They used the Christmas tree formation to beat Everton, but in the following league match, the Forest team used the formation to tie 1: 1 with Manchester City at home.
This would not shake Tang En's thoughts and confidence. Instead, it would allow Nottingham Forest's coaching staff to find the problem. After all, it was a new tactic, and they still needed to get used to it.
A draw was not a bad result. After all, he did not lose. As a result, those who were waiting to see him make a fool of himself did not get what they wanted. As always, Bendtner was full of fighting spirit in the match, like a raging bull. But there was no longer any media hype about this matter. Twain was not in the mood to fight a war of words with a transitional manager. There were more important things waiting for him.
Paris, France, the UEFA Champions League knockout stage draw ceremony.
The 16 teams that had qualified for the knockout stage would be brought together by the hands of fate.
Among the 16 qualified teams, the English Premier League, which had been strong in recent years, continued its momentum. It had four teams, the most among all the participating countries. They were Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
The former mini World Cup, Serie A and La Liga followed closely behind, with three teams each. Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan represented Italy, while Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia represented Spain.
The Bundesliga, one of the four major leagues, was the most pitiful. Only their big brother, Bayern Munich, made it into the top 16. This was something that all German fans felt helpless about – the Bundesliga could only rely on Bayern Munich to keep up appearances, but in fact, because of Bayern Munich's dominance for a long time, the Bundesliga was not competitive enough. It was an indisputable fact that the Bundesliga was gradually declining in other European leagues. Bayern Munich was both the savior of the Bundesliga and the main culprit behind its gradual decline …
This time, even the French Ligue 1 and the Eredivisie still had two teams in the top 16. In comparison, one could imagine how awkward the Bundesliga was now.
The two teams representing France were Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, while the Netherlands were represented by Ajax and Eindhoven.
The Portuguese Premier League was represented by Porto, who was currently ranked second in the domestic league.
The defending champion, Barcelona, was naturally the team that attracted the most attention. They had won all six games in the group stage, scoring 18 goals and conceding only four. He was already considered the number one favorite to win the Champions League this season.
Another high-profile team was Nottingham Forest. As a team that had returned to the Champions League after a season's absence, their performance in the group stage was impressive. Two wins over Juventus was not something that could be achieved by luck. In addition, Nottingham Forest also advanced from the group stage with all their wins, but they scored much fewer goals than Barcelona.
Everyone still remembered that at the beginning of the season, Tang En had said, "Come and use the unspoken rules on me!" during the Champions League group draw, causing him to receive a fine from the UEFA. Whether it was under Johansson's rule or Platini's presidency, the UEFA had always claimed that they were transparent and fair. This was something that outsiders were absolutely not allowed to question. But for some unknown reason, Tang En just had to touch on the UEFA's reverse scale on this point, so one fine after another flew in like snowflakes. Both sides seemed to have formed a grudge since the 2006 finals.
In fact, it did not matter that Twain had to go against the UEFA. It was really because the things that the UEFA did sometimes could not stop people from thinking in the wrong direction. For example, this time …
※ ※ ※
The stage was decorated with the style of the Champions League. The UEFA Champions League's five-star logo was everywhere, on the big screen, the background wall, the lottery box, and even on the back of the seats. The sparkling silver authentic UEFA Champions League reappeared in front of the world. It was placed in the center of the stage, attracting the attention of everyone present. That was everyone's common goal. No matter how strong they were, they always had the right to dream.
The former famous Italian bald referee, Collina, who was invited to the draw as a guest at the scene, stood in front of the glass box with his right hand, and his right hand had just pulled out a colorful table tennis ball from the box. He opened it, glanced at it, and showed the note to the audience. At the same time, he read, "Barcelona."
Barcelona's name appeared on the big screen behind him. This was the first team to be drawn.
Next, the other teams would be drawn.
Zidane, as another special guest, walked forward to draw the lot.
He fumbled in the box for a while and pulled out a small ball. He opened it and read it without expression, "Nottingham Forest."
