Tony Twain's Boy Scouts made it to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, but stopped at the semi-finals, unable to progress further. Twain was satisfied with the result. The EFL Cup was originally used as a training ground, and to be able to make it to the semi-finals was already an overachievement.
After entering the new year, the FA Cup kicked off, and the team successfully made it through the first two rounds.
In the league tournament, the Boy Scouts' performance was also very stable, fixing the team's results between fifth and seventh place.
This season, the Forest team was not the main character of the Premier League. After the novelty of the beginning of the season had passed, the media's coverage of the Forest team was obviously much less than in previous seasons. In the eyes of the media, only teams that could compete for the championship were worth a lot of attention. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea, the traditional top four of the Premier League, were in full swing fighting for the league title. Reporting on them was far better than focusing on Nottingham Forest's Boy Scouts.
When the Champions League restarted in February, everyone paid more attention to the results of the four teams representing the Premier League. Who would care about a Forest team?
In such an environment where they were not looked upon favorably, Twain's team got the atmosphere they wanted the most. They could not be disturbed by the media, and slowly develop according to their own ideas.
Without most of the media giving the first-year players huge pressure, they knew whether they won or lost. Every match was an improvement for these people.
This season passed very quickly for Twain. Because they had a quarter of the matches less than usual.
So when the media, fans, and the managers of the other teams came back to their senses, they suddenly realized that Nottingham Forest was only two points away from the fourth place in the league …
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"Four wins in a row, three wins in a row, seven matches without a defeat … Nottingham Forest has quietly completed the task of catching up. While the top four teams in the Premier League are still being tormented by the league title and the Champions League, Nottingham Forest, who have lost the EFL Cup and the FA Cup, is already eyeing them covetously. "
"There are eight matches left in the league tournament. For Tony Twain, anything is possible."
"Let's see who the team in fourth place is … Chelsea! Haha … "
"… Scolari is already feeling the pressure. He will be having a headache over whether to play in the Champions League quarter-finals or the next round of the league tournament. Because Chelsea's opponent in the next round of the league tournament is Nottingham Forest! "
"Actually … I want to say that even if the Forest team wins the league title at the end of this season, it should not be impossible …"
Seeing Nottingham Forest's ranking quietly climb up, the media also got excited.
"Other than Arsenal, Nottingham Forest has not played against the other three teams in the second half of the season. This means that there are two possibilities — A, Nottingham Forest will lose all their matches against the strong teams, and their league ranking will slip back down again; B, Tony Twain will lead his Boy Scouts to defeat these three direct competitors one by one, and then change his target to the English Premier League title this season! "
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League champion? Twain did not think that much. Ambition and unfounded arrogance were two different things.
Now, he was only thinking about how to defeat Chelsea in the league tournament, pull Scolari down, and let himself be promoted.
For him, the good news was that there were signs that Scolari would put most of his energy into the Champions League. Abramovich had been in Chelsea for almost seven years. He had tasted the EFL Cup, FA Cup, and Premier League title, but the Champions League title was the only thing that hurt his heart. In the 2007-08 season, Grant was the team's temporary manager. It was Chelsea's best time in the Champions League. They entered the finals but met Twain's Nottingham Forest, and once again returned with regret.
Scolari worked for Chelsea for two seasons, and every season, he had set the Champions League as his main goal. Unfortunately, things did not go according to his wishes, and he missed the title every time.
This season was no exception. Abramovich had mentioned before Scolari more than once that he hoped to win the Champions League.
As for the league tournament … it was Round 38 anyway, losing one match was not a big deal. But after the Champions League entered the knockout stage, they could not afford to lose even one match.
Therefore, in the Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern Munich, before the semi-finals, Scolari, as Twain expected, did not send out all his main line-up. Scolari thought that even if he did not send out all his main players, it was still their home ground, and a draw was the minimum requirement. This goal should not be difficult to achieve, right?
But he was wrong.
Compared to the overcautious Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, who had no other way out other than to win this game, exploded with great energy from the start of the game, and forcefully turned the away game into a home game. They attacked aggressively and defended orderly at the same time, leaving Chelsea without any opportunities to take advantage of.
Eleven minutes into the game, Eastwood received Žigić's header and opened the scoring for the Forest team. At the same time, it was also Eastwood's 19th league goal of the season. He was currently the team's top scorer, and ranked fourth in the league's top scorer list. The Romani, who did not have any injuries this season, showed his amazing ability in front of goal, and with a stable goal scoring rate, he occupied a place in the league's top scorer list.
This goal completely shattered Scolari's dream, and told him — against Nottingham Forest, even if it was their home ground, it was impossible to get a point!
After taking the lead, Twain made some adjustments, and Forest began their best defensive counterattack. Scolari stood up from his seat and directed the team to surround Forest, but until the end of the first half, he did not see a goal.
The score was still 0: 1, and the away team, Nottingham Forest, was in the lead.
During the halftime interval, Scolari was still hesitating — should he forfeit this game and prioritize the Champions League quarter-finals, or should he send three main players in the second half, and let the players go all out against Nottingham Forest, and maintain the fourth place in the league?
In the end, he chose the former. Even if this game was taken out, there were still seven rounds of the league. He did not believe that Tony Twain's Scouts would not make mistakes, and he did not believe that he did not have a chance to return to the top four. But the most pressing matter was the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next week. That match was the one that directly affected his fate.
