Chapter 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Although a war of words had erupted with Real Madrid, Liverpool first had to face Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool and Tottenham had a feud.

This feud was related to two transfer deals: Bale's transfer to Liverpool and Richards' transfer to Tottenham. However, half a season later, the protagonists of these two transfers were experiencing different circumstances.

Gareth Bale quickly became a key member of Liverpool's attacking lineup after his transfer, whereas Richards was completely frozen out by Tottenham manager McClaren due to his poor performance in the match against Liverpool. His ankle injury had healed, but he hadn't made a single appearance for the team since then.

As time passed, the animosity between the two sides gradually faded. Chen Hero was pleased that Richards wasn't doing well at Tottenham. Tottenham fans, on the other hand, had slowly begun to accept life without Gareth Bale. Now, when they saw Bale, they only felt a slight pang in their hearts and wouldn't cause a scene at Anfield.

It should have been a very ordinary match.

But the result caused further ripples throughout the league.

Tottenham Hotspur forced a draw against Liverpool at Anfield!

Liverpool had been leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from Chen Hero.

Liverpool maintained their 1-0 lead until the eighty-eighth minute of the match. But in the final minute, Tottenham won a free kick.

Van der Vaart took the free kick himself, and the ball flew into Liverpool's goal...

When Martin O'Neill saw the ball fly past Reina and into the net, he angrily kicked a water bottle nearby.

He was furious.

How could he not be? He was about to secure three points, and the pressure would have been entirely on Manchester United. But at the very last moment, the defense was breached!

Losing three points like that was incredibly frustrating!

Tottenham only had that one free kick...

Damn it!

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Martin O'Neill was furious, while Liverpool's players seemed stunned. They couldn't believe that after holding on for the entire match, they were undone at the very last moment...

Some couldn't believe it and thought it must have been a bad call, arguing that their wall hadn't retreated the required 9.15 meters and the free kick should be retaken, or that the opposition hadn't waited for the referee's whistle before taking the kick...

But no, the referee's gestures and whistle indicated that it was a valid goal!

Tottenham had really equalized!

"Ahhh! Unbelievable! Tottenham has equalized in the final moments! They've forced a draw against Liverpool at Anfield!"

"1-1! Van der Vaart! Van der Vaart! He has saved Tottenham!"

Compared to the stunned Liverpool players, the commentators and Tottenham players were ecstatic.

After scoring, Van der Vaart excitedly took off his shirt, even if it meant getting a yellow card!

Then he was mobbed by his Tottenham teammates...

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Van der Vaart's goal caused a very unwelcome thought to surface in the minds of Liverpool fans—was their chance at the league title really going to slip away?

Once this thought appeared, it couldn't be suppressed, growing wildly in the hearts of every Liverpool fan, filling every corner of their minds.

Then, like a plague, it spread outwards.

Therefore, while the Tottenham players were celebrating their narrow escape, Anfield fell into dead silence.

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Liverpool's draw against Tottenham meant that they were now six points ahead of Manchester United, having played one game more. If Manchester United won their next game, the gap would be just three points!

Three points!

A tempting score difference that could fill Manchester United with fighting spirit and desire, panting as they tried to strip Liverpool of their clothes and pin them to the ground...

Three points...

A score difference that made Liverpool feel panicked. They could almost feel the hot breath of the tiger behind them. Everyone's hearts were in their throats, as if they couldn't breathe.

There were too many possibilities with this gap.

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Liverpool had been held to a draw by Tottenham, so what would Manchester United do next?

All eyes were on Manchester United. Although Liverpool's draw was an opportunity for Manchester United, it was also a huge pressure. If Manchester United kept thinking about Liverpool's game, their own game would definitely be affected.

Manchester United did not disappoint those who wanted to see a good show. After ninety minutes of fierce fighting, they defeated Aston Villa 3-2 at home.

"Three points! Manchester United is now only three points behind Liverpool!" The commentator exclaimed excitedly at the end of the match.

The Manchester United fans in the stands also erupted in deafening cheers.

From the beginning of the season, they had always thought that they had no chance of winning the league title this season and could only pin their hopes on the Champions League.

Who would have thought that as the league was coming to an end, they would usher in a turning point and a chance to come back from the brink!

It was like riding a rollercoaster.

They began to shout in the stands: "Champions! Champions! We want to be champions!!"

Some people also shouted anti-Liverpool slogans: "Let Liverpool die! Damn Liverpool bastards! Kneel down and lick our toes!"

