Looking at the giant portrait of himself, Leo Lin was filled with emotion. Behind him, envy was written all over Rodri's face.
Leo Lin raised the flag high toward the fans in the distance and answered them with a clenched fist.
The starting players from both teams spread out across their sides of the pitch, and with the referee's whistle, the match officially began.
Manchester City kicked off.
"Manchester City kick off. David Silva is on the ball, with Bernardo Silva on the right. De Bruyne is on the bench for this match, and Guardiola has gone with a lineup built even more around control."
"Manchester City will definitely want to take advantage of Liverpool's weakened state and stretch the gap to five points. They won't show any mercy today!"
Scholes had guessed right. Even though they were away from home, Manchester City quickly turned the match into their own, playing aggressive attacking football.
Possession combined with attack.
On the right, Mahrez repeatedly carried the ball forward, making things extremely uncomfortable for Robertson.
Wijnaldum was forced to drop back and help defend the flank, while Rodri retreated through the middle to provide cover. That left the entire advanced section of Liverpool's midfield for Leo Lin to handle on his own.
David Silva and Bernardo Silva, the Silva duo, were Manchester City's twin cores in this tactical setup. Both had outstanding ability on the ball.
In the 18th minute.
"David Silva drives forward with the ball. Facing his younger national team teammate, he plays it out to the right."
"There's plenty of space in front of Bernardo Silva. Wijnaldum is caught in the middle and looks very uncomfortable."
"Bernardo Silva keeps carrying the ball forward. Rodri steps up to block him head on."
"It's switched to the left. Sterling one on one against Arnold!"
"Sterling powers toward the byline, trying to use his speed!"
"Arnold gets there first and slides the ball out of play. A risky but crucial piece of defending!"
"Sterling was one step away from getting through!"
The Liverpool fans applauded Arnold's defending, but Sterling quickly threw the ball back into play to David Silva. As soon as David Silva received it, he sent it right with a beautiful long diagonal pass.
Mahrez showed off his superb first touch while deliberately turning his body sideways, tempting Robertson to step in.
Robertson fell for it. The instant he moved to challenge, Mahrez suddenly burst forward from a standstill with the ball at his feet.
It was his signature feint down the wing.
With one beautiful move toward the byline, Mahrez beat Robertson, kept driving forward, added a step-over, and then struck the near corner directly with his right foot.
"He shoots!"
"Mignolet dives and keeps it out. There's still danger!"
"Ocho follows up and clears it long!"
"Manchester City are creating danger in Liverpool's penalty area again and again!"
"Liverpool's recent winless form has carried into this match. Even with Leo Lin back, this winless run feels like a curse, like chains wrapped around Liverpool."
"If they want to find their form again, they need to break through their current predicament. And I don't mean tactically or technically. I mean mentally and psychologically."
A run of matches without a win was bound to affect the state of the entire team. It could even drag them into a strange kind of confusion, a sense of struggling without knowing how to break free.
Compared with the winning streak at the start of the season, Leo Lin could feel that the team's overall condition had indeed dropped.
All Leo Lin could do was run more, take more pressure off his teammates, and make sure they stabilized the tempo first.
But Manchester City's attacks were like heavy clouds in the sky, layer wrapped around layer.
"David Silva plays the through ball straight in. Agüero beats the offside trap!"
"He hammers it from the left side of the box! Mignolet makes the save!"
...
"Leo Lin drives forward with the ball. He chooses to go himself, pushing straight through the middle."
"Fernandinho joins Bernardo Silva to close him down. He reaches out and grabs at him, but he can't pull him back."
"Fernandinho barges into him from the side, and the referee finally gives the foul!"
"Fernandinho is shown a yellow card!"
"A free kick in the attacking third. Liverpool work it short and send it into the box."
"Firmino holds it up with his back to goal, drags the ball back, turns, and shoots!"
"It's over. Firmino sends that one flying high!"
Although Liverpool had chances to counter, it was obvious from Scholes's commentary that the truly dangerous attacks were all being created by Manchester City.
"We're now 30 minutes into the first half. In terms of possession, Manchester City have 62 percent, and they've taken four more shots than Liverpool, with two more on target."
"Liverpool have had three shots in total, none of them on target. Ederson has not been tested at all!"
The first half was ticking away quickly. Neither side had scored, but the Liverpool fans were clearly far more nervous than the Manchester City fans.
"This pressure, this feeling of being pinned back. Last season's five trophies almost made me forget what this felt like, but now it's back!"
"I hate this feeling. Hurry up and get us out of this slump. We have to win this match!"
"Guardiola's Manchester City have truly come into their own. A perfect system, a perfect style!"
"If this keeps going, Liverpool are going to concede sooner or later. Once Manchester City open their account, it'll be like Pandora's box has been opened!"
Finally, when Jones blew the whistle for halftime, the Liverpool players visibly looked relieved.
Leo Lin quickly ran back to the dressing room.
The Liverpool dressing room was extremely quiet. The pressure from the pitch seemed to have followed the players inside. Klopp looked at Leo Lin. He knew Leo Lin had something to say.
Leo Lin nodded at Klopp, stood up, and spoke.
"0-0. A tough first half. I know what we're going through. A lot of our key players are injured. We don't have a complete lineup. But that is not a reason for us to keep losing!"
"We're in the 14th round of the league. We're almost halfway through the season. We're behind Manchester City, but is that enough for us to give up?"
"Do you want to give up?" Leo Lin looked around at his teammates.
"Let me tell you something!"
"This is my team!"
"This is my turf!"
"Everyone out there is our fan!"
"We!"
"Will!"
"Not!"
"Give!"
"Up!"
"Fight them!"
"Fight them to the end!"