It was also the team that won the Champions League during the six seasons when Liverpool missed out on the Champions League title.

As if it had been arranged, Liverpool had faced all the other four teams that had won the Champions League title in this season's Champions League, except for Barcelona and Real Madrid. In addition to Inter Milan, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich in the knockout stage, there was also Juventus from Italy, whom they met in the group stage. Liverpool was second in that group, while Juventus finished first.

However, in the two group stage matches, the two teams won one game each, winning against each other at their respective home grounds.

It was as if this was Liverpool's journey of revenge.

Starting from Juventus, they faced the teams that had snatched the Champions League title from their hands one by one.

Since they wouldn't let go of Arsenal, who had taken their league title, they naturally wouldn't let go of these teams either.

And if Liverpool could enter the Champions League final, their opponent would be either Barcelona or Real Madrid, so they would have to face the team that snatched their championship in the final. No wonder such an arrangement would be considered intentional—UEFA was not doing this for the first time when it came to manipulating the draw results for the sake of the game's watchability and the TV broadcasters' ratings.

Although this feeling wasn't good, such a game might meet the expectations of those viewers.

Commercialization and television broadcasting had hijacked football's development for so many years that it was now difficult to say whether the sport was developing according to its own rules or being forcibly arranged into a trajectory.

Take the current highest-level European Champions League, for example. The managers of UEFA clearly knew what kind of matches the audience and fans wanted to see, so they tried to offer them such matches.

For example, Real Madrid and Barcelona met in the Champions League semi-finals this time.

Although after the results of the match came out, many people would shout: "This is too fake!"

But more people shouted: "This is so cool! The Clasico on the Champions League stage is the real Clasico!"

Isn't it contradictory? Although everyone was criticizing the artificial manipulation, they hoped to see the matches they expected. So, didn't UEFA's approach emerge in response to this?

Therefore, instead of saying that UEFA was manipulating football, it would be better to say that the expectations of these viewers and the market commercial interests they represented were manipulating football.

The development of television broadcasting and the increase in commercial sponsorships had made the Champions League the most profitable project for UEFA. UEFA had also changed from being a pure manager to a screenwriter, and had begun to actively devote itself to writing and directing some "classic football showdowns."

In fact, many people knew this, but they just liked to see those "famous matches."

Therefore, scolding UEFA for being unfair did not prevent them from being thrilled by those classic strong-against-strong matches.

In this process, UEFA suffered no losses, the audience suffered no losses, and television media and advertising sponsors suffered no losses. Even those wealthy clubs didn't feel that they had suffered any losses.

So, who exactly suffered losses?

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After the game against Arsenal, Liverpool devoted themselves to the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

This time, they played the away game first, then the home game.

The schedule was favorable to them, but they didn't care.

Liverpool had always disdained the idea that schedule arrangements could affect the outcome of a match.

Whether playing the home game first or the away game first, as long as they won the match, it was all the same.

It was that simple, which solved a problem that many people thought was unsolvable.

Was it important to play the home game first or the away game first?

※※※

Liverpool's strong performance made their semi-final opponent, Bayern Munich, feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

Originally, when Liverpool was drawn against Inter Milan, it had attracted ridicule from those wealthy clubs. Everyone thought it was ridiculous that Liverpool was delusional to seek benefits in the Champions League arena by relying on a forty-year-old guy.

Since losing the Champions League title in the final six seasons ago, Liverpool had never been able to obtain this highest honor in European football again.

Despite Chen Hero's efforts to lead the team, they had not been able to win again. Even if they could reach the final, they could only return in defeat, as if they were cursed.

In the eyes of these wealthy clubs, Liverpool should have no chance of winning the Champions League title.

In the English arena, Liverpool still monopolized the championship. The Warring States era of heroes rising together to compete for supremacy seemed to have to wait until Chen Hero retired to arrive. In European football, the Warring States era had already begun six years ago.

The wealthy clubs competed with each other and guarded against each other, vying for the Big Ears Cup.

Only Liverpool was excluded from the circle.

It was as if Liverpool was no longer considered a wealthy club.

But how could a team that won the local league championship every year be ignored like this?

It was still the fault of that "curse."

When Liverpool met Inter Milan, everyone had this mentality, thinking that this year's Champions League still had no place for Liverpool, and that they would definitely be eliminated, either in the round of 16 or in the quarter-finals.

In addition, Chen Hero was banned for nine months, so no one could say for sure about his condition. Performing well in the Premier League didn't prove anything. Liverpool had always monopolized the Premier League title, but in the Champions League, they couldn't even move an inch, right?

Even if Liverpool won against Inter Milan, there were still many wealthy clubs that looked down on them.

But with Chen Hero's terrifying performance, it seemed like they had seen the omnipotent Chen Hero of the past return.

They began to feel a sense of crisis.

After Manchester United also undoubtedly fell at Liverpool's feet, their semi-final opponent, Bayern Munich, had to be careful and cautious...