"Enemies always meet." This phrase could be used to describe Tang En's coaching career over the past few years.
Nottingham Forest versus Barcelona, Nottingham Forest versus Chelsea, these games had all appeared in the UEFA Champions League. Any team that became rivals with the Forest team could not avoid a battle with the Forest team in an important game in the end.
Now, it was AC Milan's turn to enjoy this "honor."
The Italian media, especially the local media in Milan, were happy to see this encounter. They finally found a chance for revenge. These Italians could not forget Tang En's attitude toward them after the Forest team won the title last year. It was simply gnashing their teeth.
At that time, because the Forest team was the champion and Tang En was the winner, they could only helplessly accept the insult no matter how angry they were. Tang En was right. He was an Englishman. He did not beg the Italian media to interview him. Instead, it was the Italian reporters who needed the news who asked him.
Now it was different. Every dog has its day. As long as AC Milan could eliminate Nottingham Forest, then Tang En would suffer the frenzied revenge of the Italian media. The Italians would be happy to see Tang En attacked by them at the press conference. No, no, we won't ask Mr. Tang a question at all. Prepare to receive the cold shoulder from the Italian reporters!
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AC Milan's manager, Ancelotti, frowned as he watched the players train. He was not in a good mood as they were going to England tomorrow. Nesta had not recovered from his injury, and AC Milan's rear defensive line was too old. It really worried him.
On the offensive line, since Shevchenko's departure, AC Milan's strikers always forgot to bring their shooting boots. The work of scoring goals required the help of the midfielders.
Inzaghi was old and constantly injured. Gilardino did not perform at the level that people expected. Ronaldo, who was bought from Real Madrid, was seriously injured and completely bid farewell to the season. The fat Brazilian was likely to bid farewell to his career even more completely. However, Pato, who joined the team this season, gave people hope.
Because he was not 18 years old, according to the rules of the Brazilian Football Federation, Pato could only train with the team and could not represent AC Milan in official games. His birthday was September 2, but at that time, the registration date for the Serie A and Champions League games had passed. He could only follow the AC Milan youth team to play some youth games. It was not until January 2008 that he was selected into the AC Milan First Team squad and entered the qualifying list for the Champions League.
After officially becoming a member of AC Milan, Pato showed his amazing talent. Now, he had become the most trustworthy striker in a situation where his other teammates were weak. This trip to Nottingham, he would also be entrusted with an important task.
Kaka's performance was as outstanding as ever. But when he thought of George Wood … Ancelotti's heart sank again.
Tony Twain had clearly done a thorough study of AC Milan and an even more thorough study of AC Milan's core figures.
The media outside were as annoying as flies, advocating for a battle of vengeance, what the hell did they know! In such a competition, was it possible to take revenge just because one wanted to? With the antagonism between the two teams so high, it would be impossible for him to keep a low profile on this away trip …
Ever since they lost to Nottingham Forest in the Champions League final, Ancelotti had been enlightened. He realized that Tang En's previous comments had only one purpose: to provoke him, to make him lose his cool, and to lose his accurate judgment.
Therefore, the most important thing in the game against the Forest team was to remain calm. No matter what the big-mouthed manager said, it would be treated as nonsense.
Ancelotti shook his head gently. The current situation was that the media had hyped up the game between the two teams. How many people could remain calm?
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"I think AC Milan will choose a more conservative tactic in the away game. Getting a point in the away game is the most practical approach."
In the tactical lesson before the game, Dunn was explaining to the players the tactics to be used in tomorrow's game. Tang En sat next to him and listened quietly.
"Italian teams are very good at defense. If they really want to defend, we'll be in trouble. So, our offense will focus on the flanks, tear apart their dense defense, and then pass the ball … "
In this game, the Forest team decided to use their best flank offense to tear apart AC Milan's defense. Ribéry and Beckham would start. Their breakthroughs and passes would help the tall center forward, van Nistelrooy, in the penalty area to create killing opportunities. Eastwood, on the other hand, would cruise behind van Nistelrooy, looking for opportunities.
