It was not an exaggeration for the commentator to say, "Long time no see, Forest's offensive players." The Forest team's offensive players had not appeared in front of the television cameras and the television audience for a long time.
Since they scored against Barcelona, they had been pressured by Barcelona. Their few attacks were either fruitless or abandoned halfway. Bendtner had to come back to participate in the defense, not to mention the overall offense.
Now, the Forest team launched another attack. Would the result be the same as the previous few times?
It was unknown.
"Ribéry received the ball and did a beautiful offload! Eastwood is ready to receive … "
Ribéry certainly saw Eastwood. It was a completely different feeling in the middle and on the flank. His job on the flank was simple: break through the opponent and then pass. But in the middle, he had more options. Eastwood, who came up to receive, was certainly an option, but he could not pass like that …
Why?
Because he saw Eastwood. The Barcelona players also saw Eastwood, who had retreated to provide support.
Puyol was following Eastwood. If he passed the ball over, it would make things difficult for Eastwood. He had his back to the direction of the attack and could hardly turn around under Puyol's watch. It was an irresponsible pass, but it was also a pass in line with the Barcelona people's hopes.
It could not be passed like that. Ribéry tilted his head. He saw Ashley Young running diagonally from the flank to the middle. It was a solution.
Just as the two men were about to cross, Ribéry passed the football to Ashley Young, who ran diagonally. Then he ran without the ball to the right flank. He and Ashley Young completed a left-right switch.
Barcelona's defensive line was quickly retreating, but the speed at which the players on the front line returned to defend was not very fast. After all, they were all offensive players, not defensive players. Asking them to immediately return to defend after losing the ball … was somewhat demanding.
The Barcelona players thought Ashley Young would continue to dribble to the left flank after receiving the ball. They did not expect that after just running for two steps, he would turn around and pass the football to Franck Ribéry, who ran past.
Ribéry did not continue to dribble to the right flank. Instead, he adjusted his direction as he received the ball and faced Barcelona's goal head-on!
Because he and Ashley Young crossed and changed positions, there was no one around him to mark him. He did not miss the opportunity and suddenly swung his leg for a long shot before Márquez closed in!
"A very high quality long shot!"
The football whizzed over, and Valdés did not dare to take it head-on. He could only leap up and hit the ball with both fists.
"Most of the time, Ribéry gives people the impression that he is a winger who relies on speed and skills to break through on the flank and then pass the ball into the middle. This long shot reminds us that he is also a scorer who can score nine goals in a single season!"
Indeed, Ribéry's most successful season in the English Premier League was nine goals. That was his first season in the English Premier League. It was also in that season that his superior speed and sharp breakthroughs, as well as his excellent scoring ability, made him the best foreign aid of the season.
He still played well in the second season, but in the third season, after his opponents had figured out his moves, he was no longer as much of a threat as before. Coupled with the fact that Tang En had bought Petrov, who had similar characteristics to him, this season, many people believed that Ribéry's once impregnable main position in the Forest team was gradually wavering.
Petrov was sitting on the substitutes' bench and watching the game. Everyone was guessing if Ribéry's performance wasn't good and he would be replaced immediately.
It was time to make a change.
The football that Valdés hit fell to the left flank of the field. Ashley Young received it and did not hesitate to pass the ball. Unfortunately, his left foot was not used to this side, and the quality of the pass was not high. It was headed out by Zambrotta, who returned to defend.
Eastwood lost the battle with Puyol. The Barcelona captain forcefully headed the football forward, hoping to let the returning Deco or Xavi get it. The two of them were very close. It would be good no matter who received the ball. It was like a double insurance.
Deco was even ready to stop the ball with his chest.
"George Wood!" Following the commentator's exclamation, Deco, who was ready to make a move, saw a dark shadow suddenly appear beside him from behind, and it appeared from the air …
George Wood flew in the air. His body leaned back, and he exerted strength in his waist and abdomen, fiercely heading the football back with his head.
