Chapter 46 The Most Anticipated Game

The final against Inter Milan was Liverpool's last game of the season. Before that, the Premier League would come to an end.

Therefore, Liverpool could now temporarily put their minds at ease and first ensure that they could get into the top three of the league.

Now, they had such an opportunity right in front of them—as long as they beat Manchester City at home, they could achieve this goal.

Because Manchester City lost their last league game, they not only failed to keep pace with Manchester United, but they were also only one point behind Liverpool.

As long as Liverpool took down Manchester City at home, they would surpass Manchester City to become second in the league. With only one round left, they would have virtually secured a place in the top three.

So, for Liverpool, they just needed to do their best in this penultimate game.

And this was precisely the situation that Manchester City least wanted to see. Because of the loss in the last round, the gap between them and Manchester United became three points, and they were hoping to quickly close this gap. If they beat Liverpool in this game, and Manchester United lost to Arsenal away from home…

But how could Liverpool allow them to defeat them at their own home?

Not to mention that Liverpool also had Chen Hero.

Before the game, Liverpool media joked that the reason Manchester City suddenly and unexpectedly lost their last game was because they suddenly thought that their next league opponent was Liverpool, Liverpool with Chen Hero.

They panicked and were caught off guard, and then they lost all their form.

Of course, this statement was strongly opposed by the Manchester media and Manchester City fans.

But everyone knew it was just a joke.

However, Manchester City was indeed very wary of Chen Hero.

Speaking of nemesis, Chen Hero was not only Lyon's nemesis, but also Manchester City's. In five matches against Manchester City, three Premier League games and two League Cup games, he had scored a total of twelve goals.

Among Premier League opponents, this was the team against which he could score the most goals.

Some media said that Manchester City was Chen Hero's favorite opponent, precisely because of this.

Every time he played against Manchester City, Chen Hero would be particularly excited. His two biggest scoring games after coming to the Premier League were both achieved against Manchester City. In one game, he scored four goals, helping Liverpool to defeat Manchester City 4:3 away from home. In the other game, he scored five goals in one breath, helping the team to defeat Manchester City 5:1.

Now that he was back at his home stadium, what reason did Chen Hero have to let Manchester City off the hook?

※※※

Manchester City fans' hatred for Chen Hero was deeply rooted, not because of any player, nor because of any specific event, but simply because they disliked Chen Hero as a person.

Even if Richards was not on the match roster, this game was still full of gunpowder.

Manchester City fans would definitely find ways to humiliate and ridicule Chen Hero in the stands.

However, Mancini did not want Manchester City fans to be so excited. He was even actively trying to cool down the situation for this game.

"This is just an ordinary league game…"

He had to cool down the situation.

He had come to realize that when facing someone like Chen Hero, being low-key and silent was the best way to deal with him. Only in this way could he avoid angering the other party and inviting disaster.

Because Chen Hero was simply someone who thrived on excitement! If you got into a frenzy with him, he would be even more frenzied than you!

Who could stand that?

The last time the team was severely damaged by Chen Hero at home, almost collapsing, Mancini tried everything he could, psychological counseling, rebuilding confidence, and winning at all costs in the subsequent games, before he finally stabilized the team again. He even used their city rivals as an example for the players, telling them that Manchester United had been thrashed 1:6 by Manchester City at home, but they still won the league title last season, didn't they?

So, conceding five goals to an opponent was no big deal!

He praised his city rivals like that in order to tell his own players—are you even inferior to Manchester United!

In this way, Manchester City finally regained their fighting spirit and confidence, and their performance afterwards was still good. Manchester City had been closely following Liverpool, and then seized the opportunity of Liverpool's continuous winless streak to successfully surpass Liverpool, becoming the league leader, which could be regarded as indirectly venting some anger.

Who would have thought that the good times wouldn't last long? As the season approached its end, Manchester City once again couldn't withstand the enormous pressure, fell from the top spot, and were overtaken by Manchester United. Now, they were only one point behind Liverpool. If they lost the game, they wouldn't even be able to hold on to second place in the league.

Could it be that the media was right? Were they really softening because they were afraid of Chen Hero?

Impossible!

Speaking of Chen Hero, these Manchester City players gritted their teeth. Was there anything about them that looked like they were afraid of Chen Hero?

Take this game for example. Before the game, Mancini tried his best to pour water and cool down the situation, but Manchester City's own players kept adding fuel to the fire.

One or two jumped out to declare that they wanted revenge!

Mancini couldn't stop them in time…

※※※

In fact, Mancini's analysis of Chen Hero was quite accurate. This guy was indeed someone who "thrived on excitement." If Manchester City didn't engage in a war of words, he would have been fine. But several Manchester City players were so blind that they jumped out to say they wanted revenge.

