After training at Nottingham's Wilford training base for four days, the team flew directly from Birmingham to Madrid, Spain.
Tang En was no stranger to the Spanish capital. He had been here many times.
Coming out of the airport, he could already see the atmosphere of the UEFA Champions League final.
On both sides of the road, promotional flags and posters for the Champions League were erected, extending all the way to the hotel where they were staying. He had not yet gone to the Bernabéu, but he could already imagine what the situation would be like there.
Along with the UEFA Champions League flag, there were two team flags fluttering in the sky above Madrid. It was clear that Real Madrid had far more flags than Nottingham Forest. If the final was held in a neutral venue, both teams in the final should have the same number of team flags. But now it was in Madrid, and this was the so-called home advantage.
Real Madrid had reached the Champions League final held in the Bernabéu. This was a very exciting event. The entire north of Madrid was immersed in such an atmosphere — Real Madrid fans believed that Real Madrid's chances of winning the title were as high as 85%.
Of course, they had reason to think so, because it was their home ground. Playing in the Bernabéu stadium was also a great incentive for Real Madrid's players, allowing them to explode with more power. In the history of the UEFA Champions League, such a situation did not often occur — the final venue was the home ground of one of the teams.
When the Forest team arrived in Madrid, their bus drove through the city center, and they could see a lot of Real Madrid fans gathered together. As the final approached, such crowds could be seen everywhere on the streets, and there were already more and more of them.
Seeing their bus, the Real Madrid fans even waved to them in a friendly manner. There was not a hint of the tense atmosphere of mutual hostility.
But Tang En knew very well that if the Forest team caused enough trouble for Real Madrid in the game, the expressions on these people's faces would not be friendly.
It was not like he had not heard the overwhelming boos at the Bernabéu. For a guy like him, who would be booed wherever he went, he was long used to the boos.
"Look, look at them smiling at you. Wave and greet them. Wait until the game, you won't see such friendly smiles anymore. "
Tang En said to the players in the bus, and immediately there was a burst of laughter in the bus.
The bus turned into the main entrance of the hotel, where the reporters had been waiting for a long time.
Reporters from all over the world would gather in Madrid in the next few days to bring back reports from the frontline for the fans.
The Forest players, who were used to seeing big scenes, did not care about the reporters. After they got out of the car, they walked straight into the hotel. Some of the more popular and popular players would be stopped by the reporters and interviewed for a few words. However, when Tony Twain was the last to alight, the reporters immediately let go of the players and ran towards him.
When Tang En saw the reporters pouncing towards him, it was as though he had seen a pack of wolves with drooling mouths and green eyes. He whistled.
"Mr. Twain, is this your first time competing at the Bernabéu?"
"I don't know. I don't remember."
"Can you predict the outcome of the match?"
"I'm sorry, I never predict the outcome of a match or the score before a match."
Twain said so, but the reporters did not think so. They had their own ways of digging out Twain's true thoughts.
"Mr. Twain, first of all, congratulations to your team for winning both the domestic league and cup competitions. Then … do you still have the confidence to win the third championship? "
"Since we've entered the finals, are we here to fight for second place?"
Tang En spread his hands.
He had previously said that he would never predict the outcome of a match, but did he not say it himself? The reporters laughed in satisfaction.
"What's your assessment of Real Madrid? This season, Real Madrid also won the league title … "
"Real Madrid is very strong. They're the strongest team in Spain. I'm very happy to be able to meet such an opponent in the finals, and not just any Tom, Dick or Harry. "He seemed to have shown enough respect for Real Madrid.
"Now, you have the hope of winning the great Treble. Are you worried that such pressure will cause the team to perform poorly? "
Tang En laughed. "I'm worried that they won't be able to sleep well at night. I'm worried that they'll get injured in the match. I'm also worried that the flight back to England will be delayed … but I'm not worried that they'll perform poorly. Perform poorly? What's that? "
He was surrounded by many reporters, but he handled them with ease and was extremely at ease. If there were his female fans beside him at this moment, they would definitely scream excitedly at his performance.
