Chapter 435: Three Finals, Three Championships (Part 2) - Even Jesus couldn't stop him, I said
Klopp fell into obsession and seemed to feel that he was possessed by the devil in a trance, but he did not stop his plan.
He replaced McAllister, who was unwilling to make any more rough defensive moves, with Bajicetic. The fighter-like Argentine midfielder did not high-five Klopp after leaving the field, but sat on the bench with a blank expression.
Before Bajcetic came on the pitch, Klopp stood next to him and said, "Go and keep an eye on the No. 7. Whenever he receives the ball, go for it. He's very strong."
Bayicetic nodded and stepped onto the field with a mission.
Chen Xiaoliang saw this scene. When the two players were making substitutions, their eyes were directed towards him. Even though he didn't hear a word, he could still know what Klopp was saying.
Sure enough, Bayicetic came on the court and ran to his side.
Chen Xiaoliang: "If you are here just to defend me, then go ahead, but if you want to do something shameful, please consider your own abilities first."
Bayicetić didn't expect that as soon as he ran to Chen Xiaoliang, Chen Xiaoliang would start talking to him.
After hearing this, he was angry at first, but soon, reason overwhelmed his impulse.
The 19-year-old Baycetic is four months younger than Chen Xiaoliang. With his relentless running and aggressive fighting, he has won a place in Liverpool's first team, but he is not the kind of person who would be so arrogant because of this. As a midfielder, he is very clear that the gap between him and Chen Xiaoliang is far greater than the gap between Liverpool and Manchester.
What's more, the two had played against each other before. Klopp asked him to mark Chen Xiaoliang throughout the game. After only 30 minutes in the first half, he began to be dragged down by Chen Xiaoliang, who could run faster and had more physical strength than him, not to mention his speed, explosive power, physical confrontation and advancing ability.
Moreover, the look in Chen Xiaoliang's eyes when he spoke to him made him feel a chilling chill.
This sounds like a suggestion, but in reality it is a chilling deterrent.
He was still young, and he knew his physical ability. If he went head-to-head with Chen Xiaoliang, he would most likely be the one who suffered.
Therefore, serious defense became the choice he took.
But it is limited to serious defense.
However, there was another person in the midfield who had already added hatred to hatred and account to account.
He was once the top midfielder in Serie A, a top 30 player in the Ballon d'Or, worth 85 million euros, and one of the top players in the world.
But after fighting with Chen Xiaoliang who came to Rome for two seasons, not only did his market value drop by 15 million euros, but he also had to watch this junior who defeated him time and time again suddenly win the Copa Award, become the Serie A MVP, break the Serie A single-season assist record, and even more incredibly win the Treble, becoming the Ballon d'Or winner and the World Footballer of the Year.
Since then, no one thinks that Nicolo Barella is the best midfielder in Serie A. Many fans have been waving their keyboards online, thinking that Barella is just an extremely mediocre player compared to Chen Xiaoliang, the difference between an eagle and a sparrow.
For this reason, he gave up his comfort zone, left Inter Milan and came to the Premier League.
He hopes to use the team strength of Liverpool, which is determined to make a strong comeback, to defeat Chen Xiaoliang and seek justice for the humiliation he suffered in Serie A.
He is already 27 years old, and physically speaking, he still has about five more years of golden age.
Chen Xiaoliang is still five days away from his 20th birthday. Five years later, he will be 24-25 years old, which is the peak of his physical fitness.
By then, let alone beating Chen Xiaoliang, it would be questionable whether he could maintain his current ability and state.
2-0. Seeing that Bayicetic, who was serious about his performance, did not play dirty tricks on Chen Xiaoliang, and looking at the time again, it was already past 75 minutes. He realized that the possibility of the game was very small. This also calmed Klopp down. He knew that his obsession was too much. If it continued like this, it would damage Liverpool's reputation and the players' trust in him.
He started making substitutions, using them to convey new instructions to the players.
