4:1!
This was the final score of the match.
Although Bayern chose to fight to the death in the final moments, the fully defensive Liverpool did not give the Germans any chances.
When the referee blew the final whistle, Anfield had turned into a sea of red.
They were already thinking about their opponent in the next round.
With a 3-goal lead, even though they had to go to the Allianz Arena for the second leg, they were absolutely confident of advancing.
After the match, Noel, with a straight face, walked up to Tendou and took off his jersey.
"May I?"
"Of course. I'll keep it as a trophy."
Tendou smiled and exchanged jerseys with Noel.
"You haven't won yet," Noel responded. After taking the jersey from Tendou, he turned and walked into the players' tunnel with his teammates.
Kovač?
He had left the field the moment the match ended, without shaking Klopp's hand.
He had lost all face in this match.
His tactics were crushed, and he had lost control of the locker room.
At the end of this season, he was destined to leave Bayern Munich. It was time for him to start working on his next job.
"I don't want to make excuses for the loss. The fact is, in the first half, my tactics did not help the team."
"But when I was about to make adjustments at halftime, I encountered a lot of resistance."
In the post-match press conference, Kovač never explicitly mentioned the players' mutiny, but every sentence hinted at it.
"Are you saying that some players did not execute your tactics in the match?" The reporter, of course, received the signal Kovač was sending and immediately became excited.
Kovač said, feigning seriousness, "I never said that. The Bayern players are all very professional. Our relationship is very friendly."
"Players not executing my tactics? No, absolutely not!"
Kovač loudly denied the reporter's speculation, but his last words had a strong sense of "a guilty conscience needs no accuser."
Klopp looked down on this Croatian even more.
Still trying to throw your players under the bus at a time like this? How could you possibly manage the Bayern locker room?
Speaking of which, Klopp had once had the opportunity to coach Bayern.
Back when he was still coaching Mainz, the Bayern board had considered Klopp.
But in the end, they chose the "Golden Bomber," Klinsmann.
Everyone knows the rest of the story.
Klopp went to Dortmund, unleashed a youth storm in Europe, and even broke Bayern's monopoly on the league.
Beside him, Kovač's performance was not over yet.
"Liverpool is a very strong team. To fight against them, you must be on your toes at all times."
"They have the strongest attacking firepower in all of Europe. Salah, Mané, and Firmino are all very outstanding players."
"And they are very young and full of energy. Yes, I'm talking about TJ. His performance was impressive. I can't imagine he's only 18 years old."
"Any assessment of his performance? His stats for this match are 2 goals and 2 assists, right? What other assessment do you need from me? His market value has already reached 50 million Euros, right?"
"But I can assure you, 50 million Euros will definitely not be enough to buy TJ!"
These words from Kovač seemed to be praising Liverpool.
But from his tone and expression, it was not difficult to hear that he was being sarcastic about Bayern's lineup, especially targeting Robben, Ribéry, and Müller, implying that they were old and past their prime.
Invisibly, he had found an excuse for his own loss.
What kind of lineup does Liverpool have, and what kind of lineup does your Bayern have?
Liverpool has the most expensive lineup in the world. If you let me manage Liverpool, would I lose to Bayern?
That was more or less what he wanted to express.
Klopp, being a German, was uncomfortable listening to this and immediately started to make veiled criticisms.
But this was all a matter for the post-match press conference...
On the other side.
"Football is not a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that."
"This was said by Bill Shankly. From that moment on, I knew that the Premier League had a very awesome football club."
"When they sent me an invitation, I accepted without any hesitation."
"To be able to wear this jersey and fight for Liverpool, I am very excited, especially on the Champions League stage."
With Tendou's outstanding performance in the Champions League, this Asian prodigy had thoroughly entered the European spotlight.
Upon learning that Bayern had also been interested in this football genius, a reporter from a Munich newspaper wanted to know why Tendou had chosen Liverpool over Bayern.
He was trying to dig a hole, to make this newcomer offend the home fans, but Tendou's reply was so poised that he couldn't find any fault.
Who is Bill Shankly?
He is a legend of Liverpool.
Back when Liverpool was struggling in the Second Division, it was he who had led them out of the mire and made them champions of the top league, and even to dominate Europe...
The Munich newspaper's media could only back down.
His teammates were all in awe of Tendou's eloquence. They were all standard official answers, but why could Tendou say them so beautifully?
They couldn't help but ask him for advice.
Arnold, however, walked past everyone with a dark face, ignoring them.
Afterward, as if out of spite, he really did start to wash his teammates' shoes.
Henderson told him not to take the joke seriously, but Arnold insisted on washing them.
He was not doing it for atonement, but to express his dissatisfaction.
How could the clever Tendou not see this?
He immediately walked over to coax the little kid.
He didn't do much, just brought over a bucket and a brush and sat down next to Arnold to wash with him.
"You don't need to be here, MVP!"
Yes.
Tendou was once again the MVP of this match.
Tendou acted as if he couldn't hear his sarcasm and continued to wash with him with a smile.
When the atmosphere was about right, Tendou suddenly spoke up.
"Trent, we're going to win the Champions League and the Premier League this year, right?"
"..."
Arnold was taken aback by him. Why are you suddenly talking about this?
Shouldn't we be solving our problem right now?
He could only say with a dark face, "Who knows? The season isn't over yet. Do you think I'm a prophet?"
"We definitely will," Tendou said with certainty. "And we will continue to win more championships in the future."
The "we" here did not refer to the entire Liverpool, but to Tendou and Arnold themselves.
Hearing this, the young Liverpool Crown Prince was suddenly not so angry anymore.
One had to know, the current Tendou was being compared to Loki by the media, as the next generation's duo of superstars after Messi and Ronaldo.
Yet Tendou treated Arnold as an equal. This instantly made Arnold feel Tendou's respect and recognition.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Take it one step at a time, rookie."
Hearing Arnold say this, Tendou instantly knew he had succeeded.
A stick and a carrot.
He was too familiar with this routine.
The little Liverpool Crown Prince.
Handled!
"The coach is giving us a day off tomorrow. Want to play some video games with me?"
"Play what?"
"FIFA. I'll use Liverpool, you use Manchester United."
"Bullshit! I'm a Liverpool local, and you want me to use damned Manchester United?"
...
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