At the post-match press conference, while many of the media were waiting to see the two managers engage in a war of words, Mourinho took the initiative to praise the Forest team's performance, especially focusing on Gareth Bale, who had performed well after being brought on.
But he did not admit that his team did not perform well, only that they were a little unlucky.
As if to prove that what he said was true, Tang En also evaluated Chelsea as outstanding. Their unbeaten run of ten matches was not due to good luck, but because they were really strong.
But then, Tang En changed the subject and said that it was because Chelsea performed so well that he was even more proud of his players. Everyone played very well.
He even took the trouble to announce the names of every player, expressing his "praise". But he did not particularly praise Bale. Instead, he emphasized that it was not a victory for one person, but a victory for the whole team.
He was deliberately lowering the pressure on Bale.
Some players could withstand the huge pressure from the field, but they might not be able to handle it well in the face of praise and expectations from outside the field. Bale was still young, and Tang En wanted to protect him.
Even so, Tang En could not stop the frenzied media hype about the young player after the game.
He scored his first professional goal for the team at the age of 16 years and 105 days. In the game against Manchester City, he had just set a new record for the youngest player to appear in a game for the club and the Premier League. Now, he had set a new record for the youngest goal scorer in the history of the club and the Premier League — previously set by the Everton youngster, James Vaughan, in the game against Crystal Palace on April 11 of this year. Vaughan was only 16 years and 271 days old when he scored the goal.
Bale's goal made everyone relive the changes in the Premier League's youngest goal scoring record in recent years.
The first was Wayne Rooney, who came out of nowhere in the game between Everton and Arsenal on October 19, 2002. He was only 16 years and 361 days old when he scored the goal. Then, on December 26 of the same year, the Leeds United youngster, Milner, set the record at 16 years and 357 days old. Two and a half years later, it was Everton again, and the youngster, James Vaughan, set the record at 16 years and 271 days old.
And now, Bale's goal had suddenly advanced the record by 166 days.
Sixteen years and one hundred and five days. This result would probably be unshakable for a very long time.
Therefore, it was good that Twain wanted to protect Bale, but in fact, because of this goal, Bale had already received a level of attention that was not inferior to Rooney back then.
The day after the match, the headlines of all the newspapers were dedicated to this young man. Tang En and Mourinho's conversation was completely lost to Gareth Bale, who had appeared out of nowhere.
The Welsh were cheering that they had acquired another genius, and the English were reveling in the new record.
Everyone seemed to be happy. Only Twain didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he looked at the large photos of Bale.
Dunn comforted him, "Gold will shine sooner or later. You should have known this day would come when you took him away from me, unless you didn't trust his abilities. "
"Are you comforting me?" Twain rolled his eyes at Dunn and sighed. "Fine. From another perspective, this is what Bell had to go through … "
As he spoke, Tang En's phone rang.
Tang En, who was looking down, suddenly laughed. "It's a message from the Romani. He told me that after watching the game against Chelsea, he couldn't wait to get back into the team. He also said that he knows what I'm worried about now, because Serim has already calculated it. He said that if he were to take the last free kick, the result would be the same, but I wouldn't have to worry about anything … Haha! "
※ ※ ※
After training resumed, Tang En read the Romani's message in front of all the players. Similarly, it earned him a round of laughter.
"In the end, he asked me to thank all of you on his behalf. He loves all of you. "
The players whistled.
"Well done, guys. We've won first place in the league tournament. Was anyone so excited last night that they couldn't sleep? "
Bale raised his hand.
It immediately attracted everyone's attention. When everyone saw clearly that it was the young Bale, they all laughed.
"You still need to train, Gareth. It's just a game! If you can't sleep from the excitement of winning, you'll have to live with 'insomnia' for the rest of your life. "
The laughter grew louder.
Bale's head drooped even lower.
Tang En coughed when he saw that. "Alright. Everyone, listen to me. From now on, I hope that you forget yesterday's game and throw yourselves into a new battle. Our opponent is … "
Everyone knew which game he was talking about, so they answered in unison, "Benfica!"
Everyone laughed after they finished shouting. They were defeated by them, after all. They did not feel any psychological pressure at all.
"Very good. We just beat them not long ago. Now, we're going to beat them again!"
※ ※ ※
Due to Leighton Baines' injury, Tang En let the young Gareth Bale start in the game in Portugal.
Before going on the field, Tang En joked to Bale. "Now you might be the first player in the history of the Champions League to start in the first place. Are you nervous?"
Bale shook his head. "I'm fine, boss."
If Bale had said "not nervous" with certainty, Tang En might have been worried. Now, he was relieved. "Go on. Don't think about anything. It's just a game. "
The boos from tens of thousands of Benfica fans at home did not weaken Bale's legs. He was already a professional player who had gone through the baptism of fierce battles. He was no longer the child who lost confidence because others mocked his looks.
In this game, Nottingham Forest defeated their competitor in the group stage, Benfica, by 1: 0 after a difficult 90 minutes in the away game. This result of two complete victories against Benfica helped the Forest team solidify their ranking — seven points, second in the group.
Real Madrid, who had won against Lille in the away game, was very high at the top.
In this game, everyone in the Forest team continued their form from the game against Chelsea. No matter what difficulties they faced, they never gave up. In the team's most difficult situation, they still gritted their teeth and persevered. They did not let the opponent blast open their goal. On the contrary, when Benfica was discouraged, a successful sneak attack completely reversed the situation on the field. Following that, the game entered the Forest team's rhythm. The Forest team, who was in the lead, played with ease, while Benfica became more and more impatient and finally swallowed the bitter fruit of defeat.
In the post-match press conference, Tang En faced a room full of Portuguese media and said conceitedly, "Up until now, I believe that many people here still doubt our strength. They still think that Benfica's loss to Nottingham Forest in the last game was an upset and an accident. Now, we've used our actions and results to prove that if we let Benfica beat us, that would be an upset! "
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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