Luis Dias replaced Salah and Curtis Jones replaced Lavia, allowing the youngsters to come on the field for one final fight - a clean and upright fight, the kind that they would hold their heads high even if they lost .
But Klopp's obsession faded, but Barella's did not.
He saw Elliott warming up on the sidelines, and during a dead ball moment, he repeatedly told Klopp that he did not want to leave the field and could play the whole game.
Faced with his attitude, what Chen Xiaoliang said just now is naturally still valid.
Before the goal just now, the tackle that Barrera made on him was definitely a leg-breaking sprint slide tackle. If he hadn't jumped forward in time to avoid it, no matter if it was his instep, ankle or calf, he would have suffered a bone fracture at best, or a broken leg at worst.
Therefore, other people on the field may feel that the game has returned to its normal atmosphere, but for these two people, it has come to a life-and-death moment.
Both of them were waiting for the final duel.
Casemiro had been worried about Chen Xiaoliang's impulsiveness. Seeing that the atmosphere of the game had returned to normal, he took advantage of a dead ball opportunity in the 87th minute and said to Chen Xiaoliang:
"Are you okay? Don't worry about the unpleasantness just now. We will win soon."
Chen Xiaoliang twisted his mouth and sneered, "I've got Barrera for sure. Even Jesus can't stop him."
He turned to look at Casemiro: "I said it."
In the 88th minute, when the game was about to come to an end, Cesco, Kva, Rashford and others were substituted off for rest. Everyone felt that the ownership of the championship was no longer in suspense. It was nothing more than Liverpool losing to Manchester United again this season. Chen Xiaoliang and Barrera put an exclamation mark on the grudge between them.
Manchester United counterattacked, Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball to Casemiro, who advanced with the ball. When approaching the offensive third zone, Casemiro wanted to pass the ball to Benzema who was offside in the penalty area, but the ball was a little low and was headed out by Konate. Barella chased the ball and stretched his legs to catch the falling ball, but he had consumed the entire game and the drastic loss of physical strength made him unable to control the strength, and the ball bounced out after the instep of his foot touched it.
As luck would have it, the ball rolled forward, and in front of the front was Chen Xiaoliang who was jogging towards him.
The ball rolled forward and between the two of them. Barrera and Chen Xiaoliang saw each other at the first moment and rushed forward at the first moment.
At that moment, physical strength didn't matter. The only thought in the two men's minds was to catch up with the ball and kick it to the opponent's front court!
10 meters...
5 meters...
3 meters...
As the two people got closer and closer to the ball, their speed was getting faster and faster.
Ten Hag, Klopp and Gerrard, three coaches who were once players themselves, have realized what the two are going to do, as have the remaining players on both sides.
Casemiro understood at that moment why Chen Xiaoliang asked the referee Paul Tierney to be mentally prepared!
The young Baycetic and the 16-year-old Ibragimov who was sitting on the sidelines even opened their mouths wide, feeling their bodies petrified, and waited motionlessly in horror for what would happen next.
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, the ball flew out of the field.
"Oh!!!" Fans from both sides screamed in surprise, and then Wembley Stadium fell into silence.
The commentator was silent for a moment, not knowing what was going on at the moment and what to say.
Chen Xiaoliang ran forward a few steps by inertia, staggered, and then stood firm.
Before the two men collided, Barrera found that his speed was a little slow, so he fell to the ground and stretched his legs to tackle the ball. After touching the ball, his body continued to slide for a distance on the grass. He wanted to stand up, but as soon as he stood up, he fell to the ground again.
From the moment he fell to the ground, many fans in the stands who could see clearly immediately hugged their heads and covered their mouths.
Nunez and Tsimikas, who were not far away, immediately raised their hands and yelled at the sidelines to let the team doctor in.
Liverpool's team doctor rushed in with a first aid kit. Manchester United's team doctor also saw Barella's condition and felt something was wrong, so he picked up his equipment and rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang.
