Kaka's Call!

January 21, the second leg of the League Cup semifinals.

Liverpool fielded a lineup of substitutes and young players. Although they lost 3–2 away to Burnley, they still eliminated their opponents and advanced smoothly to the League Cup final thanks to their commanding home win.

At Old Trafford in Manchester, although Manchester United had lost 1–0 to Derby County in the first leg, Nani, O'Shea, and Tevez scored three goals in the first half of the second leg, giving United a 3–0 lead.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been in poor form recently, came on as a substitute in the fifty-eighth minute, but his condition still showed no improvement. It was not until the eighty-ninth minute that the Portuguese received an assist from Tevez and scored for Manchester United.

It was also his first goal in more than a month, ending his scoring drought.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Derby County 4–2 at home and eliminated them 4–3 on aggregate.

Manchester United and Liverpool would meet in the League Cup final, which immediately became a hot topic in the British media.

The last time the Double Red Derby had appeared in a League Cup final was in the 2002–03 season. Led by Hollier, Liverpool had ultimately defeated Ferguson's Manchester United 2–0 in the final and lifted the League Cup.

Historically, Liverpool had faced Manchester United twice in League Cup finals, and they had won both times.

That filled everyone with anticipation for the Premier League giants' third League Cup final meeting.

Ferguson confidently declared that Manchester United were fully prepared—not only for the League Cup final, but also for the Premier League title.

The Red Devils' godfather pointed out that Manchester United currently trailed Liverpool by eleven points. However, the club had overturned such deficits before. Back then, the Red