Seeing that Valdés had saved his shot, Eastwood did not bother to dodge Puyol's tackle from behind. He was knocked out by his opponent and held his head with both hands when he got up. What a pity, what a pity.
Tang En and the other Nottingham Forest players felt the same regret as him. Almost everyone did the same thing — they held their heads with both hands and leaned back.
This kind of opportunity to directly intercept the ball and counterattack in front of the opponent's penalty area was very rare. As long as they could grasp it, they were basically guaranteed to score. If this goal was scored, it would be like taking a calming pill for Nottingham Forest, who was passively defending.
But fate played a trick on Forest at the crucial moment. Valdés' actions looked more like a conditioned reflex and not his own judgment.
"Valdés' condition is very good in this game. As the number two goalkeeper of the Spanish national team, he performed at a level that frustrated the opponent!"
Tang En knew that the biggest hidden danger in Barcelona's rear defensive line was Oleg. Eastwood also saw it through his own observation, so he chose to intercept Oleg. He succeeded. But he did not expect Valdés to perform so well today.
Eastwood's shot made the Barcelona players break out in a cold sweat. Their hearts were still beating wildly when Forest came up for the corner kick.
This time, Barcelona made careful arrangements for the defense of the high ball. Forest's corner kick did not form a threatening attack.
If the Barcelona players thought that Forest was just lucky and wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, they were wrong.
Following that, Forest launched another attack. Arteta and Albertini did a wall combination in the midfield and then passed straight to the front field. Eastwood won by relying on his abundant stamina in the process of competing with Puyol in terms of speed. He took advantage of the situation to let the football pass and then accelerated into the penalty area. Seeing that Eastwood had entered the penalty area, Puyol had no other choice. He was slightly slower to turn at the beginning and was stuck behind the opponent. Now he could only do his best to interfere from the back. It was not worth it to rashly tackle the ball and be awarded a penalty kick.
"Eastwood! He's very active. Nottingham Forest's chance … his one shot! Shoot — "
Unfortunately, the shot did not have an angle under Puyol's desperate interference and entanglement, and was pounced on by Valdés.
"Valdés! His performance left hope for Barcelona! "
※ ※ ※
"Ah! Damn it! "
Tang En, who was watching from the sidelines, almost jumped up. As time passed, he became more and more excited.
The only disadvantage of a lone striker was that when the arrowhead got the ball, he lacked enough support around him. He could only dribble the ball to attack and shoot with his own ability. Once he was forced by the opponent, there was no better opportunity.
At the end of the day, it was because the Forest team was one player short. If there were eleven of them, Eastwood would have been able to score at least one of his two chances.
During the one-on-one battle just now, Barcelona did not have many players in the rear defensive line because they were anxious to equalize the score. This allowed Eastwood to easily enter the penalty area. If there was a Forest player who could follow up in time in the middle of the penalty area at this time, then Eastwood would have more room to play whether it was a shot or a pass. He would not be forced into a tight angle by Puyol and forced to shoot.
Arteta and Albertini couldn't run anymore. It was unrealistic to ask them to rush up and provide support.
Tang En bit his lip. The discovery of Edwin van der Sar was the turning point of the game. It had a very deep impact on the next dozens of minutes of the game. As time passed, this impact was developing in a direction that was more and more favorable to Barcelona.
Tang En originally wanted to have a fair duel with his opponent. He did not expect to be forced into a disadvantageous position from the start.
This was what made him angry. He could accept the referee's ruling that Giuly's goal was valid and give Edwin van der Sar a yellow card as a warning. This would serve as a punishment and also ensure that the game went smoothly and was enjoyable to watch. Now it was great. The Forest team, with one player short, had difficulty protecting themselves, let alone playing a good game with Barcelona.
Tang En believed that the person who ruined this final was not his own goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, but the Norwegian referee, Haug.
※ ※ ※
With the situation still unresolved, Barcelona was equally anxious.
Glancing at the time of the game on the big screen, Rijkaard finally decided to go all out. At the 71st minute, the fourth official signaled for Barcelona to make a substitution.
When Tang En saw this news, he turned his attention to Barcelona's substitutes' bench. He saw No. 2 Belletti and No. 7 Larsson get up from there and walk towards the fourth official.
Even the substitutes were the same!
Kerslake was also watching. He admired Tang En for being able to completely guess who the opponent was going to change. But he did not know that Tang En was feeling something else entirely at that moment.
