A Grave Prepared for Liverpool

These names—some had already made themselves famous across Europe, while others were about to do so after the end of this season.

Jardim looked around, making sure everyone's attention was on him.

"Gentlemen, please turn off the music on your phones."

Several young players quickly stuffed their phones back into their pockets.

"I know you've all been looking at the stats. Liverpool are unbeaten in the Premier League, and Anno alone has scored forty-four."

"But today I'm going to tell you one truth: numbers are for journalists to write about, while places in the UEFA Champions League semifinals are for the strong."

He pressed the remote, and the screen on the wall switched to Liverpool's tactical heat map.

"Klopp is a madman, but madmen have their own logic.

His Liverpool aren't a team. They're a high-pressing meat grinder.

In the first fifteen minutes, they'll come charging at us like beasts at Anfield.

Robertson and Arnold will push straight up into the positions of our wingers, and Van Dijk will step up to the center-circle arc to contest headers.

Their goal is to swallow us whole in the first twenty minutes."

Jardim paused, letting those words run through the players' minds.

"But pay attention!"

"Liverpool are unbeaten so far this season, but how many goals have they conceded?"

"Thirty-nine!"

"In the Premier League, that number isn't bad, but for an attack of their level, what does it mean?"

He looked toward Falcao and Mbappe.

"It means their back line is disconnected.

Van Dijk and Matip are tall and powerful, but what do they fear most?

They fear us going straight through the space behind their ribs and making them turn."

The screen switched to clips of Chen Anno dropping back to receive the ball.

"Anno... when it comes to dropping back