The Reds Head East

The Premier League Asia Cup, originally known as the Premier League Asia Challenge Cup, was organized by the Premier League and had been held in Asia every two years since 2003.

To avoid clashing with the World Cup and UEFA European Championship schedules, the tournament was always held in odd-numbered years.

July 17, 2017.

The entire Liverpool squad departed from London's Heathrow Airport and flew to Hong Kong.

They would play two matches there: Crystal Palace on the 19th and Leicester City on the 22nd.

After that, they would fly from Hong Kong to Munich, Germany, to take part in the Audi Cup.

Both competitions were commercial cup tournaments, mainly intended to give teams preseason warm-ups and time to gel their squads.

An Airbus A380 painted with a huge Liver Bird design was parked on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport.

It was a luxury charter flight specially provided to Liverpool by Emirates.

After all, Liverpool's owner, Khalid, was the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He and Emirates belonged to the same upper circles of the federation, so cooperation between the two was only natural.

The cabin had been rearranged, with the entire first-class section converted into a rest area for the players.

Chen Annuo sat in a wide electric massage chair reclined halfway back, its leg rest raised, noise-canceling headphones hanging around his neck.

He held a cup of warm water and watched London gradually shrink beyond the porthole window.

Mane sat beside him, already wearing an eye mask and humming some tune no one could identify.

Arnold and Robertson were gaming in the seats behind them, Milner was reading a book, and Henderson rested with his eyes closed.

The new signings sat together in small groups. Salah and Perisic chatted quietly, Keita leaned against