When Guardiola got Nottingham Forest's starting list before the game, he saw the name on the front line. He thought for a while and then went to ask the assistant next to him, "Is Ibišević also injured?"
Vilanova shook his head, "I haven't heard of such news. We only know that Eastwood is definitely injured and will miss this game. "
Guardiola heard his most trusted assistant say so and fell into deep thought again.
He really did not know why Tony Twain sent this completely unfamiliar striker when Ibišević was not injured. He did not even have any information on the man in front of him. He only knew that he was called "Aaron Mitchell," and this was because he was written on the starting list. Before seeing Mitchell in person, he didn't even know how tall Mitchell was. Not to mention the man's technical characteristics and true level …
He frowned. Barcelona's defensive training was all aimed at Ibišević, and Ibišević was sitting on the bench. Barcelona's defenders knew nothing about the man in front of them. How could they defend against him in the game? Observe for a while before deciding? Then he hoped that Nottingham Forest would not take advantage of this to score first …
It seemed that it could only be so. No one in the coaching staff was familiar with this "Aaron Mitchell," so it was even more impossible for the Barcelona players to be familiar with this player they had never heard of.
This was the scene that happened before the game started. Guardiola was sitting in the visiting team's technical area, watching the game on the field. Next to him, in the home team's technical area, the manager's seat was empty. The China assistant looked like a manager, but he was a little too nervous.
Guardiola still unconsciously looked at the stands, as if he could find Tony Twain among so many people. In fact, he found nothing.
※ ※ ※
At this time, Twain was enjoying football surrounded by a group of his closest fans.
"You rarely watch the game from this position, Tony?" Fat John, sitting on the left, laughed. The game had just begun, and his attention was still on the people around him.
"I've been sent to the stands many times, but this is the first time I'm sitting in the stands where hardcore fans gather to watch the game. Well … the view here is much better than the technical area. "
"Why don't we change? You'll come here in the future, and I'll sit over there. "John pointed to the Forest team's technical area below.
Twain grinned and did not speak.
Bill, on the other hand, poured cold water on his friend. "I bet you can't even sit for forty-five minutes."
"Don't use your own level as a standard to measure others, skinny!"
While the two of them were bickering, Tang En turned his head and looked up. Nottingham Forest gave the two UEFA monitors very good treatment and arranged for them to be in the VIP box. However, this was actually Tang En's arrangement, including the idea of sitting in the stands. Since we have the home advantage, we should make good use of it. Otherwise, it would be a waste.
Arranging to sit in the north stands was not really to be able to enjoy the match with his old friends. Tang En also had another purpose.
He turned around and glanced at the box. He didn't see the two black-clothed competition supervisors, but he was sure that the two of them were up there drinking and watching the match.
Therefore, he interrupted the debate between John and Bill about who was more capable to sit in the position of Nottingham Forest manager.
"Hey, guys. I want to discuss something with you guys … "
John and Bill stopped arguing at the same time and turned to look at him. "If you need help with anything, just say it, Tony!" This time, they had reached an agreement.
"Well, it's like this … The people from the UEFA have done everything possible to prevent me from contacting the technical area and the players below, so I don't have any communication devices on me …"
"I'll lend it to you!" Bill took out his phone, but it was slapped down by Tang En.
"Don't take it out. You can't even borrow someone else's phone. Do you think they won't know what I'm doing here just because they're sitting there? "Tang En pointed up without turning around. "They're all equipped with high-powered binoculars."
"Wow, so that's it!" Bill was surprised. It was just a monitor. Why did they have to act like peeping toms?
"I prepared it for them." Tang En smiled.
"Huh?" Both of them were surprised.
"I want to show that I'm very cooperative with their work and will definitely not play any tricks. Preparing binoculars for them proves that I have no ulterior motives. But in reality … "Tang En smiled slyly. That look made John really want to give him a punch.
"It's true that I can't contact the people below through any means of communication, but the UEFA doesn't prohibit the fans from shouting, right?" He smiled again, his eyes narrowing together.
