Not long after the Juventus and Atlético match ended, the Man City VS Schalke 04 match, which had started at the same time, also concluded.
The brutal Manchester team, after a difficult 3:2 victory in the first leg, had returned to their home ground, the Etihad, and had mercilessly slaughtered the German team with a resounding 7:0.
With this, the quarterfinalists for the 18-19 Champions League were all revealed.
Premier League: Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham.
La Liga: Barcelona.
Serie A: Juventus.
Primeira Liga: Porto.
Eredivisie: Ajax.
All four participating teams from the Premier League had made it to the final eight.
As soon as the quarter-finalists were announced, the English media excitedly proclaimed to the world that the Premier League was now the strongest league in the world.
On this day, the fans of the Premier League were undoubtedly excited.
Four participating teams, and all four had made it to the quarterfinals.
However, in the quarterfinals, an all-English tie was inevitable.
Now, the fans of the four Premier League teams were all praying that the quarter-final draw would not pair them against each other.
The arrogant English suddenly felt that fighting foreigners was much easier than fighting their own.
What Bundesliga giants Bayern, what Ligue 1 giants PSG, they had all talked big before the match, but as soon as the game started, not a single one of them could put up a fight.
Their biggest rivals were their domestic rivals!
The English had already pre-emptively claimed the title. This year, the teams from other leagues were only fit to compete for third place, and they didn't even have a chance at that.
Amidst the celebratory banging of gongs and drums by the English, on March 15th, the day after all the Champions League round of 16 matches had ended, the quarter-final and semi-final draw was held.
The quarter-final draw this year once again introduced a bracketing system, and there was no rule to avoid teams from the same league.
This bracketing rule made it easy for the participating teams to analyze their opponents in the next round.
For example, Liverpool, they were drawn into the lower half. They had a pretty good draw, facing the Portuguese team Porto.
Also drawn into the lower half with them were Barcelona and Manchester United.
The moment Klopp saw this bracket, he could basically confirm that, provided his team didn't suffer an upset, they would most likely play Barça in the semi-finals.
Manchester United?
This mortal enemy had reached the end of their journey. They could not defeat Barcelona.
This La Liga giant was different from the nouveau riche PSG.
And in the upper half, Klopp believed that Manchester City would win against Tottenham and then defeat Juventus in the semi-finals to enter the final.
So, if everything went smoothly, not only would Liverpool be competing with Manchester City for the league title this year, but they would also be fighting to the death on the Champions League stage.
Of course, this was Klopp's prediction based on team strength and experience and did not take into account any accidents.
And the Champions League stage is full of unknowns.
In these four matchups, it was not impossible for an upset to occur.
Take Real Madrid, for example. Before the match, who would have thought that they would defeat Ajax away from home, only to be turned over at their own ground, the Bernabéu?
And how many people would have thought that Manchester United, 2:0 down, with their core midfielder Pogba suspended, would come from behind away from home against PSG?
And how many people would have thought that the iron-blooded Atlético would be turned over by a hat-trick from CR7?
On the Champions League stage, anything is possible.
...
After the match against Bayern, Liverpool once again turned their attention to the league.
Premier League, Matchday 31.
The league had now entered its final sprint stage.
This time, Liverpool's opponent was Fulham.
Facing the Cottagers, who were deep in the relegation zone, this match was very difficult for Liverpool.
In the 27th minute of the match, Mané received a god's-eye-view through pass from Tendou in the box and broke the deadlock with a first-time shot.
But for the next 40-plus minutes, Liverpool kept trying to extend their lead but failed to break through Fulham's goal again.
Instead, in the 74th minute of the match, Fulham scored on a counter-attack. Babel broke through on the left, cut inside, and equalized with a shot.
After that, Fulham chose to sit back and defend.
Now, for them, every single point was precious.
Of course, the same was true for Liverpool.
They needed the points even more than Fulham, because a day ago, Manchester City had thrashed Southampton at home.
They could not afford to lose this match.
Klopp waved his hand, and the team launched a fierce offensive.
But up until the 90th minute, Liverpool could not break through Fulham's parked bus.
In the process, Tendou almost scored a direct free-kick, but it was brilliantly saved by the Fulham goalkeeper.
Then, a through pass to Firmino in the center, who was one-on-one, but before he could get a shot off, the linesman raised his flag for offside.
This situation continued until stoppage time.
In the 93rd minute, Tendou received a pass from a teammate in the center and immediately burst forward.
This was Liverpool's last chance in this match. At this point, Tendou could no longer care about playing "conservative" football.
With lightning at his feet, he blew past Seri with a burst of speed. Facing the covering Anguissa, he engaged in the most primitive physical confrontation.
With a bang, under the dumbfounded gazes of the fans, he pushed Anguissa away and then charged towards the Fulham half.
And then, after attracting enough defensive attention, he distributed the ball to Salah on the wing and then went straight for the opponent's box.
Salah on the right got past two players and then immediately crossed.
At the edge of the box, Tendou was being followed by the opponent's defender, Ream, and Chambers was also eyeing him.
In this situation, he couldn't possibly take on two players at once, using the most barbaric way to push them aside.
Because at the end of the day, he was still human, not a real superman.
He had to use technique.
As the Six Eyes moved, he had already seen the result from the fifth dimension.
Facing the ball from Salah, Tendou's instep made a nimble touch, and then he immediately turned and stepped into the Fulham penalty area.
It all happened too fast. Ream couldn't predict his actions at all, and Chambers was also half a beat too slow to react.
By the time they turned to chase, the turned Tendou had already caught up to the ball a step ahead and smashed his left foot into it.
Goal!
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!"
The Liverpool commentator roared loudly.
The several thousand Liverpool fans who had traveled with the team immediately jumped from their seats, their cheers deafening.
"Creativity!"
"A god-given, spiritual dribble!"
"TJ! It's him again! He has scored the winning goal that kills the game in the final moments!"
"This goal reminds me of the Ice Prince, Bergkamp!"
"Elegant, deadly, he was simply an elf on the football pitch!"
"He is dancing in the Fulham penalty area!"
"TJ has once again jumped onto the advertising hoardings! He has conquered Craven Cottage!"
"But this won't be the last. TJ's future will conquer all of Europe!"
...
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