Both Deco and Xavi ran empty, and the football returned to Barcelona's half of the field.
This time, it was Eastwood, not Puyol, who received the football.
After receiving the ball, Eastwood did not turn around. Instead, he directly passed the ball back to Mikel Arteta, who had already plugged in.
Nottingham Forest's attack was already in full swing.
Tang En's requirement for the team was to retreat quickly and attack quickly. In short, there was only one word — fast!
This point was very well reflected in this game.
The Forest team's attack was very fast. After Arteta received the football, there were passing routes all around him. Whether it was to Ribéry, Ashley Young, Eastwood, Bendtner, or even George Wood, who was not far behind, or Gareth Bale, who was plugging in, he could pass the ball.
The biggest difference between Nottingham Forest and Barcelona was that the Forest team did not care about the situation. If there was the most direct passing route, they would definitely choose that one.
Arteta looked at the situation around him and decisively passed the football to the team's playmaker in the second half — Franck Ribéry.
When Ribéry received the ball, he was already on the right flank. Zambrotta thought Ribéry would break through from the flank. The switch between him and Ashley Young looked like an ordinary left and right crossing.
Ribéry made a feint to break through in a straight line and deceived Zambrotta — he did not really break through directly. Instead, he took advantage of Zambrotta's shift of center of gravity to suddenly move the football to the middle and cut inside!
His left foot would cut inside from the right flank to the middle. What was he most likely to do and what he was best at?
"Watch out for his shot!" Valdés shouted.
That's right, it was to use his best foot to do a direct long shot.
As if to coordinate with Valdés, Ribéry swung his left leg while running horizontally. He wanted to shoot!
Márquez desperately rushed up to block Ribéry's long shot, completely forgetting the situation behind him.
Ribéry saw it clearly. He did not shoot. It was just a feint to pull Barcelona's rear defensive line out and create a gap. Márquez stepped forward, and a gap appeared in Barcelona's originally consistent defensive line.
The Frenchman's leg came down and changed from a pull to a push. The football quickly rolled past Márquez into the penalty area.
"A beautiful straight pass!"
It was indeed beautiful. Before Ribéry's ball was passed out, Bendtner had already run diagonally toward this gap. When the ball arrived, Bendtner raised his leg to shoot at a narrow angle!
If Valdés had not reacted quickly and moved in time to block Bendtner's shooting angle, the pass and run coordination in front of the penalty area might have really scored.
The football hit Valdés' leg and deflected out of the end line.
There was a loud gasp in the stands at Camp Nou. The Barcelona fans were scared out of their wits.
After seeing Bendtner and Ribéry make a wonderful cooperation, Tang En had already stood up from his seat and clenched his fists, waiting to raise his arms and shout in celebration of the goal. He did not expect Bendtner's shot to be blocked out of the end line by Valdés.
The emotional ups and downs made him almost unable to control his body. He jumped up abruptly, knelt down on one knee, and punched the ground. "Such a good opportunity … I didn't score! I didn't score! "
He was still chattering as he got up and walked back to the technical area.
"At least we saw a piece of good news — Ribéry's performance was outstanding." Kerslake comforted him.
Beside him, Dunn nodded. "It's better than we imagined."
"But this is not enough," Tang En muttered to himself. "We need to exert more pressure on Barcelona." With that, he turned back and stood still on the sidelines. He took a deep breath and roared, "George! Charge up faster when you attack! If you can't run anymore, I'll bring you off! "
※ ※ ※
"Nottingham Forest's offense has picked up. This is really a feast for the eyes of us neutral spectators. The scene is good to watch. Both sides' attacks are of high quality. Now the suspense is … who will be the first to break this awkward stalemate? "
The Forest team's corner kick was headed out by Thuram. Lying in wait outside, Arteta attempted a direct long shot but hit it high. This made Tang En, who was off the field, so angry that he slapped his thigh. In the face of such a situation, he did not want to see his players act too hastily. He was more willing to see Arteta choose to unload the ball and reorganize the attack, rather than kick the ball into the stands.