The entire Old Trafford was engulfed in a frenzy of excitement, and everyone in it could not restrain their inner emotions, only wanting to open their mouths and roar with the people around them.

On the night that Manchester United defeated Aston Villa at home, someone wrote: "The 2013-14 season of the English Premier League has officially kicked off!"

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Mourinho received a text message: "Manchester United won!"

He smiled and then clenched the phone in his hand.

Liverpool was held to a draw by Tottenham in the final moments the day before, and Manchester United won today. The gap between the two sides was only three points.

Every game after this would be a final for Liverpool. They couldn't afford to lose a single game, and they couldn't afford to draw a single game...

They had no choice but to win.

Could Liverpool still perform normally under such immense pressure?

Mourinho was paying such close attention to the Premier League because it was related to how far Real Madrid could go in the Champions League.

A Liverpool team that was struggling in the domestic league was Real Madrid's ideal opponent.

Would they give up the domestic league or the Champions League?

Mourinho was waiting for Martin O'Neill's answer.

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Although the Champions League game was coming up soon, Martin O'Neill still gave all the players a full day off after the game against Tottenham.

When everyone reunited, they already knew the result of Manchester United's game.

Before training began, O'Neill stood in the center of the team, and everyone formed a circle to listen to the coach's speech.

"I don't know how many of you watched yesterday's game, but I watched it live on TV anyway." He went straight to the point without beating around the bush.

"Bad news, Manchester United won. A miracle didn't happen, or rather, it was never possible. If we were in their position, we would have won too, right?"

He asked. But no one answered. Everyone looked at the boss, wondering what he was trying to say.

"What I want to say is... I don't intend to put more pressure on you, I know you are under a lot of pressure now. But the current situation is beyond my control. If we continue to lose or draw, we will hand over our hard-earned first place in the league, and to Manchester United! So in every game after this, everyone must go all out to win. We have reached a very critical moment, and we can't afford to make any mistakes. I don't want to see a game like the one against Tottenham again. I don't want such a shameful collapse to happen to a century-old club like Liverpool!"

"Soon we will be playing against Real Madrid. I don't know if we can eliminate them in the two legs, but we will do our best. Every game after this, whether it is a domestic league game or a Champions League game, will be a severe test for us. But this is something we must go through. I have an idea, the future of Liverpool should not be a team that has to abandon one championship in order to win another. We should become overlords, there is no such thing as a principle of equivalent exchange! We want to win all the championships that we can win. We can't always be like this - this is not the ability that a top club should have."

"I know it's cruel to ask everyone to do this and that at this time, but if we are not cruel to ourselves, we will become the laughing stock of everyone in the end. Are you willing to let Manchester United overturn your ten-point lead, then win the league title, and then turn around and laugh at you?"

"No!"

Martin O'Neill didn't intend to get a response. He was just talking to himself, so he was about to say the next sentence soon, but he was interrupted by a sudden response.

He found out it was Chen Hero.

Chen Hero raised his hand, as if he had something to say.

He winked at Chen Hero, signaling him to speak.

Chen Hero took a step forward from the crowd and said, "Anyway, we must win the league title this season. I'm not afraid of being laughed at, but we promised the vice-captain that we would give him a league title. I don't want the vice-captain to think that I am a liar! Anyway, there are no more Champions League games, so let's all fight! Let's fight for a league title, and everyone can have a good time eating and drinking this summer! Wherever we go, people will say that we are the champions of England!" He pointed to himself with a thumbs up. "And what we bring back is the first Premier League title in Liverpool's history! Isn't everyone excited about such a memorable thing? No matter what Manchester United does, we are now three points ahead of them. If they want to win the championship, they must first ask us if we agree, and we certainly can't agree! As long as we don't lose, and keep winning, it doesn't matter how much Manchester United wins behind us! So we just need to do our own thing, and let Manchester United go to hell? Actually, there's not that much pressure, just keep winning like before, right?"

Martin O'Neill listened to Chen Hero and smiled bitterly in his heart.

You really think the whole team is the same as you, Hero? Your structure is different from ours! Just because you don't feel pressure doesn't mean that others don't feel pressure? Just because you don't feel tired doesn't mean that others don't feel tired?

There is a limit to human power. No matter how hard you try alone, you can't change the fact that football is a team sport. You have performed very well in these few games, but has the team won?

But he just thought about it in his heart. He didn't say it out loud, because that would be too detrimental to morale and too hurtful.

He still had to thank Chen Hero for helping him boost the team's morale - God knows if this encouragement would work...