The draw with Chelsea in the away game widened the gap between Chelsea and Manchester United to eight points. With eight rounds left in the league tournament, it was not easy to catch up.
The only good news for Mourinho might be the match-up situation in the last eight rounds. Manchester United needed to play Nottingham Forest at home in the 33rd round. Following that, in the 34th round, Manchester United would play Chelsea in an away game.
These two games were related to the survival of the two teams. If Manchester United could win two consecutive games, then with four rounds left, Manchester United's points advantage would widen to 11 points. At this time, Chelsea almost only had the theoretical possibility of winning the title.
But if Manchester United lost to Nottingham Forest and then to Chelsea, the points gap between the two sides was likely to shrink to two points. A loss in one game would lead to a comeback for Chelsea.
The league tournament had officially entered the sprint stage. Now was the time for bloodshed, and no one would be merciful.
Nottingham Forest's position was also not very secure, so it was unlikely to expect the Forest team to make a big rotation when they played against Manchester United.
Arsenal and the Forest team were now only six points apart, and Liverpool and the Forest team were only seven points apart. The difference was not big enough for Tang En to sit back and relax.
In the following 31st round, Liverpool beat Arsenal at home, squeezing Arsenal to fifth in the league tournament and the Reds fourth.
Nottingham Forest beat Bolton Wanderers 1: 0 in the away game. In addition, Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 4: 1 at home, and Chelsea beat Watford 1: 0 in the away game.
Several teams had won, except for the unlucky Arsenal.
The situation had not changed. Tang En had to temporarily pull his attention away from the league tournament and cast it on another battlefield.
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The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals were about to begin. Compared to the other teams, the Forest team's luck was particularly good. Their opponent was the weakest among them, Eindhoven.
Speaking of Eindhoven, there was another "old acquaintance" of Tang En's.
It was the China full back, Sun Xiang, who came to Eindhoven on a three-month loan from Shanghai Shenhua.
Before he transmigrated, Sun Xiang was loaned to Eindhoven in January of this year. At that time, because he represented the team in the UEFA Champions League, he was hailed as "the first China player in the Champions League."
It was a good title, but Tang En felt very sad. The Japanese and Korean players had already appeared in the Champions League, and Park Ji-sung could even play as a main force in a powerhouse team like Manchester United. What about the Chinese players? Making an appearance in the Champions League required such a massive amount of publicity. The gap between Japanese and Korean football and China's football was no longer something that could be explained in a few words.
However, in his current world, the title of "China's Champions League player" had already been given to Sun Jihai.
Sun Jihai had benefited a lot from the Forest team for more than two years. He was able to receive the most advanced training in the most advanced football environment. When he returned to the national team, he immediately felt like a crane among chickens, which also caused another kind of trouble. Sun Jihai and his other teammates were somewhat unable to work together on the national team. Coach Zhu Guanghu was also having a headache over this matter. Sun Jihai's level was not bad. But his coordination with the team has always been a problem. Summer was the Asian Cup. Whether or not to use Sun Jihai became Zhu Guanghu's worry. The fans were very vocal about using Sun Jihai, but Zhu Guanghu was a little hesitant.
Putting aside the matters of the national team, the match between Nottingham Forest and Eindhoven was hyped up by the Chinese media as "the China Derby of the Champions League." The instigator of this matter was none other than Tang En's "old friend," Tang Jing.
Tang En had always hated this kind of senseless hype. Tang Jing did not even know if Sun Xiang would appear on Eindhoven's roster, yet she could not wait to throw out the "China Derby" gimmick. Moreover, he had not said on any occasion that Sun Jihai would also appear on the starting list for this match. He wanted to see what Tang Jing would say if Sun Xiang did not even make the roster, or if he made it but did not get a minute of playing time.
Although Eindhoven was the weakest of the eight teams, Tang En did not let his guard down. He and the coaching team had done sufficient homework before, and now was the time to put it to use.
After Dunn joined the coaching team, Tang En began to pay attention to the pre-match preparations. Dunn was clearly better at doing this than Tang En. The coaching team would fully study every detail of the opponent and then analyze the opponent's tactics based on the information and details to formulate multiple sets of plans. If the opponent is like this, what should we do? If the opponent is like that, what should we do?
After everything was ready, Tang En took the team to the Netherlands.
Eindhoven's manager, Koeman, decided to attack the Forest team at home. He certainly knew how his fellow countryman, Rijkaard, was defeated. But the pride of the Dutchmen prevented him from doing something like Tony Twain. Defend to the death? If that was the case, before he lost, the stadium would be filled with boos aimed at him. The Dutch fans were idealists. They would rather see their team lose the match in a gorgeous attack than allow it to win in an ugly defense.