After Barcelona sent the ball out, they continued to attack the Forest team's goal. The situation on the field fell into a stalemate. It looked like everyone had a chance, but every opportunity always brushed past them. Fate seemed to be playing tricks on the feelings of the fans of both teams. At times, it made them nervous, at times, it made them relieved, at times, it made them excited, and at times, it made them depressed.
The second half of the game gradually passed in this stalemate for 20 minutes.
Tang En did not make a substitution. He was waiting for an opportunity. He believed that Rijkaard would not be satisfied with taking a point at Camp Nou. He would definitely start sending out offensive players at the last moment. That would be his chance.
In everyone's eyes, Tang En should be very satisfied with the situation. In fact, his thoughts were exactly the same as Rijkaard's — he could not accept failure, nor could he accept a draw!
At the 73rd minute of the game, Rijkaard finally could not sit still. He was the first to make adjustments.
The Brazilian full back, Belletti, replaced Thuram. This was not a defensive adjustment. Belletti had a very good ability to assist. Rijkaard had brought him on to strengthen Barcelona's side offense.
Seeing this substitution, Tang En also stood up from his seat and asked Kerslake to call back van Nistelrooy, who was warming up. Bendtner was still lacking a little. What he needed now was a world-class center forward with rich experience and outstanding awareness. To be clear, Tang En needed a Terminator.
Compared to van Nistelrooy, Bendtner was still lacking.
After calling van Nistelrooy to his side, Tang En first raised his head to observe his expression. There was nothing unusual.
"I only have one request." Tang En raised his index finger and said to the Dutch striker, "Do your best to score goals."
Van Nistelrooy nodded. He liked it that way. He was an experienced striker. If a manager chattered endlessly in his ear, he would only feel that he was being belittled and did not receive the trust he deserved.
"Go on. Do them a good job!"
Van Nistelrooy was brought on. Bendtner quickly ran down. Tang En pulled him back and said, "You did well, Nicky."
"Thank you, Boss, but I didn't score that goal just now …"
Tang En laughed and interrupted Bendtner's self-blame. "No matter how good a striker is, it's impossible to guarantee that he can score every time he shoots. If you're not satisfied, go back and practice shooting more when you train! "
※ ※ ※
"Both sides have made offensive adjustments. It looks like in the final moments of the game, both teams are not satisfied with this 1: 1 draw. This is really exciting! "
After Tang En yelled at Wood, Wood indeed plugged in faster and more resolutely when attacking. Of course, in this way, there would naturally be more space behind him for Barcelona's offense to participate.
The balance between offense and defense had always been a big problem for every team, every coach, and every player. Tang En did not expect Wood to have any outstanding performance in this area. Strengthening the offense would inevitably weaken the defense. The price of a solid defense was sacrificing a lot of opportunities to counterattack.
This should be a choice that only a manager needed to make.
With 20 minutes to the end of the game, Tang En chose to attack.
Van Nistelrooy being sent onto the field was a very clear signal.
The Dutchman was more experienced, and his ability to snatch the ball in front of the goal was more outstanding than Bendtner's. Coupled with the assistance of Eastwood and Ribéry, it looked like Tang En was determined to win this game.
The consequence of doing so was that Wood would relax his marking on Ronaldinho, and Barcelona would similarly have many opportunities to attack.
Now, it all depended on which side could seize it a step earlier.
※ ※ ※
After Ronaldinho broke away from George Wood's defense, he passed the ball to Eto 'o under the interference. Eto' o played very gloomily in this game. His speed had little room to play under Forest's tight defense. After receiving the ball, he could only try to shoot more often or pass the ball out again.
As for shooting, Tang En had requested the defensive line to push Eto 'o out of the penalty area before the game. In short, the further away from the goal, the better. Eto' o could only rely more on long shots. He now realized that Forest's defense seemed to be a little loose. He planned to directly break through!
