On the night of the game, the business of the bars in Nottingham was much bleaker. Many bars had prepared beer to celebrate the victory, but almost none of them were sold after the game ended. A draw caused the team's ranking to fall from first to second. No one was in the mood to drink. After the game ended, the fans who had come to watch the game went home, washed up, and went to bed.
Fortunately, the Nottingham Forest fans had not learned the trick of shouting "heroes" after winning a game and scolding "cowards" after losing a game. Therefore, they accepted the result of the draw indifferently.
Some people in the team were worried that Tang En's unexpectedly calm performance after the game was a precursor to a storm. They were rather perturbed during training the next day. In the end, Tang En looked as usual and joked with everyone. There was no sign of him venting his anger on the team.
When it came to the last part of the training — the analysis of last night's game video — Tang En gave the team a reassurance.
"You think I'll be angry? But why should I be angry? Winning and losing are normal, and a draw is even more normal. I know this is a crucial moment, but the more crucial it is, the more we should maintain a normal state of mind, shouldn't we? So, let bygones be bygones. What we should consider now is how to play the last few games well. The strong enemy is already here, and we're still thinking about what to do with Reading FC. Aren't you too useless? "
There was a roar of laughter in the video screening room. The matter was now completely over.
Of course, even if they said that, they could not really not think about Reading FC's game. They had to reflect on the game, so the game video still had to be studied.
※ ※ ※
The strong enemy had indeed arrived.
Barcelona had sent the strongest lineup they could to Nottingham, intending to eliminate Nottingham Forest in an away game.
Messi had recovered from his injury and Ronaldinho was unsurprisingly left in Barcelona. The Brazilian's days in Barcelona had entered the countdown.
Even on his own home ground, Tang En did not intend to take advantage of the situation to attack and fight a vigorous attack against Barcelona. He would be a fool if he really did so. So, even though he had the home advantage, he still planned to use the usual tactics of defensive counterattack.
That day in the empty City Ground stadium, Tony Twain told Dunn that he had thought of a way to deal with Barcelona. It was actually very simple. It was a rotation.
Generally speaking, no matter how strong a team was, in the Champions League tournament, they would often send their strongest lineup in the Champions League and use a rotating lineup in the league tournament. The difference between a powerhouse team and a quasi-first-rate team was that the strength of the two rotations of a powerhouse team was almost the same, while the two rotations of a quasi-first-rate team might have a relatively large gap. Nottingham Forest was not considered a powerhouse team, but it could not be said to be a quasi-first-class team either. They were a first-class team. Therefore, the strength of the two lineups was not the same, but the gap was not very big. Even if it was a rotation, they could still fight against Barcelona.
Tang En also felt a little helpless when considering the rotation in the Champions League. In the game against Reading, he saw the exhaustion and instability of the first lineup. He did not dare to use this lineup in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. Because Reading's game was only three days apart from this game, he was not sure that he could make the team's first lineup change dramatically in just three days. Fatigue and instability were the biggest enemies of the team.
The draw against Reading made Tang En determined to rotate in the Champions League. He was confident that this lineup would exceed Rijkaard's expectations.
Because the first lineup was too famous in Europe, everyone thought that with Tang En's conservative style, he would still rely on this lineup in such a crucial game. Moreover, which normal person would do a rotation just because of a draw in the league tournament?
But Tony Twain's brain was not normal.
He decided to rotate. The only problem was to explain to the players why they were not in the starting lineup for the game against Barcelona. He valued the atmosphere in the locker room very much, and something that could trigger centrifugal forces in the locker room had to be avoided.
Van Nistelrooy had suffered a minor injury in the game against Reading, so rotating him was a very convincing reason. After all, after being forced into a draw by Reading, the league tournament was equally important.
Eastwood would also be rotated. For him, Tang En was very simple. He only needed to tell him bluntly that he would rest for this game due to tactical needs.
Van der Vaart would also be replaced. When his offensive form was not good, his help to the team's defense was also very limited. Tang En decided to make a shocking change for this game. It could be considered a gamble. He wanted to push George Wood to the position of the core of the offense.
Who would be his partner in the midfield? Sidwell.
As for the Dutchman, he should know that his recent form was not very good.
There would be no adjustments to the center backs. Pepe and Piqué's form and fitness were fine. Otherwise, the Forest team would not have conceded a goal in the last two games.