As per convention, the big screen at the scene would not play the replay of the action, but the broadcaster played it again in the broadcast footage.
Lou Yichen: "Let's see! Two people collided with each other's feet during a high-speed sprint!"
"The insteps of both people touched the ball at almost the same moment, but due to the huge inertia, the calves of both parties collided with each other after the ball bounced out!"
"If there are minors watching the game in front of the TV, they must be accompanied by a guardian!"
Liu Yue: "It should be broken...Barrera, this is serious."
Lou Yichen: "Barrera is also a tough guy! He may not have felt the pain for a moment. After his body slid out, he wanted to get up, but the tibia on his right leg near the ankle was obviously broken."
Liu Yue: "Neither of them retracted their feet, they just went straight up, and both of them touched the ball first, which was an inertial action. According to the rules, Paul Tierney has nothing to call."
"From the players' perspective, it was obvious that both of them were emotional, or in their hearts, they chose not to retract their kicks at that moment, just like in a fight, they would not stop until they knocked out their opponent."
Lou Yichen: "Klopp, ah, what can I say, it's really a loss of both the lady and the army."
"In the second half, the attempt to control the midfield through confrontation was too obvious. Xiaoliang was hit and tripped six or seven times in a row, and the two even had a verbal argument. Although both coaches took measures to calm the situation that got out of control, it was clear that Barrera did not want to end it all."
Liu Yue: "When we were commentating on the Italian Serie A, he seemed to be very hostile to Xiao Liang."
"As for what happened between the two people, only they themselves know."
Lou Yichen: "The force was too great. Although Xiaoliang was standing just now, his expression seemed off. He might have a bone fracture. Manchester United's team doctor is examining him now."
The Manchester United players were also extremely shocked by this scene. Timber and Wan Bissaka went over to check on Barella's condition, but when they saw the obviously deformed leg, they immediately turned their heads away and dared not look again. Casemiro and others ran over to ask Chen Xiaoliang if he was okay.
Luke Shaw, who had broken his leg before, didn't even dare to look. He only thought of the bloody scene when he was sent to the hospital after his leg bone was broken and the huge scar of more than 20 centimeters being stitched on his leg, which made him feel nauseous and want to vomit.
Chen Xiaoliang was enduring the excruciating pain. The action and reaction are mutual. Just now, when they hit each other's feet, the greater the force they exerted on each other, the greater the force they received.
This blow was enough to break Barrera's leg even through his shin guards, and naturally it was enough to break Chen Xiaoliang's leg as well. However, the system subtitles had just appeared in front of him:
[Passive skill LV1: The immunity to severe injuries once a season has been triggered, and this severe injury has been immuned]
But injuries can be avoided, but pain is inevitable.
So he stood there for a while without moving, and the sweat flowed even more rapidly from both sides of his forehead.
Liverpool's team doctor was already calling for a stretcher and an ambulance, while Manchester United's team doctor simply sprayed Chen Xiaoliang with a cooling and pain-relieving spray, then walked to the sidelines with an incredible look on his face and told Ten Hag that his captain didn't even have a bruise, saying that all the force was removed by him with his clever posture and high-quality shin guards.
Under the effect of the cooling spray, the pain quickly eased. Chen Xiaoliang turned his head and looked at Barrera, who was lying on the ground with his arms covering his eyes.
Barrera seemed to feel Chen Xiaoliang's gaze. He raised his hand, and looked at him while enduring great pain. His eyes were filled with fear, terror, surprise, as well as unwillingness and confusion.
As if asking: "Why?! Why can't I stand up, but you are fine?!"
Chen Xiaoliang used silent lip shape to repeat to Barrera what Barrera had just said to him: "Shut your mouth. If you don't want to stay in the hospital for half a year, get the hell out of here."
"You picked it. Go to the hospital and stay there for half a year."
