Two days passed quickly, and the day of the game approached. Both sides were already prepared for the big battle.
Mourinho would never allow any mishaps to happen at home. The most difficult part of the knockout stage was the home game, followed by the away game. But there was no other way. Who asked them to lose first place in the group stage at the last minute?
Mourinho's plan was to not lose any points at home. He demanded that the team's rear defensive line must keep their opponents clean, so he would insist on defensive counterattack at home.
And Tang En's idea was very simple — to score goals. The advantage of playing the away game first was that there was still a home game as a buffer, so there were more opportunities for adjustments. Scoring away goals was the most important thing. They had to score, they had to score. That was why Tang En arranged for a 4-3-1 formation instead of a 4-4-2 formation. Others might choose to play defense in an away game, but Tang En did the opposite, emphasizing offense.
Winning against Inter Milan was naturally the best result. Even if they could not win, they had to draw. Losing … was definitely not allowed.
Until the start of the game, Tang En and Mourinho did not meet again. The two managers' interviews at the press conference were staggered. Their appearance at the press conference could only wait until after the game.
But the media did not feel sorry. Because there would be more exciting stories when they met again after the game. Now, there was really nothing to hype about. The war of words between the two sides was almost over.
Although Tang En and Mourinho had not met before, they had long been at loggerheads through various media outlets. Looking at their explosive remarks, it was really admirable for the two men. The Italian media was even more impressed that Mourinho had been a little lonely since he came to Italy. Now, he finally found an opponent.
Mourinho was an anomaly in Serie A. His blabbermouth style broke the seemingly harmonious atmosphere in Serie A. When had those academic team managers ever seen such a person before? They would at most argue about some tactical things together. Even when they quarreled with others, it was very low standard. They were all defeated in front of Mourinho's eloquence. Some people even wanted to learn from Mourinho and engage in a war of words with others, but in the end, they ended up like a dog instead of a tiger, making themselves look more like a shallow clown.
As a result, Mourinho gradually became too lazy to exchange words with those people — it was really degrading.
Now, when Tony Twain arrived in Italy with his Forest team, people finally saw the Mourinho who had once thrived in the English Premier League.
When it came to psychological warfare and verbal warfare, it was better to have an evenly matched opponent.
Tang En and Mourinho were like dry wood and raging fire, a perfect match.
※ ※ ※
On the evening of March 1st, the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium was brightly lit and bustling with people. The first round of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 kicked off here.
The Nottingham Forest fans who came from England entered the stadium under the escort of the police. Beside them, some extreme Inter Milan fans were provoking them maliciously. Not to be outdone, the Nottingham Forest fans glared back.
The police officers in charge of security at the stadium were on high alert. The reputation of the Italian fans and the English media was not very good, not to mention that the atmosphere had been heated up by the war of words between the two managers before the game. If there was anyone who did not want to see the managers of the two teams spitting at each other, it would be the police officers who were in charge of maintaining law and order. If the managers stirred up the atmosphere, it would also stir up the emotions of the fans. That was a very dangerous thing to do. If it was not strictly controlled, the slightest spark could cause the volcano to erupt.
While the fans of both sides were at daggers drawn outside, the players from both sides had already come out to warm up.
Tang En did what he was supposed to do in the changing room and slipped out as well. He ran into Mourinho on the sidelines, whom he had not seen for several years.
"Ha, what a coincidence. Mr. Mourinho. "Tang En smiled and greeted the other.
Mourinho kept a straight face and did not want to acknowledge him.
"Don't give me that expression, Mr. Mourinho. I won't ask you to drink anymore. I've long given up on that stuff. You're the host here. You can't be so cold. "
"Do you want me to say 'nice to meet you'? But I'm not happy at all. "
"Is it because you're afraid of losing?" Tang En grinned and moved closer to Mourinho.
This sentence clearly touched Mourinho's sore spot, and he snorted. "Whatever you think, Mr. Tang. Football games are not won by talking. "
"Ha, great minds think alike."
Tang En did not talk much with Mourinho because both men had things to do. The war of words was over. There was no point in picking it up now.
He walked to the sidelines and carefully observed the team's warm-up to understand first-hand information. Whoever was in good form and who was not in the right state of mind … This was the last chance to adjust. When the game started, any adjustments would take up three substitutions.
The players' performance was not bad. He did not find anyone overly confident or impatient. This bunch of kids were not bad. He had not stopped briefing them for the past few days, telling them to take this game seriously. Because this was a "battle for revenge," they could not be sloppy, careless, or careless.
Tang En also took the opportunity to observe the situation of the fans in the stands. Inter Milan fans made up about four-fifths of the crowd. The stands were filled with blue, while the red team was gathered in a corner, surrounded by a sea of blue. It looked lonely and isolated.
There was a layer of police protection around these fans, separating them from the Italian fans. Under the heavy protection of the police, the Nottingham Forest fans were not afraid of the unfriendly boos and hostile gazes from the home fans. They sang Nottingham Forest's battle song in their own stands.
When Twain saw this scene, he smiled. What cute fans. It was as if he could see John and Bill in the square formation from afar.
After staying on the sidelines for a while, Tang En could hear the boos coming from the stands behind him. It was, of course, aimed at him, the manager who initiated the war of words with Mourinho. He did not care. He even turned around to smile at the unfriendly fans before walking back to the tunnel to the locker room.
