Night, April 25th.
Nottingham, Trent Bridge.
Police cars with flashing lights parked by the side of the road. Police officers in bright yellow reflective vests patrolled back and forth in groups of two or three. The walkie-talkies on their shoulders occasionally made rustling noises.
"Forest! Forest! Nottingham Forest! "
A group of Nottingham Forest fans in red jerseys waved the scarves in their hands and shouted slogans as they walked past.
The police officers stared at the group of fans walking past them and tilted their heads to report the latest situation in their district to the walkie-talkie.
"We're in good condition here. Everything is normal. Over."
"Rustle … the north gate of the stadium … Normal, over …"
The police officers who finished reporting the situation turned their eyes to the group of fans. Their gazes followed them as they walked away, turning across Trent Bridge and then to the left, merging with countless people like them as they surged towards the City Ground stadium that stood by the river.
The helicopter flew overhead, creating a gust of wind.
※ ※ ※
"For the Nottingham Forest fans, tonight is like a grand festival. The UEFA Champions League semifinals! They haven't experienced this feeling in a long, long time. The City Ground stadium is full. Perhaps the chairman of the Nottingham Forest Football Club, Evan Doughty, is dissatisfied with the stadium's capacity … In fact, on such an important night, there are even more fans who can only sit in the bar to watch the game because the City Ground stadium can't accommodate them … Arsenal will encounter very tenacious resistance here and face a huge away pressure … Welcome to the second leg of the 05-06 UEFA Champions League semifinals! "
There was a hubbub of voices outside. The singing of the fans and other messy noises made their way in through the cracks in the door.
Tang En walked to the door and closed the locker room door. The hubbub instantly died down. At the very least, everyone could hear what he was saying now.
"Guys, in another 90 minutes, our fate for this season will be revealed." Tang En cleared his throat to make his voice sound less hoarse, but it was to no avail. His voice had long been damaged from the years of constant shouting. "This is a game that will decide our fate." He leaned over and pressed his hands on the table. He looked at the players in front of him. Everyone's faces were solemn.
"I don't want to introduce the importance of the UEFA Champions League semi-final to you. You must know better than me. Listen to the voices outside. Our fans have never looked forward to a game as much as they did today. And we can still give them more … "Tang En raised his hand, then swung it down." Victory! "
He looked at his watch. There was still some time before the stage, and he had nothing else to say.
"That's all. Take a break and get ready to go." He turned around and pulled the door open. The noise from outside instantly flooded in. Tang En walked out and closed the door again. The changing room returned to silence.
Tang En walked straight to the private bathroom. He was very familiar with this path. Before he led the Forest team's first game, he hid in the bathroom alone to stabilize his mind and told himself that it was no big deal. Even if it was not a game, he would play it.
Now he was playing, and the more he played, the better he got. He played all the way to the UEFA Champions League semifinals. The feeling of being so nervous that he was out of his wits came back. The second round was different from the first round. This was the last 90 minutes. If they succeeded, it would be over. If they failed, there would be no chance for them to make up for it.
In an instant, the pressure increased.
He tried his best to act like he did not care about anything in front of the players. He was confident, as if everything had been arranged long ago. He did not mind playing such a role, but he also needed to relieve the pressure in his heart. Sometimes, it was a good idea to scold the opponent in front of the media before the game. But he could not casually scold the opponent in this game — Wenger still had some personal ties with him.
So, Tang En could only smoke in the private bathroom to relieve the pressure in his chest.
He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep breath. His heart calmed down with this deep breath.
His gaze pierced through the glass window on the left and saw the brightly lit stadium outside.
A group of children were pulling a huge circular UEFA Champions League logo toward the center circle of the stadium. The fans had already taken their seats, and the reporters had gathered on both sides of the stadium's tunnel, extending all the way to near the center line. All the cameras were aimed at the exit of the tunnel.
Everyone was looking forward to such a night, such a game.
As one of the main characters, was it not the same for Tony Twain?
