Ranieri was not a manager who was good at improvising and directing on the spot. In the face of Tony Twain's sudden change of formation, he reacted as slowly as his team.
While Juventus did not react, Nottingham Forest easily seized control of the midfield.
There was a saying in modern football — the one who seized the midfield seized the world.
It was a slight exaggeration, but the importance of the midfield was self-evident.
If Nottingham Forest wanted to beat Juventus in the away game and break the opponent's steady defensive counterattack, they must first take control of the midfield in their own hands. Only then would they have the capital to advance layer by layer.
Juventus' ball could not be passed in the midfield at all. Nottingham Forest's four players were responsible for both offense and defense at the same time. George Wood, in particular, ran tirelessly in the midfield to intercept and harass Juventus' every attack. With the Forest team's fast-paced tackling in the midfield, Juventus' pass error rate began to rise.
Another weakness of Juventus' lineup gradually emerged — they lacked a midfielder who could control the football at his feet and grasp the team's offensive and defensive rhythm. Camoranesi was a winger, and he was getting on in years. Giovinco was still too inexperienced. His control of the ball was good, but he did not know what rhythm was. As for Malouda … he was more like a striker than a midfield playmaker. Sissoko, the muscular man, was not to mention. He was just an engineer. He had a bright future in tackling the ball, but he was just passing the football to the opponent again.
Del Piero had the ability in this area, but he was on the bench. Ranieri did not dare to let his captain take the risk because of a minor injury.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nottingham Forest controlled the midfield and pressed forward heavily, completely ignoring that it was Juventus' home ground. As the team pressed forward as a whole, the goalkeeper, Akinfeev's range of activity also changed from the front of the goal to the entire penalty area, and even extended outside the penalty area to act as a sweeper. The distance between the three lines was moderate to ensure that even if the first wave of attack was blocked, there was still a follow-up attack, so that the opponent would not counterattack if the first attack failed. The double interception in the midfield also ensured that Juventus' offense could not quickly pass through there and bought time for the Forest team's defense.
Ranieri's goal of scoring in the opening five minutes was not achieved, so it was Nottingham Forest's turn to perform.
With control of the midfield, the Forest team had many ways to send the football to the vicinity of Juventus' penalty area. It was no longer a monotonous flank pass.
George Wood controlled the ball at his feet. Sissoko was far away and wanted to snatch it. But he only thought about it. If he really did that, he would be left wide open behind him, allowing Nottingham Forest to directly attack the root of the problem, and he would not be far from being replaced.
Sissoko's role became more important when he understood that Nottingham Forest's main offensive direction was not the two flanks, but the middle.
Wood could not remember fighting against Sissoko. In his eyes, all his opponents were the same. Only a few people could leave a deep impression on him. He ignored Sissoko's provocative eyes and passed the football to Tiago.
Nottingham Forest launched an attack from the middle, but it did not mean that they had to attack directly from the middle into the opponent's penalty area. In fact, Fernández and Şahin could spread out to either side when they attacked.
For example, this time, when Fernández saw Tiago receive the football, he tacitly inserted diagonally forward.
Sissoko looked at him and let him pass. He did not keep an eye on him. His task was in the middle.
After Tiago passed the football to Fernández, he also ran forward.
Juventus' defense shrank quickly. Fernández soon encountered resistance. He could only stop and turn around to protect the football.
Italy's defense was not so easy to break through.
Wood looked at the situation in front of him, considered it in his mind, and decided to go up to support.
After Fernández handed the football to Wood, he continued to pull to the side.
Fernández went to the side, and Juventus had to guard against him. The corresponding right back, Grygera, went up to mark. However, Wood passed the football to Eastwood, who had retreated back.
Eastwood did not stop the ball and passed it to Tiago.
Tiago was already facing the goal when he received the ball. He did not hesitate and lifted his leg for a long shot.
Buffon struggled to save and did not touch the football. The ball brushed the goalpost and flew out of the end line.
The Juventus fans in the Stadio delle Alpi broke out in a cold sweat.
※ ※ ※
In the next few minutes, Nottingham Forest got three chances to shoot, but they were all long shots.
This made Ranieri feel a little relieved. Although the Forest team's sudden change of tactics caught him a little off guard. But Juventus' traditional football was still very effective — no matter how the opponent changed, we just stick to our own football and deal with the other side. Juventus' football must be the first football to put themselves in an invincible position!
Don't be fooled by their fierce offensive, but they can only threaten our goal through long shots. As long as they can't get into the penalty area, there is no threat.
He walked to the sidelines, whistled and gestured for the team to push the Forest team out and not give them a chance to get into the penalty area. There was no need to be afraid of long shots. That was the way to shoot with the lowest scoring rate.
Even the commentator noticed this, "Juventus' defense is very solid, and their defensive formation is maintained quite well. Nottingham Forest can't find a suitable attacking point after passing the ball around, so they can only play a few long shots outside. It seems that Tony Twain still can't find a better solution in the face of Juventus' tactics. "
After withstanding several waves of the Forest team's offensive, Juventus began their counterattack.