He was destined to make the Inter Milan fans unhappy in this game …
※ ※ ※
Not long after returning to the locker room, the team's warm-up was over. The players filed into the locker room and began to change into the jerseys needed for the game. Tang En paced back and forth in the locker room, thinking about what to say to further mobilize the players' emotions.
The tactics that needed to be said had been laid out a day ago. There was not much time, so he would not repeat them again.
After the players finished changing, they sat down to catch their breath and waited for their spiritual leader to say something.
Tang En finally stopped and stood in front of his teammates.
"Who else among you has experienced those two games?" He looked at the players.
George Wood raised his hand, followed by the goalkeeper Akinfeev, the defenders Baines, Rafinha, Pepe, Kompany, Tiago, Lennon, Şahin, and Eastwood. They all knew which two games the boss was referring to by "those two games."
It made up almost two-thirds of the big list.
"I know some of you must be unresigned … Ah no, everyone is unresigned. After all, the opponent scored a total of five goals in two games, but not a single one. If you can still accept that, you're not normal. It's great now. You have a chance to correct that mistake and show Inter Milan that 0: 5 was just an accident. " Tang En snapped his fingers. "I really wonder if the UEFA did this out of respect for our opinions when they drew the lots."
There was a burst of laughter among the players.
"No matter what, guys. Now we have a great opportunity! Are you going to let this opportunity slip away from your eyes? Are you really going to do that? "
"No one thinks so, boss!"
"Very good! Then keep your spirits up! Beat them on their home ground! Let's settle all the scores today! "
※ ※ ※
Mourinho did not stir up emotions in the locker room. Inter Milan was not Nottingham Forest. It was not filled with a group of simple-minded hot-blooded creatures. Besides, he had nothing to stir up. Inter Milan and Nottingham Forest did not have any deep hatred. For many players, this was just an ordinary Champions League Round of 16 match. Star players like Ibrahimović had no interest in the "Forest Team's Battle of Vengeance" that was hyped up by the media. Some people could not even understand why Tony Twain would jump around and bite people like a mad dog. What good would it do him by doing so? Could it be that the more people he bit, the more dividends he would get?
Although their manager occasionally bit people, he did it with a purpose and he bit something. Unlike Tony Twain, who bit everything he caught.
If he were to be our head coach, I'm afraid he would even bite his own people in the locker room, right? That would be terrible! He really did not know how the Nottingham Forest players could tolerate such a bad-tempered person to lead them.
In fact, what was even more unbelievable was how this person's team could win the Champions League two years in a row? There must be some secret that we do not know …
Mourinho calmly laid out the tactics and then talked about what happened in the media.
"Don't think about what they say outside. It's their freedom. This is just an ordinary game. If you have any emotional ups and downs because of this, you will fall into Tony Twain's trap. In terms of strength, Nottingham Forest is definitely not as good as us. They are desperate for an away goal and will definitely take the initiative to attack from the start of the game. We just need to be more patient than them to get the result we want. That's it. Get ready to play. "
※ ※ ※
When the Inter Milan players came out, they received huge cheers. In the hearts of the Inter Milan fans, the Nerazzurri were their heroes. Many fans were quite confident of beating Nottingham Forest. The two games of the 08-09 season were still vivid in their minds. There were not many teams in the world of football that could beat the defending champions so cleanly.
Of course, the Nottingham Forest fans would retort that they lost because Tony Twain was not there. But the Italian fans could not understand this. They thought that even if Tony Twain was there, they would at most not lose so badly. But the result would still be the same — they lost. No matter how good a manager was, how much power could he have? The people who dominated the team and determined the strength of the team were the star players, not the star manager.
When Ibrahimović shook hands with the Forest players according to the usual practice, he suddenly felt a deep hostility. This hostility reached its peak when he shook hands with the Forest captain.
Wood's hand was under the table to carry out the necessary understanding with Ibrahimović, but his eyes were staring coldly at the other party. This was not a very polite attitude, and it also made the Swede feel uncomfortable. The other party's gaze seemed to be piercing Ibrahimović from the inside out.
He did not like this kind of impolite gaze, so he separated from Wood's hand after a touch.
But even when he turned to leave, he could still feel that pair of cold eyes staring at him from behind.
Ibrahimović was a typical representative of the Inter Milan players. Almost all of the Inter Milan players felt the unfriendly atmosphere coming from the Nottingham Forest players.
They could not understand why these people would see this game as a vendetta. Even if we had beaten you by a big score, it was a very normal thing. It happened often in the world of football. Isn't it too petty to keep talking about it? If someone else beat you and you want to seek revenge, will you be able to handle it?
The Nottingham Forest players did not care what the Inter Milan people were thinking. They just frowned and looked at their opponents who came over to shake hands with them to show their friendliness with a murderous look.
It was hard to imagine such a situation happening in the real football world. Perhaps only a freak like Tony Twain could bring up such an illogical team …
After the handshake ceremony ended in a strange atmosphere, the players from both sides returned to their respective positions, waiting for the game to start.
The major media seized the last moment to surround the two managers and take pictures.
Mourinho was expressionless, while Twain had a smile on his face. He even glanced at Mourinho from time to time in front of the reporters, wanting to observe his performance.
Unfortunately, he did not see anything. Mourinho hid himself in the middle of the technical area. No one would know what he was doing unless they were in front of him. Twain was in no hurry. He knew that after the game started, it would not take long for Mourinho to come out on his own.
Why?
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