"Anelka! GOOOAL！ I really didn't expect Nottingham Forest to score first in the away game and lead the home team, Inter Milan! "
The Nottingham Forest fans in the corner of the Giuseppe Meazza cheered. Their voices were almost the only sound in the stands at the Giuseppe Meazza at that moment. As the away team's fans, there were only 2,000 of them. They had been suppressed by the Inter Milan fans who outnumbered them. Now, they could finally hold their heads high.
The 2,000 Nottingham Forest fans sang their team song loudly. On the other hand, the Forest players rushed to the stands and raised their arms and cheered with the group of people above.
At the same time, in Nottingham, England, in those red bars, countless Nottingham Forest fans joined them, raising their arms and singing.
"In the 27th minute, Nottingham Forest leads 1: 0. Goal scorer, Nicolas Anelka!" The live broadcast at the Giuseppe Meazza routinely announced the name of the scorer. This time, people finally heard the boos from the home fans.
Tony Twain and his assistant clenched their fists and celebrated the goal with the others.
To be able to score an away goal in such an important game, the game went unexpectedly smoothly.
With an away goal in hand, everyone's hearts settled down. Next, as long as the opponent did not win by a large margin, it would be considered a victory.
Of course, Twain would not be satisfied with that. An away goal was good, but if he could score more away goals, he would not refuse it.
"Demetrio!" Twain stopped Albertini, who had run back to the sidelines to drink water, and gave him a thumbs up. "Well done!"
"You didn't just come to say this, did you, Chief?" Albertini drank a mouthful of water and laughed.
"Of course. Tell them to continue playing like this, defend, and counterattack! "
"Okay."
Returning to the technical area, Twain muttered to Kerslake as if he was talking to himself, "We're in the lead. Now we can play defensive counterattack with more peace of mind …"
"I think it's pretty interesting, playing defensive counterattack in front of the Italians. Hehe. "Kerslake laughed.
"It'll be even more interesting if we win, David."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
While the two away team managers were chatting and laughing, Mancini bit his lip and looked at the field with a livid expression.
Was there anything more frustrating than conceding a goal at home in the Champions League knockout stage?
If so, they would have lost the match.
Although they had not lost yet, conceding a goal was a big blow to Mancini's plan. But now was not the time to make adjustments. There was no problem with the tactics. They were attacking at home, and they could only continue to attack now. Of course, he could not watch the team fall behind.
As a result, when the game resumed, Inter Milan's offensive was more aggressive, and Anelka seemed to have disappeared after the goal. The Forest team had no offense at all and was once again pushed back to the thirty-meter zone by Inter Milan.
Veron's performance so far had not been very good. Tang En even thought that Veron's condition was not good. George Wood did not need to specifically mark him. The Forest team deployed a large number of players in the middle and backfield. The inside and outside of the penalty area were packed like a vegetable market. As soon as the Inter Milan players attacked, they found that there were people all around them. It was even more difficult to accurately send the football to the feet of their teammates.
Cambiasso rushed up to participate in the attack. He tried to send the football to Martins in front, but the ball was intercepted by Albertini midway. It was something that could be done just by stretching out one's foot. There were too many people and it was too dense. The football could easily be kicked to the opponent's feet.
But Albertini's interception of the ball only hindered Inter Milan's attack this time. The ball did not fall completely into the Forest team's control. On the contrary, because Inter Milan pressed up heavily, they formed a depth in the Forest team's backfield. The offensive line was stacked layer by layer. The ball intercepted by the Forest team would soon fall to the feet of the Inter Milan players again. Then they would push forward and be intercepted again. Getting into the Forest team's penalty area was like going to heaven. George Wood and Albertini built a high wall in front of Pepe and Piqué. Other than long shots, they had hit the wall countless times when they tried to break through. As for the passes from the flank … Pepe and Piqué were both 1.9-meter-tall center backs who excelled in headers. This was a three-dimensional defense.