The normal procedure of the game should be for Nottingham Forest to attack and Juventus to defend and counterattack.
But this time they encountered a strong interception in the midfield.
Giovinco's body was like that of a kindergarten child in front of George Wood. Unless he dribbled the ball far away from Wood, as long as he was entangled by Wood, he would most likely lose the football at his feet.
With his head shaved, Sebastian Giovinco was a bit like the former Italian national team captain and center back, Cannavaro, but in terms of height. He was only 1.64 meters tall and weighed 61 kilograms. He was not considered thin. But in front of George Wood, his agility and body were of no use at all.
Wood was as agile as him and stronger than him. With that kind of fifty-fifty chance, Giovinco would lose control of the football as long as Wood exerted a little force. Perhaps the easiest way was to get rid of this inseparable man with a quick pass.
But he could not find a way to pass the ball forward, so he could only pass the football back. In this way, the team's offensive speed was forced to slow down. Nottingham Forest's two full backs pressed up all returned to defend, and Juventus found that they also had to face that "impregnable" defense in their offense …
Juventus had a way to force Nottingham Forest to only threaten their goal through long shots. Could Nottingham Forest not have a way to force them to only shoot from a long distance?
For a time, everyone's offense ended with long shots. As a result, the quality of the offense was not high, and it was still 0: 0 thirty minutes into the first half.
The commentator really wanted to yawn. Such a game was too boring — the quality of the offense was low, the pace was dragged slow under the "joint efforts" of both sides, there was no passion and there was no highlight at all. Both sides were careful not to make mistakes and not let the opponent seize on any possible mistakes. The mentality of not seeking merit but seeking to avoid mistakes determined that the game was definitely not pleasing to the eye.
Ranieri was very satisfied with the current situation. Anyway, his original intention was to defend and counterattack. There were still ten minutes to the last five minutes before the end of the first half, and then it would be Juventus' real chance. He still remembered what it was like when the two sides played for the first time in the Champions League — Tony Twain was eager to get three points in the away game, so his tactics were bold and rash, and Juventus took advantage of a loophole to defend and counterattack. Just five minutes into the first and second half, they scored a goal each and completely routed Nottingham Forest.
He believed that with Tony Twain's character, he would never learn from experience in matters related to his decisions. He might look low-key in this game, but in fact, he was more eager to win the game than anyone else.
Why?
Because his record against Juventus was one loss and one draw. There was no team in the world that he had not beaten except Juventus. If it was Ranieri, he might just let it go, but if it was Tony Twain, he would never swallow it!
He would definitely attack, and he would attack fiercely!
That would be Juventus' chance!
For the ten minutes, the two sides were still in a stalemate on the field, and both could only threaten the opponent's goal through long shots. There were a few occasional balls into the penalty area, but they did not pose a real threat to the goalkeepers of both sides.
Apart from the fans of both sides, probably no one would be interested in such a game.
The neutral fans must be disappointed — before the game, the media hyped it as Tony Twain's battle of revenge, and this was a "meeting of the two heroes." But in reality? Any game with Juventus was bound to be boring, and any game with Nottingham Forest would not be exciting. When these two teams met, it would be a dull effect x 2. How good could it be?
A football game needed passion! Such a game was simply a disgrace to modern football!
Those people grumbled in their hearts.
※ ※ ※
Ranieri looked at his watch. There were six minutes left before the end of the first half. He got up from the technical area and was ready to give the players a signal to go all out.
At the same time, Tony Twain, who had stood on the sidelines for almost forty minutes, finally seemed to feel his legs sore. He turned and walked back to the technical area.
Buffon brilliantly pounced on Eastwood's long shot. This time, he did not choose to kick off. Instead, he looked up at the midfield and then threw the ball with his hand to launch an attack!
Sissoko's header swung the football to the front. Camoranesi retreated to receive and passed the football to Giovinco, who was sprinting forward.
Giovinco looked back at the ball rolling toward him, and then looked up at the front — there was no one there now, but he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow appearing on his left side from the corner of his eye. He did not have to think carefully to know who it was.
Like a silent wolf, George Wood followed Giovinco closely. He was already in hunting mode.
Although Wood had not done anything and was still a distance away from Giovinco, the Italian genius boy suddenly felt nervous out of nowhere. He felt that if he continued to dribble the ball, he would most likely be intercepted by the silent number 13 next to him. If Juventus' hard-won opportunity to attack was ruined in his hands, he might be replaced in the second half. The captain, Del Piero, had already been called by Ranieri to warm up. He must not be satisfied with his performance …
Since he could not dribble the ball to break through this man's defense, he could definitely pass the ball! No matter how good he was, he could not take care of the entire second half of the field alone.
Giovinco made up his mind and suddenly stopped. Then he looked up to look for a passing target.
He should not have stopped the ball — the stop put him in a "dead end." Wood stood in front of him and chose a very good position to block almost all possible routes for him to dribble the ball out — unless he turned around and dribbled the ball back.
