Chapter 1 Liverpool Eliminated

Liverpool lost to Bayern Munich with an aggregate score of 2:3 and were eliminated from the competition, failing to advance to the finals.

This wasn't really an upset, because many people had predicted it beforehand. Everyone had watched Liverpool slide into the abyss step by step. After their stamina became an issue, people stopped being optimistic about them.

So Liverpool's loss to Bayern Munich didn't cause much of a stir in the media—they thought the result was perfectly normal.

However, after Liverpool was eliminated, the number of goals for the top scorer became clear. The media paid a little attention to this matter.

Twenty goals. Chen Hero had raised the record previously set by Messi by two. Don't think it's just two, but in the eyes of many people, it's already an insurmountable gap. Even if Messi himself were to try, he might not be able to repeat his performance of eighteen goals in a single season, let alone twenty.

They felt that Chen Hero himself probably wouldn't be able to break the record he had created, because this goal record required luck in addition to strength.

In their opinion, whether it was Messi scoring eighteen goals in a season back then or Chen Hero scoring twenty goals in a season now, both had a large element of luck.

If they weren't so lucky, how could they have scored so many goals? Fourteen or fifteen goals at most would be impressive enough.

Especially Chen Hero, who still had one last final game he couldn't participate in, which meant that the number of games he played to create the twenty-goal record was one less than the number Messi played for his eighteen goals. If he could play in the final, how many more goals could he score?

This number was too terrifying, so terrifying that it seemed somewhat unreal, so many people were willing to attribute it to luck.

Since it was luck, there was naturally nothing to discuss. Anyone with good luck could do this.

There weren't many voices in the media about Chen Hero scoring twenty goals in a single season, which was completely different from when Messi broke the record with eighteen goals before. At that time, these media outlets couldn't wait to put the hat of "King of Football" directly on Messi's head.

This situation shows on the one hand that Messi was the first person to score so many goals, and the first one naturally deserves attention. Chen Hero, no matter what, is just someone chasing after Messi. On the other hand, it shows that Chen Hero doesn't have as good a relationship with people as Messi... No matter what Messi does, there are many people who jump out to speak for him. If it were Chen Hero, it would be good enough if people didn't kick him when he was down. Who told him to offend countless media outlets? Even among the local English media, how many haven't been scolded by him or sued by him?

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The media didn't promote his twenty goals very much, and Chen Hero himself didn't care.

His own team had been eliminated, so he wasn't in the mood to dwell on whether the media cared about his personal honor—what is personal honor compared to collective honor? What he wanted was the championship and the top scorer award, and now he only got one top scorer award, so what's the point?

In a bad mood, Chen Hero went back and buried himself in hard training. Now he only had one league title left to win, and this time he absolutely couldn't make any mistakes. He had to win!

Chen Hero's Liverpool were eliminated, but Messi's Barcelona made it to the Champions League final, where they would face Bayern Munich.

Messi scored a goal in the second leg of the semi-final, and now his individual Champions League goal tally for the season has reached thirteen, but it is still a long way from Chen Hero's twenty, so some media dared to announce in advance that Chen Hero had already won the Champions League Golden Boot this season.

But Messi doesn't have to care about personal honor now, because he will win the Champions League again, which is much more important than the Golden Boot!

In the eyes of Messi supporters and Barcelona fans, Bayern Munich will definitely not be able to stop Barcelona. Guardiola's Barca will once again stand on the top of Europe. Although they lost to Real Madrid in the domestic league, winning the Champions League is still a successful season.

Some people thought that after Xavi got old, Barcelona's results would definitely plummet. Unexpectedly, Messi took over from Xavi and led Barcelona all the way to the final, with the hope of winning the championship again.

In the contest between Chen Hero and Messi, Chen Hero is currently lagging behind.

Messi's father, Jorge, was the happiest, because that damn bastard was finally eliminated, and his son led the team to the final. Who is stronger and who is weaker is clear at a glance. He hopes that after these two games, there will be fewer people spreading rumors in the media.

What does the total number of goals compare? In fact, it is not comparing the number of goals. Ultimately, it is comparing who can participate in more Champions League games. The more games you participate in, the more goals you will naturally score. If you can only participate in six to eight Champions League games each season, your goal tally will definitely not be as good as someone who can participate in ten Champions League games each season.

Messi is at Barcelona, and Barcelona's strong overall strength ensures that Messi can participate in more than ten Champions League games each season. Ten Champions League games means that the team has finished the two legs of the quarter-finals, which means they have reached the top eight. This goal is almost nothing for Barcelona.