At the same time, in the Forest locker room, Twain was analyzing the psychological state of Chelsea for the players. "Scolari will definitely forfeit this game, because there are still seven rounds left in the league. But if he goes all out in this game and loses the Champions League next week, then he may not even wait for seven rounds before he is sacked by Abramovich. His boss is not a patient man. But we are different, we don't have to worry about the life and death battle next week … Although we will also face this worry in the future, the worry belongs to Chelsea now, and that is our advantage. So, I want you to continue to put pressure on Chelsea in the second half, and strive to score another goal. This way, Chelsea will completely surrender. A one-goal lead will only make the Chelsea people suddenly change their minds and think that a draw at home is also possible … But for us, one point is absolutely unacceptable! If you still want to appear in the European arena next season, then you must win this game! "
In the second half, the momentum and fighting spirit of both teams were on a completely different level from the start. As the Chelsea players played against Forest, their minds were filled with the second leg of the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich. And the Nottingham Forest players' thinking was much simpler — other than winning the game in front of them, they did not even think about the ten minutes after the end of the game.
Different mentality would lead to different results.
Nottingham Forest, who went all out and absolutely could not lose, performed better than Tang En expected in the second half. They scored two goals in a row from the 70th to 80th minute, scored by Žigić and Şahin respectively, completely destroying Chelsea's fighting spirit and desire to compete.
Seeing that there was no hope of winning the game, Chelsea's players were more like running warm-ups on the field, and Scolari, the hot-tempered Big Phil, also sat in the manager's seat in a rare silence.
Obviously, as a manager, he himself began to think about the "final" three days later — it was not easy to play against the Bundesliga's overlord in an away game.
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Winning this game allowed Nottingham Forest to return to the top four in the league as they wished.
Tang En very kindly expressed in the post-match press conference that he was very happy to be able to win against Chelsea, so he wished Chelsea to go further and further in the Champions League. Not only that, he also wished the other two Premier League teams in the top eight, Manchester United and Liverpool, to go further and further in the Champions League.
"It would be best if they all meet in the semi-finals, and then the two teams in the final are from England! I'm English, I'm eager to see this scene. "
Some media believed that Tang En's magnanimity proved that he was not as narrow-minded as some people said he was. Expressing support and cheering for teams from the same league showed his "sense of belonging to his country."
Only Carl Spicer exclaimed in his column, "Why would he so sincerely wish for these three teams to enter the top four of the Champions League? I think if Arsenal had not played against Forest in the second round of the league tournament before this, then Arsenal should be included in the list of teams he wished for! Look at his game against Chelsea … I know what that guy, Tony Twain, is up to. The teams in the top three, you better be careful! There's a cunning wolf following behind you! "
As a result, Spicer was once again labelled as someone who "went against Tang En". But what a pity … This time, he was completely right!
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After a tough battle, Chelsea eliminated Bayern Munich and entered the top four. Abramovich was grinning from ear to ear. Scolari could also heave a sigh of relief, and then put his energy into — of course, not into the league tournament, but into the Champions League.
Since they had entered the semifinals, why not bite the bullet and eliminate Juventus to enter the finals? Even though Juventus had eliminated the defending champion, Inter Milan.
If they had entered the finals, they would naturally have to continue to bite the bullet and defeat their opponents to win the Champions League title.
The other team to enter the top four was Manchester United. Their match against Nottingham Forest was not far away.
Before the match against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest would first meet the already eliminated Liverpool.
Liverpool did not go as far as Tang En had hoped in the Champions League. Even though they still had to play in the FA Cup final, that was still some days away from the match against Forest and did not affect them at all.
So, this was a head-on match, and no tricks would work. The only things that could decide the outcome of the match were the strength of the two teams, and … a little bit of luck.
Tang En used his main force for this match. In the first half of the season against Manchester United, he was a first-year player. At that time, there was still room for him to lose, but now was not the time to decide the future of the season and become a training ground for the first-year players. All of them were "veterans" who had been on the battlefield for a long time, and they were determined to fight Liverpool at home to ensure the qualification for next season's Champions League.
In the end, Nottingham Forest, who had the home advantage, narrowly beat Liverpool 1: 0 with a penalty kick before the end of the match. They obtained the precious three points and continued to maintain a one-point lead over Chelsea in the rankings.
At this time, there were still four rounds before the end of the league tournament. Tony Twain's ambition was already very clear — perhaps the league championship had become an extravagant hope, but he was determined to qualify for next season's Champions League!
There were only four places in the Premier League for the Champions League. In a season without Nottingham Forest, the traditional top four teams were all happy. They had dominated the Champions League places for a long time, and it had become a "tradition." And once Nottingham Forest rose again, there was bound to be a team that would fall. So, who would be the sacrifice for Forest's rise again this season?
Now, it looked like Chelsea had a high possibility. Scolari had to reconsider. Even if they could lift the Champions League this season, but the defending champion could only play in the UEFA Europa League next season … what would that feel like? Fourth place in the league tournament was his bottom line, but now his fate was no longer in his hands.
There were only four rounds left in the league tournament, and the strongest opponent blocking Forest's way forward was Manchester United.
Would Ferguson be Scolari's savior?
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In the 36th round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest challenged Manchester United in an away game.
Chelsea welcomed Liverpool at home.
The clash between the strong attracted everyone's attention.
William Hill opened his bets for the results of these two games before the match. In general, he was more optimistic about Manchester United and Chelsea, who were playing at home. The one who was least optimistic about was Nottingham Forest.
No one expected that the four teams would draw at the same time …
Yes, Nottingham Forest used defensive counterattack to draw 1: 1 with Manchester United in an away game. And Liverpool and Chelsea played a game with a high score — 3: 3!
The last goal did not come until the injury stoppage time. Liverpool barely managed to force a draw with Chelsea and held on to their third place in the league tournament. And Nottingham Forest and Chelsea were still one point apart … Nottingham Forest was fourth, and Chelsea was fifth.
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