The full back, Gareth Bale, was replaced by Grosso. After gradually adapting to the English Premier League, Grosso's performance picked up slightly. Although there was still a gap from his form in the Italian national team, it was barely in line with Tang En's requirements.
"Little Monkey" Bale was easy to deal with. They were on the same team, so he just had to say "tactical needs." Leighton Baines had a problem with his stamina, so it was normal not to let him play.
On the right side, Tang En decided to use Chimbonda, who had played less in recent games but was better at defense than Rafinha.
The goalkeeper was still the experienced Edwin van der Sar. Originally, Tang En had planned for Akinfeev to gradually replace Edwin van der Sar because of his age. But he did not expect Edwin van der Sar to suddenly be in surprisingly good form despite his age. Faced with Edwin van der Sar, who was in good form and stable, experienced, and more familiar with the team's defensive system, Tang En naturally would not risk using Akinfeev. As a result, poor Akinfeev's days after he was taken back were not as good as when he played in Russia.
The midfielders were still Ribéry and Beckham. The two had different characteristics, which made the Forest team's offensive tactics richer and more diverse. It was an advantage that could be relied on in the game.
The advantage of rotating this lineup in this game was that there was a slight advantage in physical fitness, but the main thing was the hunger for the game and the eagerness to show their desire to win.
They were like a pack of crazy wolves. Because of the lack of game experience, they saw every opponent as a fat piece of meat in their mouths. Their eyes flashed green, and their mouths drooled while emitting a pungent stench. They bared their white teeth and grinned as if they were smiling. In fact, it was a warning to the opponents in front of them.
This is our territory. Whether we eat or not depends on our mood. If we're in a bad mood, we'll eat you. But most of the time, we're not in a good mood!
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"Compared to the first leg of the game between the two teams, Tony Twain has changed nearly half of the starting lineup in one go. It's really a little incomprehensible. Van Nistelrooy may not be able to play because of some minor injuries, but why did van der Vaart change? Is Twain not considering the offense at all in this game? Then, isn't it a little too conservative to defend to the death on his own home ground? "
The guest commentator next to him laughed when he heard that. "He's such a manager. As long as he can make it to the final, what's an ugly game? "
"I think blindly defending against Barcelona won't work. I'm afraid that he will not only fail to make it to the final, but will also be scolded for being conservative on home ground. How many people can accept losing the game with such a negative attitude? "
"I have a slightly different view. Maybe his team can? At Camp Nou, he let Barcelona attack for 90 minutes without scoring a goal. "
"That's because Barcelona didn't have Messi at the time."
"Oh, Messi …"
Messi was holding the ball.
The practice of finding a successor for Maradona had not stopped since his retirement. Argentina had produced many successors to Maradona, some of whom were handpicked by the king himself, and some of whom were picked by the media or the fans themselves. Riquelme, D 'Alessandro, Aimar, Saviola, Ortega, Tevez, Aguero … they had all been "the second Maradona." But as for the result … The weather today was hahaha.
At present, the most promising player to reach Maradona's heights might be the little man in front of him. He was no longer the rookie who made people's eyes shine. Now he was a "phenomenon" in Barcelona, a "phenomenon" in Argentina, and a "phenomenon" in the world of football.
Rijkaard thought Tony Twain would let George Wood, the best defensive player in Nottingham Forest's lineup, defend against Messi, so as to save other defensive forces to contain Barcelona's overall offense. In the end, the person who appeared in front of Messi stunned him.
Not to mention him, even Messi on the field was a little surprised.
The current Nottingham Forest was not the dark horse Nottingham Forest that reached the Champions League final two seasons ago. Barcelona certainly had to study every player on the team as an opponent. Among them, there were two players they focused on — Franck Ribéry and George Wood. One was the offensive core, and the other was the defensive core.
Before the game, Rijkaard told Messi that the person watching him in this game would be George Wood, because only George Wood could defend against Messi in a one-on-one. Of course, it was only a possibility …
He asked Messi to use his flexible positioning to pull Wood away, and at the same time use his fast feet to lure Wood into fouling. At the very least, he would get a yellow card. That way, in the following games, Wood would be afraid of getting another yellow card and miss the Champions League final. He would become timid, which was a good thing for both Messi and Barcelona.