"Hey, Tony! Don't beat around the bush, just say it! What do you want us to do? "Bill was a little anxious. He was not a very patient person.
"Sometimes I may need to give the latest instructions on the situation on the field, but I can't tell my coaches, and I can't let the players know what I think. But I think maybe I can use your mouths to tell them. If I have information to tell the people below, I hope you can help me shout it out, but don't be too deliberate. Just like cheering for the team in the stands … This way, when the UEFA asks me, I'll have a reason. They can shut my mouth, but they can't shut your mouth. Ha! "
John laughed along with Tang En. He now felt that Tony Twain's brain must be different from everyone else's. Otherwise, how could he come up with so many wicked ideas?
Bill's reaction was a little slow, but then it dawned on him.
"That's no problem, Tony!" He shouted excitedly. "Going against the UEFA, we're happy to! I've long disliked that group of people in suits! "He even waved his fist.
John also patted Tang En on the shoulder. "Just take it that you're standing in the stands to direct the game. We'll be your assistant managers."
Tang En nodded to the two men. "Thank you!"
John laughed. "As long as we can win against Barcelona and embarrass the UEFA, we'll do it. Don't even talk about sending messages for you. Even if you want us to pave the way, it's not a problem! "
After he finished speaking, he got up and left to inform the fans nearby. When the time came, they would have to move as a group. Relying on two or three people would not work. So, the stands had to know what they were going to do later.
※ ※ ※
Five minutes into the game, Barcelona's offense was fierce. Because they kicked off first, they could use their technical advantage to keep the ball on their side. Another reason for Barcelona's fierce offense was that Nottingham Forest's midfield iron gate seemed to have some problems today. George Wood repeatedly turned his head to look for that person in the north stands during the game. He thought it was strange. He had always thought that as the team's captain, he should be a man who could take charge. But when he habitually glanced at the technical area before the start of the game and could not find that familiar figure, he actually felt a little uneasy.
Since when did he treat him as someone he could rely on?
That's ridiculous! I'm George Wood. I've been working in the slums since I was young, taking care of my mother. I don't need to rely on anyone!
Although he thought so, he still helplessly turned his gaze to the north stands.
There were too many people there. He could not find anything at all.
Just as he turned his head, Iniesta passed the ball over from his defensive zone, and he did not react.
※ ※ ※
"George's a little distracted," Tang En murmured with a frown in the stands.
"Loudspeaker Number One," Bill, pricked up his ears. "Do we need to shout that?"
"Ah? Uh, no need. "Tang En hurriedly waved his hands. The side effect of letting the fans help to be a loudspeaker was that anything he said might be misunderstood as something that needed to be shouted out. If someone was too enthusiastic, there might be an awkward scene like thousands of fans shouting "Malegebide" in unison. Because he was used to babbling profanities endlessly while watching the game, and they were all in Mandarin.
He did not know what was wrong with Wood. But from his performance in the past few minutes, he was always looking around on the field and not paying attention to the game. This was a rare situation. George Wood had always been known for his focus, engrossed in the game, and serious attitude. A situation like today should not happen to him.
So what was wrong?
If he were off the field, he could stand on the sidelines and shout, "George!! What the hell are you doing!! Focus on the game! "
Although he now had the fans as a loudspeaker, he could not shout anything.
※ ※ ※
Dunn also noticed Wood's abnormality. But his reaction was not quite the same as Tang En's. He lowered his head and pondered for a while. He understood, so he smiled and raised his head. He turned back to find the loud Kerslake. "David, help me tell George that Tony is in the middle of the north stands."
Kerslake was a little puzzled. "Didn't you say it in the locker room?"
Dunn smiled. "Maybe someone didn't hear it at the time."
Kerslake shrugged and got up from his seat. He really felt that he was like a nanny as an assistant manager. He had to take care of everything, big or small.
After taking a deep breath, he shouted, "George!!"
Wood heard Kerslake's voice. He turned his head and found Kerslake pointing to the north stands. "He's there! In the middle! Stop looking! I think he must be unhappy with your performance! "
This sentence was quite effective. Wood glanced at the north grandstand, and then put his energy back into the match.
