Barcelona's players were caught in a vicious cycle. They could not control the ball and felt angry at the field, which led to anxiety and thus could not play their best in the game. Their hearts were anxious, their technical movements changed, and they could not control the ball. They blamed it all on the bad field and continued to be anxious and angry.
The cycle continued. The offensive players were anxious and the defensive players were nervous. No one was in a normal state of mind.
Even a player like Messi, who looked calm, would make two consecutive mistakes with the ball. If he used too little force, the ball might not be able to move. If he used too much force, the ball might not be able to move. After the consecutive mistakes, Messi angrily stepped on the turf under his feet. He knew the cause of the mistakes was under his feet, but he could not do anything about it. He was lucky that he had not sprained his ankle in the process of sprinting so far.
Guardiola had not given any instructions on the situation, but Barcelona's players had already begun to make adjustments on their own.
They reduced dribbling and passing, as well as the idea of trying to break into the Forest penalty area. They changed to more long shots.
Once the ball reached the front field, all the Barcelona players would use long shots to create a threat to the goal guarded by Akinfeev. But such long shots were useless against Nottingham Forest. They were just a spent force.
On the other hand, Nottingham Forest's offense was playing well.
The defenders intercepted the ball and did long passes. The defensive midfielders intercepted the ball and did long passes. Everyone was doing long passes.
The ball kept flying in the sky. Barcelona's players looked up at the sky for so long that their necks were sore. The footwork and awareness that technical midfielders like Xavi and Iniesta were best at could not be used. Tang En did not even send someone to mark them, and they were already useless.
Yaya Touré was the only player who could compete with the Forest team in the midfield. But two fists were no match for four hands, and one tiger was no match for a pack of wolves. He could not stop Nottingham Forest's multiple attacks alone. George Wood had more energy to put into the offense. One could imagine what the situation was like in Barcelona's midfield. Guardiola insisted on playing a 4-3-3. The three midfielders could not compete with Nottingham Forest's four midfielders.
Nottingham Forest's high balls were always able to pass through the midfield easily. When Aaron Mitchell retreated to receive the ball, Yaya Touré had no advantage at all … He was no match for Mitchell in terms of height, ability to head the ball or jumping ability. Mitchell, who was 2.02 meters tall, had an outstanding jumping ability. As long as he retreated, Yaya Touré's best option would be to wait for him to land on the second spot.
However, when Mitchell retreats, there will definitely be Forest players around him to support him, so he knows where to pass the ball. No matter how good Yaya Touré is, he is still just one player. He can only control one second point of descent, but he cannot control all the other second points of descent. Mitchell was not stupid enough to head the football to where Toure was. When he jumped in the air, he had a lot of options. He could pass it to Lennon, to Bentley, to his partner Agbonlahor, or even to George Wood and Tiago. If it did not work, he could also stop the football with his chest and control it himself.
So, Yaya Toure was actually in a very difficult situation …
He could not defend against Nottingham Forest's attack at all. It was not something he was good at.
※ ※ ※
"Nottingham Forest's attack was unimpeded all the way! They did not encounter any obstruction … Yes, because Barcelona does not have the Royal Air Force! Akinfeev kicked the football to the front field, and Mitchell used his head to head the football to George Wood, who plugged in. Wood then passed the football to the side, and Bentley moved his leg to cross the ball, and Agbonlahor jumped to head it! The ball was almost saved by Valdés … The whole process was completed in the air, and Piqué has become the most important player in Barcelona's rear defensive line. The sad thing is that Barcelona only has one Piqué. "
The game had only started for 20 minutes, and Piqué was already panting. He felt immense pressure. Nottingham Forest's attacks all came from the air, and he was the only guarantee in the team's rear defensive line, so he had to go everywhere. He had to be everywhere. This was a bit too much for him. He was not a pervert like George Wood.
Puyol was experienced, but he was not tall, and as he grew older, his physical resistance had also decreased. He had no temper when faced with strikers like Agbonlahor and Mitchell, who relied on their excellent physical qualities to force their way in.
Alves? He was busy assisting. Piqué should be thankful that the opponent did not take advantage of the space behind him to attack Barcelona. As for Lahm … He was also a full back who liked to assist, but he was better than Alves because he was a "newcomer" who had joined the team less than a season ago, so he was not as unscrupulous in terms of assists. Sometimes he would actively return to defend and help defend.
Behind him was the goalkeeper, Valdés, who absolutely could not be reassured.
Looking around, Piqué suddenly felt very lonely. If he had Pepe to partner with him, at least he would not be so tired in terms of defending the high balls. Although Bale and Rafinha were also full backs who could assist, a word from the boss could make them obediently stay near the penalty area for the whole game. At Barcelona, Guardiola encouraged the defenders to assist, and Barcelona's style also made the defenders' first task to assist.