Wood was not in a hurry to snatch the ball, which might make it easy for him to get past. He just blocked in front of Giovinco to prevent him from continuing to dribble the ball forward to slow down the speed of Juventus' counterattack while waiting for his teammates to return to defend.
Ranieri saw Giovinco suddenly stop off the field and waved his fist anxiously.
"Giovinco is blocked by Wood near the sidelines! The Nottingham Forest players have returned to defend, and Juventus' quick counterattack did not succeed! "
When Giovinco looked up and saw Wood after he stopped the ball, he understood his situation. He knew he could not continue to dribble the ball forward, and he panicked even more when he looked at Wood's face, which was as calm as a deep pool. He felt that he might be intercepted.
At this time, he could only quickly pass the ball out!
As he thought so, he caught a glimpse of a man from the corner of his eye — it was him!
"Giovinco passed the ball directly to Tiago's feet, who had returned to defend! Does he still think Tiago is his teammate? Juventus is unlucky — they were just about to complete a pressing attack, but the ball inexplicably went to the feet of the opposing player. "
Nottingham Forest gladly accepted Giovinco's big gift.
Tiago did not forget to thank his former teammate in Italian, "Thank you."
The words suddenly provoked Giovinco. His eyes reddened and he pounced on Tiago.
Wood called Tiago's name from behind, reminding him that Giovinco had pounced on him.
Tiago had clearly anticipated Giovinco's reaction. He directly knocked the football to Wood with his heel.
Giovinco pounced on empty air and turned to pounce on Wood again. This time, Wood passed the football directly to Şahin, who was further ahead.
Nottingham Forest counterattacked after a counterattack on the spot!
Şahin was fiercely tackled by Sissoko when he dribbled the ball forward. He rolled out with the ball, but the referee did not whistle to signal a foul. It looked like Sissoko's tackle was fierce, but it was clean.
Malouda next to him intended to rush up to get the ball and then continue to play Nottingham Forest's counterattack. Just as his foot was about to touch the football, the ball in front of him suddenly disappeared!
Sissoko had just gotten up when he saw a man wearing a yellow captain's armband and a red Nottingham Forest jersey pass in front of Malouda like the wind. The football was at his feet!
He didn't even think before rushing towards the figure.
We're finally face to face, boy!
Sissoko did not tackle the ball immediately. Instead, he ran sideways towards George Wood, intending to knock Wood sideways.
He succeeded. George Wood was knocked to the sidelines by him, but he did not lose the ball at his feet. He hooked the ball and obediently followed.
Sissoko saw that he did not intercept the ball, so he sped up and tried to force Wood to the sidelines. Just like what Wood had done to Giovinco just now.
He did not succeed this time. Just as he rushed towards Wood at full speed, Wood suddenly stopped and stopped the football at his feet. Sissoko pounced over!
Sissoko slid past in front of Wood with a startled look on his face. He could not stop even if he wanted to.
If Wood had enough sense of humor, he could even wave goodbye to Sissoko as he rushed past in front of him.
"A beautiful escape!" The commentator could not help but applaud Wood's sudden stop. "It's so clever! Sissoko was completely fooled! "
George Wood, who got rid of Sissoko, had plenty of time to adjust the football. He swung his right foot, which was the posture for a long shot …
"Chiellini rushes up to defend … Pass the ball?"
Wood did not shoot. Although his action looked like a shooting action, the football drew an arc and flew to the right side of the penalty area.
Ibišević stood there, but he was offside — it was clear that at the moment when Wood passed the ball, he was behind Juventus' entire rear defensive line. The other center back, Legrottaglie, raised his arm high and motioned to the referee and assistant referee.
Ibišević did not intend to receive the ball. He was running back, completely ignoring the football flying to where he was.
"Offside!" The commentator could not wait to announce the end of Nottingham Forest's attack.
Unfortunately, neither the referee nor the assistant referee heard his shouts. The referee did not whistle, and the assistant referee did not raise the flag.
Their eyes were clearly not on Deco Ibišević, who ran back with his head down, but on another red figure who plugged in at high speed from behind.
Rafinha!
When Tiago passed the football to Wood, Rafinha was running forward. When he saw that Şahin's ball was intercepted by Sissoko, he hesitated and stopped, wondering if he should turn around and run back to prepare for defense. But after seeing George Wood snatch the football back, he no longer had any concerns and resolutely moved forward.
After Wood stopped, he had intended to shoot directly, but he happened to see Rafinha plugging in from the flank and changed his mind at the last minute. He passed the ball over to the right side, and Rafinha arrived just in time!
When the ball arrived, the player arrived.
Rafinha did not stop the ball and directly fell to the ground to shovel and shoot!
Buffon clearly did not expect Nottingham Forest to have such a move. He had just focused all his attention on George Wood. Who would have thought that the opponent's right back would actually appear in front of his own goal?
The football drilled through the gap between Buffon and the goalpost!
The ball went in!
The ball went in?
The Juventus players seemed to be unable to accept the reality — they had wanted to use the last five minutes of the first half to break the deadlock, but they did not expect Nottingham Forest to succeed …
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