In the final that Barcelona won against the Forest team, it was because of George Wood's suspension that led to the Forest team's defeat. For George Wood, putting aside his importance to the team, he did not want to lose the qualification to play in the final again.
Rijkaard felt that his arrangement was brilliant, until now.
The man in front of Messi was not the number 13 wearing the captain's armband, but Sidwell.
The man defending Messi was not George Wood!
Messi turned his head and glanced. He found that Wood was in his position in the middle. Apart from casting a concerned look in his direction, he had no intention of coming up to defend.
What … What's going on?
Hey, are you looking down on me, Messi? Did you find such a person to defend me?
He looked at George Wood again, and the two men stared at each other. George Wood was burly, so his eyes were naturally big, while Messi was short and capable, so his eyes were small.
Despite looking, Wood still had no intention of coming up to help.
Messi decided to break through on his own. He did not know what Nottingham Forest meant, but since you don't want your strongest defensive player to come and watch me, don't regret it when I break your defense and let Barcelona score!
Just as Iniesta came up from behind, Sidwell's attention was disturbed by Iniesta's positioning. Messi seized the gap to make a pass, luring Sidwell to shift his center of gravity, and then suddenly launched a breakthrough from the opposite direction!
Sidwell wanted to stop it, but it was too late. The two men were too close for him to react.
Nottingham Forest's defensive formation was tight, and the distance between the midfielders and defenders was very, very close. For most teams, this defensive formation could fully compress the space in front of the penalty area and not give the opposing strikers a chance to take the ball. At the same time, because the formation was tight, the distance between the three lines was not far. When a counterattack was needed, the football could be quickly and accurately passed to the feet of the teammates, and there would not be a situation where there was no other means but a blind long pass. It was like a spring. The more it was compressed, the stronger the explosive force of the rebound. This was one of the characteristics of Nottingham Forest's defense.
But now, it had become the best stage for Messi's one-versus-many.
Because the defensive players were close, once someone broke in, the defensive players behind often had to intercept the ball or block the position at the first instance. A moment of hesitation could allow the opponent to drill in. This was to Messi's liking for his fast feet. He could rely entirely on his instinctive reaction to move and flash out of the opponent's encirclement.
He had just brushed past Sidwell and faced Grosso, who came up to intercept the ball. He gently buckled his right foot and moved his body horizontally to bring the football past Grosso's feet. Then he stopped to block the position to block Sidwell, who chased after him. Piqué came up to block the defense, but he inconceivably chose to pass the man and the ball in the narrow space. The football went to the right, and he walked from the left. He walked in the inner circle and flashed past Piqué, who had just blocked his position and had no time to adjust his center of gravity. He received the football that he had just kicked from behind Nottingham Forest's entire defensive line and did not hesitate to lift his leg to shoot!
Fortunately, Edwin van der Sar blocked the angle in time and blocked Messi's small-angle shot out of the end line. Otherwise, Nottingham Forest would have conceded a goal in the first three minutes of the game on their home ground.
There was a gasp in the City Ground stadium. They were stunned by the little player's magical performance. One man against three Nottingham Forest defenders, and the straight-line distance from the starting point to the shooting point was no more than ten meters. His technique in this small space was excellent!
Even the commentator praised Messi, who had returned from his injury, for being worthy of being Barcelona's number one figure.
At the same time, everyone had more questions in their minds — what was Tony Twain thinking? Why didn't he let George Wood come up to defend against him?
Although the shot was blocked, Messi did not show much chagrin. He did not even look at Edwin van der Sar. Instead, he turned his head to look at George Wood.
It was no different from before he broke through. George Wood was also looking at him. After staring at each other for a while, George Wood turned his gaze away and ran back to prepare to defend the corner kick. His face did not show the slightest expression that Messi wanted to see. He was neither surprised nor upset nor afraid. His face was as calm as if he had facial paralysis.
※ ※ ※
Off the field, Tang En laughed after noticing the two exchange of glances between the two men. He naturally had his own arrangements for not letting George Wood defend against Messi. Messi, you can guess as much as you want. It would be a pleasant surprise if you were angered by it.
Anyway, Rijkaard, don't even think about letting George Wood specifically mark Messi this time, because he has a more important task to do than containing Messi. It's just that these few minutes are Barcelona's offense, and he has not had a chance to show his task.
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