Godfather Of Champions

The day after the announcement of the contract renewal, Nottingham Forest ushered in their league tournament opponents at home.

Nottingham Forest’s current situation was very delicate.

On one hand, they were making triumphant progress in the Champions League; on the other hand, Manchester United continued to narrow the gap in points.

By the time they got to this game, the point difference between the two teams had shrunk from the highest at twelve points to the lowest at four.

Despite that, Twain still hid away half of his main force before the second Champions League game with Inter Milan. Even George Wood was seated on the substitutes’ bench.

The recent competition schedule was so intense that Twain had to consider every player’s stamina, which was also a decision made by the fitness coach.

In the end, Nottingham Forest shook hands and made peace with Aston Villa at 2:2 in the home game.

On the other side, Manchester United defeated Bolton Wanderers by 2:1 in the away game. The point difference between both teams was now at two points.

It was two points with a one-game difference.

The media in Manchester had already called out the catchphrase that they were going to overtake Nottingham Forest and return to the second place in the rankings.

Since they were being eliminated from the Champions League group stage, Manchester United’s condition became better. It was a blessing in disguise.

While Nottingham Forest and Manchester United were constantly tangled with each other, Chelsea continued to leave everyone else in the dust. At the end of the 32nd round of the league, Chelsea had already accumulated seventy-nine points. They had ranked first since the third round of the league and had never been dethroned.

Chelsea now looked like an invincible legion with outstanding players, excellent coaches, and a generous boss. This season, the English media had been discussing who could surpass Chelsea and unseat them. They came to a conclusion now; there was no hope of it happening this season.

Chelsea had accumulated 79 points, and Nottingham Forest had 71. With six rounds left in the league tournament, eight points might not be insurmountable, but the theoretical possibility of winning the title was useless to Twain. He was aware that if he wanted to win the title this season, not only must his team win consecutively for the last six rounds, but Chelsea must also lose in succession. Considering the fact that the Forest team also had to participate in the Champions League, it would be too difficult to achieve that.

Twain’s goal was to go as far as possible in the Champions League while holding the second place in the league tournament. In that way, they could continue to be in the Champions League next season and make money.

Now he sensed danger in the two-point gap between them and Manchester United. For the first time in the entire league tournament, he felt that the chasers were closing in on them. With only two points, too many things could happen with only six rounds left in the league tournament.

However, what troubled Twain even more was that he had no time to worry about the relentless Manchester United at all. In his mind, the crisis of Manchester United catching up needed to be temporarily placed in second. The first thing which urgently needed to be resolved was the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals with Inter Milan.

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The next day after the game with Aston Villa, Inter Milan’s plane flew to London.

Twain had originally planned to rely on the tactic of defensive counterattacking in the away game and then using offense to eliminate Inter Milan when they returned to their home ground.

However, he had changed his mind after scoring the two away goals at the Meazza stadium.

Having lost two goals at home, Mancini must let Inter Milan choose to play offense in this game if they wanted to advance. Not to mention that surpassing those two away goals, Inter Milan must at least break the balance of the 2:2 score. Therefore, they must attack. If they still chose to play defense in this game, then Inter Milan would just be eliminated ninety minutes later.

As long as Inter Milan attacked, they should be able to find their opponents’ defensive loopholes. Twain was resolved to use the defensive counterattack at their home ground and quietly lie in wait for Inter Milan.

When they went to Italy, the two thousand Nottingham fans deeply felt the Inter Milan fans’ enthusiasm. Now it was their turn to show the Italian fans their more enthusiastic side.

The thunderous singing voices in the City Ground stadium, which could only accommodate twenty-seven people, made it impossible for the Italian fans to be heard.

“These English madmen…” grumbled the Italian fans. But that remark was not an exaggeration. The Nottingham Forest fans really were crazy. The Englishmen’s singing started before the game had even begun and had not stopped once.

Their voices never seemed to be hoarse and never stopped singing. In other countries’ league tournaments, so as to liven up the atmosphere and make the game look more exciting, there could be a live broadcast to play the fans’ cries to cheer the players on and to make everyone feel as though the fans were really singing and shouting in the stadium.

However, only the stadiums in England used “manual labor.” The live broadcast was only used to announce the list of appearances, goals, substitutions, and other procedural items. The atmosphere of the game completely depended on the fans’ mouths.

A qualified English football fan must carry lozenges with him when he attended a game.

With all the singing, cursing, and cheering, they seemed to be a harmonious chorus. They reacted along with the changes in the situation of the game. Those who did not understand would think they were too noisy, like static. And those people who understood thought that it was the most wonderful thing. When one thought about it, tens of thousands of people shouting one’s name at the same time, singing spontaneously written songs praising oneself, that feeling was wondrous!

Of course, for their opponents, it was a nightmare.

