"… The Champions League semifinals are about to begin. Three more teams in England have broken into the top four this season. This is the great renaissance of English football. Although our national team was eliminated in the UEFA European Cup qualifiers, the English Premier League teams are still strong in terms of clubs, which shows that our league is still the world's top league … "The Sun did a preview of the Champions League. After some meaningless flattery, the topic returned to the right track." Manchester United and Chelsea will stage the English derby in the Champions League semifinals, and Nottingham Forest will not have it easy either. Their opponent is Barcelona! "
"Chelsea's dream of winning the league title this season is certainly hopeless. They can put all their attention into the Champions League, which is bad news for Manchester United. In the league tournament, Nottingham Forest is very close to them. The two teams are only one point apart, and Manchester United is temporarily ahead. "
"After Nottingham Forest eliminated Real Madrid, they welcomed another powerhouse in La Liga. Barcelona is suppressed by Real Madrid in the domestic league tournament, and Rijkaard's only chance to save himself is in the Champions League. What's more … Nottingham Forest and Barcelona have an old grudge. "
In the end, The Sun did not let Tony Twain's team go.
Although there were still a few days before the start of the Champions League semifinals, the focus of the three English teams that had broken into the top four had clearly shifted to the Champions League. Although the competition in the league tournament was fierce, there were still four rounds. The Champions League was a home and away knockout system. A mistake in one of the games was likely to be fatal.
Against such a backdrop, the 35th round of the Premier League began.
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In the game that had already ended, Chelsea, who used a rotating lineup to play against Everton, still won despite facing the Champions League. They beat Moyes' team by 1: 0 in an away game.
The game between Arsenal and Reading was followed by a 2: 0 win for Arsenal at home.
Before the games between Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Manchester United were played, the league table looked like this:
Manchester United was still first with 80 points. Nottingham Forest was still second with 79 points. Arsenal was third with 73 points. Liverpool was still fourth with 72 points. Chelsea was fifth with 67 points. With this win against Everton, they widened the points gap with Everton, who were in sixth place in the league.
There was no change in the rankings. Because other than Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, the other teams' points gap was not one or two points. Even if Arsenal won the game, there would still be a gap of at least six points between them and the top two teams. Their chances of winning the title were slim.
With Henry's departure and the changes in the club's upper echelons, it was not easy to achieve such results in the first season of a new generation of players.
In the match between Arsenal and Reading, the Nottingham Forest players watched the first half on the bus and the second half in the City Ground locker room.
The victory against Reading was not surprising at all, and the players did not exclaim in surprise. After watching the match, Kerslake urged them to warm up and prepare for his own match.
Tottenham Hotspur was not a weak team. The advantage for Forest was that they were at home this time.
Today was April 19th, and Nottingham Forest's away game against Barcelona was on the evening of April 23rd. Logically speaking, Tang En should have used a rotation system like Chelsea, but he did not.
He did not know how Ferguson had arranged it. Manchester United's game was later than Nottingham Forest's game. It happened to be the end of the game and the kickoff over there. He had not yet received Manchester United's starting list for that game, but Forest had already sent someone to the scene. If there was any news, they would inform Kerslake via mobile phone, and Kerslake would pass it on to him.
At this stage of the league tournament, it was increasingly important to gather information on the enemy.
Back to the game at the City Ground, Tony Twain deployed his full main lineup on his home ground. If nothing went wrong, this lineup would be the starting lineup for the trip to Camp Nou.
The goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, the center backs, Pepe, and Piqué were paired together. The left back was Gareth Bale, who excelled in offense, and the right back was Rafinha, who also focused on offense. The midfield was parallel, with George Wood and van der Vaart in the middle, one focused on defense and the other on offense. The left midfielder was Ribéry, the right midfielder was Beckham, and the strikers were van Nistelrooy and Eastwood.
The rotation was to give the players a better rest, but it did not mean that they could not fight when it was time to fight. Now was the time to fight. Tang En was not willing to lose either the league tournament or the Champions League.
He believed that his players were the same. Who did not want glory and money?
The Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jol, did not expect Tony Twain to send his full main lineup to play in the league tournament at home when they were about to face the Champions League semifinals. He was caught off guard by Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest scored two goals in the opening 25 minutes. The Forest players were in high spirits and pursued their attacks amidst the tsunami-like cheers of the home fans. Before the end of the first half, they were leading by 3: 0.