And Liverpool? This year, they were lucky enough to reach the Champions League semi-finals. What about next season? What about the season after that? Can they guarantee that they will perform like this season every time? They can't. Instability is Liverpool's biggest hidden danger.

In this competition, Jorge is of course on his son's side. He keeps encouraging his son to fight because he is sure that his son will definitely win. He doesn't think his son might lose at all. The reason is above—the difference in overall strength between Barcelona and Liverpool ensures that his son has more opportunities to appear in this top European competition. With Messi's goal-scoring ability, more appearances will definitely lead to more goals. Chen Hero, that bastard, originally had fewer goals, so he can't catch up even more.

Since it is a sure win, why not agree? It can also respond to those who say Messi is timid and cowardly, and it can also use victory to prove that Messi is the most outstanding star in the world, and others are simply not worth mentioning!

Therefore, after Chen Hero issued the challenge, his father Jorge immediately keenly realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—with Messi's personality, it is impossible for him to take the initiative to attack, so before, he could only let that clown be arrogant outside. But if Chen Hero takes the initiative to provoke him, then Messi will have a legitimate reason to fight back!

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After losing to Bayern Munich, Chen Hero made a vow in his heart that he would definitely make a comeback next season. Not only him, but the entire Liverpool team would make a comeback.

Then he stopped thinking about the Champions League.

As for whether Messi can win the championship in the end, it has nothing to do with him. Even if Messi wins the championship and has one more honor, he can just take it back in the future.

This kind of math problem of "I have one more, you will definitely have one less" is still very easy to calculate.

After returning to England, Liverpool welcomed Bolton to their home stadium for a league match.

After this league match, Liverpool has no Champions League tasks. Their opponent is Manchester United.

This game can be said to be the last adjustment and rest before the decisive battle with Manchester United.

The media speculated that Martin O'Neill would definitely continue to rotate players, let the main players rest, and Chen Hero would definitely still be on the field, because he had to ensure that the rotation could continue to win games.

Sure enough, O'Neill replaced most of the main players, but Chen Hero was still on the field.

This season, except for the two games where he was sent off with a red card and suspended, Chen Hero has not missed any league games. Those two suspensions also interrupted his previous momentum of scoring in five consecutive league games. Many people now look back and feel sorry—if Chen Hero could control his temper and not be banned by a red card, how many consecutive games would he have scored in now? I'm afraid it would have broken the sky, right?

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Everyone believed that the key to Liverpool's home victory over Bolton was Chen Hero.

But they were all wrong.

Liverpool defeated Bolton 2:0 at their home stadium, but Chen Hero did not score. His consecutive goal-scoring record came to an abrupt end, stopping against an opponent that surprised everyone.

Nevertheless, the record of scoring in twenty-five consecutive league games is still the best in European football... no, world football!

Chen Hero has engraved his name in the history of world football forever. In the future, when everyone mentions "consecutive goal-scoring record," they will mention his name.

In fact, Chen Hero had a chance to continue his record in the game, but his luck was a little too bad—he had two shots hit the goal frame in the game.

At the same time, although Liverpool defeated their opponent 2:0 in this game, the whole process was not convincing, because Liverpool relied on two penalty kicks, and the second penalty kick was somewhat controversial.

Suarez's fall in the penalty area was considered a dive, which caused protests from Bolton players at the time. After watching the slow-motion replay, the commentators also felt that Suarez should have dived.

In fact, Suarez's first thought for this penalty was not to help the team win, as the team was already leading by one goal. He just wanted to give Chen Hero a chance to score a goal. Chen Hero's two previous shots had both hit the goal frame, and everyone could see that Chen Hero's luck was very bad.

But Chen Hero rejected Suarez's kindness.

"I don't want to use a penalty kick to continue my record, Luis. Although I appreciate it, I can't accept it."

His attitude towards penalty kicks has always been like this. He doesn't like using penalty kicks to pad his stats. He doesn't want to be like Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

He just gave up the right to take the penalty kick.

Gerrard, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored in one go, scoring his first goal after recovering from his injury, and also helped the team completely secure the victory.

As for Chen Hero, he unfortunately ended his consecutive goal-scoring record.

However, Chen Hero didn't take this matter to heart. He was mentally prepared for this when he refused to take the penalty kick.

Some things cannot be forced.

Scoring in twenty-five consecutive league games, he has already created a record that is difficult for people to catch up with, and he should be satisfied.