3–3.
In the 23rd minute, Toaster—the bench-warmer—pressed the opposing goalkeeper so hard that the keeper’s animation froze. The ball rolled into the net. The AI didn’t know how to react. The crowd (a looped 2D texture) cheered unnervingly.
A special cutscene triggered: "Klopp Faces His Ghost."
The match was insane. Liverpool Red’s AI, coded with 2017’s high stats, tore through Teideberg’s makeshift defense. But in the 88th minute, trailing 3–1, Klopp’s digital avatar made a bizarre substitution: he put a 16-year-old youth player named "M. O'Neil" (rating 54) as a center-back. Then he switched formation to a 2-3-5. PES 2017 NEW JURGEN KLOPP MANAGER 2021
His first press conference (a text box): "We will not just survive. We will hunt. The ball is the enemy. The pitch is our forest."
The final whistle blew before the kickoff. Teideberg won 5–4.
Felix laughed. "That’s suicide."
In the 90th minute, it was 4–4. Then the game did something impossible.
The match was a slideshow of errors. Barcelona’s Messi glitched through defenders. Teideberg’s keeper saved a shot with his face. The ref awarded a penalty for a foul that happened two passes earlier.
Felix could control him.
By mid-season, Teideberg was 2nd in the league. The only team above them was Liverpool Red —the fake-name version of the real Liverpool, managed by a generic "J. Morris."
It was 2021. In the real world, Jürgen Klopp had just cemented Liverpool’s dynasty with a second Premier League title. But in the pixelated universe of Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 —still booted up religiously on an old PlayStation 4 in a Berlin flat—things were… strange.