"Barcelona is making a substitution. Rijkaard has used up all three substitutions. He's going to go all out! It's a completely offensive substitution. Larsson is replacing the defensive midfielder, van Bommel, and Belletti is replacing the wretched full-back, Oleg. "
These might be the last two straws that broke the camel's back.
Tang En stood up from his seat and quickly walked to the sidelines. While Barcelona was making a substitution, he whistled towards the field, indicating for the Forest players to look at him.
"Keep an eye on Eto 'o and Larsson! Pay attention to Belletti's insertion from behind and pay attention to the side defense! Don't give them any chances! "
In his memory, it was Rijkaard's two substitutions at the last moment of the second half that changed the result of the game. Larsson assisted Eto 'o to score the equalizing goal. After that, Belletti and Larsson cooperated and entered the penalty area from the flank. Then, he received Larsson's pass and shot from a tight angle, piercing through the crotch of the Arsenal goalkeeper, Almunia, and scored the goal that reversed the score.
Tang En thought that as long as he kept an eye on these three key players, Barcelona's offense would stop. Forest would win without a doubt. He would become the most successful and youngest manager. His and Forest's names would be engraved in the history of the UEFA Champions League and the history of European football.
Dreams were beautiful after all.
※ ※ ※
Forest followed Tang En's instructions and quickly adjusted their defensive strategy. They strengthened their control of the two side corridors and strengthened their marking of Eto 'o and Larsson.
Just as Tang En expected, after failing to find a better way in the middle, Eto 'o took the initiative to switch to the side, hoping to use his speed to create opportunities in the side.
Unfortunately, Forest seemed to know what he was going to do in advance. He had just switched to the side when he saw Forest's defensive attention shift to him. He often went one against two in the middle, and now he also needed to go one against two in the side.
Five minutes had passed, and so far, Forest still could not see what effect the two substitutes from Barcelona had. However, Forest's defense was very good. Larsson was basically unable to turn around under Pepe's watch, let alone shoot.
Eto 'o was squeezed out of the penalty area by the tight defense and could only move to the side.
Belletti? He did plug in, but he could only pass the ball around the periphery.
Iniesta passed the ball to Larsson. With his back to the goal, Larsson could not shoot. The only thing he could do was to pass the ball out again. When Eto 'o saw Larsson take the ball, he began to cut inside from the side, intending to coordinate with Larsson. Seeing this, Forest's full back, Chimbonda, gritted his teeth and ran after Eto 'o. He stuck close to him and did not let him easily receive the ball.
For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Eto 'o.
But Larsson did not follow the script in Tang En's mind and pass the ball to Eto 'o. He feinted and passed the ball to Ronaldinho in front of him!
Did anyone notice the Brazilian?
The answer was no.
Albertini ran to the side to help defend against Eto 'o, Arteta was paying attention to Larsson, Pepe was tangling with Larsson, and Piqué was defending Giuly. No one noticed Ronaldinho, who had unknowingly retreated.
The Brazilian did not wait for Forest's players to react and volleyed the ball!
Paul Gerrard tried his best to save, but Ronaldinho's shot was too sudden. He did not have time to prepare and could not reach the ball at all.
"GOOOOOAL — GOOOOOAL!!" The Catalan commentator stood up from his seat. They had been waiting for this moment for too long.
"Barcelona has equalized the score! Ronaldinho has become the hero of the team! "
"Nottingham Forest's efforts have been destroyed!"
Passionate shouts from various countries blended together in the commentator's seat.
The Barcelona fans in the Stade de France were boiling. They shouted the name of their hero, Ronaldinho.
Nottingham Forest's players stood on the field in a daze, looking at the ball in the net in disbelief.
They had worked hard for nearly forty minutes, and now it was all for naught.
After a desperate sprint with Eto 'o, a player like Chimbonda could only fall to the ground and kick his legs — he had cramps.
Barcelona's technical area and substitutes' bench were thunderous with cheers, while Nottingham Forest's side was lifeless.
Twain leaned back in his seat and could not even swear.
Barcelona equalized the score according to the "plan," but the goal was not Eto 'o, but Ronaldinho! A candidate he did not expect at all. He put all his attention on the selection of the person in his memory and ignored the dangerous player.
It was his mistake, and he could not scold him.
At first, the situation was surprisingly similar, which made him think the game would go according to the script in his memory. He even thought it was good because his advantage over the others was that he had a memory ahead of time. He knew what would happen later in the game, so he could make targeted strategies in advance. To this end, he asked the team to guard against Eto 'o and Larsson, and to guard against the flanks — because Barcelona's two goals were started from the flanks and completed on the flanks.