When Messi was going to break through from his side, he interfered. The ball bounced on the turf and knocked on his foot to go out of bounds. It was still considered an out of bounds ball for Nottingham Forest.
"George Wood was a little out of form in the first five minutes of the game. His position allowed the Barcelona players to break through many times. But now it looks like there should be no problem! Messi was going to do the same thing just now, but he stumbled. Not only did he fail to break through, but he also gave the Forest team an out of bounds ball because of Wood's close interference. "
Messi also felt the direction of the wind change. He was like a zebra on the African savanna. As soon as the wind changed direction, he smelled the scent of a lion coming from the low bushes. He cleverly raised his head and pricked up his ears to look around vigilantly.
Whether George was willing to admit this feeling or not, his heart was very calm at this moment. Before, he was like a lion taking a nap in the afternoon, lying lazily under the bushes, letting the little rabbits and little zebras skip in front of his nose. He did not even bother to lift his eyelids.
But when the last rays of the setting sun disappeared below the horizon, night fell. Our lion stood up from the shadows. His eyes were cold as he stared at his prey.
He was hungry.
※ ※ ※
When Wood got back into the game, Barcelona's advantage in the first five minutes of the game immediately disappeared. In addition to that, there was another very bad news — their players were completely unable to adapt to the shabby pitch of the City Ground stadium.
When Silva ran to a space on the left side and raised his arm to ask for a pass, Xavi keenly noticed that there were no Forest players marking him nearby. So, he made a feint and passed the football over.
Such a pass was as easy as walking for the Spanish national team's playmaker — provided that it was on a normal turf. At the City Ground stadium, the ball that he passed eventually rolled out of bounds. Silva lifted his leg and did not receive it. Because the football suddenly jumped to the left when it was in front of him and flew straight out of the sideline!
The Catalan commentator initially thought there was a mistake in the cooperation between the two players, but he regretted missing such a good opportunity. But then Barcelona's passing and dribbling made mistakes one after another, and he felt that something was wrong — when he first saw the pitch, he only thought that the quality of the turf was not good, and some places were exposed with soil. But now he found that there was a problem with the soil base under the turf!
"I don't know how the Nottingham Forest Football Club maintains the turf, but I know that there is no other professional football club in the world that maintains the turf like this. This must be Tony Twain's idea again! This … is so unsportsmanlike! " He did not have to consider any impartiality. He was the Catalan commentator, and the people who listened to and watched his show must be Barcelona fans. He did not need to consider the feelings of the English fans, so he did his best to belittle Barcelona's opponent in the show, and the response was good at the same time.
After Silva made a mistake in receiving the ball, Bojan had another very good opportunity. After he broke through Woodgate, he was almost alone with Akinfeev. But just as he swung his leg to get ready to shoot, the football suddenly bounced on the uneven turf! Not only did his swinging leg kick empty air, but he also almost twisted the knee of his supporting foot … Fortunately, he reacted quickly and threw his entire center of gravity out. Although he was covered in dirt and looked very embarrassed, he was not injured.
As for the football, naturally, it was easily obtained by Akinfeev who attacked.
Akinfeev, who caught the football, did not forget to smile at Bojan, who was lying on the ground covered in dirt.
"It's almost been ten minutes since the start of the game. Barcelona relied on the advantage of controlling the ball at their feet after the start of the game to launch several threatening attacks. George Wood's distraction caused Nottingham Forest's defense to be full of holes. But Barcelona did not score a single goal. Their players seemed to suddenly not know how to play football. Their performance on the field was very … funny. I think it must have something to do with the pitch. To be honest, the turf of the City Ground stadium is terrible! Barcelona is wearing yellow away jerseys for this game, but I reckon that by halftime, their jerseys will turn brown … "
Seeing his players' performance, Guardiola, who was sitting in the technical area, shook his head. He really had no way at all. He was not Superman. He could not move the turf of Camp Nou to England in an instant and lay it on.
He could only hope that Nottingham Forest was also restricted by this stadium at the same time. Even if the final score was 0: 0, Barcelona would still advance.
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