Víctor Valdés was perhaps the worst rated main goalkeeper in all the European powerhouse teams. The reason was not that he was not strong enough, but that his play was not stable. He often made some inexplicable low-level mistakes, such as kicking the ball directly to the opponent's feet to create an own goal, or making mistakes when he pounced on the ball to clear a siege …
But this time, he really could not be blamed …
Nottingham Forest's turf and field combined to create this goal. Valdés knelt on the ground and slapped the culprit — a raised patch of turf in front of his feet. The football had just rolled to this spot and jumped up suddenly, playfully dodging Valdés's swinging right leg, resulting in the Forest team's goal.
"Nottingham Forest's vegetable field has done a great job!" The commentator roared excitedly. "Alves's return caused Valdés to make a mistake, and Agbonlahor easily scored the ball! This scene is too dramatic. The Barcelona players can't believe their eyes. Valdés can only vent his anger on the turf … No matter what, Nottingham Forest has now taken the lead. They are tied with Barcelona on the aggregate score, and they have the advantage with an away goal! "
"To pass back to the goalkeeper on such a field, Alves must also take responsibility for this goal concede!"
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When the Barcelona players saw the football slip past Valdés's feet, everyone fell into a state of despair and panic. There were even people who held their heads in advance, unable to bear to watch.
Guardiola sat expressionlessly in the technical area with his arms crossed. It was impossible to tell from his face what he was feeling at the moment. He was not the kind of manager who would shout abuse after conceding a goal. There was a world of difference between him and Tony Twain.
Next door, Kerslake rushed out of the technical area with his arms raised, hugging everyone he saw. He had the demeanor of Tony Twain. On the other hand, the other assistant manager, Dunn, was very calm. He just clenched his fist and waved.
What about Tony Twain?
When the ball slipped past Valdés's feet, Twain stood up from his seat like the others around him, raising his arms and waiting to cheer.
Finally, when he joined the tens of thousands of fans in cheering, "Forest, Forest! Nottingham Forest! ", he felt a passion that he had never felt in the technical area.
"Well done!" After the cheers, John gave a thumbs up to the celebrating Forest players. "We've equalized!"
Tang En corrected him. "No, we're in the lead."
It would have been better if he hadn't said anything. As soon as he said that, Fat John pressed down on him like a mountain of meat. "Tony! Aha, what a wonderful idea you have! Sure enough, they were at a disadvantage in this battle! Did you see their expressions? How wonderful! Haha! "
"Hey, John … I can't breathe …"
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Agbonlahor, who scored, was very excited. He opened his mouth and roared as he ran to the north stands and waved his arms at the most hardcore fans there, which immediately drew louder cheers for him.
This time, Tang En did not cheer like the other fans. He just gave Agbonlahor a thumbs up. He did not know if Agbonlahor had seen him, but he still had to act like a manager.
In fact, Agbonlahor was looking for the boss. He quickly found him in the crowd, because the boss was different from the others. He was smiling at him!
"Hey, guys! I see the boss! " The excited Agbonlahor pointed to the stands and shouted to his teammates who had come over to celebrate. For a moment, everyone turned their eyes to the stands and looked in the direction Agbonlahor was pointing. Sure enough, they all saw Tony Twain's figure.
"Hey, let's change to a celebratory action!"
Agbonlahor took the lead to do a salute similar to the United States Marine Corps, saluting the stands. The other players also learned to salute Tang En.
Tang En's expression also turned serious as he returned the salute. He had the air of a general.
The players who had collectively saluted the boss ran for a while and got ready to get back into the game.
The fans next to Tony Twain were still very excited. They sang the Forest team's hymn over and over again. Even Tang En sang along with them in the end.
"We're invincible, we're invincible! We're the strongest team in the world. We're Nottingham Forest!! "
※ ※ ※
Nottingham Forest's goal was a big blow to Barcelona. After the game resumed, the Barcelona players appeared a little flustered on the field. As long as the Forest team's players in the front field pressed for the ball a little, they would immediately kick forward. They certainly did not dare to return the ball, for fear that the ball would naughtily jump up in front of Valdés again. That would be the end of them.
