"What? Real Madrid lost?"
"They lost 1:4 to Ajax at the Bernabéu?"
"..."
It was only after returning to the locker room that the Liverpool players learned of this news.
Real Madrid, whose match had kicked off at the same time as theirs, had been thrashed 4:1 by Ajax at their home ground, the Bernabéu. With an aggregate score of 5:3, they were eliminated.
"This... is too incredible!"
Salah was in disbelief.
Although they had gone through a turbulent summer, with their star player CR7 transferring to Juventus in Serie A, which would certainly have a significant impact on Real Madrid, their foundation was still there. The "Ceremony Trio" was still in the squad, and Benzema was still one of the best center forwards.
Although Ajax was a giant of the Eredivisie, for them to eliminate such a Real Madrid team, everyone still felt it was dream-like.
"There's nothing surprising about it. They are now lacking a leader."
Henderson was not so surprised.
With CR7's departure, Real Madrid had not only lost a core player who could score 40+ goals a season but also a leader in the locker room.
Florentino had once wanted to promote the Welsh striker, Bale, to the top, but unfortunately, he had failed.
It was unknown what conflict the Welshman had with Real Madrid, but looking at Bale's updated personal social media: Wales > Golf > Real Madrid, one could tell that the relationship between Bale and Real Madrid was not good.
Now, the nominal leader of Real Madrid was Benzema, but this "pot-carrying king"...
In short, Real Madrid's exit in the round of 16 seemed accidental, but it was actually within reason.
"That's right. And compared to them, we should be more concerned about ourselves. Our journey this year is not over yet."
"But we have already taken the most crucial step. In the first round of the knockout stage, we defeated the mighty Bayern at home."
"I believe that in the future, no team can stop our steps. We will conquer all of Europe! COME ON!"
Klopp extended his hand, and the other players also put their fists together.
"1, 2, 3, Liverpool!"
"Victory!"
...
"Champions League Knockout Stage Second Round, Liverpool Overturns Bayern Munich Away!"
"Aggregate Score 7:2, Where Does Bayern Go From Here?"
"Who Else Can Stop Liverpool? Who's Next?"
"18-Year-Old Prodigy Descends, Asian Genius TJ Single-Handedly Creates 5 Goals in Two Legs!"
"..."
The next day, articles about Liverpool and Bayern swept across all of Europe.
However, their popularity was not number one.
Real Madrid's crushing defeat at home to Ajax had become today's top headline.
Experts and fans all expressed their disbelief.
Ajax also had a history of winning the Champions League, but at the end of the day, they were still a team from outside the top five leagues.
Real Madrid, as the kings of the Champions League, the most successful football club in the world, their media had taken a very high stance before the match.
After all, they had already won 2:1 away from home. Back at their own ground, at the Bernabéu, what reason did they have to lose?
What people should have been concerned about was by how many goals Real Madrid would win this match.
The people of Madrid and Spain were generally optimistic about this.
And now.
The arrogant people of Madrid had paid the price. They had suffered an upset at their proud Bernabéu.
However, Tendou did not pay too much attention. Since Real Madrid had been eliminated, they could no longer be Liverpool's opponent.
And besides his own opponents, Tendou generally did not pay too much attention to other teams.
Tendou didn't know how things were in the original world.
He only knew that now, the most threatening teams to Liverpool were Manchester City and Barcelona.
Tottenham should probably be counted as one too.
Although they hadn't made many moves last summer, Tottenham's squad was really capable, and their locker room, without any new transfers, was exceptionally stable.
They were currently ranked fourth in the league.
Looking at the schedule, as long as they didn't make any mistakes themselves, they would most likely lock in a Champions League spot for next year.
And on the Champions League stage, they had defeated Dortmund in both legs to enter the quarterfinals. Their strength was not to be underestimated.
As for the other teams that had already advanced, such as Porto and Ajax, Tendou did not think they could threaten him.
On the night the match ended, Liverpool took a flight back to their city.
Klopp did not arrange for training today. Tendou spent the day playing with Riko.
In the evening, the Liverpool players gathered at their house, had another barbecue, and watched the last two matches of the knockout stage.
"Which one should we watch?"
"Manchester City?"
"I don't think Schalke 04 can stop the Manchester people."
Compared to watching Manchester City, Salah wanted to watch the second leg between Atlético Madrid and Juventus more.
...
Because the match between Manchester City and Schalke 04 lacked suspense.
If it were last season's Schalke 04, they might have been interested.
After all, last season's Schalke 04 was the runner-up in the Bundesliga.
But after selling players in the summer, this season's Schalke 04 was a non-entity in the Bundesliga.
So far, Schalke 04 had only won a pitiful 5 matches in the Bundesliga.
Their inaction last summer meant that they were just there to make up the numbers in the Champions League.
How could such a team compete with a title-contending Manchester City?
"Alright, then we'll watch the match between Atlético and Juventus."
The group quickly made a decision. They barbecued, drank, and waited for the match to begin.
...
This was the last day of the Champions League round of 16 matches.
The showdown between Atlético and Juventus was the focus of all focus.
After leaving La Liga, CR7 had led the Zebras back to Madrid.
In the end, he had suffered a blank slate away from home, and Juventus had lost 2:0.
A two-goal lead might not seem like much, but the problem was, they were facing the iron-blooded Atlético Madrid.
The Atlético led by Simeone was the most iron-blooded team in all of Europe, bar none.
Their average goals conceded was only 0.76, even less than Liverpool's.
And.
This matchup also had a very interesting historical record.
Since Simeone took charge of Atlético, only 3 people in history have scored a hat-trick against them.
They were: CR7 in 2012, CR7 in 2016, and CR7 in 2017.
What's more interesting is that for Juventus to complete the comeback, they must score at least 3 goals at home.
All kinds of data made this showdown full of things to watch.
The European betting companies had even specifically opened a market on whether CR7 could score a hat-trick.
Besides the on-field factors, this match also had many off-field factors.
After shutting out Juventus in the first leg, the Atlético manager, Simeone, had made a very indecent celebratory gesture.
After the match, CR7 had responded with five fingers, signaling, "I have 5 Champions Leagues, you have none."
This had deeply hurt the people of Atlético, because the closest Atlético had come to the Champions League title was when they were defeated by CR7 and his Real Madrid.
All in all, this match was really full of things to watch.
...
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