Liverpool's draw in the crucial game was great news for Nottingham Forest. Tang En believed that there were many players like him watching the game on television at home last night, because everyone was still discussing yesterday's game before training began the next morning.
Tang En was also happy. When he gathered the players to prepare for training, the smile on his face never disappeared. Looking at the players who were also smiling, his smile deepened. In the end, he could not help but shout, "Who watched yesterday's game?"
Almost half of his hands were raised.
"Does anyone still remember what I said before your game against Everton?" Tang En stood in front of the players with his hands on his hips, like a general lecturing, high-spirited. "I said Liverpool would definitely fall behind, definitely fall behind!" He waved his hands and pointed downward. "Am I right? Am I right?"
"Yes!"
"That's right!"
"Boss! Tell me the lottery numbers for the next round! "
There was a burst of laughter in the team.
Tang En waved his hands. "Go away! It's not that I can predict the future. What does this mean? Liverpool is fighting on two fronts. It's certain that they will give up on one side. For them, the UEFA Champions League is much more important than the league tournament. And for us now, there's nothing more important than getting into the top four of the league tournament and qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League. Some people say that we are a newly promoted team. They think that the goal of a newly promoted team in the first season should be to avoid relegation, and that the best result is to avoid relegation early. Now let's correct their wrong thinking. Who says a newly promoted team can't participate in next season's UEFA Champions League? We'll show them this time! "
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April 10th, Round 32 of the league tournament. Nottingham Forest challenged Bolton Wanderers in an away game. The high-spirited Forest team launched an attack against Bolton Wanderers in the away game. Both sides scored a total of five goals in the game, and the final score was 3: 2. Forest narrowly won the away game.
Everton beat Crystal Palace 4: 0 at home in this round of the league tournament, and still maintained a one-point lead over Forest.
Liverpool was forced to a draw by Newcastle in the make-up game three days ago. They had the same points as Everton — 51 points, slightly higher than Forest. But in this round of the league tournament. Perhaps they really intended to shift their goal to the Champions League at the end of the season. They lost 0: 1 to Manchester City in an away game.
Thirty-two rounds of the league tournament were over. Everton had 54 points, Forest had 53 points, and Liverpool had 51 points.
April 17th, Round 33 of the league tournament. The matches between Nottingham Forest and Everton will be postponed. Everton's away game against Newcastle United was postponed to May 11th, while Nottingham Forest's away game against Chelsea was postponed to April 26th.
Liverpool's match was not postponed, but they still did not win. This time, they were forced into a 2: 2 draw by Tottenham Hotspur at home. With both the Forest team and Everton team one game short, they still failed to surpass their opponents in terms of points and ranking.
Starting from the 34th round of the league tournament on April 21, the Forest team's opponents were:
A home game against Manchester United, an away game against Chelsea (33 rounds of make-up matches), a home game against Liverpool, an away game against Arsenal, an away game against Charlton, and a home game against Birmingham City.
This kind of competition schedule was really strange.
This was also the biggest reason why Moyes still believed that Everton could maintain their fourth place.
The Forest team could not afford to lose any of the remaining six games.
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The last day of training before the match ended. The players came down from the field and walked into the locker room, preparing to bathe and change. However, the people walking at the front found that there were already people in the locker room. Their manager was busy inside.
Tang En pasted an enlarged match schedule in the locker room. On it were all of the Forest team's opponents from the first round to the 38th round of the league tournament. Up to the 32nd round, the score of every match for the Forest team was written in the middle of the two teams that faced each other. There were wins, losses, and draws. Starting from the 33rd round against Chelsea, the scores in the middle were all blank. Those opponents were the ones they would face in the next half a month.
After pasting this huge match schedule carefully on the wall, Tang En jumped down from the stool and clapped his hands as he turned around to see the players all crowded at the door.
"What are you doing?" Tang En asked as he lowered his head and patted the white dust on his pants.
"Boss, you're …" The players did not understand. They could even memorize this kind of match schedule. Why did he need to stick it in the locker room?
"I've pasted the match schedule. It's been enlarged. Is it clear?" Tang En turned around and patted the match schedule on the wall.
"But … But we all know who our next opponents are …" One of the players raised a question.
"Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal … These are our opponents. You all know them? That's good. I believe I don't need to say more about the strength of our opponents … "
Before Tang En could finish, he was interrupted by Albertini. "Boss, what do you want to say? Are you worried that we won't be able to perform because we're afraid of our opponents? "
Tang En scratched his head a little embarrassedly. Yes, that was what he was thinking.
Seeing the manager like this, Albertini was clear in his heart. He turned around to look at his teammates, and everyone burst into laughter.
"This goading is useless." Ribéry pursed his lips. "We're already completely immune to it."
Albertini also laughed. "Don't worry, Boss. We're more anxious than you to win the qualification to participate in the Champions League. Ask everyone, who doesn't want to participate in the Champions League? "
"That's right, the captain is right!"
"The Champions League! Just thinking about it makes me excited! "
A group of young people began to look forward excitedly to what it would be like for them to participate in the Champions League next season.
"Hey, Matthew, what opponents do you think we'll encounter when the time comes? AC Milan or Barcelona? "
"What's the point of encountering those strong teams? I'd rather we encounter weak teams. No one would pay attention to us, and we'd fight our way through to the top 16 with weak teams … "
"How unambitious! I'd like to be in the same group as the strongest team in Europe. That way, I can show those powerhouses how good I am! "Bendtner fiddled with his blonde hair and whistled.
Tang En looked at the group of people who were discussing enthusiastically and shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"All right, all right! Go take a shower, take a shower! Don't catch a cold. "Tang En waved his hand and interrupted their sweet dreams.
When everyone rushed into the locker room and began to take off their clothes, Tang En turned around and walked out.
Although he was still a little reserved on the surface, he was actually very happy in his heart. This bunch of kids were better than he had imagined. He had nothing to worry about. Even if they faced teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, or Arsenal, so what? If even these teams in the domestic league had to be afraid and worried, even if they got the fourth place in the league and obtained the qualification to participate in the Champions League through the qualifiers, how would they face the powerhouses in Europe? Did they plan to surrender just by hearing the names? If that was the case, they might as well surrender now, lest they embarrass themselves in the European continent next season.
Weren't they just three teams in the top three of the league? What's the big deal? I'll fight!
Tang En punched the wall beside him fiercely. His expression was grim. He gritted his teeth and stared ferociously at the shining exit in front of him, as if that was the glorious road to the Champions League …
"Ouch —" Tang En stared for a long time with his eyes bulging before he made a sound of inhalation. "F * ck! It hurts! Damn it … Why did I hit the wall for no reason? I … "He suddenly retracted his fist and cursed in a low voice while holding it in his arms.
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The next day was the match day. As the league entered its final stage, the competition for various goals also entered a white-hot stage. Tony Twain's team needed to fight for the fourth place in the league, just to qualify for the Champions League qualifiers. Manchester United also hoped to qualify for the Champions League, but it was impossible for them to win the league title now.
Arsenal and Chelsea, on the other hand, were fighting for the league title. Although Chelsea had 82 points and was ranked at the top, Arsenal and Chelsea were separated by 11 points. But the league was not over yet, and the difference was not big enough for Chelsea to win the title in advance. This round of the league tournament was crucial. Arsenal was playing against Chelsea in an away game. To maintain their hopes of winning the title, Arsenal had to beat Chelsea. If they lost, the difference between the two teams would be 14 points. With both teams having five games left (one of which was a make-up match in the 33rd round), a 14-point difference meant that Chelsea had to lose everything, while Arsenal had to win everything. This request was a little too much …
Therefore, if Wenger still wanted to defend the league title, the most crucial step was to win against Chelsea in today's game in an away game and reduce the difference between the two teams to eight points. At the same time, beating the opponent at the opponent's home ground would also create a huge psychological pressure on Chelsea.
Everton's opponent in this round of the league tournament was Manchester City. They were also playing in an away game, and this opponent was not easy to deal with. Manchester City had just defeated Liverpool. In order to be able to participate in the UEFA Europa League, they did not mind defeating Liverpool's city rival again.
Liverpool would face Portsmouth at home in this game. If there were no accidents, these three points would be in their hands.
If the Forest team lost to Manchester United at home, not only would Everton pull away from them to four points, but Liverpool would also catch up again. After all, they were only two points behind now.
Even if it was a draw, the two teams would have 54 points, and Liverpool would rank ahead of the Forest team based on the goal difference.
The situation was already very clear, and what they should do was also very obvious.
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