Despite the widespread pessimism about Liverpool, the players themselves remained optimistic, displaying their confidence in training.

This confidence was so strong that they didn't show the slightest bit of panic, even near their opponent's lair.

Where did this powerful confidence come from?

It could be traced back to their away game against Newcastle United.

It was that come-from-behind victory that filled the Liverpool players with fighting spirit and strength.

Martin O'Neill naturally knew this as well, and he had to make full use of it.

Over the past couple of days, he instructed his assistant to scour for any newspapers related to the Liverpool-Real Madrid game. It didn't matter if they didn't understand Spanish; they could always find someone to translate them and see what was written.

Then, they would find any reports that disparaged or belittled Liverpool and turn them into clippings.

On the final day before the match, he showed them to the Liverpool players during the tactical meeting.

"These are the Madrid local media's views on our match these past few days," O'Neill said, shaking the newspapers in his hand.

"You can guess what they say on here," he asked.

Everyone looked at each other, and then Chen Hero raised his hand. After getting O'Neill's permission, he stood up and said, "There's nothing to guess, boss. It must be all insults. Like we definitely can't beat Real Madrid, we'll definitely be eliminated… that kind of stuff, right?"

Chen Hero turned to ask his teammates, and they all nodded in agreement, "That's right!"

O'Neill smiled. "You guessed correctly, Hero. The enemy has no kind words for us. *AS* says Real Madrid will defeat us at home without breaking a sweat!" He said, holding up the *AS* newspaper.

Then he switched to another newspaper. "And this, *Marca* believes Real Madrid is already considering their opponent in the semi-finals."

He put down *Marca* and held up another newspaper, saying, "This is good news for you, Hero. It says you might work hard and score a goal in the game, but it still won't change Liverpool's fate of being eliminated…"

Chen Hero curled his lip.

"See, Hero, in their eyes, your threat is limited to scoring a goal!" Suarez, who was sitting next to him, nudged Chen Hero and teased.

Chen Hero secretly gave him the middle finger.

Martin O'Neill continued from above, "Obviously, no one is optimistic about us. This is the enemy's home, and they haven't lost a game at the Bernabéu in two years. What we have to do is a very difficult thing. But I have confidence in you, and I believe you have confidence in yourselves!"

"Confidence MAX!" Chen Hero shouted loudly, raising his right fist.

Everyone laughed. The atmosphere was relaxed, but everyone's eyes sparkled with the same light as Chen Hero's.

Their thoughts were the same as Chen Hero's, except they didn't shout them out directly like him.

O'Neill nodded. "I know you're full, Hero. You're so full you're about to overflow."

Everyone laughed again, this time purely to tease Chen Hero.

Chen Hero didn't mind the boss's joke.

When the laughter subsided, Martin O'Neill continued, "So, let's give them a surprise in tomorrow's game. Everyone, think about how wonderful the expressions on the faces of those who were so sure we would be eliminated will be if we beat them at the Bernabéu tomorrow!"

※※※

Mourinho stood in front of the home team's coaching bench at the Bernabéu Stadium, twenty-eight hours before the start of the match.

The stadium was empty. Only because he was the coach of Real Madrid could he be here.

He stood in front of the home team's coaching bench and looked around.

Tomorrow, there would be a fierce battle here.

Mourinho's views differed from those of the reporters. He didn't think Liverpool would be easy to deal with. Chen Hero certainly needed attention, but he wasn't the only one.

The entire Liverpool team was dangerous.

Why did he suddenly appear at this stadium before this crucial match?

Mourinho began to walk towards the field, strolling on the Bernabéu's turf, feeling the solid ground beneath his feet.

He also bent down and touched the turf, finding it relatively short.

He nodded in satisfaction.

It was being trimmed according to his requirements.

Short grass and hard ground lacked elasticity, but allowed the football to roll quickly and bounce higher, moving forward faster. These characteristics suited Real Madrid's tactical style.

Real Madrid's football was fast, very fast. If the turf was too soft, it would make the players feel unable to exert force, and it would also affect the speed of the ball's roll. Some passes could easily penetrate the opponent's defense on short turf, but on long turf, they would encounter greater resistance and slow down.

This turf was indeed the most suitable for Real Madrid to perform.

However, he also knew that Liverpool's football also emphasized speed, especially on the two wings. When they launched a counterattack, they were very fast.