"You look very confident, Mr. Twain. We all know that Franck Ribéry was brought to England from France's Ligue 2 by you, but he eventually betrayed you … "
Tang En interrupted the reporter's question. "I'm sorry, it's been many years. If it has nothing to do with this match, don't ask."
"Uh … Are you worried that he'll turn on you in the finals?" The reporter hesitated and asked a question that seemed to be related to the finals.
"He's a Real Madrid player to begin with. What's there to talk about turning on me?" Tang En looked at the expectant reporters and paused. "He's an excellent player. He's always done well at Real Madrid. I'm very pleased that I didn't choose the wrong person back then."
With that, he pushed away the reporters and squeezed into the perimeter of the security guards. He was protected as he walked into the hotel.
"Mr. Twain! I still have questions … "
"Manager Twain, Manager Twain!"
The question about Ribéry suddenly reminded him of the past. He did not like to reminisce about the past in public. He turned a deaf ear to the shouts behind him and quickly walked into the elevator opposite. He turned around and looked at the crowd outside. There was not the slightest smile on his face. Until the elevator doors closed in front of everyone, he still had the same expression.
This expression clearly told the reporters that he was angry. The interview was over.
In fact, he had almost forgotten about Ribéry a lot of the time. Because after he went to Real Madrid, the two of them never contacted each other again. The letter that Ribéry left for Tang En was their last contact. That letter was even torn into pieces by Tang En in the morning breeze in Wilford.
The English media was always arrogant. Outside of England, they would not report. Even the smallest matters in the domestic football world could make the headlines. They did not care about what happened in the football world abroad. Therefore, it was not easy to find out about a player in Spain's La Liga from the English media.
When the finals results came out, he thought of Ribéry. His feelings for the kid were very complicated. On one hand, he liked Ribéry very much. After all, he was the one who brought him from France to England and groomed him. There would always be feelings for him. On the other hand, he still brooded over Ribéry's two-faced behavior of abandoning him. Nottingham Forest had long replaced the old with new players, and there were not many players left from the same batch as Ribéry. Tang En still wanted to seize this opportunity to teach Ribéry a lesson.
Today, Ribéry was still the main player of Real Madrid. Even though he was already 31 years old, his role in the midfield was still very big. As he grew older, his speed decreased year by year, but his skills, experience, and fighting spirit effectively made up for the lack of speed. Van der Vaart had long left Real Madrid, but Ribéry was still the main player. This could more or less explain the difference in status between the two in the Forest team — Ribéry was the core, but van der Vaart was only the main player.
Kerslake was waiting for him at the elevator door when he took the elevator to the 11th floor. Seeing him come out, he waved the room key in his hand. "1101, your room."
Tang En took the room key.
Kerslake asked again, "Have you thought about what to say to Ribéry when you meet him?"
Tang En shrugged. "If his team loses to us, I'll hug him. If we win … Ah, damn it, it's too unlucky to say such things before a game! "
He waved the room key and walked into his room.
※ ※ ※
Ribéry was receiving a massage in Valdebebas's physiotherapy room. His back was a little sore, and he did not want it to affect his chances of playing in the finals. So, even though the team doctor did not say anything, he insisted on the massage to relax.
Lying on the bed, he quietly enjoyed the massage. Ribéry narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling a little sleepy.
When the opponents for the finals were decided, the memories in the depths of his mind began to become restless. They had become more active in the past few days.
He thought of his days and nights at Nottingham Forest.
His career before Nottingham Forest was not worth mentioning, and he had almost forgotten about it. For him, he would not have any objection to saying that his career started at Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest, Nottingham Forest …
How many years had passed since he left there? Almost five and a half years.
Ever since he left Forest, he had not met this team on the field. He did not expect to meet them for the first time in the UEFA Champions League final. Fate really made a fool of him.