Tang En was happy that he could meet such an opponent in the quarterfinals. He could not ask for more if the opponent wanted to go head-to-head with him.
What was Nottingham Forest's favorite team? It was the powerhouses that pressed out and wanted to use offense to break them down. The most headache-inducing ones were the weak teams that withdrew their defensive line and refused to come out.
This season, Tang En had stumbled in the match against the weak teams, but he was not at a disadvantage in the match against the strong teams. After the match against Everton, Tang En let the team begin to transform, but it was a long and systematic project. In the highly utilitarian stage of the champion's elimination, Tang En still let the team return to the defensive counterattack they were best at.
The away game against Eindhoven began as scheduled. Sure enough, Eindhoven actively sought to attack from the start. But what about Nottingham Forest? The commentator who was familiar with them could also see the defensive counterattack stance at a glance.
Sun Jihai did not play, and Sun Xiang also sat on the bench. In the press box, Tang Jing looked disappointedly at Tang En standing on the sidelines.
"You just won't do as I wish!" she said to herself fiercely.
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Eindhoven's offense was very effective 20 minutes ago. It also let the Eindhoven fans see the hope of beating Nottingham Forest at home.
With two attacks, they almost entered the Forest team's goal. But, as Mourinho said, "almost" on the field was tantamount to failure.
Eindhoven's morale dropped after they repeatedly besieged the Forest team's goal but always missed the goal.
This was the Forest team's chance. Tang En whistled on the sidelines and waved his hand to signal the team to press forward. They could not let go of any opportunity to fight back.
The Forest team's counterattack was about speed. Usually, they shrank in the backfield and lured the opponent to attack. Once the ball was intercepted, the Forest players who had just been cruising immediately became the vanguard.
In the Premier League, Nottingham Forest's counterattack speed was probably the fastest because they had Ribéry, Petrov, Ashley Young, and Aaron Lennon. These were all players who could be ranked in the top ten of the "Premier League's fastest horses."
With such a lineup, Tang En was at ease during the counterattack. Whether it was an individual dribbling the ball for a surprise attack or an overall push, their speed could stun the opponent.
It took Twain two seasons of hard work to get his team to this level. Now that they were facing Eindhoven in an away game, he was confident that he could make Koeman suffer.
Eindhoven instigated an attack, but their intention to pass the ball was too obvious. For this kind of penetration in the middle, George Wood blocked in front and intercepted the pass.
The next thing was simple. Wood immediately passed the football to van der Vaart, and then van der Vaart decided the direction of the fast attack. At the same time van der Vaart received the football, the Forest team's two flanks and two strikers quickly changed directions.
Left, center, and right. All three directions could be chosen. Van der Vaart looked at the situation and decided to go to the left flank. He passed the football to Ribéry.
After receiving the ball, Ribéry did not rush along the flank. He let the Eindhoven players who intended to block him on the flank pounce into thin air. Ribéry dribbled the ball straight to the middle, while van der Vaart ran to the left flank. The two men made a simple switch.
Seeing Ribéry come to the middle, Cocu ran over to defend. He followed Ribéry closely and did not give him a chance to shoot.
When Eastwood saw Ribéry running in the middle, he knew what to do. He stopped running forward and turned to receive Ribéry. Ribéry passed the football to Eastwood, who came up to receive him. Eindhoven's defender, Alex, followed Eastwood closely and did not let him turn around.
Eastwood did not even think about turning around. After he took the ball, Ribéry ran without the ball. Cocu focused his attention on Eastwood, who took the ball. He planned to attack with Alex from the front and back to intercept the ball. He did not expect Eastwood to suddenly pass the ball just as he pressed forward.
The football returned to Ribéry's feet. At that moment, Ribéry was in front of the penalty area, but no one was marking him.
The Frenchman no longer hesitated and raised his leg to shoot …
"Franck Ribéry — the ball's in! A beautiful long shot! Gomez couldn't save in time. It's almost a dead angle! "
The Philips Stadium, which had been very noisy, suddenly quieted down. The Eindhoven fans did not expect their team to besiege for a long time without scoring. The other side succeeded with one counterattack.
Twain stood up from his seat and raised his fists high. Since Ribéry had been consciously placed in the middle by the coaching staff, he was a greater threat. He was a well-rounded midfielder and should not be limited on one side.
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After the deadlock was broken, things were much easier.
Eindhoven, who had lost the ball, desperately tried to recover. Under such circumstances, the Forest team's defensive counterattack had more room to play.