He was expressionless on the stage, but the others below the stage laughed.
Everyone knew what the draw meant.
Since Barcelona and Nottingham Forest were both first in their respective groups, according to the rules of the Champions League draw, the first place teams in each group would not meet in the first round. Therefore, it was absolutely impossible to hope that Barcelona and Nottingham Forest would meet in the first round. But the UEFA did not say that Nottingham Forest and Barcelona would not meet under any circumstances.
So …
Barcelona would be the first game, and Nottingham Forest would be the second. If they could beat their respective opponents, they could meet in the quarterfinals.
This was really overcoming all difficulties to overcome the restrictions of the rules to draw the two teams together!
The coaches sitting around Tang En were all looking back and laughing at him. Tang En was also smiling — this was the result he wanted to see. He was afraid that he would not be motivated to play against teams like Eindhoven, Ajax, Porto, and Paris Saint-Germain.
The Chinese commentator, who was broadcasting the draw ceremony to the Chinese audience, laughed and said, "There's a saying in China: enemies don't meet unless they're enemies. Nottingham Forest and Barcelona look like they're going all out. "
The British commentator said, "The draw of the first two teams is like Mars colliding with Earth. There's bound to be a lot of exciting games in such a Champions League. "
The Spanish commentator said, "How many times have they met?"
It seemed that everyone thought that it would not be a problem for these two teams to pass through the round of 16. They did not even know their opponents, and they were already discussing the situation after the two teams met.
If there was an upset or something, it was unknown how wonderful the expressions on these people's faces would be.
The television broadcast gave each of Tang En and Guardiola a close-up shot. Guardiola was expressionless, even a little serious, while Tang En's smile was not much different from a flower.
It made people lament that Tang En was really a "bastard." People hoped that their opponents were as weak as possible, but he liked to take the initiative to provoke those big bosses.
But the more sensational scene did not stop there.
After the first round of the draw, they began to draw the opponents of the eight teams.
Barcelona drew Eindhoven, which was a good draw. It could even be said that it could not be better … There were even some people in the venue who made envious noises.
A very subtle smile finally appeared on Guardiola's face. No matter what, it was better to meet Eindhoven in the first round than to meet those powerhouse teams in the first round.
Nottingham Forest's next opponent was still Zidane. What he drew this time was —
"Inter Milan."
Excited and jeering boos rang out everywhere.
"Tonight's draw ceremony reeked of conspiracy from beginning to end!" The British commentator shouted loudly. He was a little dissatisfied. This was simply trying to kill Nottingham Forest. If one lock was not enough, they would use a second lock to double the insurance.
If it was the Nottingham Forest of two seasons ago, they would not be afraid in the face of such a line-up. The others would not be worried about anything. But the current Nottingham Forest's strength was greatly reduced, obviously not as good as when they were defending the Champions League. And the strength of Barcelona and Inter Milan was at its peak. Even if they were lucky enough to break through Inter Milan in the first round, could Tony Twain guarantee that his team would come out unscathed? No one accumulated yellow cards, no one suffered a little injury or something?
When that time came, they would face the defending champion who was waiting at ease …
It was really a dark future.
This time, the television broadcast gave Tang En a ten-second close-up shot. He was still smiling! Last time, he smiled like a flower. This time, he simply smiled like a flower.
What did he say at the end of last season?
"Mourinho, we'll settle the score of you eliminating my team next season!"
God really has eyes!
Mourinho, do you think you can escape the fate of not being able to win against me by escaping England? It's no use! A man as flashy as you, even if you escape to the ends of the world, you can't escape from my palm. This time, you're dead meat!
Mourinho sat diagonally opposite Tang En, with ten people between the two. When the result came out, Mourinho did not look back for Tang En. There was not even eye contact between the two men. He just lowered his head and said something to his partner, not caring what the people around him thought of the draw result.