Chen Hero was immediately amused. He said to reporters: "Ask the Manchester City players, which revenge are they talking about?"

This remark amused a group of reporters at the time. After being written by the reporters with exaggerated techniques, it made Liverpool fans laugh non-stop all day long.

And Manchester City fans and Manchester City players suddenly became clowns who were trying to provoke but were instead teased.

They were extremely unhappy.

Chen Hero's answer was indeed very poisonous. He directly asked the other party which revenge they wanted to take, which obviously meant that he had more than one bone to pick with Manchester City.

What he was saying was to remind everyone—it's not the first time Manchester City has fallen into my hands! It's ridiculous for this kind of defeated general to dare to talk about bravery!

※※※

After Mancini saw Chen Hero's response in the newspaper, he immediately covered his forehead… He seemed to see a tragedy unfolding…

But he quickly broke free from this depressed mood. As expected of a famous coach, his ability to adjust himself was still quite impressive.

Since the fire had already been stirred up, if his side showed weakness, it would only make Chen Hero look down on him even more. And it might also reduce the team's morale and confidence. In a battle between two armies, the brave win. The most important thing is courage and morale. They can't lose the battle, so it's better to simply fight Chen Hero to the death.

In that case, maybe they could really create a miracle away from home?

Anyway, Liverpool must think that defeating Manchester City at home is not difficult, right?

If they really think so, then things will be easy…

So, having made up his mind, Mancini also changed his previous low-key approach and said in an interview with the media: "Manchester City's hope of winning the league title has not been dashed, we still have hope!"

He was responding to the previous media criticism that he had fallen before the finish line for the second time. Manchester City's hopes of winning the league this season were hopeless, but everyone knew that if they wanted to have a chance to win the title, Manchester City would first have to defeat Liverpool away from home.

So, when he said that the hope of winning the title had not been dashed, he was saying that he had the confidence to defeat Liverpool away from home.

This was a relatively euphemistic challenge and firing.

After all, he still couldn't do what Chen Hero did, taking off his clothes and jumping onto the field naked.

Chen Hero could be shameless, but he still needed face!

※※※

Because of one sentence from Chen Hero, half of Liverpool was mocking Manchester City—the other half of Liverpool who weren't mocking were because those people were Everton fans. The grievances between Liverpool and Manchester City had nothing to do with them.

Manchester City players were very aggrieved, because once this sentence came out, they basically couldn't respond. It wouldn't be good to respond to anything. Directly say "We are taking revenge for the five goals you scored in our home?" Then others would say "Isn't there still the four goals?" "Isn't there still the grudge with Richards?"

But being aggrieved can also easily form strength. Didn't that someone say?

Either erupt in grievance, or sink in grievance!

Manchester City certainly wouldn't sink, they were going to erupt!

Liverpool now had to guide their players to erupt in the game. To this end, he began to constantly emphasize the theme of "revenge."

Outsiders could laugh at Manchester City's idea of revenge, but for Manchester City's own people, this was the best stimulant.

Revenge has always been the greatest motivation for human progress.

Manchester City people themselves didn't need to care about which revenge they were taking. They could calculate it one by one. As long as they defeated Liverpool once, it would be considered revenge.

Even if there were ninety-nine times left, this time would still be considered a successful revenge!

So, don't pay attention to what Chen Hero and the Liverpool people think.

Just get the victory in this game!

Slap them in the face first!

Mancini successfully stirred up the players' desire for revenge.

The players found that the coach supported them, so they had even more confidence.

Of course, it was right to seek revenge, but it had to be rational revenge. They couldn't be like Richards, losing both the battle and the war. That would be a great loss.

So, even though the theme was revenge this time, Mancini didn't regret leaving Richards in Manchester and not bringing him with the team.

If he came, no one could say what this game would eventually turn into.

The last time, because he maliciously fouled Chen Hero, the nature was particularly bad and the impact was particularly negative, so he was banned for ten games by the English Football Association's referee committee.

But this did not make Richards feel a trace of remorse. He believed that all this was Chen Hero's fault. If Chen Hero had not retaliated against him, how could he have gotten to where he was today step by step?

It was precisely because Richards still had this dangerous idea that Mancini did not bring him to Liverpool.

He didn't want to lose the game and the player again.

In fact, in Mancini's Manchester City team, Richards, the former main defender of Manchester City, had gradually lost his position, precisely because he was too extreme and too obsessed with seeking revenge against Chen Hero. This affected his state and mentality. Mancini felt that he was a dangerous factor, so he didn't dare to use him at all.

For Mancini, revenge was just a tool to achieve victory. He could abandon this tool at any time and would not be controlled by the tool. But for Richards, revenge was like his entire pursuit. He was like Prince Arthas, who was controlled by Frostmourne, and his whole person had been twisted.