The first goal came. Could the second and third goals be far behind?
In the second half, the Forest team switched sides and fought again. Van Nistelrooy and van der Vaart scored one goal in succession. When van der Vaart scored the Forest team's third goal, the fans at the Philips Stadium had already left early. The manager, Koeman, looked at the score on the scoreboard with a livid face.
What did it mean to be beaten by the opponent for three goals in their own home game? The opponent had one foot in the door of the semifinals. If it was only 0: 1 or 0: 2, then they could still fight in the next round. Now that they had lost three goals, the probability of a comeback in the away game was too low.
Koeman looked at the glaring score again and lowered his head.
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Six days later, Eindhoven arrived in Nottingham from the Netherlands in a slightly tragic mood. Because they had to score at least three goals in the away game and keep Nottingham Forest from scoring a goal before they had a chance to play overtime. If they wanted to advance directly, they had to score more than four goals. It was too difficult for Eindhoven …
Yes, it was too difficult.
The Nottingham Forest fans gave Eindhoven a taste of what Barcelona had tasted before. The Forest team unexpectedly did not choose to play defensive counterattack in the near-fanatical home atmosphere. Instead, they held up the banner of offensive football and played against the dying Eindhoven.
Perhaps it was because Tang En felt that his team's advancement was a foregone conclusion. It did not matter whether they used defensive counterattack or not. It was better to use offense to please more spectators. At the same time, it also tested how much energy the team would have if they went all out to attack. The score of 3: 0 was indeed reassuring.
The game was very entertaining. The two sides went back and forth and attacked vigorously. The fans also enjoyed watching. Both sides scored one after another. As they continued to score, Koeman's mood wandered back and forth between hell and heaven. When Eindhoven scored, he raised his arms and cheered. He felt that the situation was developing in the direction he wanted. When Nottingham Forest scored, his face immediately darkened. The hope of advancing was drifting away from him …
Eindhoven scored first. After all, the Forest team was going all out on offense. The defensive line could not be as impregnable and flawless as usual. The goal gave the Eindhoven people hope, but just five minutes later, the Forest team equalized the score. Anyway, everyone was attacking. There were many holes in the rear defensive line. It depended on which side could take advantage of them as much as possible.
Next, the Forest team continued and scored another goal. The total score was 5: 1 ahead of Eindhoven. It was basically announced that the game was over early.
Eindhoven did not give up. They were still working hard to find a chance to score.
Towards the end of the first half, they took advantage of a passing error in the Forest team's backfield to intercept the ball and launch a counterattack to equalize the total score to 5: 2.
During the halftime interval, Tang En criticized the performance of the rear defensive line. In his view, even if the team focused on offense, it was not a reason for the rear defensive line to make mistakes.
In the second half, the two sides continued to attack, but this time the Forest team's defensive line performed slightly better. They did not give Eindhoven any more chances. In the 80th minute, Bendtner, who came on as a substitute for van Nistelrooy in the second half, scored the third goal for the Forest team with a header, locking the total score of the two sides at 6: 2.
Although there were still ten minutes before the end of the game, Koeman was helpless in the face of this score.
He knew that he had failed.
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When the final whistle sounded, the City Ground stadium suddenly burst into a huge cheer. The commentator had to raise the volume of his voice in the noisy environment. "An unforgettable game. Nottingham Forest has advanced to the top four for two years in a row! This is a remarkable achievement! Tony Twain seems to be a manager who is good at playing in cup competitions. His first championship trophy was won in the EFL Cup. Last season, they advanced to the Champions League final and almost became the champion. This season, they have a chance to attack the final again! But first, they have to beat Chelsea. This is their opponent in the semifinals! "
"Chelsea? That's a really good opponent. "Tang En said to Dunn and Kerslake beside him after the game ended. "We have a psychological advantage against them."
Kerslake chuckled. Dunn also smiled slightly. Everyone knew what a psychological advantage was.
Having said that, Tang En turned his gaze to the stands. He knew that Mourinho was watching the match from the stands, but he did not know if Mourinho was still there at this time.
At the same time, in the stands.
Mourinho and his assistant were queuing up to leave the stadium. He did not forget to look down.
He saw Tang En looking up at him.
"Nottingham Forest …" He muttered the name softly. "What a good opponent."
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PS: I had a terrible fever yesterday afternoon. I called the doctor to check, and it was 40 degrees …
After getting an injection, taking medicine, and covering myself with two layers of cotton blankets for the whole night, the fever subsided when I woke up this morning. Although my head still hurt a little, it did not affect me from continuing to write in front of the computer.
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