Although Raúl's condition was not as good as it used to be, and although Ronaldo was fat beyond recognition, the two of them were superstars who could decide the outcome of the game if given three seconds of time and space. The Forest team did not have such players. Tang En could not guarantee that his players would not relax and keep an eye on Ronaldo and Raúl for every second of the 90-minute game.
Moreover, the Forest team's center-back duo had rarely played together in this game.
As the analysis went deeper, Tang En increasingly felt that it would be too difficult for the Forest team to beat Real Madrid in their current state, even on their own home ground.
He went home every day and sat with Dunn to study Real Madrid's game videos, hoping to find weaknesses that they could exploit.
"I don't think Real Madrid is unbeatable, but the premise is that we have to score first," Dunn said to Tang En. Dunn said to Tang En, "If you let Real Madrid score first, just wait to lose the game."
"Scoring first can guarantee victory?"
"Of course not, but it can increase your chances of winning." Dunn thought carefully for a moment and said, "12 percent."
"What a depressing analysis. Come on, I don't care about this mess. Whether we can win or not, or what our chances of winning are, at least give it our all in the game. "
Dunn expressed a different opinion. "If you know the chances of winning are not high, why spend so much energy on this game? This is not the knockout stage. There are still many games in the group stage. If you lose too much in this game, it will affect the future. "
Tang En interrupted him. "This problem cannot be considered simply from the game results and the schedule. Or rather, it cannot be considered simply from the game itself. Do you know what this Nottingham Forest team relied on to go from the English Championship to the Premier League, from the UEFA Cup to the Champions League in two and a half years? Strength? Of course we have the strength, but we have not reached the point where we can complete this kind of rocket-like rise. Luck? Maybe. We don't have many injuries, and our luck is good. But the most important thing is that this Forest team has a spirit — the spirit of not admitting defeat. It is this spirit that has allowed the Forest team to create many results that others dare not even think of. We are not afraid of any team, and we will never admit defeat. Do you think I don't know the priorities of the game? Of course I know, but as a manager, I have to be consistent. I have to keep this spirit for the team. "
"There are some games that we have no hope of winning no matter how you look at it. Even at times like this, I have to tell my players: we will definitely win. We will make those who swear that we will lose lick back their own saliva!" Twain clenched his fists. His Forest team had done a lot of such things. "Even if we can't win the match, we'll still be the final victor. I won't blindly emphasize the theory of invincibility in spirit, but if a team doesn't even have this spirit … then the Forest team is no different from those teams that struggle in the lower reaches of the league and only think about how to avoid relegation. "
"I will never tell my players to give up on this game, rest, and prepare for the next game. Maybe that's the case, but I can't say it. Because if I say it, it means that I approve of this attitude. In the future, when the game is in trouble, when we need to fight hard, my players will think of this sentence, and then they will say that since there has been a precedent, it is okay to give up this time. Anyway, we still have future games to play, and the manager will definitely approve of our way of doing things. This is a very scary thought, and it will quickly spread like a plague. " Twain spread his arms wide and waved them. "Then it will invisibly erode the players' fighting spirit and competitiveness. At that time, the team will be finished. No matter how skilled the manager is, he can't do anything about such a team."
"A team must have a spirit. The Forest team's spirit is to … do it even though you know you can't do it."
Twain ended his speech. Dunn looked up at him in a daze for a long time before he slowly said, "You are indeed … more suitable … to be a manager than me."
※ ※ ※
As analyzed before the game, even if Real Madrid had many internal conflicts, they were still not easy to deal with. But Dunn was still right about one thing: the Forest team scored first.
At the start of the game, the Forest team displayed an unexpected all-out attack, which was completely unexpected by the Real Madrid manager, the Brazilian Luxemburg. He thought the Forest team would first stabilize their defense against the powerful Real Madrid. He did not expect the Forest team to stun Real Madrid with three moves.
Real Madrid's superstars were at a loss in the face of the Forest youngsters' aggressive attacks.
As a result, Casillas' goal was declared lost in the seventh minute. The goal scored by Ribéry ignited the atmosphere in the stadium. Twain also appeared very excited, as if he saw the dawn of victory.
