The day after the contract renewal was announced, Nottingham Forest welcomed their league opponent at home.
The current situation was very delicate for Nottingham Forest.
On one hand, they were triumphantly advancing in the Champions League, while on the other hand, they were constantly narrowing the points gap by Manchester United in the league tournament.
Before this game, the points gap between the two teams had shrunk from a maximum of 12 points to four points.
Even so, Tang En still hid half of the main force before the second Champions League game against Inter Milan. Even George Wood was on the substitutes' bench.
The recent competition schedule was very tight. Tang En had to consider the fitness of all the players. This was, of course, a decision made after listening to the fitness coach's suggestion.
In the end, Nottingham Forest shook hands with Aston Villa at 2: 2 on their home ground.
On the other hand, Manchester United defeated Bolton Wanderers 2: 1 in an away game. The difference between the two teams was only two points.
Two points, the distance of a game.
The Manchester media had already shouted the slogan of overtaking Nottingham Forest and returning to second place in the table.
Since being eliminated from the Champions League group stage, Manchester United's form had become better and better. It was truly a blessing in disguise.
On one side, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United were entangled, while on the other side, Chelsea was in the dust. As of the end of the 32nd round of the league tournament, Mourinho's Chelsea had accumulated 79 points. They had been ranked first since the third round of the league tournament. Until now, they had never been pulled down.
Today's Chelsea looked like an invincible army, with outstanding players, excellent coaches, and a generous and rich boss. The English media had been discussing who could surpass Chelsea and pull them down this season. The conclusion they had reached was that they could not count on it this season.
Chelsea had 79 points, and Nottingham Forest had 71 points. With six rounds left in the league tournament, although eight points was not an insurmountable chasm, the possibility of winning the title in theory was of no use to Tang En. He knew that if he wanted to win the title this season, not only did his team have to win the last six rounds in a row, but he also had to count on Chelsea to keep losing. At the same time, considering that the Forest team still had to participate in the Champions League, it was too difficult to achieve the above.
Tang En's goal was to go as far as possible in the Champions League and hold on to second place in the league tournament. That way, he could continue to participate in the Champions League next season and earn money.
The two-point gap with Manchester United made him smell danger. For the first time in the entire league tournament, he felt that his pursuers were so close to him. Two points … With six rounds left in the league tournament, too many things could happen.
But what gave Tang En a bigger headache was that he had no time to care about Manchester United, who was in hot pursuit. In his mind, Manchester United's crisis of catching up now needed to be ranked second for the time being. Ranked first was the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Inter Milan.
※ ※ ※
Inter Milan's plane arrived in London the day after the game against Aston Villa.
Tang En had originally planned to rely on defensive counterattacks in the away game and use offense to eliminate Inter Milan when they returned home.
But when he scored two away goals at the Giuseppe Meazza, he changed his mind.
After conceding two goals at home, Mancini had to let Inter Milan choose to attack in the away game if they wanted to make a comeback. Not to mention surpassing these two away goals, Inter Milan needed to at least break the 2: 2 score balance. Therefore, they had to attack. If they chose to defend in an away game, Inter Milan's elimination would only be a matter of ninety minutes later.
As long as Inter Milan attacked, they were not afraid that they would not be able to find a loophole in their defense. Tang En held the intention to stick to defensive counterattacks in his own home game and quietly waited for Inter Milan.
When they went to Italy, the 2,000 Nottingham fans in the stands at the Giuseppe Meazza deeply felt the "enthusiasm" of the Inter Milan fans. Now it was their turn to show the Italian fans their "even more enthusiasm."
The deafening singing in the City Ground stadium, which could only accommodate 27,000 people, made the Italian fans unable to open their mouths.
"This bunch of English lunatics …" Some Italian fans complained. But this was not an exaggeration at all. The Nottingham Forest fans were indeed crazy. Before the game started, the singing of the English people rang out, and then it never stopped.
Their voices never seemed to be so hoarse that they could not speak. In other countries' leagues, in order to liven up the atmosphere and make the game look more exciting, there might be a live broadcast to broadcast the fans' shouts to cheer on the players on the field, making it sound like the fans in the stadium were really singing and shouting at the top of their lungs.
But only England's field was completely "manual." The live broadcast was only used to broadcast the list of players, goals scored, substitutions … and other procedural things. The atmosphere at the scene depended on the fans' mouths.
A qualified English fan must always have throat lozenges with him when he went to watch a game.