This was the second time Jol had not expected it. After seeing Twain send out the main lineup, he was stunned for a moment, but he quickly smiled again. Because he felt that Twain using a rotation lineup was actually more disadvantageous to him. At the very least, the group of players would use 200% of their strength in order to perform in front of the manager. If it was the full main lineup, then it would be inevitable that there would be people worried that they would be injured before the Champions League semifinals and not play hard. In that case, he would have a chance.
But how would he know what the bad guy, Tony Twain, had said to his players before the game?
"Ah, I know you'll be worried about getting injured before an important game. I'm worried too. But I don't want to lose the league title either. What should I do? It's actually very simple. Once we come up, we actively look for opportunities and strive to end the game in the first half. That way, we'll naturally be safe. The longer the game drags on, the more we can't score as soon as possible to establish an advantage. At the same time, the other party will be more restless. At the same time, their resistance will be stronger, which is very disadvantageous to us. So, when faced with a fierce opponent, what is the safest thing to do? Not to hide, but to completely kill them with a thunderous momentum once they come up! The only people in this world who will not pose a threat to us are the dead. "
As a result, poor Tottenham Hotspur was beaten by the Forest team in the first half to the point where they could not fight back. After a flurry of attacks, they were shocked to find that they were actually trailing by three goals!
The Dutchman, Martin Jol, was livid on the sidelines. Tottenham Hotspur was considered a traditional powerhouse, but their performance at the City Ground stadium was like a newly promoted team that had not seen the world. The club's top brass had invested a large sum of money this season, but the results of his team were inversely proportional to this investment. After 34 rounds of the league tournament, they were ranked 12th, more than 21 points away from the target of the UEFA Europa League. This season was destined to end dismally. This fact made the club's top brass very unhappy. He knew that the top brass had the intention to fire him. Those people were actively contacting the manager of La Liga's Serbia, Juan Ramos, with the intention of replacing him at the end of the season. But he refused to resign. He still wanted to prove himself … How could he prove himself? At the very least, he had to win in the last few rounds of the game. Even if he had to leave, he had to leave in style, right?
During halftime, he scolded everyone in the locker room. He wanted to imitate Ferguson or Tony's hairdryer and stir up the players' fighting spirit and shame. But it was too unprofessional of him to do this. He was not that type of manager at all … He did not stir up the players' fighting spirit. Instead, it made the atmosphere in the locker room even more awkward. Some people knew that Jol's days at Tottenham Hotspur were numbered, so they did not listen to the manager at all.
After the start of the second half of the game, Tottenham Hotspur still did not show anything that could turn the game around, such as morale, skills and tactics … There was nothing. Other than constantly getting up from the manager's seat to roar on the sidelines, there was nothing Jol could do. Because he knew he had lost control of this team — it was sad, and even sadder was that he could only accept this fact.
Tang En began to make planned substitutions. He let the important players off the field to rest to avoid injuries, and then let the more hungry rotational players come on to continue to destroy Tottenham Hotspur.
The players were full of fighting spirit, but because Tang En only changed the core players, the offense appeared a little messy and disorganized, with everyone fighting on their own. George Wood took over the task of organizing the offense after van der Vaart left the field. He had a few flashes of brilliance, but they were only flashes of brilliance. For him, who had been a defensive midfielder for a long time, he still lacked a set of tactical ideas that belonged to him. His offensive organization itself was very casual and without any order.
The Forest team did not score again in the second half, but Tottenham Hotspur scored a face-saving goal at the last minute. It had no effect on the outcome of the game, and the Forest team easily won the home game.
In another game that was played at the same time as this game, Liverpool beat Fulham by 2: 0 in an away game, accumulating 72 points, catching up with Arsenal and leaving Chelsea behind. Although there was no hope of winning the title, considering the predicament that Liverpool could only play in the UEFA Europa League in the previous few seasons, the current fourth place in the league was enough to solidify Benítez's position as manager.
Benítez was known as the "King of Cup Competitions." Liverpool's performance in the past two decades also proved that they were better at playing in cup competitions. The compatibility between the team and the manager was quite high. It was no wonder that Benítez was able to help Liverpool regain the Champions League in his first season at Liverpool, establishing his position at Anfield in one fell swoop.
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After the game, Tang En praised the team fiercely. Just like how he scolded people for losing the game before, he was also in high spirits when he praised people. His actions, words, and tone were extremely exaggerated, making everyone who heard it feel good. The only difference was the degree of satisfaction.
