Luton's final league match of the season took place in a downpour.
On May 10th, Luton faced Brentford away.
Despite having already secured the league title, Gao Bo still fielded most of his main players, as the FA Cup final was only ten days away, and Gao Bo needed to keep his main players in competitive form.
For the players, ten days without a match was already a sufficiently long time.
The first half of the match was uneventful, as the game held little significance for either side.
Luton had already secured the league title, and the outcome of this match would not affect their ranking in the league.
The same was true for Brentford, who were five points behind second-placed Wycombe Wanderers and four points ahead of fourth-placed Exeter City, having also secured third place in the league a round in advance, earning a direct promotion spot to League One.
It wasn't until the thirty-eighth minute that Charlie Austin scored a goal, helping Luton take a 1-0 lead over Brentford.
In the second half, Gao Bo began making substitutions.
He replaced Luton's two left-sided players, Lewis Emmanuel and Soro Davis, with Adam White and Assan Hall!
No one realized the significance of this substitution, and even the scout sent by Benitez in the stands simply assumed that Luton was giving more young players a chance to play in the second half.
However, Gao Bo had other ideas, as he was already preparing for the FA Cup final.
Benitez, known as a tactical master, conducts very detailed research on his opponents before matches and often makes targeted tactical arrangements.
During his time at Valencia, Benitez was like this, capable of fielding ten different starting lineups in ten matches.
Facing such a cunning Spanish coach, Gao Bo also decided to make changes to the starting lineup, after all, Luton was the weaker side. If they were to face Liverpool using their previous methods, Benitez would probably have already set a trap waiting for them.
He decided to have Adam start in the final!
Although Adam's stamina couldn't yet support an entire match, he could still play for fifty or sixty minutes!
However, if Adam was to play, a player with strong defensive capabilities would need to be arranged at left-back.
Hassan Ali was a player Gao Bo liked to use. To have such a defensive player, who originally played as a defensive midfielder, play as a left-back? Gao Bo believed that Hassan Ali could handle this position. Firstly, Hassan's stamina could support him running up and down the field, and his defensive abilities were also online.
If his positional sense wasn't taken into account, having Hassan Ali guard the left flank would definitely be a reassuring option. However, Gao Bo didn't plan to have Hassan participate in attacks; he just needed to guard his area on the left.
Hassan also had no objection to Gao Bo's arrangement. For Hassan, it didn't matter which position he played, as long as he could get on the field.
"Don't participate too much in the attack. Go up and try playing as a left-back first!" Gao Bo said in Hassan's ear.
Hassan, who was dark-skinned and lean, nodded frequently: "Don't worry, boss. I used to play as a defender in the youth academy."
Gao Bo patted Hassan on the shoulder: "Liverpool's attacking players are different from Brentford's. You go and adapt first. In the next ten days of training, I will strengthen your training at left-back!"
Gao Bo thought of the Basic Technique Enhancement card he still had. Perhaps it could be used on Hassan?
The two were quickly substituted onto the field, and at this time, Luton's formation became 433.
This was the formation Gao Bo was preparing to use against Liverpool, but at this time, most people didn't know this.
The three midfielders were Drinkwater, Kanté, and Kevin Keane, positioned in an inverted triangle, with Kanté sitting deepest and Drinkwater and Kevin Keane supporting on either side. All three midfielders had considerable defensive capabilities, especially Kanté, whose coverage range in midfield was very large. With the added boost from the card, the three midfielders' coverage in midfield was already more than sufficient.
The key was in the attacking end!
The three attacking players up front were Adam, Vardy, and Charlie Austin! All three players had decent running ability and speed. Whether in attack or on the counter-attack, the front trident could play a significant role!
After completing the substitutions, Luton was still adapting to their new formation, and Brentford didn't have much desire to counter-attack.
The match ultimately ended with a 1-0 score, with Luton securing a victory away from home, winning the League Two title this season!
Luton brought the League Two trophy back from the away game, but the team didn't celebrate.
"When we win the FA Cup, we'll celebrate this season's success together!" Gao Bo announced to the players on the bus.
Luton also announced the postponement of the championship celebration to the fans.
"The team is fully preparing for the FA Cup final!"
This was Luton's official statement.
After the league ended, Luton's training base was immediately closed, and the team immediately entered closed training. No media could probe Luton's training situation.
"Closed training?"
Hearing this news, Benitez frowned. He knew that Gao Bo must have some new tricks to deal with Liverpool, but now Benitez couldn't figure out what Gao Bo was up to.
"Is he releasing smoke bombs? Besides defensive counterattacks, what else can they do?" Benitez's assistant, the bald Aiestarán, said from the side.
"Don't worry about them for now, we still have league tasks to play!"
Although the hope of winning the league was slim, Liverpool would not give up as long as there was still hope.
Once Manchester United lost to Arsenal, Liverpool would have a chance to tie the score with Manchester United in the final round. When the time comes to compete on goal difference, Liverpool might not necessarily lose.
Liverpool's attacking ability was indeed very good. Torres was at his peak this season. Before his injury, Torres was one of the most powerful center forwards in the world, and his attacking power made many teams shudder.
Gao Bo was also clear about this, but he also studied Liverpool's weaknesses—their defense didn't seem very solid.
This season, Liverpool often played high-scoring games—either winning by a large margin or drawing by a large margin.
A typical battle occurred in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Liverpool and Chelsea played an all-out attacking battle at Stamford Bridge, with the score of the single game reaching four to four—the neutral fans watching the game were very happy, but Liverpool was eliminated.
In addition to this game, in the league game at home against Arsenal, Liverpool played another four-to-four draw...
With such strong attacking firepower, Liverpool also conceded a lot of goals in defense.
Carragher was still Liverpool's main center-back this season, but the form of this aging English veteran had declined very seriously. Škrtel was still at his peak, but Reina, the goalkeeper whose form on the line had declined seriously, was an important factor in Liverpool conceding many goals...
Benitez didn't pay too much attention to the news of Luton's closed training. With a major battle imminent, it was normal for the opponent to play some small tricks to confuse one's own judgment.
Benitez still had a glimmer of hope for the league.
It was just that Manchester United's game was a few hours earlier than Liverpool's. When Manchester United's game ended, Benitez knew that Liverpool had no hope of winning the championship—Manchester United played a goalless draw with Arsenal at home. In this way, even if Liverpool won this round of the league, they would still be four points behind Manchester United. With only the last round of the league left, Manchester United had already secured the Premier League title a round in advance.
Although Liverpool won against West Bromwich Albion away in this round of the league, Liverpool were not very happy.
Benitez also quickly turned and left the stadium after the game, and there was no excitement that a victory should have on his face.
It wasn't until he returned to Liverpool that Benitez calmed down.
Now, all that was left in front of him was the FA Cup!
FA Cup Final!! This was a match where there absolutely could not be any accidents!!
Benitez took a deep breath and announced the news of the official closed training tomorrow to Liverpool's players.
There were only three days left until the start of the FA Cup match! Liverpool didn't have much preparation time left.