Cleverness overcame cleverness. Success and failure were due to transmigration. What he knew ahead of time limited the scope of his thinking. He could not jump out and could only be led by the nose by his own memory.
He leaned back in his seat and looked up at the sky. He suddenly remembered that the final in his memory did not rain from the beginning. There was not a single drop of rain in the first half, and the heavy rain only began to fall in the second half.
He felt a little pain in his head and reached out to press his temples.
How could this be?
※ ※ ※
In the seventy-first minute, Rijkaard made the final substitution, intending to go all out. Five minutes later, in the seventy-sixth minute, Ronaldinho received a pass from Larsson and helped the team equalize the score with a long shot.
In the next game, the Forest team's momentum suddenly disappeared. The Forest team, with most of its young players, could not react in the face of such a heavy blow.
Albertini was used to big storms in his career, but at the moment, he could do nothing but use words to boost the morale. He could not run and was too tired. The Forest team, with one less player, needed ten people to run more to make up for the numerical disadvantage. His sense of responsibility made Albertini run more than the others. Chimbonda fell to the ground with cramps, and he was on the verge of cramping several times.
Under such circumstances, it was too pale and powerless to shout at his teammates not to give up. Because everyone's physical strength had reached the limit, anyone could shout a few slogans, but it could not stimulate everyone's fighting spirit.
If George Wood was there, he would never shout slogans, but he could use his crazy running to drive the madness deep in his teammates' hearts. Many times, actions were more powerful than words, and "doing" was always better than "saying."
Unfortunately, the man who could make the whole team crazy with him was sitting in the VIP box in the high-level stands, "sitting on the sidelines" with his mother and the club chairman.
※ ※ ※
It stood to reason that even if Barcelona equalized the score, the Forest team would not lose. They could drag it to overtime and to a penalty shootout to determine the winner. Although that might cause more people to cramp and fall to the ground, it was better than losing the game in 90 minutes. But the loss of this goal was a huge psychological blow to the Forest team's young players.
What was the reason they worked so hard, spared no expense in terms of physical strength and everything? Wasn't it because they were leading Barcelona by one goal?
Now that their only advantage was gone, no one cared that they still had a chance to play overtime and penalty shootout. They carried on with the game in a daze.
They did not know what else to do besides mechanically defending. Without the ability to attack and without physical strength, what else could they do other than defend?
Tang En did not want to be dragged to overtime by Barcelona. He knew that with the team's current physical strength, it was only a matter of time before they died in overtime.
He had to strengthen the offense. Defense was of no use at this time.
He called up Bendtner from the bench.
He continued to use his last card to adjust the forward line. Tang En was going to burn all his bridges. He no longer cared about what this game was like in his memory, or what it would become. He only knew that if the game went to overtime, the Forest team would be finished.
He needed to score.
"Niklas, stop warming up. You're going to play now. We don't have time. Remember, you're going to score when you're on the field. If you want to go in, do whatever you can to score! I don't care what method you use, as long as you can score! If you want to use your hands to hit the ball in, don't let that bastard referee see it! If you want to dive to earn a penalty shot, do a better dive! "
Just as Tang En was pulling Niklas Bendtner to make the final arrangements, Barcelona launched another successful surprise attack. Ronaldinho and Deco successfully hit the wall in front of the penalty area. Just when everyone thought that Ronaldinho was going to use his personal skills to break into the penalty area, he passed a diagonal pass. This time, his target was Eto 'o, who had cut in from the flank to the middle.
"Eto 'o — Eto' o! The ball went in! The ball went in — God, they scored two goals in five minutes and reversed the score! "
The spectators' stand suddenly erupted into a tsunami of cheers, startling Tang En on the sidelines.
Assistant Manager David Kerslake, beside him, angrily threw the tactical board in his hand.
Tang En looked back and stared with wide eyes. He saw the Barcelona players wildly celebrating the goal. They were stacked on top of each other, with Eto 'o at the bottom, while the Forest players stood on the field in a daze.
"What the f * ck … What the f * ck!"
On the bench behind him, the players covered their faces and hugged their heads, unwilling to look at their elated opponents.
Bendtner stood beside Tang En and asked blankly, "Boss … Do you still need me to play?"
Tang En turned his head to look at the field and said through gritted teeth, "Go!"
Then he turned back to Bendtner and said, "Remember what I told you just now?"
Bendtner nodded.
"Just do as I said!" (To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to www. CMFU. com. There are more chapters. Support the author, support the original reading!)
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