After bidding farewell to the players, Tang En, Dunn, and Kerslake continued to stay in the stadium's locker room. They wanted to watch the live broadcast of the game that was about to start — Manchester United's away game against Blackburn Rovers.
Rushing back to the hotel or their own homes to watch it would be a waste of time, so they simply watched it in the locker room. Anyway, there was a television in the locker room. Besides, this was their own club's stadium. As the team's manager and assistant manager, it was justifiable for them to watch the television here.
Therefore, when the game over there began, the crowd in the City Ground stadium gradually dispersed. The lights went out one by one, and the noise faded with the departure of the fans. The stadium regained its tranquility. Victory had already become a topic of conversation in other people's mouths. For the three people in the locker room, that was the past. Now, they were more concerned about other people's wins and losses.
One hundred and fifteen minutes later, the locker room's door was knocked open.
Before the person came out, Tang En's excited voice was heard first. "I'll treat you guys to a drink! Haha, that's great! "
The sound of the television was mixed with his laughter. "… The game is over … Ferguson's face is very ugly. His players are going to suffer again … Being forced into a draw by Blackburn Rovers, who were originally not a threat, and with Nottingham Forest having already beaten Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United has fallen to second place! Eighty-two and eighty-one, it's still a difference of one point, but the order of first and second place has changed … At this moment, the happiest person in the world is probably Tony Twain … "
The celebratory song from the home fans at Ewood Park coming from the television was the best background for this commentary.
Kerslake's face was flushed. Although he was not as straightforward as Tang En, he was just as happy. No one had expected Manchester United to capsize at Blackburn Rovers. This draw could be considered an "unexpected gift" for the Forest team. Originally, the coaching staff thought that as long as they maintained a winning streak, then the final should be in the final round of the league tournament, when Nottingham Forest challenged Manchester United in an away game.
Who would have thought that Manchester United could not withstand the pressure of being in the lead and had a big problem at Blackburn Rovers, which was the least prone to problems? A draw was enough to make Ferguson fly into a rage.
As the three men watched the live broadcast on television, the television station repeatedly gave close-ups of Ferguson roaring on the sidelines. Every time this happened, Tang En would laugh.
Although Dunn was not as exaggerated as the two men, he still had a smile on his face.
After working hard for a season, no matter what kind of opponent and situation they faced in the final stage, they had stubbornly stuck to Manchester United. These efforts were finally not in vain. Finally, the leader, Manchester United, stumbled and let our team complete the reversal!
In this way, as long as they maintained a complete victory in the remaining three rounds of games, the league title would be in their hands!
Their opponents in the next two rounds of the league tournament, Reading and Aston Villa, were not strong teams. As long as the Forest team was united and handled carefully, six points would not be a problem. Then there was the final round of the away game against Manchester United. It would be a very intense game, like Mars colliding with Earth. However, Dunn had the confidence of victory in his heart. This Nottingham Forest team was born to win and be the champion. The stronger the opponent, the more dangerous the situation, the more amazing the energy they burst out.
This was indeed a game worth celebrating.
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Half an hour later, at Kenny Burns' Forest Bar, a large number of excited fans who had difficulty sleeping after watching the game between Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers had gathered. Tony Twain and his two assistants were among them.
Tang En carried a full glass of wine and climbed onto the table. He stood where everyone was looking up. Below him was a group of fans who were also holding their wine glasses in anticipation.
Kerslake also held a glass of wine, while Dunn held a soda in his hand. He still did not drink, and Tang En did not try to persuade him.
With a flushed face, Tang En raised his glass. The people below looked at his action and made a "woo woo" sound from their mouths.
"Guys, this glass … for Blackburn Rovers — cheers!"
"For Blackburn Rovers, cheers —!!" The people who were as flushed as him responded in unison. These were the same people who, just a month ago, had lashed out at Blackburn Rovers, who had won against Nottingham Forest.
The sound of glasses clinking rang out, and the golden beer spilled all over the room.
In the last English Premier League game of the day, Manchester United was forced into a draw by the "season-ending giant killer" Blackburn Rovers in an away game under circumstances that no one expected. They handed over the top spot, which had been held since the 29th round of the league tournament on March 9th. Their replacement was Nottingham Forest, led by Tony Twain.
With only three rounds left before the end of the league tournament, the throne of the English Premier League changed hands.
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