The anger, jealousy and hatred in Barrera's heart made him want to stand up immediately and rush towards Chen Xiaoliang, grab him by the collar and punch him in the face.
But the piercing pain, and the thought that because of his stubborn behavior tonight, he would miss the European Cup in the summer and the first half of next season, and even his broken leg would seriously affect his career, made him cover his eyes with his arms again.
Because the rational side of his heart has made him shed tears of regret.
Until the last moment, he could have chosen to stop and retract his legs.
It was he himself who took himself to the most extreme path.
Klopp stood on the sidelines, his mood dropped to freezing point.
He knew that the fuse of today's incident was lit by himself, and just like he did not replace Van Dijk and Salah in time last time, he did not have the firm determination to replace Barrera just now.
It is impossible to undo what has been done.
Looking at Barrera, whose legs were firmly fixed on a stretcher and who was wearing a breathing mask for fear of shock caused by stress, and who was being quickly carried off the field, Klopp walked over sadly and patted him on the shoulder.
But when he turned around again, he found Chen Xiaoliang looking at him coldly.
At that moment, Klopp felt as if the Wembley Stadium, which could accommodate 90,000 people, had become as silent as if only he and Chen Xiaoliang were left, and Chen Xiaoliang seemed to have spoken to him:
"The instructions you gave to the players were just to make me be carried off the field on a stretcher like him?!"
"So, are you satisfied with the ending now?!"
Klopp only felt that the last five words "Are you satisfied?" were like an echo lingering in the valley, constantly reverberating back and forth in his ears, making him feel depressed and he didn't know what to say for a while.
340 kilometers away, across the English Channel in Paris, Mourinho, who was watching the game in front of the screen in his office, picked up the coffee cup at hand, took a sip, but did not put the cup back on the table as usual.
He had no idea what the coffee he swallowed tasted like. Several Paris Saint-Germain players who were watching the game nearby were talking about it. Some of them felt the same way, while others found it very enjoyable, as if they were watching a wonderful scene in a movie.
Only Dybala, like Mourinho, remained silent.
In fact, Mourinho has long known that the Manchester United No. 7 in front of him has become much more mature than Roma's No. 33 last year, and is no longer the 16-year-old boy in the Tottenham trial camp.
But this was the first time that Mourinho saw another side of Chen Xiaoliang's character, or rather, he really showed another side of his character.
Mourinho clearly remembers the scene in that trial match when he was so impressed by Chen Xiaoliang's desperate defense, quick forward runs, and final winning header that he offered him a youth training contract.
I also remember asking assistant coach Mason about his performance in the tryout team. Mason told him that the younger players who were older than Chen Xiaoliang would often bully him, but Chen Xiaoliang would always choose to fight back, but only in self-defense.
But the man in front of him has completely lost his childishness. Not only will he fight back, but he will also beat the opponent until he submits. If the opponent does not submit, he will beat him to the point of being crippled.
Not only did he use this action to indicate his departure, he also protected his teammates.
From now on, which coach would dare to use the strategy of disabling players against Manchester United as blatantly as Klopp did?
He has led Paris Saint-Germain to win three titles this season: Ligue 1, French Cup and French Super Cup. In addition, there are only 18 teams in Ligue 1 and the French League Cup has long been discontinued. Therefore, Paris Saint-Germain will play nearly 10 games less than Manchester United throughout the season. In addition, the team can fully rest the main players as they defend the league title in advance, which is a huge advantage in physical reserves at the end of the season.
Looking at Chen Xiaoliang, who now seems a little unfamiliar, Mourinho has already begun preparing for the Champions League final.
At Wembley Stadium, a frustrated Liverpool played out the last 6 minutes of injury time. With the final whistle after Paul Tierney let out a long sigh, the 143rd FA Cup final finally ended!
One Scottish Premier League, two Serie A, two Italian Cups, one Italian Super Cup, one League Cup, one UEFA Cup, one Champions League, plus the FA Cup trophy in front of him, this is already the 10th championship title in Chen Xiaoliang's career.