It looked like the English defense was more authentic than the Italians'.
But Tang En had learned a lot about defense from the Italians. Now it was just right to use it against the Italian team, and the effect looked good. Inter Milan was unprepared for such a thorough defense by the Forest team. Now they had no better way than long shots.
Veron, Cambiasso, Figo, Adriano, Martins, and even Materazzi rushed up to kick a long shot. Until the whistle sounded at halftime, people could not count how many long shots the Inter Milan players had shot. They only saw Inter Milan helpless in the face of the Forest team's impenetrable formation.
Generally speaking, long shots were the easiest way to break the opponent's stubborn defense. But it was also the most crude and the least technical. It felt like a stroke of luck. From another perspective, when a team frequently used long shots, it showed that they were impatient.
This could be seen from the different performances of the two teams when they came off the field. The Inter Milan players walked hurriedly with their heads down, while the Nottingham Forest players walked slowly to the players' tunnel.
The two managers did the same. Mancini kept a straight face and looked serious. Tang En and Kerslake walked back with smiles on their faces.
※ ※ ※
"Well done, guys." Tang En praised everyone with his first words when he entered the room. "We made things difficult for Inter Milan. Even though we looked bad on the field, I think it's worth it for an away goal! If we continue to play like this in the second half, when the Inter Milan players start to get impatient, then victory will be ours! "
※ ※ ※
"Look at what you guys are doing?" This was the first thing Mancini said after entering the home team's locker room. His cold tone showed that he was angry. "Who told you to take long shots on the field with the ball? I don't remember telling you in training that the way to break the opponent's dense defense was to take long shots! "
The Inter Milan players sat in their respective positions in silence.
"In the second half, completely seal off Albertini. I don't care what method you use, you can't let him take the ball comfortably and pass the ball comfortably. He's a dangerous man. I don't think any of you will be unfamiliar with this assessment. "
Javier Zanetti nodded slightly. He was indeed familiar with it. So, when Albertini turned to pass the ball, he chased back. Unfortunately, if he were a few years younger, he might have been able to intercept the ball. I've really gotten old without realizing it …
"Cambiasso, you have to keep a closer eye on him!" Mancini pounded his fist. "I don't want to praise the opponent in front of you, but you should really carefully observe the opponent's number 13! Look at how he's defending … " He had wanted to say "look at how he defended against Verón." But he thought it would be too unfair to Verón, so he changed his words at the last minute.
"Foul! Be more rough with your actions. This is our home ground. What are you afraid of?! "
Cambiasso could not lift his head after being reprimanded by Mancini. He knew in his heart that his defense against Albertini in the first half was not successful. Most of the time, Inter Milan pressed the opponent to play, and he did not need to pay attention to Albertini's defense. But when it was really his turn to mark the opponent, he allowed him to pass a high-quality long pass, which directly assisted Anelka's goal.
"Do you need me to teach you how to defend?"
Cambiasso shook his head. "No, coach."
"Albertini is their core figure. Don't worry about Ribéry or Anelka. It's enough to just mark him! When they get the ball in the backfield, they will look for Albertini, and then he will be responsible for sending the football out. Mark him, cut off their passing routes, and then implement oppressive defense against the other players with the ball. If you can't cut it off, you have to cause them to make mistakes! "
"On offense …" Mancini waved his hand and made a withdrawal gesture. "If they don't come out, pull them out. I don't want to see such a stupid way to break a tight defense with frequent long shots! Use your brains. You're Inter Milan players. You're professional players, not just any amateur team! Is this your first day playing football?! "
In the end, Mancini still could not control his anger.
"This is the Champions League, not a friendly game. If we lose this game, you know what it means!" Mancini reached up and pointed to the stands. "Remember what you should do. Did you see the expression on the Forest manager's face when he came off the field? He thought he was going to win. He thought his team could beat Inter Milan here! Don't let him succeed. "
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support genuine reading!)
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