So, in order not to let the ball break under their feet, everyone chose to kick forward.
This was a great help to Nottingham Forest. Barcelona's offense was threatening when the ball was moving on the ground. When they kicked the ball into the air for fear of making a mistake, they were not even a first-class team in front of Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest easily took control of the situation on the field and besieged Barcelona's goal again and again.
Fortunately, Valdés was not affected by the goal concede. His performance was still considered normal. He blocked many high passes and did his best to ensure that the team's goal was not lost. Another busy person was Piqué. Piqué was in good form for the game. Nottingham Forest played in the air. With his height and header advantage, he became the only person in Barcelona's rear defensive line who could be trusted.
He was not completely at a disadvantage in the tussle with Mitchell, which was one of the reasons why Barcelona had not conceded another goal so far. But Piqué felt that the situation was not good. Because he had given his all, and the big man, who was more than two meters tall, seemed to be still looking for the feeling and did not go all out. If this went on, he really did not know if he could hold on for ninety minutes …
In the final stages of the first half, Nottingham Forest, which was predicted to be defensive counterattack at home before the game, instead surrounded Barcelona's penalty area and launched a frenzied siege. Barcelona could not even get past half the field and was extremely embarrassed.
Guardiola was restless on the sidelines and very anxious. He just wanted the first half to end quickly so that he could make adjustments. He did not care about his reputation anymore. He waved his hand and asked the team to all return to defense and survive the last five minutes.
The last five minutes were a kind of torture for the Barcelona players. They had never seen such a wild attack from Nottingham Forest when they were at Camp Nou. They even thought that Nottingham Forest would not attack at all, and would only occasionally sneak attack.
But now Nottingham Forest's attack left the Catalan commentator speechless.
On the contrary, the English commentator was very excited. He kept chanting the names of the Forest players.
"Aaron Lennon's breakthrough was very beautiful. He crossed the ball! Mitchell's header! It's too straight. It's a pity that Valdés got it! "
"Tiago's long shot — it brushed against the goalpost and flew out!"
"Nottingham Forest seems to want to force a breakthrough in the middle to open up the passage. Mitchell leaned on Piqué and relied on his advantage of long legs to pass the football to Agbonlahor. Agbonlahor feinted and shot straight! Bentley appeared in the penalty area. He received the ball and it was almost a one-on-one! He shot! Valdés pounced the football out … "
"Barcelona fouled on the right side of the penalty area. Nottingham Forest's free kick. Will they do the same thing again? Bentley crossed the ball! Straight to the back! Mitchell alone attracted the attention of three Barcelona defenders. Kompany rushed to the top from the back! The ball went in … Oh no, the side of the net! What a pity. From this angle, it really looks like it went in … "
"Nottingham Forest intercepted the ball in the midfield. Barcelona intended to pass the ball out, but they were mercilessly blocked by George Wood. He passed the ball to Tiago and ran forward himself … A one-two, beautiful! Nottingham Forest did a two-versus-one in front of Barcelona. Yaya Touré was played in circles by Wood and Tiago's teamwork! Piqué marked Mitchell closely … A long shot! George Wood directly did a long shot and it went slightly over the crossbar! Listen to the sounds in the stands. They thought the ball was going in! "
"Joe Mattock crossed the ball! Aaron Mitchell — — the goalpost!! Oh, it looks like Lady Luck did not favor young Mitchell today. This is the second time he has headed the football on the goalpost in the game! His height and headers are a big threat to Barcelona's goal, but he was a little unlucky. Or should I say … Barcelona's luck is too good? "
In the midst of Nottingham Forest's tide-like attacks, the referee became Barcelona's savior. When he blew the whistle to end the first half, even Barcelona's most hardcore fans thought that if Nottingham Forest did it again, Barcelona's defense would definitely collapse.
"Guardiola should be thankful for this first half, because at least none of their players were injured because of that terrible field. They only conceded one goal." The commentator joked at the end of the first half.
※ ※ ※
Tang En stood up from his seat and said to Bill and John beside him, "Hey, guys, do you want to go for a drink? It's my treat."
"I thought you couldn't drink?" Bill asked.