After smoking a cigarette, Tang En, who had completely calmed down, walked out of the bathroom. He passed through the narrow tunnel and walked toward the home team's locker room.
When he turned out, he saw Wenger, who was also standing outside the door. Wenger heard the footsteps and turned his head to see Tang En.
"What a coincidence." Tang En took the initiative to greet him.
"Yeah, what a coincidence," Wenger replied calmly.
He was not nervous at all, or at least, that was how it looked. Perhaps it was because Wenger could be considered a "veteran" and had seen a lot of things, so he did not feel nervous. But on second thought, this was also Wenger's first time leading a team into the Champions League semifinals.
Such a meeting was a little awkward. Both sides could not say anything because they were now opponents and did not know anything about their future fates.
Tang En walked to the door of the home team's locker room and said to Wenger, who was standing at the door of the away team's locker room, "See you after the game."
"See you." Wenger was a man of few words.
Tang En opened the door. The players all looked up at him.
"Are you ready, guys?" he asked, leaning against the door.
※ ※ ※
"They're coming out!" Someone in the stands shouted loudly, and the people around him turned their eyes to the exit of the players' tunnel. This action was like throwing a stone into a calm lake, and the ripples it created spread throughout the stands.
Amidst the loud cheers, the players from both sides walked into the field side by side. Walking at the front of the team was Arsenal's captain, Henry, and Nottingham Forest's captain, George Wood.
Albertini was still on the substitutes' bench for this game. As the season neared its end, his stamina could no longer keep up. Most of the time, he could only sit on the substitutes' bench and be sent on when needed.
The form he showed in the game against Inter Milan could not be sustained. As he got older, his body could no longer keep up. He was now consciously sitting close to the technical area. During the game, he could hear the voices of the coaching staff discussing tactics. From now on, he was preparing for his future as a coach.
Every time Henry and Wood shook hands before the game, exchanged team flags, and then began to guess the coin toss, he would have a strange feeling — the captain in front of him was too young. Wood was the youngest captain among the top six teams in the Premier League. It was said that Wenger was good at using young people. Tony Twain was even more unwilling to be outdone. There were a few people in the Forest team who looked more suitable to be the captain than Wood, such as Edwin van der Sar, who started every game.
In fact, it would not be too surprising if it was just youth. What was more surprising was that the young Wood was doing well in the captain's position …
"Number." The referee placed the coin in front of Henry and pointed to the side that was facing up.
The referee flipped the coin over and handed it to Wood. Wood nodded.
The coin was tossed up high and then fell onto the turf. The referee leaned over to look, while Henry and Wood looked at each other.
"Number!" The referee picked up the coin and pointed it at Henry, indicating for him to go first.
"Right to kick off." Henry did not hesitate to choose the side that was most beneficial to them.
There was nothing left to choose. Wood chose the side where his team was currently warming up as their half of the field.
The two captains shook hands with the three referees and then separated.
Tang En admitted that he did not consider what he would do after successfully advancing from the semi-finals. In his eyes, it was now the finals.
He adjusted his sitting position and waited for the referee to blow the whistle to start the first half of the game.
※ ※ ※
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second round of the semifinals of the 05-06 UEFA Champions League. The two sides are Nottingham Forest and Arsenal! This is England's civil war. I believe the English people would prefer for these two teams to meet at the Stade de France (the venue for this year's Champions League finals). Let us take this opportunity to introduce the starting lineup for both sides … "
Kenny Burns sat at the bar counter, looking up at the big-screen television hanging below the ceiling. The entire bar was packed with people who were in the same position as him.
This Forest bar was once a place Tang En frequented. The people here all knew what kind of person Forest's manager was. They were also Tang En's most loyal fans. These people did not worship a football star, but a manager. Even though Tang En rarely came here to drink and chat due to his work, Tang En's fixed seat was still preserved, and no one else was allowed to sit there.
Today, in the crowded bar, only that seat was empty.
When the television began to introduce Forest's starting lineup, the people in the bar were like the fans in the stadium, shouting out the names one by one. When they shouted the last name, "Anelka," everyone added another.