But after taking the lead, the pace of the game slowly fell into the hands of Real Madrid. After all, Pepe was not a true defensive midfielder. It was difficult for him to mark Zidane. The Forest team could only rely on their physical strength and form an advantage in numbers in local defense. The price of this was that they had no time to attack.
After taking the lead, the Forest team was suppressed by Real Madrid and was in a sorry state.
Before the end of the first half, Real Madrid equalized the score. The goal was not scored by Raúl or Ronaldo, but by the midfielder, David Beckham, with his trademark full moon scimitar free kick.
Beckham was indeed very popular in Britain. When he scored, the home fans could even hear the applause in the City Ground stadium.
In the face of this kind of goal concede, Twain really could not do anything. Before the game, he emphasized not to give Real Madrid too many chances to take free kicks in front of the penalty area. His own players also carried it out seriously. In the face of Real Madrid's tide-like attack, they only gave Real Madrid two free kicks in dangerous areas in 45 minutes. The first one was sent flying by Beckham, and the second one he scored.
This goal was not lost on the tactical level, but to the star players' individual ability.
"David Beckham! Impeccable goal! Edwin van der Sar can't do anything about it! "
Looking at Beckham hugging and celebrating with his teammates on the field, Twain thought of two years later, such a person would actually go to the football desert in the United States to end his career. No matter what the purpose was … it was still a pity.
The situation did not improve in the second half. Real Madrid continued to occupy both sides in the away game. Usually, no one felt anything, but when Wood was absent from the game, everyone felt something was different. It was not a problem of one player missing, but two players missing.
Pepe could not defend against Zidane at all. He was too different from Zidane. In addition, the requirements of a defensive midfielder were different from a center back. He played very awkwardly.
Twain cut off all means of retreat and pulled Wes Morgan off. He let Pepe return to the center back position that he was most familiar with and best at. He then brought on a forward, Bendtner. In this way, the Forest team changed to a 4-3-3, basically completely abandoning the defense in the midfield. They hoped to rely on their crazy offensive to suppress Real Madrid's arrogance and score another goal to turn the situation in their favor.
He succeeded halfway. The Forest team, who had just made the adjustments, did indeed show an imposing manner that the Real Madrid players did not expect. They pressed back Real Madrid's offense.
In the face of the Forest team's wave after wave of attacks, even Real Madrid could not be careless. After all, their defense had never been reassuring. Rosenberg's team began to focus on defense. For a long time, the score did not change.
It looked like the game might end in a draw. If that was the case, Twain felt it was not bad. At the very least, they could not lose points first.
What was the difference between a powerhouse team and an ordinary team? It did not mean that they would have a great manager, nor did it mean that their tactics were better than ordinary teams. It was that they had a few superstars who could single-handedly decide the game.
In the last five minutes of the game, Ronaldo, who had already walked for 85 minutes, suddenly moved and successfully reversed his offside position. He received Beckham's long pass from the back and broke into the penalty area. He then easily swung past Edwin van der Sar and successfully shot into the empty goal. The score became 1: 2. The Forest team was trailing at home.
"Five minutes! It's not time to say we're done yet! " Twain waved his hand and let the whole team press forward. Losing one goal was a loss. Losing two goals, losing three goals was still a loss. It was not the knockout round now. There was no rule of "two away goals". They might even be able to equalize the score if they pressed forward with the whole team.
Twain's goal had changed from winning the game to equalizing the score.
In the end, he did not get what he wanted. The truth was cruel. Nottingham Forest lost 1: 2 to the "galácticos" Real Madrid on their home ground.
Real Madrid had made a good start for their new Champions League season, while the Forest team's prospects of advancing was shrouded in a shadow.
In the post-match press conference, Twain was unconvinced by the loss. He kept emphasizing that his team had lost to two people — Beckham and Ronaldo. The implication was that the Real Madrid team had not defeated the Forest team.
"I admit that Wood's absence has caused us a lot of trouble. I'll give everyone a surprise the next time we go to the Bernabéu. "
This was very much in line with Twain's consistent style of losing a game but not losing his mouth. But how many people took it seriously?
Some of the Spanish reporters laughed, and some of the English media also laughed. The former was a disdainful laugh. As for the latter … it was more complicated. Because Pierce Brosnan was also among the laughing crowd.
(To be continued. If you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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