"Of course I can't drink, but I can drink juice. You guys can choose what you like."
"You're in a good mood, Tony."
"Because we're in the lead, ha!" As he spoke, the group walked towards the exit.
"Aren't you worried that Guardiola will make some adjustments in the midfield? No matter what, Barcelona is still a strong team in the world … "
Tang En laughed heartily. "Unless he can think of a way to level the field in 15 minutes, Barcelona can forget about turning the tables in this match. Their skills can't be fully displayed on such a field. If they switch to playing aerial balls, they might as well continue to endure the terrible ground attacks on the field. "
Indeed, he had calculated everything. This match was bound to be a crushing defeat for Barcelona. So, he was not at all worried that there might be any negative effects from the UEFA not letting him into the locker room. He believed that the outcome of this match had already been decided when he came up with the idea of the "vegetable patch."
I am that Buddha. Guardiola, no matter how naughty and mischievous you monkey, you can't escape from the palm of my hand. Wahaha!
"Let's go, guys. I'll treat you to a drink. Moisten your throats. Who knows, I might need all of you in the second half! "
※ ※ ※
While Tang En and his "mouthpiece" were drinking and chatting at the stadium's beverage shop, Barcelona's locker room was a little gloomy.
The team doctor and physiotherapists were massaging the ankles and knees of the Barcelona players one by one to prevent them from spraining themselves when they came out in the second half. The atmosphere was a little gloomy. No one knew what to say. It was terrible to play on such a field. They could not display the technical advantage they were most proud of and could only be led by the nose by Nottingham Forest.
If the game continued to be played like this … the consequences were simply unthinkable. Perhaps they could also count on Nottingham Forest to make the mistake they made in the first half?
Guardiola poured cold water on them. "Don't expect the opponent to make a mistake. We have to play well in this game."
But how to play well … Guardiola had no idea. The locker room was silent again.
The Barcelona players, who had been through hundreds of battles and had limitless glory, might have felt for the first time that this game could not be played. It was not that they were not good enough, but that the opponent was too cunning. Who would have thought that Nottingham Forest would not hesitate to transform their stadium for the sake of a victory in a game …
After a moment of silence, Guardiola spoke again. "In the second half, we'll give them possession of the ball."
Everyone looked up with a look of surprise on their faces. Barcelona's football always controlled the ball at their own feet. It was not in line with Barcelona's style to hand over possession of the ball.
Guardiola had to explain why he did so. "It's like this. The quality of the turf at the City Ground stadium is terrible. Controlling the ball at your feet for a long time increases the risk of losing the ball. So, I think it's better for us to give up the ball to the other side. Once the ball is at Nottingham Forest's feet, no matter where he is, the people around him must go up and grab it. Launch a quick counterattack immediately after the siege! "
It was a good idea. The Barcelona players accepted the manager's arrangement.
"Piqué, how do you feel defending against Mitchell?" Guardiola turned to ask the rear defensive general again.
Piqué panted. "I feel a little strained, coach … I'm afraid I can't defend alone."
Guardiola looked around at the players on the field. He found that apart from the veteran Márquez on the substitute list, there really seemed to be no one who could take a header. But Márquez was old and his form had declined sharply. Nowadays, he rarely got a chance to play. In such an important game, he really did not want to bet his life on the old Márquez.
So, his gaze swept past Márquez and fell on Puyol. "Karsi, you help Piqué in the second half. I don't ask you to beat their number 9 in headers, but don't let him jump and head the ball so easily."
Puyol nodded to show that he understood what he had to do.
Next was the time for the psychological suggestion.
"Don't give up the game until the last second! We still have forty-five minutes. As long as we score a goal, Nottingham Forest will be in disarray. But before that, we can't panic ourselves first! I saw that you were panicking in the final stages of the first half. That won't do! That absolutely won't do! Your panic will only make the opponent more complacent. I know that such a venue has made us suffer a lot, but if your mind is full of bad venues, then I guarantee that you have absolutely no hope of winning. This is Tony Twain's trick. You must put all your energy into the game and don't think about anything else! The more you think, the worse the result may be! "
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