"… and Tony Twain!"
After shouting, they laughed heartily and raised their wine glasses to drink.
Burns raised his wine glass to greet everyone. The charm that only Brian Clough had was now reflected on Tony.
The noise gradually died down. Everyone looked up at the television, waiting for the match to begin.
A crisp whistle came from the television and rang out in every corner of the city.
The match had begun!
※ ※ ※
"Arsenal has taken the initiative to attack right from the start. They have to do the same. To get a ticket to the finals, Arsenal, who has lost a goal on their home ground, must attack in this match and score a goal to break Forest's advantage. Only then can the match return to Wenger's control. However, they are facing the team with the third best defense in the English Premier League this season. "
"I don't quite agree with this statement. The English Premier League is not the same as the Champions League. A good defense in the English Premier League may not be able to do the same in the Champions League. "
Arsenal's Henry dribbled the ball to attack. He quickly fell into the encirclement of two people. Tang En instructed the team to implement a pincer defense against Henry and pay attention to the protection of the front and back. They had to have depth in their defense and must not let him break through easily. Henry was no stranger to such defense. After all, he had been competing with Forest for almost two seasons.
After attracting the attention of two Forest defenders, Henry passed the ball out.
Fàbregas caught up and received the ball. At the same time, George Wood also pressed forward. The Spanish youngster did not stop the ball to observe. He saw Wood run over and directly passed the ball to Reyes.
Reyes passed the ball over. He pushed a low ball in an attempt to create chaos in front of Forest's goal. Pepe beat him to it and kicked the ball out of the sideline.
Wood waved to his teammates in front, indicating for them to come back and participate in the defense.
Oh, right. I forgot to mention. Recently, there was something that made Tang En very happy. George Wood was becoming more and more proactive in telling his thoughts to others. For example, his actions in the match were rare to see a season ago.
If he wanted his teammates to return to defend or attack, he would tell them in his own way, instead of staying silent and not saying a word.
Wearing the captain's armband really made him grow a lot.
Seeing that defense might be needed in the early stages of the match, Wood let everyone return to defend.
His approach was correct. After the start of the match, Arsenal really wanted to use this period of time to attack fiercely for a while and strive to break the deadlock early.
Three minutes, five minutes … Arsenal surrounded Forest's penalty area and attacked wildly without stopping. Forest could only rely on a dense defense to stop the opponent's attacks.
But no one in the stands was dissatisfied with this. Forest's fans had long been used to this kind of football from Tang En. For them, as long as they could win, it did not matter how they played.
Forest's players were also used to it — first defend, then attack. Many times, this was Nottingham Forest's basic strategy.
Henry forced his way into the penalty area and caused a commotion. In the chaos, his shot hit Piqué. There was a change in direction and it flew straight to the back corner of the goal. Edwin van der Sar was blocking the near corner. Was there nothing he could do?
The Arsenal fans who saw this scene in front of the television were already about to celebrate and cheer in advance. At this moment, a figure rushed out and stretched out his leg to kick the ball out!
"George Wood's rescue was very timely. He saved Forest! Arsenal's offense is too fierce. Nottingham Forest can't handle it! "
Piqué patted Wood with lingering fear, thanking him for helping out.
Tang En, who was sitting off the field, turned his head to look at the away team's technical area. Wenger sat in the same position as him and did not say anything.
Arsenal had put in a lot of effort in this match. They had to score, so Wenger abandoned the defensive counterattack strategy and switched to what Arsenal was best at to deal with Forest.
This kind of Arsenal was the most terrifying. It was too easy for them to learn Forest's defense halfway through and still want to rely on it to advance to the finals. It should have been what it was …
Tang En was not afraid of Arsenal's offense. In the previous round, Arsenal did not attack, and he still desperately tried to force the opponent to attack. Now that Arsenal had taken the initiative to attack, Forest's defensive counterattack could be played more comfortably.
Faced with Arsenal's tide-like attacks, Tang En decided to bide his time and wait and see.
He had seen this kind of situation many times. It was no big deal …
(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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