Bang!
A long shot from outside the penalty area. The ball flew into the Tottenham goal like a cannonball.
"Wow!!!"
The referee blew his whistle, pointing both hands to the center circle. The goal was valid!
"It's... it's... it's a goal!"
"3-0!"
"With less than a half played, Liverpool is already leading Tottenham by three goals!"
"There's no doubt anymore!"
"It's already over!"
"The only team to ever overturn a 3-goal deficit in a Champions League final is named Liverpool!"
"A team that has created such a miracle will not allow such a disaster to happen to themselves!"
"..."
3-0!
Before halftime, Liverpool had already thrashed Tottenham. Many fans knew what this meant. In the history of the Champions League final, there has been one, and only one, case of a team overturning a 3-goal deficit. But the team that performed that miracle was Tottenham's opponent today, Liverpool.
At the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, the Liverpool fans had gone mad. They were jumping up and down, shouting words of pure, unadulterated joy. Even the usually restrained Klopp couldn't hold back at this moment, turning to the Liverpool fans and pumping his fists three times.
As for the Barcelona fans, or rather, Messi's fans, they had only one thought in their minds now.
"He's not going to score a hat-trick in the Champions League final, is he?"
That was right. With Tendou scoring a brace in the first half, his Champions League goal tally had already tied Messi's 13 goals. In the original world, Messi scored 12, but in this world, because of the butterfly effect of Tendou, he had scored one more.
In other words, even if the match ended now, Tendou would, following his Premier League honor, also win the Champions League Golden Boot.
If he could score one more goal, then he would have that glory all to himself.
At the same time, he would become the third player in the history of the European Cup to score a hat-trick in the final, and the first player to do so since the competition was rebranded as the Champions League.
The Liverpool fans went crazy, and the Liverpool players went crazy too. They frantically chased after Tendou to celebrate the goal with him.
The three goals had left the Tottenham players' heads buzzing. When the camera focused on Adam, Son Heung-min, Eriksen, and even Pochettino, their faces were all filled with bewilderment.
But what made them feel even worse was that, despite being 3 goals down, their only option now was to defend. Liverpool's momentum was too terrifying. If they didn't drop back, they might concede even more before halftime. But the result of doing so was tantamount to surrendering.
"Beep!"
The first half was over. With Tottenham choosing to dig in and defend, Liverpool couldn't extend their advantage further. Liverpool entered the locker room with a 3-0 lead.
The moment Klopp walked in, he gave the players high praise for their first-half performance. No motivation was needed; the championship itself was the greatest stimulant.
In contrast, in the Tottenham locker room, Pochettino was constantly trying to rally his players to keep fighting.
"It's not without precedent in history! It has happened before!"
"If those damn Liverpool people can do it, so can we!"
"Three goals!"
"With a full half to play, we are completely capable of doing it!"
"Believe in your teammates, believe in every single person on this team, and more importantly, believe in yourselves!"
"Never say give up before the match is over!"
Pochettino briefly laid out some tactics, then force-fed his players a strong dose of chicken soup for the soul. Down by three goals, what they needed now was morale before they could even think about anything else.
Fifteen minutes passed. Pochettino changed his tactics. He would no longer just defend Liverpool's flanks, because he had discovered that Liverpool's 18-year-old kid was a greater threat than Mané and Salah combined. They could not continue to let Tendou play so comfortably.
In the 53rd minute, Tottenham counter-attacked. It was the same wing-break-and-cross tactic, with the ball being delivered to the English star, Adam Blake. This time, facing Van Dijk, Adam created some space and chose to shoot directly. As the best center-forward in English history, his shooting technique was naturally historical-level. Van Dijk reacted quickly, but was still a step too slow. The ball grazed past his body and crashed into the Liverpool goal.
3-1!
With a roar, the long-silent Tottenham fans erupted in cheers. Pulling a goal back right at the start of the second half gave them a glimmer of hope.
However, that hope lasted for less than five minutes.
In the 58th minute, after pulling one back, Tottenham continued to attack fiercely. Alli led the charge through the middle, looking for his teammates, but was pressed by Tendou and Henderson. Before he could release the ball, it was stolen by Wijnaldum with a tackle from the side.
A Liverpool counter-attacking opportunity...
After receiving a pass from his teammate, Tendou immediately accelerated, charging at the Tottenham defense. Sissoko was once again beaten by his raw pace.
Seeing this, Winks didn't hesitate, committing a sliding tackle from about 25 meters from goal.
"Ah!"
Tendou shouted and then expertly went down with a roll.
"Beep!"
The referee blew his whistle. A free kick for Liverpool.
Tendou took it himself.
With a "bang," Tendou shot directly from the free kick. The ball flew over the wall and straight into the top right corner of the goal.
"The ball's in!"
"The ball is in again!"
"TJ, a direct free kick goal!"
"A hat-trick!"
"My God, TJ has scored his third personal goal in the 58th minute of this match!"
"He becomes the third player in the history of the European Cup to complete a hat-trick in the final, and the first to do so since the rebranding!"
"At the same time..."
"His 14th Champions League goal!"
"He surpasses Lionel Messi's 13 goals to win this year's Golden Boot outright!"
"..."
4-1!
No one had expected it. A Champions League final had turned into such a dramatic affair. Tendou had scored a crazy 3 goals, writing his name into the history books of the Champions League. In a sense, he was already the third in history!
Moreover, this goal had all but killed the match.
However, it wasn't over yet. Tottenham did not give up and chose to continue attacking. This was the rhythm Liverpool wanted.
In the 64th minute, Adam Blake received a cross from a teammate and passed it to Son Heung-min, whose curling shot was saved by Alisson.
The ball fell to Arnold's feet. The Liverpool "prince" played a long pass from the back to Tendou.
Tendou received the ball and sprinted through the middle with long strides. The Tottenham defenders were on high alert. But Pochettino's tactics couldn't cover all of Liverpool's players. By choosing to focus on Tendou, he inevitably left others open.
"Bang!"
Tendou's signature slicing 'Rainbow' ground pass. The ball skimmed across the turf, carving a beautiful arc to the left flank. In that position, Mané arrived at full speed. By the time he received the ball, only the goalkeeper was in front of him. He cut into the penalty area, aimed for the far corner, and scored with a powerful shot!
5-1!