George Wood was responsible for keeping a close watch on Kaka. The only person he needed to deal with in this game was Kaka. He did not need to consider the other defenses. There was Pepe, Piqué, and the other defenders. The Forest team's defense had always been a holistic defense. George Wood only looked impressive because he was the captain and was facing a world-class master one-on-one. In fact, he knew very well that behind him, there was a group of defensive teammates who silently supported him.
Dunn took some time to finish explaining the tactics. After everyone understood what they should do in tomorrow's game, he handed the leadership back to Tang En.
He stood up and coughed. "I've been thinking about a problem just now. Before the season, I publicly said that our goal this season is the league title. So, I want to ask you guys, do you think we should give up the Champions League, or does it not matter what results we get in the Champions League? "
"The more championships, the better, of course, chief!" Someone responded.
Tang En looked over and found it was Eastwood.
"What about the others?"
"We all agree with the Romani, chief!" Everyone said in unison.
Tang En nodded heavily. "Ah, then I'm relieved. I thought you guys lost your fighting spirit in the Champions League … "
There was a burst of hissing in the tactical room.
"Should we stop training and protest for being belittled?" Eastwood stood up and waved his arms exaggeratedly.
"Are you doing this for your own benefit, Freddy?" Tang En sneered. "I promise you won't need training in the future."
Eastwood hurriedly shrunk his neck and sat back down.
The hissing turned into laughter.
When the laughter died down, Tang En said, "I'm sorry for the baseless speculation before, so I'm formally apologizing to you."
In fact, it was not baseless speculation. When Dunn was explaining the tactics, he did get distracted. At first, he was distracted because he could recite everything Dunn said backwards. Because he was also one of the strategists, Tang En decided to take advantage of the time to think about other things. Later, he did not know how it turned to worry about the team's competitiveness.
Before the season, he had opened a newspaper column saying that the team's goal this season was the league title, only because he had not won the league title yet. For countless professional clubs, the Champions League title was important, but the league was fundamental and the foundation. He hoped he could pick up the league title trophy.
But that did not mean he would give up the Champions League game — the media did think so before. Therefore, he was worried that the team would have the same idea. He could not always keep abreast of the players' latest thoughts. There was no knowing what was in a man's heart. Even the most familiar people could have a change of heart, let alone these professional players.
Therefore, he was worried that the players would have psychological problems when they needed to fight on two fronts in the future and when their physiology was severely challenged. He wanted to nip the problem in the bud.
Now, seeing these people's performance, he was relieved. The foundation that Tony Twain's Nottingham Forest relied on for survival was still there, and the source of power to keep winning was still there. There was nothing to worry about.
Therefore, he apologized to the players. It was a sincere and joyful apology.
"In that case, AC Milan will have something to look forward to in tomorrow's game."
Everyone laughed again.
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AC Milan had already arrived in Nottingham, and the Italian media's hype about the "battle of revenge" had reached a climax. If they added more fuel to the fire, these Italians would probably collapse to the ground from the climax.
But Tang En did not accept the challenge.
No matter how the outside world hyped up the "special significance" of the game, Tang En just did not accept the challenge.
He wanted to kill the group of Italian media that was suspended in mid-air.
In fact, Tang En did not want his team to fall into the opponent's psychological warfare. It might not have been initiated by AC Milan, but it was certainly an outcome they would be happy to see — if he and his team lost their cool.
He liked to launch psychological warfare against his opponents, so how could he allow himself to fall for it?
He did not accept the challenge because he did not want the players to think that it was a great game. In fact, it was just an ordinary Round of 16 game. He could not be so great just because the opponent was Italy's traditional powerhouse, AC Milan, and last season's Champions League final opponent.
Was it not normal to encounter opponents of this level in the Champions League?
Last season against Barcelona, he valued the significance of the battle of revenge so much because the gimmick of "revenge" could help him inspire all the energy of the players to defeat a strong opponent. And this season, as the winner, he was in no position to use the "battle of revenge" as a gimmick. The best way was to deal with it calmly and not let himself be led by the nose by the media.
