The harder Liverpool attacked, the more disappointed the Chelsea fans became, the more nervous the Chelsea players grew, and the more entertaining the EFL Cup Final became.
37th minute!
Leo had not even entered Chelsea's penalty area yet. He dropped back to receive the ball and exchanged passes with Rodri.
Mac Allister began moving toward Kanté, as Liverpool tried to force Chelsea's midfielders to switch their marking assignments.
Kanté followed Mac Allister. Pulisic moved to close down Leo, and even Havertz tracked back.
Havertz thought back to the previous European Championship. When Germany faced Spain, he had tried marking Leo then too, but there had been absolutely nothing he could do to stop him.
Several years had passed, and Havertz knew he had improved enormously as a player. Yet whenever he faced Leo, the feeling was exactly the same as it had been during that European Championship.
He simply could not stop him.
Leo carried the ball with Havertz behind him, Pulisic in front, and Mount alongside him. Surrounded by three Chelsea players, he showed no sign of panic. His control remained remarkably composed.
Every time he touched the ball, Leo glanced around.
Everyone around him seemed convinced that he knew exactly where he wanted to go, but the truth was that Leo himself had no particular destination in mind.
He was simply dribbling.
He kept going, one touch after another.
If someone stepped in to challenge him, he beat them and continued forward.
Until now, Leo had not found a particularly good route forward, nor had he spotted a teammate in position to receive the ball.
Yet it was this seemingly ordinary dribbling that left Chelsea's aggressive press completely disorganized.
"Three players are surrounding him and they still can't win the ball! Chelsea's press isn't working at all!"
"Rodri and Mac Allister are holding their positions, while Szoboszlai is making runs further forward!"
Leo held onto the ball for a while before finally spotting Szoboszlai.
He threaded a pass straight through Pulisic and Kanté to find Szoboszlai.
Szoboszlai immediately moved it on to Salah, who once again took on Rüdiger.
This time, Rüdiger did not press his head against Salah. Instead, he reached out and grabbed him around the waist.
Rüdiger then stayed tight to Salah throughout the duel and finally managed to stop him from breaking through.
Even so, Salah still found enough space to send the ball toward the far post.
Díaz was excellent at bringing down balls dropping out of the air. He controlled it with his right foot, then used his first move to get past Azpilicueta.
He tried to shoot with his next touch, but Azpilicueta recovered in time to block him.
Although Díaz had beaten him initially, Azpilicueta was rarely taken completely out of a play.
"Chelsea's first-half performance in this EFL Cup Final has looked nothing like that of a champion. You're not winning a trophy playing like this!"
"Liverpool, on the other hand, look every bit like champions!"
By halftime, Chelsea had not even managed a single shot.
The first thing Tuchel did after returning to the locker room was make a substitution.
He did not bring on a defensive midfielder. Instead, he introduced another striker, with Lukaku replacing Mount.
"Gullit, Chelsea have made a change. Lukaku is coming on. Havertz should move into attacking midfield, with Lukaku playing up front."
"What does that change really accomplish? I don't see how it helps Chelsea turn this around."
No one had expected Tuchel, after thinking it over for so long, to settle on bringing on Lukaku.
"Lukaku hasn't been particularly happy at Chelsea. He was doing very well at Inter Milan, but Chelsea wanted to sign him. Once he came here, though, he no longer had Lautaro Martínez alongside him, and he hasn't looked nearly as dominant as he did at Inter."
"If Lukaku can reproduce his Inter Milan form after coming on, he can help Chelsea score."
Lukaku wanted to return to Inter Milan, but Chelsea had spent a huge amount of money to sign him.
Even if he could not make a major contribution to the team, he at least needed to score some goals.
Otherwise, why would Chelsea simply let him leave?
That would be like handing money straight to Inter Milan, and Chelsea had no intention of doing that.
Just before the second half began, Tuchel made another substitution. This was the change he had spent much longer considering.
Reece James came on, while Tuchel took off Azpilicueta, despite Azpilicueta believing he could replace Chalobah at center back.
Klopp made no changes.
There was no need.
Liverpool were playing too well.
Klopp simply told Leo to manage his stamina carefully and save his attacks on Chelsea's penalty area for the later stages of the second half.
"Kovačić hasn't managed his energy very well. You'll get more opportunities as the match gets closer to the end."
"Havertz is very dangerous as an attacking midfielder. Rodri, make sure you protect Gvardiol. Pulisic is fairly predictable in that role, so Mac Allister, stay alert defensively."
"Keep it going. Let's win the EFL Cup first and show them what we're capable of this season!"
Reece James had been brought on specifically to shut down Díaz.
That, in theory, would allow Chalobah to focus entirely on marking Leo.
That was Tuchel's plan.
Whether Chalobah could actually do it was another matter.
50th minute!
Leo sprinted forward and joined Szoboszlai, Díaz, and Salah further up the pitch.
The four of them used quick, coordinated passing sequences to gradually make Chelsea's defenders lose track of their assignments until someone was eventually left unmarked.
Alexander-Arnold carried the ball forward and passed to Salah.
Salah moved it to Leo.
Leo immediately sent it on to Szoboszlai.
Liverpool's passing was razor-sharp.
Kanté completely ignored Szoboszlai and focused solely on Leo.
Havertz, now playing as an attacking midfielder, also began tracking back, with Rodri as his main defensive responsibility.
That left Mac Allister facing relatively little pressure compared to Liverpool's other midfielders.
If Chelsea were going to give him that kind of space, Mac Allister was going to use it.
He carried the ball forward while constantly looking for a chance to play a through ball, then repeatedly fed the ball to Leo.
Leo kept watching Thiago Silva, waiting for him to make a positional mistake.
But Thiago Silva refused to give him an opening, while Chalobah continued to stay tight to him.
"I can barely remember the last time Chelsea had the ball! It's been nothing but Liverpool passing and attacking!"
"Mac Allister switches it to Robertson again. Liverpool now have five players pushed forward in a line, exchanging passes with each other. They've pinned Chelsea back completely!"
When Lukaku came on, he had assumed he would be playing as the striker.
It was only after following Van Dijk deeper and deeper toward midfield that he realized he was effectively playing more like a midfielder forced to defend.
Still, that was fine.
As long as his teammates could win the ball and get it to him, he could turn himself into a winger and drive forward.
Kovačić joined the press on Leo again.
Kanté, Havertz, and even Pulisic all closed in as well.
Chelsea wanted one thing above all else.
They wanted to take the ball away from Leo.
Yet even with that many players surrounding him, they still could not win it.
Watching Leo calmly dribble through pressure despite being outnumbered, Gullit felt as though he had never seen a player quite like him.
"I think this is as high as the Football God of War can possibly reach. Leo's current level is the ceiling. It can't go any higher than this!"
Scholes, however, saw it differently.
"But Leo is still going to get better."
"He has no ceiling!"
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (60 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.