From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 963: Bet with Salah

In the player tunnel of the new Wembley Stadium, Bruno and Salah met again. The Egyptian walked straight up to Bruno and said to him: "We have won the championship this time!"

Bruno laughed and said, "Haha, Mohammed, remember what I said before? As long as you don't come to Manchester United, you will never win the championship!"

Salah also laughed and said: "Bullshit, do you really think the championship is in your pocket?"

Bruno smiled and said, "Let's make a bet, Mohammed."

"Let's bet!" Salah agreed readily.

"If Manchester United still wins the championship, you should post a video of yourself barking like a dog on Facebook!" Bruno said with a smile.

"Damn, are you childish?" Salah rolled his eyes and said unhappily.

"Just tell me whether you will scream or not?" Bruno looked at Salah with a smile.

"Fake, what's there to be afraid of? But if we win the championship, you will also learn to bark like a dog on the Internet!" said Salah.

………………

As soon as he returned to the Liverpool team, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who had just noticed Salah talking to Bruno, came over and asked: "Hey, Mohamed, what are you talking to him about?"

Bruno and Salah communicated in Arabic, which Alisson could not understand at all.

Bruno smiled and told Alisson about the bet he and Bruno had just made.

Alisson opened his mouth wide: "Champion? This..."

He thought of the fear of being dominated by Manchester United and Bruno over the years. Now Salah actually took the initiative to provoke Bruno. Was he a little too confident?
However, Alisson did not tell his worries to Salah. He just encouraged himself in his heart: Salah must not be allowed to bark like a dog in front of so many people. That would be so embarrassing!
He must perform well in this game. Not to mention helping the team win, that requires scoring goals, which is not his responsibility as a goalkeeper, but at least he has to keep the goal safe, which can be regarded as helping Salah fulfill half of his promise.

………………

Some other Liverpool players also heard what Salah and Alisson said. Although they didn't say anything, it can be seen from their expressions that Bruno's "crazy words" made them very unhappy.

Obviously, Bruno's words made all Liverpool players feel a sense of solidarity.

Of course, some Liverpool players were puzzled. For example, Liverpool captain Henderson said in confusion: "What good will Bruno do to them? Will angering the opponent before the game benefit Manchester United?"

He couldn't figure out this problem, and his teammates might not figure it out either, but at this moment there was no need to figure it out at all.

"No matter what his purpose is, I am happy to defeat the arrogant Manchester United!" said the young Liverpool right-back Arnold.

His words were echoed by most Liverpool players.

All Liverpool players have this idea. No matter what Bruno's purpose is in making this bet with Salah, since he dares to say that he wants to defeat Liverpool and win the championship, he must be prepared to bear Liverpool's wrath.

The pre-match episode is over.

When players from both sides walked onto the field, flames could almost be seen coming out of the eyes of the Liverpool players.

But not everyone can perceive this keenly. In their opinion, this is no different from entering any other Red Derby.

Only when Bruno shook hands with every Liverpool player could he feel the hostility of these Liverpool players.

Of course he knew why, but it didn't affect him much.

Are you kidding? Bruno has seen a lot of storms and waves. Can the hostility of his opponents make him weak?
………………

After all the necessary procedures before the game were completed, the players from both sides stood in their respective positions, and this key battle was about to begin.

Liverpool got the kick-off right of the game, and Mane stood in the center circle, waiting for the kick-off.

When the referee Atwell blew the whistle to start the game, the Senegalese striker kicked the ball out and passed it back, and the game began.

Liverpool, who had the advantage of kick-off, vented their anger provoked by Bruno towards Manchester United's penalty area from the first second of the game.

In the second minute, Mane completed a high-quality shot, forcing De Gea to make a thrilling save and pushed the ball out of the bottom line.

Just two minutes into the game, Liverpool got a corner kick.

In this corner kick, Liverpool's central defender Koulibaly jumped high and headed the ball towards the goal before Maguire.

It was a pity that the header was slightly higher than the goal, but it also shocked the Manchester United fans in the stands. "Oh, oh, oh! Liverpool's players are full of fighting spirit and entered the game very early!" The commentator of Liverpool's local TV station said excitedly. He was very happy to see this, but he didn't understand why it happened.