Tang En did not look at Mourinho either. He just looked up at the draw result on the big screen and could not stop laughing. It looked like he was one of the onlookers watching the show, and not one of the parties involved …
Even Platini found the scene too interesting, so he explained with a smile, "I promise, this result was absolutely not manipulated …"
There was another burst of laughter below the stage.
※ ※ ※
After the draw ceremony, the final results were all out.
The game between Barcelona and Eindhoven was played first. On the same day, Nottingham Forest challenged Inter Milan in an away game.
Then, Paris Saint-Germain faced AC Milan at home.
Bayern Munich faced Juventus.
Arsenal faced Valencia in an away game.
Real Madrid faced Liverpool at home.
Manchester United faced Lyon in an away game.
The game between Porto and Ajax was probably the least watched.
The highlights of the round of 16 were Nottingham Forest against Inter Milan, Bayern Munich against Juventus, and Real Madrid against Liverpool.
After the draw, Tang En was surrounded by a large group of reporters. Everyone wanted to hear how he would comment on the results of the draw. For example, whether he would scold the UEFA for being shady. Many people were looking forward to hearing him say the classic phrase, "Come on, come and do the unspoken rules with me!"
But this time, Tang En let them down. Facing the expectant gazes of many reporters, he smiled and said, "I'm very satisfied with the results of this draw. I couldn't be more satisfied. Thanks to the UEFA's grouping, I've drawn the opponent I wanted to meet the most. "
This answer really disappointed the reporters who wanted to see the world in chaos.
So, a reporter simply asked in a straightforward manner, "Are you worried about being fined by the UEFA again by saying this?"
Tang En glared at him. "Don't joke, Mr. Reporter. I don't lack that bit of money. I think you're too much of a bastard. You don't believe me when I tell the truth, and you spread it around when I'm lying. I'm really satisfied with this result. Before the season, I said that Barcelona's Champions League did not have enough value. Some people even criticized me for saying that I was jealous. Now, I can prove to those people whose eyes are the problem. As for Inter Milan, since they eliminated Nottingham Forest more than a season ago, I've been thinking about how to take revenge. I was even worried that I wouldn't have a chance … You all know that the draw is a small probability event … "At this point, Tang En laughed." So, of course, I'm very grateful to the UEFA for solving both of my problems at once. This saves me a lot of trouble. I don't have to wait until next season, the season after that, the season after that … "
"But, Mr. Tang. Inter Milan is very strong. Do you have the confidence to win? "
"Nonsense. If I didn't have the confidence, why would I play in the Champions League? If I didn't have the confidence, Nottingham Forest and I are still riding the elevator between the English Football League Championship and League One. If I didn't have the confidence, I wouldn't have defended the Champions League. My Nottingham Forest team has won two Champions League titles and one English Premier League title. None of them were obtained cheaply. My championship titles are genuine and of high quality. Do you think every team that enters the top 16 of the Champions League has the good luck of Barcelona, to be able to draw a weak team in the first round? "He did not forget to mock Barcelona and provoke psychological warfare in advance.
"Mr. Tang En, I heard that your relationship with Mourinho is not very good …"
"You're right!" Tang En did not deny it this time. He simply and straightforwardly agreed to the reporter's statement. He did not hide it on the surface at all. "He and I are enemies. If you ask him, you'll probably get the same answer. In fact, I'm very much looking forward to and confident about the match against Inter Milan. Nottingham Forest has a psychological advantage against them. "
Tang En did not forget to bring Inter Milan into the battle of psychological warfare. If they wanted to play, they would play big. It was better to have fun together than to have fun alone. Unfortunately, they were short of one player …
※ ※ ※
The next day, newspapers, television, and the Internet reported the results of the draw for the knockout stage of the Champions League. The photos of the three young managers, Tony Twain, Mourinho, and Guardiola at the scene of the draw were all placed in prominent positions. The three men had different expressions, each with a profound meaning.
When the majority of the fans saw the results, their first thought was:
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