The halftime whistle had saved them. But only for fifteen minutes.

In the Anfield dressing room the air was hot and smelled of sweat and deep heat cream. The Barnsley players looked like they had just run through a war zone.

Diego Nunez was sitting on the floor. He had a bandage around his head. He looked like a wounded soldier but his eyes were wide and crazy.

"They are fast Papa Michael," Diego gasped. "They run like cheetahs. But cheetahs are just big cats. I like cats."

"We cannot just defend Diego," Michael Sterling said. He wiped the tactical board clean.

He looked at his team. They were losing 2 to 1. They were tired.

But this was a cup game. You do not get points for losing by one goal. You either win or you go home.

"Listen to me," Michael said. "We are going to do something crazy."

Arthur Milton looked up from his half eaten sandwich.

"How crazy Boss? Diego eating a referee crazy?"

"Crazier," Michael said.

He drew a new formation on the board.

It did not look like a football formation. It looked like an arrow pointing at the Liverpool goal.

"We switch to three defenders," Michael announced.

Sergio Ramos frowned. "Three? Against Salah and Diaz? That is suicide Boss."

"It is brave Sergio," Michael corrected. "Ramos. Diego. Pavard. You are the back three. Everyone else? You attack."

He drew four midfielders and three strikers. But he pushed the midfielders so high it looked like a front line of four.

"We play the three four four," Michael said. "We flood the box. We make them panic. If we lose 5 to 1 it does not matter. But if we win? We are legends."

The players looked at the board. Then they looked at each other.

A smile spread across the face of Jamie Vardy.

"I like it," Vardy grinned. "All or nothing. Let us go cause some chaos."

THE PURPLE WAVE

The second half started.

The smoke from the flares had cleared but the noise was still deafening.

Liverpool expected Barnsley to defend. They expected the bus.

Instead they saw a purple wave crashing towards them.

Minute 50.

Enzo Silva and Kai Sora pushed up. Leo Stone and Erik Olsen stayed wide. Jamie Vardy and Isaiah King ran through the middle.

Liverpool were confused. They had too many players to mark.

"Mark him!" Van Dijk shouted pointing at Vardy. "No mark him!" he shouted pointing at Erik.

The confusion created space.

Leo Stone got the ball. He was in the pocket of space.

He turned. He saw Diego Nunez running. The giant defender had ignored the instructions to stay back. He was charging forward like a runaway train.

"I AM COMING!" Diego roared.

Leo chipped the ball into the box.

Diego did not head it. He threw his body at it. It was a diving chest bump.

The ball hit his massive chest. It bounced past Alisson.

GOAL.

Liverpool 2. Barnsley 2.

The away end erupted. Diego ran to the corner flag and punched it. The flag snapped in half.

"WE ARE ALIVE!" Diego screamed. "THE BULL NEVER DIES!"

Michael Sterling jumped on the touchline. The suicide tactic was working.

THE ROBOT RESPONDS

But you do not poke a giant without consequences.

Liverpool were angry now. Really angry.

Arne Slot the Liverpool manager stood on the sideline. He did not look worried. He looked at his bench.

He called for a substitute.

ON: Hugo Ekitike.

OFF: Luis Diaz.

"Ekitike," Arthur whispered. "He is fast Boss. He is very fast. And we only have three defenders."

But before Ekitike could even touch the ball Alexander Isak decided to end the argument.

Minute 60.

The Swedish striker received the ball near the center circle.

He looked up. He saw Jan Visser off his line.

Usually a player would dribble. Or pass.

Isak was not normal. He was the 150 million pound robot.

He hit the ball. From forty yards out.

He did not curl it. He smashed it.

The ball flew through the air like a laser beam. It did not dip. It did not swerve. It just travelled in a straight line of pure violence.

Jan Visser dived. He stretched his long frame.

But the ball was too fast. It was a blur.

BOOM.

It hit the top corner. The sound of the net rippling was louder than the crowd for a second.

GOAL.

Liverpool 3. Barnsley 2.

The stadium went silent for one second as everyone processed what they had just seen. Then it exploded.

Isak stood there. He did not smile. He just nodded.

"He is a machine," Arthur said dropping his notebook. "That is not physics. That is witchcraft."

"It was a world class goal," Michael admitted. "We cannot stop that."

THE SUBS AND THE COLLAPSE

Michael looked at the clock. Minute 65.

They were losing again. And his players were exhausted. The high intensity 3 4 4 formation was draining their batteries.

"We need fresh legs," Michael said.

SUBSTITUTIONS:

ON: Danny Fletcher (The Prince returns).

OFF: Jamie Vardy.

ON: Tom (Defender).

OFF: Pavard.

"Push!" Michael shouted. "We can do it again!"

But Liverpool had found the weakness.

With only three defenders and Diego Nunez trying to play as a striker there were gaps. Huge gaps.

Minute 72.

Hugo Ekitike got the ball.

The French striker was fresh. He had legs full of energy.

He faced Sergio Ramos.

Ramos was a legend. But Ramos was thirty nine years old and he had played seventy minutes of high intensity warfare.

Ekitike pushed the ball past Ramos.

Ramos tried to turn. His legs were heavy.

Ekitike was gone.

He sprinted towards the goal.

Tom tried to cover. But Ekitike was too tricky. He did a stepover. He faked a shot. Tom slid past him into the advertising boards.

Ekitike was one on one with Jan Visser.

Jan came out. "Make yourself big!" Jan shouted to himself.

Ekitike chipped him.

It was a cheeky finish. A disrespectful finish.

The ball floated slowly into the net.

GOAL.

Liverpool 4. Barnsley 2.

The Liverpool fans started singing. "Allez Allez Allez!"

MINUTE 78

The scoreboard was glowing red in the night.

LIVERPOOL 4 - 2 BARNSLEY

The game was gone. The cup run was over.

Michael stood on the touchline. The rain was soaking his hair.

He saw Diego Nunez standing with his hands on his hips. The giant looked devastated.

He saw Leo Stone looking at the ground.

But then Michael saw something else.

He saw Enzo Silva still running. The Pitbull was chasing Mac Allister even though the game was lost.

He saw Erik Olsen demanding the ball.

They were beaten. But they were not broken.

Arthur Milton stood next to Michael.

"Nightmare difficulty Boss," Arthur said sadly. "Isak is a cheat code. And Ekitike is too fast."

"We tried Arthur," Michael said. "We came to Anfield. We played three defenders. We scored two goals. We made them bleed."

"We did," Arthur agreed. "And Diego broke the corner flag. That counts as a victory."

Michael looked at the Liverpool bench. Arne Slot looked relieved. The giant had been scared.

"We are out of the cup," Michael said. "But we learned something tonight."

"What did we learn Boss? That Isak has a rocket launcher in his boot?"

"No," Michael said. "We learned that even when we lose we are dangerous. We forced them to play their best football to beat us."

On the pitch Sergio Ramos clapped his hands.

"HEADS UP!" Ramos screamed at his team. "WE FINISH STRONG! NO MORE GOALS FOR THEM!"

The team responded. They formed a line. They kept fighting.

Michael Sterling watched his Misfits.

They were imperfect. They were chaotic. They were losing.

But as he listened to the away fans still singing in the corner Michael knew one thing.

This Dynasty was built on more than just trophies. It was built on spirit.

And even a 4 2 defeat could not kill that spirit.

"Five more minutes," Michael whispered. "Show me your heart."

The game rolled on. The robots of Liverpool were winning. But the humans of Barnsley were still standing tall.

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