Singing, cursing, cheering. They were like a chorus that cooperated with each other, responding to the changes in the situation of the game. Those who did not understand would think they were too noisy, like noise. But those who understood would think it was the most wonderful enjoyment. Think about it, tens of thousands of people shouting your name at the same time, singing spontaneously written songs to praise you. That feeling … was really great!
Of course, for their opponents, it was a nightmare.
In this game, Inter Milan took the initiative to launch a fierce attack on Nottingham Forest's penalty area from the first minute. And Nottingham Forest also retreated to defend, just like in the first leg between the two sides.
No matter how ugly the situation was, when the opponent surrounded the goal and bombarded it, there would be no dissatisfied boos from the Nottingham Forest fans. They cheered for the team as always. As long as you made a beautiful defense, you would get a full house of cheers from the stands.
This was the driving force that supported the Forest team all the way forward.
In the first half, the Forest team and Inter Milan tied — 0: 0.
This was what Tang En wanted to see the most, because they did not concede a goal.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides to fight again. The Forest team did not change their tactics and became a "turtle hiding in its shell" on their own home ground, relying on a few occasional counterattacks to threaten Inter Milan's goal.
Inter Milan had even more chances in this game than in the first leg, but after the smoke of the bombardment dissipated, Inter Milan's supporters were desperate to find that Nottingham Forest's goal was still standing, and the score on the electronic scoreboard had not changed at all.
The Forest team's defensive formation was well maintained. Once the Inter Milan players attacked into the 30-meter zone, they found there was little space to pass the ball.
As the game went on, Nottingham Forest became more and more confident in their defense, while Inter Milan became more and more impatient.
The Inter Milan players knew that if this score remained until the end of the game, they would be eliminated because they had scored fewer away goals. And they only needed one goal to change the result.
Inter Milan's offense was like a tidal wave. Mancini sent all the offensive players he could to score a goal at the last moment to save his and their fate.
"One goal! We only need one goal! " Inter Milan's captain, Javier Zanetti, was cheering his teammates on, telling them not to give up the game.
"Hold on! Don't let them score even half a goal! "Albertini shouted.
The game had entered a white-hot stage. Both sides could be said to have used almost any means possible under the rules in order for their side to win. In fact, it was mainly on Nottingham Forest's side.
In order to delay the game time, the Forest players paid the price of three yellow cards in the last five minutes. Even Edwin van der Sar received the first yellow card in this Champions League because he took too long to set up the ball at the goal kick. Moreover, the players who received the yellow cards were scattered. These were all specifically instructed by Tang En. He would not let those who already had yellow cards deliberately receive yellow cards. That would not be worth it.
In addition to some obvious delays in the game time, there were also some that would not receive yellow cards, but objectively did cause the game time to be delayed. For example, in the last five minutes, three Nottingham Forest players successively collapsed on the field because of physical exhaustion and cramps in their calves. Anelka, Franck Ribéry, and Leighton Baines. These three players covered the front, middle, and back positions. When they hugged their calves and rolled on the ground in pain, who knew if they were really cramping or pretending to be cramping?
However, the Forest players fought very fiercely in this game. In the final moments, it was reasonable for their physical exhaustion to be reasonable. If it were George Wood who suddenly fell to the ground in pain, indicating that he was cramping, he would probably only receive boos — it would be too fake.
George Wood's stamina was really good. Every time the Inter Milan players ran until they were exhausted and saw the number 13 monster on the other side sprinting with all his might, a feeling called "despair" would gush out from the depths of their hearts.
The final moments of the game were the most tense. Tang En absolutely did not dare to joke around with David Kerslake beside him and say such nonsense like "we've won." The game was not up to the last second. He simply could not let his heart rest.
Inter Milan's last chance to attack, a corner kick!
Even their goalkeeper, Julio César, gave up defending the goal and rushed over, squeezing into the crowd to fight for the header. There was no longer a need to defend the goal. If this ball did not go in, Inter Milan's road to the Champions League this season would end here.
After the corner kick was sent out, there was chaos in front of the Forest team's goal. The people in the stands, in the commentator's box, and in the technical area on the sidelines could not clearly see what was happening in front of the goal.
Did the ball go in?
Who's in possession now?
Don't block my view … Bastard!
Did they foul?
What's going on?
In the chaos, there seemed to be an Inter Milan player who raised his arm, but that arm was quickly put down.
Materazzi's header was very powerful. Edwin van der Sar could not save in time, but it was blocked by Chimbonda, who was standing by the goalpost. What followed was chaos. Someone kicked the ball, and someone else kicked someone else. In the chaos, Julio César found the football right in front of him!