Liverpool's football tradition was to value defense, to defend and counterattack. When defending, they had to be impregnable, and when counterattacking, they had to be sharp enough.

Putting Liverpool's defense aside for now, their counterattacks did seem to be quite sharp.

Because there was a Chen Hero in the center, Liverpool's wings could play freely without any restrictions.

But Mourinho wasn't afraid of that. When it came to speed, his Real Madrid was confident of defeating any opponent.

However, Mourinho hadn't come today to inspect the condition of the stadium's turf.

After inspecting the turf, he stood up and looked at the empty Bernabéu Stadium.

If he could lead the team to defeat Liverpool tomorrow and enter the semi-finals, his goal was to continue moving forward, to reach the finals, and then to win the championship.

Once he became the first coach to successfully defend the Champions League title after the Champions League's restructuring, he planned to end his cycle at Real Madrid, even though there were still two years left on his contract.

But Mourinho felt that he had no more goals here. He had defeated Barcelona, forcing Guardiola to take a year off before returning, and he was still leading Real Madrid to suppress Guardiola's Barcelona.

He had also become the first coach to lead a team to defend the Champions League title since its restructuring.

What else could he break through at Real Madrid?

Mourinho felt that it was time for him to go to a new place and start over.

He had always had a thought in his heart, which was to return to the English Premier League.

At Chelsea, he had led the team to win the Premier League title, but he had failed to lead Chelsea to win the Champions League title.

He felt that the Premier League was the best league in the world, and only success in the Premier League counted as true success.

However, he hadn't told anyone about this idea yet, except for his agent, Mendes—he had to know first, otherwise how could he help Mourinho contact teams?

Today, Mourinho stood in this stadium, somewhat saying goodbye to his years at Real Madrid.

He hoped to use a treble to draw a perfect end to his time at Real Madrid, just like he did at Inter Milan, using a treble to firmly nail himself in the hearts of Inter Milan fans.

He wanted to replicate everything at Real Madrid.

He wanted the fans here to still talk about him from time to time, years after he left Real Madrid.

So, he had to win this game!

Mourinho stood in the empty stadium, his head held high. He seemed to hear the Real Madrid fans' "José Mourinho Song" in his ears.

"Oh oh oh! Mourinho—Mourinho! Mourinho! Mourinho Mourinho Mourinho!!"

※※※

Phil Gibbs, Tom Jackson, and Adam Smith walked down the streets of Madrid carrying a large red flag, following the other Liverpool fans towards the Bernabéu Stadium.

Liverpool fans were not unusual; as the match approached, there were more and more of them on the streets of Madrid.

However, the large flag that Phil Gibbs and his friends were carrying successfully attracted the attention of other Madrid residents.

It was a very large red flag, with a huge golden bear head in the center.

This was the symbol of the Red Giant Bear organization.

As long as you saw this golden bear head or this flag, you knew the Red Giant Bear organization had arrived.

The Red Giant Bear fan organization was a relatively young group among Liverpool fan organizations, but due to Chen Hero, they were now very famous and well-known. At Liverpool's home stadium, Anfield, the Kop stand was generally the area where the most die-hard Liverpool fans gathered, and it was also the liveliest place. However, as the Red Giant Bear took root in the Centenary Stand, the Centenary Stand also became a powerful stand at Anfield Stadium.

In English stadiums, many fans had already seen the Red Giant Bear. Calling Chen Hero's name and then Chen Hero raising his hand in response was said to have been invented by the Red Giant Bear fans.

This flag, symbolizing the Red Giant Bear organization, had also traveled with them, showing its face in many places.

Many other English fan organizations knew that the Red Giant Bear had arrived as soon as they saw this flag.

Although the Red Giant Bear was new, it had a large number of members and a grand presence. Many of its members were young men who, influenced by Chen Hero's personality and temperament, were relatively flamboyant and high-profile. As a result, this fan organization had strong combat power, and ordinary fan organizations were unwilling to meet them. When they did meet, they couldn't win in singing, shouting slogans, or loudness.

However, this organization was very famous in England, but in Madrid, Spain, it was still a new face.

Wherever they went, they attracted the attention of the Madrid residents.

When they arrived at the periphery of the Bernabéu Stadium, they encountered a group of Real Madrid fans.