Van Dijk, who did not play, walked with the Liverpool players to the stands with an expressionless face to receive the runner-up medal, and then walked down with an expressionless face.
What’s interesting is that Chen Xiaoliang then walked expressionlessly up the 107 steps to the stands and to the royal box with the excited Manchester United players behind him.
Walking through the long corridor, Chen Xiaoliang shook hands with the celebrities standing in the first row and accepted their congratulations. Among them was Liverpool owner Henry, who looked unhappy but still smiled, and of course Jasim, who was in high spirits.
Only when he came in front of Sir Alex Ferguson and the two shook hands did Chen Xiaoliang smile helplessly.
Lou Yichen: "This smile is also full of meaning. I wonder what Klopp, who has already received the medal, and Barella, who was sent to the hospital, feel in their hearts. I can only wish the Italian midfielder a speedy recovery."
In the end, the FA's nominal supreme chairman, Prince William, Prince of Wales, and the FA's de facto current chairman, Debbie Hewitt, put the championship medals on the players passing through the middle of the stands.
After all the players received their medals, Chen Xiaoliang, B Fee and Casemiro stood in the middle of the corridor, and Prince William handed the FA Cup trophy to Chen Xiaoliang.
As the captain, the championship toast is not just for himself, but also for his teammates and fans.
Chen Xiaoliang did not grab the handles on both sides of the trophy with both hands as he did in the past. Instead, he grabbed the bottom of the trophy with his left foot. Then he exchanged glances with B Fee and Casemiro on his left and right, and raised the trophy high with one hand!
"Bang ! Bang!"
The staff had already placed their hands on the button to set off the fireworks, waiting to press it the moment Chen Xiaoliang raised the trophy.
Liverpool fans were leaving the stadium, and in response, Manchester United fans were shouting in unison in a rhythmic manner.
After raising the toast, Chen Xiaoliang handed the trophy to his teammates, asking them to take turns raising the toast and share the glory of this moment.
Then, as is customary, the team carried the trophy onto the field, posed for pictures with their families, and walked around the field to interact with fans in the stands.
After the venue was opened, the reporter trotted over to interview Chen Xiaoliang: "This is Manchester United's 13th FA Cup title. How do you feel now?"
Chen Xiaoliang has long been accustomed to reporters asking such nonsense questions, so he simply said: "Very good."
Reporter: "What happened with Barrera just now?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "You weren't on the court just now? What happened was that two people were fighting for a ball, and neither of them backed down, that's all."
Reporter: "But you had an argument before. Did that also affect what happened later?"
Chen Xiaoliang glanced at the reporter and said, "If you watched the game carefully, especially the second half, you shouldn't ask me this question, but should ask Mr. Jurgen Klopp."
After that, he walked away without answering any more questions.
Seeing that there were no explosive points to be found here, the reporters could only keep a close eye on Klopp at Liverpool's post-match press conference, but both Klopp and the Liverpool players they met in the player tunnel remained tight-lipped, only saying that "Barella's situation is unfortunate, and we will all be with him."
After a busy period, they returned to the locker room, where the players and coaches gathered in four rows and took photos with the trophy.
Then Chen Xiaoliang picked up the trophy and put it aside:
"The League Cup, yes, the FA Cup, great, but we have two more important games in the next 10 days."
"Everyone, please pack up now and go back to the hotel to rest. We will rush to South Yorkshire at noon tomorrow. Apart from the driving time, we only have a day and a half to recover. The Premier League trophy is waiting for us there."
"And then seven days later, we will be back here, and a far more formidable team than today's opponent will also come to Wembley to compete with us for the Champions League winner."
"The trophy is here and it won't fly away, but I hope that when we really celebrate at the end of the season, we will have four trophies in front of us!"
"Let those who want to use dark and dirty means to deal with us see that no matter what method they use, they can't stop us from moving forward!"