When he thought of Nottingham Forest, he could not help but think of their leader, their boss — Tony Twain. The current Forest players must still call him that. In the Spanish clubs, they did not call a manager that.
Given the boss's temper, he could still stay there for ten years. Indeed, such a thing could only happen in English football.
Although Twain did not know much about Ribéry's life in Madrid, Ribéry continued to pay attention to him. For example, he knew that Twain had the last laugh in the bet with Spicer about eating a table. He also knew that Forest had just won the FA Cup.
Even if he did not deliberately pay attention, there would always be news about him in the media. The Spanish media did not report much about the foreign football scene, but Tony Twain was special. He could always attract the attention of the news media and stir up everyone's interest.
In fact, Ribéry was full of anticipation for this reunion with Nottingham Forest. He really wanted to play against his former boss on the field. It was a different kind of feeling. As for what it was, he could not say.
Just as Ribéry was about to fall asleep, the physiotherapist's massage ended.
The physiotherapist gently patted him on the shoulder, waking him up from his half-asleep state. "Franck, do your best for the game the day after tomorrow!"
※ ※ ※
Twain discovered a very interesting phenomenon. It more or less explained his image in the world of football.
Perhaps this phenomenon could only change when he played against Juventus. Because the Old Lady and Nottingham Forest were both conservative and utilitarian, yet so stable that it made people despair.
In the past few days, many famous figures in the world of football had expressed their views on the Champions League final. They were unwilling to be left out and appeared in various major media outlets.
Someone called Twain's team thieves. "… Those thieves don't care about playing football. They care about winning. For them, only winning is what they need. For that, they will do anything. I think they are strangling the life of football. It's a pity that in this year's Champions League final, we will see such a thief. "
There were also people whose subjective feelings were clearly biased towards Real Madrid, just because they played better. "Míchel González's football is the art of football that makes people feel refreshed. As one of the former Five Eagles of Real Madrid, he used to be a supervisor in Real Madrid's youth camp. He knows what Real Madrid's football is about. Having such a coach to lead Real Madrid is obviously much better than hiring those world famous managers from outside. Two years ago, when Míchel took office, everyone compared him to 'Real Madrid's Guardiola.' Now I'm very happy that he is walking on the path that Guardiola once walked. Even though I'm a Barcelona fan, I also want to give a standing ovation for the football that Real Madrid is playing today. "The person who said this was Barcelona's godfather, Cruyff. Although his team was eliminated by Real Madrid, he still gave his applause to his arch-rival. It could be seen that Real Madrid was playing beautifully today.
After a period of detours, they had once again found the correct path of Real Madrid's football.
Franck Ribéry, a former FIFA World Player of the Year and winner of the Ballon d 'Or, joined Real Madrid during the winter break of the 08-09 season. Cristiano Ronaldo transferred to Real Madrid in the 12-13 season. In addition, they also had the best forward combination in European football — the 31-year-old Huntelaar, the 26-year-old Benzema, and the 26-year-old Higuaín. Such an offensive combination was the capital and foundation for them to play offensive football.
Today, Real Madrid had superstars with box office appeal, and at the same time, they also had a tactical style of play that advocated offense. It was no wonder that Cruyff praised them sincerely.
Looking at Nottingham Forest's side, George Wood was already the team's number one star player. What amused the Spaniards was that the team's number one star player was a butcher in the midfield. This just showed what the characteristics of this team were …
Ibišević was the team's top striker, but compared to Benzema, Huntelaar and the others, he was still a level lower. As for those in the midfield … there was no need to mention them.
What did this Nottingham Forest team have to compete with the star-studded Real Madrid?
If they did not rely on conservatism and utility, what could they rely on?
If Twain dared to play against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, everyone in the world except him would think that he was dead meat!
So, once Twain was conservative and utilitarian, he would be condemned by everyone. If he was not utilitarian and conservative, everyone would think that he would definitely lose the game.
Looking at this logic, no one felt that there was anything wrong with it, because it happened to this guy, Tony Twain.
So, did he want the championship title or reputation?
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