At the press conference before the game, an Italian media finally could not help but directly ask, "Now the outside world is talking about AC Milan's battle of revenge. May I ask Manager Tang En, what do you think of this issue?"
"No comment." Tang En put on a straight face and used diplomatic language to evade.
The Italian reporters were not willing to let Tang En go like this. This was their last chance. When the game was over, who knew what the result would be. In case … in case Nottingham Forest won at home, they really had no excuse to hype up the battle of revenge.
"Didn't Manager Ancelotti just say they want to win this game? Then …"
"Do you want to hear Manager Ancelotti say they want to lose this game? Well, that's a good piece of news. It's shocking enough, "Tang En said seriously as he stroked his chin.
There was a burst of laughter at the press conference, mostly from the English media.
Unfortunately, the two managers did not appear at the press conference at the same time this time. Otherwise, the expression on Ancelotti's face would be wonderful.
The expressions on the faces of the Italian reporters sitting together began to become awkward.
Tang En glanced at the indignant reporters and yawned. "If there's nothing else, I'm leaving. Thank you for attending this press conference. I'll see you next time." He imitated the tone of a television host, waved, stood up, and left leisurely.
He had already answered the questions of the English media, so the English reporters did not say anything to stop him from leaving. But the Italian reporters present were very upset.
In Italy, where the manager's personality was far less prominent than England's, how many managers dared to embarrass the "uncrowned kings" like this?
Last May, Tang En ridiculed the Italian media by relying on his status as the new champion. Today, he did it again. What right did he have?
The Italians were furious.
Someone muttered curses and cursed Tang En to go to hell. Of course, he used Italian. If he had used English, there would have been a kind British colleague next to him to remind them.
For Tony Twain, hell was his home ground.
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The evening wind blowing from Sherwood Forest was still a little biting cold. After all, it was still February, but only at the City Ground stadium on the south bank of the Trent River was the temperature high enough to melt the ice and snow.
The hustle and bustle near the City Ground stadium was still clear a mile away. It was not a weekend, but the popularity was not low at all because it was a Champions League match day.
AC Milan visited Nottingham Forest's home ground, the City Ground stadium. Not everyone could keep calm in the frequent hype of the "Battle of Vengeance," so many Forest fans wanted to give their guests the warmest welcome on their own turf.
The number of police officers on duty around the stadium had doubled and a half. The Italian and English fans had always been troublesome people. The Nottingham police chief certainly did not want another fan brawl to occur during his tenure.
AC Milan's bus was tightly protected, and the AC Milan players sitting on the bus were not interested in the outside world. They had seen such a fanatical away atmosphere many times. It was not only in England that the devil's home ground could be like this.
Only Kaka was lost in thought as he looked at the ferocious faces outside. He was not afraid of these fierce-looking fans. He just thought of the game last May.
AC Milan had a bad year last season because of the "Calciopoli" scandal. At one point, they almost went to Serie B and started all over again. The team's performance in the league was also up and down and very unstable. When André went to London, it was as if he took away all the shooting boots in AC Milan's locker room. The strikers had almost forgotten what it felt like to shoot. He stepped up and saved the team, especially in the Champions League. Especially in the Champions League, how many times had he saved the team? He did not even remember himself. The fans always relished their omnipotent Kaka.
He thought so too, and he was proud of his performance. He believed that as long as he maintained this form, this season's Champions League would belong to AC Milan. Since joining AC Milan in 2004, he had only narrowly missed out on this honor.
In the end …
Everyone knew the result. He had once again narrowly missed out on the Champions League. At one point in the final, he had a chance to save the team again and become an omnipotent hero. But that number 13 …
The bus stopped and Kaka came back to his senses. He found that the players' entrance to the stadium was not far ahead.
The automatic door opened and a loud noise poured in in an instant. Kaka got up from his seat and walked to the door with his teammates. He was completely unaffected by the fanatical atmosphere.
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