"Ow! What are you doing?!"
"Ref! He's run into me again!"
Oliver waved his hand helplessly, signaling that it wasn't a foul. This was already the fourth time Loftus-Cheek had complained to him in the ten minutes since coming on.
Basically, the frequency was one complaint every two and a half minutes.
Loftus-Cheek had come on at the same time as Leo Lin.
The moment Leo Lin stepped onto the pitch, he fixed his eyes on Loftus-Cheek.
"I want you to turn that big brute into a delicate little wife."
That was the only instruction Klopp gave Leo Lin.
Crystal Palace had brought Loftus-Cheek on specifically to take advantage of his ability to drive the ball forward and create attacking opportunities.
But Leo Lin's simultaneous substitution—and the targeted tactical instructions—completely erased Loftus-Cheek's influence on the match.
Wherever Loftus-Cheek went, Leo Lin followed.
Whenever Loftus-Cheek made a run off the ball, Leo Lin immediately stepped in for a physical challenge.
And every challenge was clean—pure fifty-fifty battles.
In English football, these kinds of collisions were almost never called as fouls.
But Loftus-Cheek was being bullied badly by this 18-year-old.
At this moment, it felt as if Doucouré, Xhaka, and Matić—every midfielder who had ever suffered at Leo Lin's hands—had possessed Loftus-Cheek.
He was not fighting alone.
He carried the collective frustration of all those midfielders, personally experiencing the unique pain that came with facing Leo Lin.
76th minute!
"Another high ball sent in from the flank—Danny Ings with the chance!"
"He powers a header! But it's straight at the keeper, who gathers it comfortably!"
"A powerful throw from the goalkeeper to launch a counterattack—looking for Loftus-Cheek again!"
"Chest control—but Leo Lin is right behind him."
The moment Loftus-Cheek brought the ball down, Leo Lin rushed in from behind.
He didn't immediately challenge—he simply stayed close behind Loftus-Cheek.
Loftus-Cheek instantly leaned his back into Leo Lin and pushed hard, trying to spin around with brute force.
Loftus-Cheek would swear to the heavens that a human body was supposed to have elasticity.
That elasticity was exactly why so many players could perform those turn-and-spin moves with their backs to goal.
They relied on the defender's body to bounce off and generate momentum.
But when Loftus-Cheek slammed into Leo Lin—
Leo Lin had already anticipated it.
He held his breath and tightened his muscles instantly.
If someone could see through his jersey, they would see perfectly defined abdominal muscles and chest muscles sculpted like ancient Roman statues.
Loftus-Cheek felt like he had crashed into a brick wall.
He stumbled forward awkwardly and almost tripped over his own feet, nearly losing the ball.
With no other option, he quickly passed the ball backward.
He simply couldn't find any space to move forward.
The light vanished from the eyes of the Crystal Palace fans.
Instead, it appeared in the eyes of the Liverpool supporters.
"What more is there to say? That's the difference in raw strength!"
"Feel the pain of Leo Lin!"
"Crystal Palace has always been known for big, powerful players—but Leo Lin is the strongest of the strong!"
"King of kings, king of sausages—Leo Lin alone is stronger than six men!"
To conserve energy, Leo Lin didn't push forward in attack.
His appearance on the pitch was purely to help Liverpool protect their lead.
In the end, amid a storm of boos from the home crowd, Liverpool secured the victory and advanced to the FA Cup semifinals.
The gap in strength between the two sides was enormous.
Klopp hadn't even needed to use Liverpool's full power to defeat Crystal Palace.
"Full time!"
"In the 2017–18 FA Cup quarterfinal, Liverpool defeat Crystal Palace and advance to the semifinals!"
"They are now just two matches away from lifting the FA Cup trophy!"
"Liverpool are currently in an excellent position. They have the chance to compete for three trophies: the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League."
"In the Champions League, they have already reached the final and will have plenty of time to prepare for their clash with Real Madrid."
"In the league, Liverpool still hold a one-point lead over Manchester City. The title race between these two teams has entered its most critical stage!"
"Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester United have all fallen behind, with a huge gap separating them from the top two."
"The championship will very likely be decided between Manchester City and Liverpool."
"Whoever avoids dropping points in the remaining eight league matches and secures the most wins will become the Premier League champion!"
"If both teams stumble in the final eight rounds, we might witness the second-highest point total for a runner-up in Premier League history—Manchester City finishing just one point behind Liverpool."
"But if Liverpool slip up in even one match while Manchester City remain perfect, City could overtake them and reclaim first place!"
Jim Beglin's analysis was extremely clear.
And Klopp naturally understood this as well.
After returning to the locker room following the match, Klopp only celebrated briefly before immediately reminding the players to stay focused.
"A perfect victory. Congratulations, everyone!"
"But now we need to forget about this win and turn our attention to the next match."
"Against our rivals Everton, we must take the victory!"
In Premier League Matchday 31, Leo Lin would once again face his former youth academy club—Everton.
Because of the delicate relationship between Everton and Liverpool—and Leo Lin's background as an Everton academy player who now played for Liverpool—Everton fans didn't welcome him at all.
...
April 8th. Premier League Matchday 31.
Liverpool vs the Toffees.
"The match has begun, and Liverpool's lineup has once again been rotated."
"Solanke starts at center forward, Danny Ings fills in on the right wing, and the midfield trio is Milner, Henderson, and Leo Lin."
"The two full-backs are Klavan and Clyne. Mignolet is resting, and Karius starts in goal."
Boos echoed throughout the stadium.
Every time Leo Lin touched the ball, Everton fans erupted into loud jeers.
Leo Lin had become a man with his own background music.
But Everton's boos had absolutely no effect on Liverpool's players.
If anything, the Liverpool players seemed to become even more excited.
16th minute!
"Don't Everton fans ever get tired? Booing nonstop like this—it's no wonder so many of them keep getting up to go to the restroom."
"Everton have been defending the entire time, with their midfield and attack relying almost entirely on Wayne Rooney to organize play."
Wayne Rooney, who had transferred from Manchester United, was already in the late stage of his career.
But he was still the core of this Everton team.
However, football matches cannot be carried by a single player alone.
One man simply cannot support the entire structure.
19th minute!
"Jagielka launches a long ball—once again looking for Rooney!"
"Rooney controls it with his chest and tries to spin—but Henderson arrives in time to make the tackle and immediately launches a counterattack!"
The moment Henderson won the ball, Liverpool's formation surged forward in perfect order.
This was exactly the tactical plan Klopp had prepared.
He knew Everton feared counterattacks the most.
"The ball moves to the right flank—Clyne pushes forward!"
"There's space ahead! A lofted through ball finds Danny Ings!"
"Squared across the box to the far post! Mané slides in!"
"Beautiful!!!"
"Liverpool complete a lightning-fast counterattack! From the long pass down the flank to Mané finishing at the far post—just three passes in total!"
"That's the beauty of immediate pressing combined with rapid counterattacks!"
"The fiery Mané opens the scoring for Liverpool!"
When Mané scored that goal, Everton fans had no idea that it would mark the beginning of their nightmare.
That goal was like opening the floodgates.
And once the flood began, Liverpool's attack surged forward like a raging torrent, completely unstoppable.