With a nimble and swift change of direction, Eto 'o bypassed Kompany, who was defending against him, intending to squeeze through a gap in the crowd. Just as he was about to succeed, Piqué rushed up to fill the gap.
He kicked the ball out before Eto 'o could, and then collided with the African cheetah that could not stop in time. The two fell to the ground at the same time. Deafening boos rang out from the stands again. The Barcelona fans naturally thought that this should be another penalty kick, but the referee did not give it, indicating for the game to continue.
The ball that Piqué kicked out reached Ashley Young's feet. He did not pass it forward because Barcelona's snatching this time was very timely. By the time he adjusted the ball, there was no space to send it forward. He could only protect the ball on the flank, either waiting for his teammates to come up to support him, or kick the ball onto a Barcelona player's body and have it bounce out of bounds.
To be honest, the second option could only be done out of helplessness. Once that happened, it meant that Barcelona's defense on the spot had succeeded. They had stopped one of Forest's quick attacks.
The first option was a little more difficult. Chimbonda wanted to come up to assist, but he was closely followed by Eto 'o. What about Arteta? His position was not very good, and he could not confirm where he was.
"Here!" Just as Ashley Young was about to create an out of bounds ball, he heard the captain's voice.
As soon as he looked up, George Wood appeared in front of him, and there was no one around him for the time being. The Barcelona players clearly did not expect George Wood to suddenly appear here and take the initiative to ask for the ball to participate in the offense. Ashley Young no longer hesitated and immediately passed the ball out. Then he turned around and continued to run forward from the outside of the field. He thought of running out quickly so that Wood could pass the ball to him and make a penetrating two-versus-one pass! After all, after more than half a season of personal experience in training and games, Ashley Young was well aware of Wood's ability to make long passes. He knew that this was the most likely way to tear Barcelona's defense apart.
Because of his accelerated run, he pulled away Barcelona's Deco. The Barcelona players also thought that Wood would choose to pass the ball at the first instance, which was just in time to take advantage of Ashley Young's speed. Everyone was preventing Wood from passing the ball, but Wood unexpectedly chose to dribble the ball himself!
Wood's dribbling speed was not fast, but steady. Deco ran with Ashley Young for a while and found that Wood had no intention of passing the ball, so he turned back to defend against George Wood.
Wood faced Deco and did not continue to dribble the ball. Instead, he passed the football to Mikel Arteta, who ran up with him. Arteta then passed the football to Gareth Bale, who followed up from the left back position. The Barcelona players' attention followed the football to the flank. Bale suddenly did a horizontal diagonal pass!
The football passed between the players on both sides. No one intercepted it and finally fell at Wood's feet!
He did not go back after he passed the ball. Instead, he continued forward to receive. Bale saw him and sent the football over.
At this time, Wood was only ten meters away from the top of the arc of Barcelona's penalty area. It was not easy to run this distance. Barcelona erected a barrier here to block Nottingham Forest's attack.
Puyol directed the team's rear defensive line to collectively press up to create an offside position. As long as Wood passed the ball forward, either the Forest team's two forwards would be offside, or no one would receive it at all.
At the same time, Deco continued to close in on Wood, intending to take the opportunity to intercept.
Should he pass the ball, or dribble it himself?
Wood looked at the large empty space in front of him and suddenly lifted his leg to send the football to the right flank.
There was no one there now, but a second later, a running figure appeared on the television camera. Ashley Young!
He had been running since a while ago, but when he realized that Wood did not pass the ball to him, he stopped in his tracks. Later, when he saw Wood receive the ball for the second time and was blocked by Barcelona's creation of an offside position, he keenly discovered this side corridor that had been overlooked. Ashley Young did not know if George Wood would see the empty corridor. He also did not know if Wood would pass the football to his side if he ran up to him.
But if he ran, it would at most be a wasted trip. If he did not run, there would be no chance at all. He chose to plug forward at high speed.