As a center back, it was sometimes really tiring to play in such an environment.
Soon, Nottingham Forest made a comeback. This time it was Bentley's pass from the side, and Mitchell jumped high in the middle to head the ball into the goal. Piqué used all his strength to barely win against Mitchell, and he headed the ball out of the end line, giving Forest a corner kick.
"Forest's veteran Piqué has been quite active in the game. He has stopped Nottingham Forest's attacks several times. His performance has reassured Guardiola. " Even the commentator was praising Piqué's performance, but this was definitely not what Piqué or Guardiola wanted to see. It was not "reassured Guardiola" at all. If he had a choice, Guardiola would rather Piqué disappear in this game, because it meant that Nottingham Forest's offense was not a threat.
On the other side, Tang En shook his head in the stands. If he had a choice, he would have hoped that Piqué would be injured and absent before this game. In that case, this game would become Nottingham Forest's world, and there would be no one in Barcelona's team who could stop Forest's advance. Now, only Piqué was still stubbornly resisting, or to put it nicely … he was still tenacious like a lonely warrior.
Forest's corner kick was launched, and Piqué rushed in front of Mitchell to head the ball out. He was really in a killing frenzy. After heading the ball, he roared at his teammates, "Pay attention to defense!! Victor, you have to come out a little more. Increase the area you can control! They're hitting our heads. If you can't get a header, then interfere with them from below! "
At this moment, he did not seem to remember that he had once played for Nottingham Forest. All he could think of was to help Barcelona defend the goal.
Tang En scratched his head. It seemed that he had completely stimulated Piqué's state … This was not going to be easy to handle.
Mitchell was not the kind of defender with a strong body. If Piqué were to closely mark him, his performance would definitely be greatly discounted. He hoped that Mitchell could harden up, but it was clearly against his will in this game. He needed to train his muscle strength, but that was a matter for after the game.
If Mitchell was closely marked by Piqué, it would clearly be disadvantageous for Forest, because all of Forest's offensive tactics were tailor-made with Mitchell as the core.
Perhaps he had to make some changes?
※ ※ ※
The Forest team attacked again. The football was still passed to Mitchell through the air. This time, Mitchell landed early and blocked his position. He did not go around, but planned to meet Piqué head-on.
Because of his tall stature, it was a little difficult for Piqué to fight for a header after Mitchell blocked his position. So, he sprinted and leaped to fight for a header. However, at the same time when the two of them came into contact, Mitchell screamed and fell to the ground. The referee's whistle rang. Piqué had committed a foul by colliding!
Piqué felt wronged. He felt that he was just fighting for a header normally. He raised his arm to the referee to confirm. The referee raised his arm, indicating that he had put his arm around Mitchell's neck during the fight for a header.
Piqué knew that Mitchell had done it on purpose, but he could not do anything about it.
Nottingham Forest had been practicing set pieces for a week, and it was finally the first free kick of the game that they had been looking forward to.
Guardiola might be thankful that Bale had long been seriously injured, because Bale was the team's only master at free kicks. But in reality, Tang En had been practicing indirect free kicks for the whole week.
There were two types of free kicks. One was a direct free kick, and the other was an indirect free kick. There were no restrictions on direct free kicks. For indirect free kicks, it required at least two attacking players to make contact with the ball for the goal to be effective. Therefore, direct free kicks could be directly kicked into the goal, and they could also be used as tactical coordination.
Mitchell had fought for a direct free kick for Forest, but Nottingham Forest wanted to use it as an indirect free kick.
Bentley walked to the front of the ball. Mitchell was desperately squeezing into the Barcelona's human wall, which caused a small friction between the players from both sides. The referee came out to maintain order, and finally, Mitchell squeezed into the penalty area as he wished. His position would be a point that Nottingham Forest would take advantage of. The football would drill through this place without any suspense — this was what the Barcelona players thought. So, there was a Barcelona player standing behind Mitchell. It was to prevent Mitchell from suddenly running away when Forest kicked the free kick and this place became a gap.
But it was all fake. Nottingham Forest's tactics were like this …
After the referee blew the whistle, Bentley ran up but did not shoot directly. Instead, he pushed the football towards the middle!
George Wood, who had been lying in wait at the back, ran up to catch up, received the ball and shot!
He did not kick the half high ball that he was best at. The football flew along the turf towards Barcelona's goal. Because of the friction, the speed of the ball was not too fast, but such a ball brought a lot of trouble to Valdés …
The football bounced on the uneven long embankment, its direction not fixed. Valdés had originally judged that the football would follow the trajectory and fly directly into his arms, but he did not expect the football to hit a protrusion on the field at the last moment and suddenly fly towards the goalpost!
Valdés leaped and awkwardly rubbed the football with his fingertips!