This was a chance to become a hero!
When he swung his leg, he found that someone had already kicked the ball faster than him, just in the opposite direction …
In the chaos, George Wood very keenly discovered the unmarked Julio César and the ball in front of him. Therefore, at the risk of being awarded a penalty for shoveling someone in the penalty area, he shoveled the football out before César!
Seeing the football fly out of the sidelines, all the Nottingham Forest people breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the match.
"The match is over!"
Tang En stood up with his hands raised high. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails even dug into his flesh. He almost had a heart attack just now. It was too f * cking exciting … If that ball had gone in by César, he was afraid that he would not be able to get up from his chair now.
Fortunately, there were no ifs.
"Congratulations to Nottingham Forest! They've broken into the Champions League semi-finals! For Tony Twain's team, this is an amazing result! "
"Also, I feel sorry for Inter Milan. They played very bravely in the away game. Unfortunately … luck was not on their side. Goodbye, Inter Milan. Come back next season! "
※ ※ ※
"Red Forest returns to Europe!"
This was not the "boasting" of Nottingham's local media. This was the headline on the front page of Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport. Below the headline, the red Nottingham Forest players were running wildly in celebration, forming a sharp contrast with the blue and black Inter Milan players on the other side.
And below this big picture was a small picture. It was also a red figure, but the style of the jersey was very old. This was a picture of Nottingham Forest's first UEFA Champions League glory in 1979.
The two pictures were placed together, and the meaning was obvious. It was to remind everyone that the team that had been almost forgotten by the world had returned.
The Italians analyzed from a tactical level and felt that Inter Milan's loss to Nottingham Forest was not at all undeserved. Tang En used the defense that the Italians were best at to eliminate the Italian team. He made the Italians accept their defeat wholeheartedly.
Invincible Youth.
This was the headline of Spain's AS. The article focused on the age of the Forest players. The Spanish reporter said that it was not very unbelievable for the Forest team to reach the semi-finals. After all, this team was considered the dark horse of this Champions League during the group stage. What was surprising, or perhaps miraculous, was that this team turned out to be so young. From the assistant manager to the manager, to the players, they were all so young. The 37-year-old Tony Twain was the youngest manager of a team in the semi-finals. He was also the youngest manager in the history of the UEFA Champions League to reach the semi-finals.
For a time, Tang En's name and picture were on the front pages of major European sports media. The UEFA Champions League TV Magazine even released a carefully prepared feature to introduce everyone to a comprehensive Tony Twain and that magical Forest team.
The name "Nottingham Forest" was repeatedly mentioned in various reports, and Evan was grinning from ear to ear. He was once again convinced that choosing Tang En back then and letting him stay was the right decision.
Nottingham Forest's opponent in the Champions League semi-finals had also been decided. This would be an English "civil war." The history of the confrontation between the two sides was quite deep. It was two Nottingham Forest players who founded the current glorious club, Arsenal.
※ ※ ※
When the assistant manager, Pat Rice, knocked on the door of the manager's office, Wenger was fiddling with his video recorder.
"Why did you call me here … What are you doing, Arthur?"
"I want you to study my latest video." Wenger crouched on the floor and replied without looking up. "As you can see, I'm fiddling with this video recorder. There's a small problem, but it won't affect anything."
"But there was no game yesterday …" Rice spread his hands in confusion. He walked over. There were snowflakes floating on the television screen. There was no image at all.
"It's not a game, Pat." Wenger stood up with the remote control in his hand. He turned to his assistant manager and said, "Have you seen that? It's the latest issue of the UEFA Champions League TV Magazine."
Pat Rice guessed. "You mean the one that introduced Nottingham Forest?"
Wenger nodded. "What do you think of that episode?"
"It's not bad. I learned a lot of things that I couldn't understand before. It's very interesting. I've rarely seen such a detailed feature on a football club. But Tang En doesn't act like a football manager. Instead, he acts more like a star in an eight o 'clock soap opera … "
"That's not something we care about. Even if he wants to release an album, it's none of our business." Wenger had no interest in what kind of person Tang En was.
"Then why did you call me here …"
"I recorded that episode. I agree with the first half of your sentence. The episode was very detailed. It felt as real as a documentary. I don't think that was Tony Twain acting and showing off in front of the camera. He's just that kind of person. " Wenger pressed the remote control in his hand. An image appeared on the television screen. It was the scene of Tang En lecturing on the sidelines of the training ground. "That's why I feel that this episode has a lot of research value. Especially before … the Champions League semifinals. "
(To be continued. If you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support the original reading!)
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