I'm afraid that no one except Liverpool players and Bruno would know why Liverpool was so aggressive after the game started.

………………

Afterwards, although Manchester United got the ball, the Liverpool players on the field were like mad dogs, surrounding Manchester United in the midfield and frontcourt, causing great trouble for Manchester United.

This made Klopp, who was directing the game on the sidelines, very happy. He did indeed repeatedly remind his players during the pre-match arrangements to launch a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal as soon as the game started.

He did not intend to maintain a 0:0 score in the game, drag the game into a penalty shootout, and rely on Alisson alone to achieve the goal of winning the championship.

Being a coward for the previous 120 minutes was a common practice of the guy on the other side, but it did not quite fit in with his personal aesthetic.

So of course we have to attack in the game, and score first, and then we can talk about solid defense after the goal.

Liverpool's current performance is very much in line with Klopp's expectations, and his team is indeed getting into the game very quickly.

Of course he felt that this was his own achievement.

Klopp certainly didn't know that the little incident that happened in the player tunnel before the game started might be the reason why Liverpool players got into the game so quickly.

………………

Liverpool's fierce attack finally resulted in the goal they had been dreaming of in the eleventh minute.

Mane's shot caused De Gea to lose the ball, and Salah in the penalty area made a smart follow-up shot and the ball flew into the goal.

"Salah! Mohamed Salah!!" The commentator of Liverpool's local TV station shouted excitedly, "He scored the first goal for Liverpool! This is a very important goal! Liverpool got the upper hand in the game!!"

After scoring the goal, Salah ran towards the corner flag area, and his teammates followed him, hugged him and celebrated the goal.

"After conceding the first goal in the game...Manchester United are in trouble..." Gary Lineker said regretfully.

"The Manchester United defender missed a player when defending in the penalty area, and no one was watching Salah?" He Wei asked, "But before that, Liverpool's attack was already very fierce. Their series of attacks made Manchester United's defense a little busy, and Salah got a chance... Manchester United probably didn't expect Liverpool to get into the game so quickly... They got into the game almost immediately after the game kicked off, without any warm-up attempts..."

………………

While Liverpool players were celebrating the goal, Bruno was holding a small meeting with a few people.

He was looking for Harry Kane, Rashford and Greenwood, the three of them formed Manchester United's attacking lineup for this game.

Bruno said to his three teammates: "It doesn't matter. We also have opportunities. When they press forward, there are actually many gaps behind them. This is the opportunity we can take advantage of and counterattack them."

"But Bruno, they have already scored a goal. There is no need to continue attacking. If they shrink their defense, how can we have a chance to counterattack?" Harry Kane expressed his doubts.

Bruno smiled and said, "I don't think they will retreat so quickly. Think about it, their momentum is so good now. If I were them, I would not choose to shrink the defense after scoring a goal. Of course, I would continue to attack and try to score another goal in a short time!"

After Bruno said this, the others also felt that it made sense.

That's right, when the team is in good momentum, why should they shrink their defense? Of course, they should continue to attack! At this time, if you ask the team to shrink back and play a defensive counterattack, I guess few players will listen.

So Bruno's analysis makes sense.

………………

Bruno continued to analyze: "As long as they continue to attack, we will have opportunities, but we won't have too many opportunities. If we waste them, it will alert them and they will immediately withdraw their attacks. At that time, we will not be able to launch a counterattack even if we want to."

Greenwood knew what Bruno meant, so before Bruno could continue, he said, "Don't worry, Bruno, I won't waste opportunities easily."

Rashford and Harry Kane also nodded their agreement.

So when Liverpool were still celebrating the goal and other Manchester United players were still regretting the loss, Bruno had already pulled a few people aside and briefly explained how to play after losing the ball.

When the game resumed, just as Bruno said, after Manchester United completed an attack, Liverpool continued to bombard Manchester United's goal, which was exactly the same as before, and the offensive was even more fierce.

This is easy to understand. The Liverpool team, which had just scored a goal, was in a very excited period, morale was high, and everyone was full of confidence.

If Manchester United can't withstand their attack, conceding another goal in a short period of time is really not a daydream for Liverpool.

(End of this chapter)