All the Barcelona fans broke out in a cold sweat from the shock.
"George Wood's long shot! Almost went in! The terrible field helped them. Fortunately, Valdés was fully focused and he did not make any low-level mistakes … "
Wood was also a little regretful that the ball did not go in — he could not shoot such a high-quality long shot every time.
Valdés, who pounced on the ball, felt his heart beat wildly. To be honest, he was a little scared. The football's change of direction at the last moment was too … thrilling. His heart turned cold at that moment. Fortunately, the change of direction was not too big and was still within a controllable range. But this match … Who knew if he would still be so lucky the next time Nottingham Forest came at him again?
The corner kick was sent out and Mitchell headed the football high under Piqué's close interference.
※ ※ ※
Guardiola looked at his watch off the field. Twenty-seven minutes had passed in the first half and Nottingham Forest's offense was getting stronger. He was a little relieved that his goal was not lost during the period when Nottingham Forest's offense was at its fiercest. Piqué's sudden burst of form helped a lot. He had to make some adjustments in the second half …
After attacking wildly for twenty minutes, Nottingham Forest also decided to slow down the pace a little to allow the players to distribute their stamina rationally and avoid premature exhaustion.
Barcelona decided to regain control of the situation on the field, keep the football under their feet and look for the Forest team's defensive loopholes. They did not believe that Nottingham Forest did not have weaknesses. It was just that they were hit hard by the Forest team just now and did not have time to look for them …
When they were ready to rally and attack, they found that Nottingham Forest's defense was impregnable and did not give them any good opportunities.
What could they do against a team that was stubbornly defending? Barcelona decided to pass the ball back and forth in the backfield to lure the Forest team out. Nottingham Forest needed to score goals. They should be the ones anxious, not Barcelona.
After figuring this out, Barcelona was not in a hurry. They passed the ball back and forth in the backfield. If Nottingham Forest did not come up, they would fall further and further back and eventually pass the ball back to the goalkeeper for Valdés to launch another attack.
In the thirtieth minute of the game, when Barcelona passed the ball back and forth in the backfield again, Agbonlahor rushed out from the center circle and went straight to Puyol who had the ball. Puyol was not in a hurry to send the ball out because he wanted to lure Agbonlahor up a little more and at the same time attract the other Forest players to rush up. He waved to his companions around him and motioned for them to retreat and receive him.
Piqué turned and ran back, but Puyol did not pass the football to him because the man behind Piqué was Mitchell. They were like a pack of wolves, running behind the butt of their prey, waiting for the opportunity to sneak attack.
Puyol turned around and passed the football to Alves, who retreated from the sideline.
Lennon saw Alves receive the ball and immediately rushed up.
Alves could have passed the football directly to the front field, but he raised his leg and put it down again and hesitated. So, he took advantage of this time and Lennon pressed forward.
Alves turned to protect the football and found it a little dangerous to pass it to anyone, so he simply passed it directly back to the goalkeeper!
He resisted Lennon and then passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. The football rolled along the turf toward Valdés who came out to receive.
Agbonlahor saw that Barcelona continued to pass the ball back, but he did not stop there. Instead, he threw away Puyol and aggressively pounced on Valdés.
Valdés originally wanted to stop the ball and pass it to the defender, but he clearly underestimated Agbonlahor's speed. In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two men was very close. Stopping the ball at this time was simply asking for death. He changed his mind at the last minute and decided to directly kick the ball to the front field with a long kick.
Barcelona's main goalkeeper put on a long kick posture and waited for the football to hit him …
Agbonlahor was less than ten meters away from him. This was a rescue that did not allow for any mistakes.
In the next second, all the Barcelona people could not believe their eyes …
The football rolled toward Valdés. The speed was not fast. Directly kicking it out with a long kick was as easy as breathing for a veteran goalkeeper. Valdés had already put on a posture and everything was ready …
When there was still a little distance from the point of contact, the football that had been rolling along the turf suddenly jumped up!
At the same time, Valdés's right leg also rotated out!
Just like that, the football and his right leg had a beautiful "brush past each other" …
Valdés, who used too much force, lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground after spinning in a circle. He immediately realized that he had kicked empty air! Then he watched in horror as Agbonlahor passed by his side …
"Mistake! Valdés made a mistake! This is Agbonlahor's chance. This is Nottingham Forest's … shot!! GOOOOOAL —!! "
If Agbonlahor still could not get in facing an empty goal, he could go and hit the wall. When Valdés kicked empty air, there was no defensive player around Agbonlahor. He could even stop the football and adjust before shooting. There was no doubt about it. When Valdés fell to the ground, the Nottingham Forest fans' cheers rang out in the stands.
Twain, like John and Bill beside him, jumped up from their seats and stretched out their arms to roar.
"Forest, Forest! Nottingham Forest!! "
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