This was not an offensive routine that had been repeatedly practiced in training. Wood did not turn his head to see where Ashley Young was, but he accurately sent the football there to Ashley Young's feet.
"How did he see it?" The commentator's exclamation was also Rijkaard's question.
Everyone was paying attention to Wood, who took the ball in the middle. Barcelona's defensive line also unconsciously shrank to the middle, intending to completely block the defensive midfielder who was not good at attacking and dribbling the ball.
They did not expect Wood to suddenly pass a ball that was not in his field of vision. With a swish, it tore open Barcelona's defense.
After Ashley Young received the ball on the flank, there was a large empty area in front of him. He adjusted the football diagonally and dribbled the ball toward the penalty area.
Zambrotta desperately returned to defend. It did not look like there was no hope of stopping Ashley Young before he entered the danger zone.
Young swung his leg. Whether he was going to pass or shoot, Zambrotta strode up and stretched out his foot to block.
It was not a shot, but it was not an ordinary pass either. Ashley Young passed the football close to the ground to his side, near the penalty spot.
Eastwood and Ribéry did not receive the ball in front of the goal, but van Nistelrooy's professional sensitivity made him run to the front of the goal and suddenly withdraw. He just happened to receive the ball and, without hesitation, swept his leg!
Valdés's reaction speed was amazing. Although there was usually a lot of criticism about him, his performance at this moment was admirable.
When he ran to block the near corner and saw the football pass back, he immediately turned and ran to the middle of the goal. Halfway there, he saw van Nistelrooy swing his leg to shoot. Valdés's body immediately soared into the air and pounced on the football.
He pounced on the football!
Van Nistelrooy's shot did not enter the goal!
The Forest players had intended to raise their hands to cheer the goal, but this time it was the Barcelona fans in the stands behind the goal who cheered.
They were ready to shout Valdés's name, but the first syllable had just come out of their mouths when the situation in front of the goal suddenly changed.
For the first time, Valdés tried very hard to pounce on the football. This was already his best effort. He had no energy left to swat the football any further. The football fell in front of the goal, and Valdés himself had already fallen to the ground. He was struggling to stand up again. He had already smelled the danger.
The football was in front of him, about a palm's distance from his palm. Unfortunately, the danger happened to be a palm's distance.
Ribéry was originally going to rush in to grab the first point. He did not expect Ashley Young to pass it to van Nistelrooy behind him. He thought he had made a wasted trip, but he did not expect van Nistelrooy's shot to not enter the goal. Instead, it was pounced on by Valdés. What was even more unexpected was that the pounced ball happened to fall not far in front of his feet!
A God-given opportunity!
Ribéry, who was ready to shoot, suddenly felt a strong pull from behind him, trying to pull him to the ground. Obviously, it was done by Barcelona's center back, Márquez, who was leaning behind him.
Valdés was also trying to get up from the ground, intending to hold the football again.
How can I let you get what you want?!
Ribéry did not fight with Márquez in front of the goal line. He did not have time to compare who was stronger. He took advantage of the force of Márquez pulling him to throw his body out. In this way, he freed his feet and could use them to do more important things, such as … twisting his body to shoot!
Valdés saw his palm approaching the football. At this time, it was perhaps only half a palm's distance. But in the next moment, the football disappeared, leaving only a cloud of grass.
"Franck Ribéry! He scored! He fell in front of Barcelona's goal with Márquez. Is it a foul? No, it's not a foul! The referee indicated that the goal is valid! Nottingham Forest is ahead of Barcelona for the second time at Camp Nou! Look at Tony Twain's excitement on the sidelines. Ha, it's as if he was the one who scored! Nottingham Forest is like a jungle shrouded in a thick fog and full of danger, trapping Barcelona in it. Can Rijkaard's team rush out? They don't have much time left. There are still seventeen minutes! "
In one shot, Twain waved his fists toward the sky and roared with his mouth open. A little further away, Rijkaard stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed over his chest. He bit his lower lip and looked solemn.
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