In this game, Inter Milan actively launched an onslaught in Nottingham Forest’s penalty area right from the start. Nottingham Forest also retreated, just like the first leg of both teams.

No matter how ugly the battle was when they were bombarded by the opponents in a siege around the goal area, they would not hear the Nottingham Forest fans’ dissatisfied boos. They continued to cheer for the team as always. As long as they made one fantastic defense, they would receive the full applause from the stands.

That was the driving force that supported the Forest team to move forward.

In the first half, the Forest team and Inter Milan tied at 0:0.

This was what Twain wanted to see.

In the second half, the teams changed sides and fought again. The Forest team did not change their tactics. They launched occasional counterattacks to threaten Inter Milan’s goal.

Inter Milan had more chances in this game than in the first round. But after the bombardment, when the smoke dissipated, Inter Milan supporters hopelessly discovered that Nottingham Forest’s goal remained intact. The score on the electronic scoreboard did not change in the slightest.

The Forest team’s defensive formations were well maintained. Once the Inter Milan players charged into the thirty-meter area, they found that there was no room to pass the ball.

As the game progressed, the more Nottingham Forest defended, the more confident they became and the more impatient Inter Milan became.

The Inter Milan players realized that if this score remained the same to the end, they would be eliminated because of the lack of away goals. They just needed one goal to change that outcome.

Inter Milan’s offense came in waves. Mancini sent all the attacking players he could send to strike a goal at the last moment to save him and their fate.

“One goal! We just need one goal!” Inter Milan’s captain, Javier Zanetti, urged his teammates on so that they did not give up the game.

“Defend! Don’t let them get close!” Albertini shouted.

The game had entered a climactic stage. For the sake of their own victory, it could be said that both teams became almost unscrupulous as far as the rules were allowed in the situation. In fact, the main performance lay with Nottingham Forest.

In order to waste time in the game, the Forest players paid the price of three yellow cards in the last five minutes. Even Edwin van der Sar received his first yellow card in the season’s Champions League because he took too long to throw the ball. Moreover, the players who received the yellow cards were spread out. Twain specifically briefed those players. He could not allow the players with existing yellow cards to deliberately get another one. The gains would not make up for the losses.

In addition to some overly obvious time-wasting in the game, there were some actions which would not result in a yellow card but objectively did cause the game time to be used up. In the last five minutes, for example, Nottingham Forest had three players fall on the field with cramps in their calves due to depleted physical strength. They were Anelka, Franck Ribéry, and Leighton Baines, who were in the forward, midfield and rear positions. When those three men held their calves in pain as they tumbled to the ground, who knew if they really had muscle cramps or were faking it?

However, the Forest players played fiercely. It would make sense that they were unable to endure physically in the last moments. If George Wood suddenly fell in pain to show that he was cramping, he would probably be booed; it would be too fake.

George Wood had excellent stamina. Whenever the Inter Milan players ran until they were exhausted and could still see the opposing number 13 in full sprint, they would feel a surge of despair from the bottom of their hearts.

The last moment of the game was the most stressful. Twain would never dare to joke and laugh with David Kerslake next to him about how they had won. His heart would not feel settled until the last second of the game.

Inter Milan had one last chance to attack. It was a corner kick!

Even their goalkeeper, Júlio César, gave up defending the goal and rushed over to huddle in the crowd to prepare for the fight for the header. There was no need to defend the goal any longer. If the ball did not get in, Inter Milan’s road to this season’s Champions League would end here.

After the corner kick was out, the Forest team’s goal area was chaotic. The people in the stands, in the commentator’s box, and technical area on the sidelines could not see clearly what had happened in front of the goal.

Did the ball get in?

Who has possession of the ball now?

Son of a b**ch, don’t block my view!

Is there a foul?

What’s going on down there?

Amidst the chaos, an Inter Milan player seemed to raise his arms, but his arms were quickly put down.

Materazzi’s header into the goal was very powerful. Edwin van der Sar could not save it in time. However, Chimbonda, who stood next to the goal post, blocked it. Chaos immediately followed. Someone kicked the ball, and someone else kicked another person. In the complete messy situation, Júlio César discovered that the football was right in front of him!

This was his chance to be a hero!

When he swung his leg, he found that someone else was faster to kick the ball than he was, except that it was in the opposite direction.

Amidst the chaos, George Wood became keenly aware of the unmarked Júlio César, as well as the football in front of him. Therefore, he risked being awarded a penalty kick for tackling a player in the penalty area and shoveled the football before César!

When they saw the football fly out of the sidelines, all of the Nottingham Forest people heaved a sigh of relief.

At the same time, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

“The game is over!”

Twain stood up with both his arms raised high and his fists tightly clenched. His nails dug into his flesh. His heart had almost exploded just now, it was all so thrilling. If César had scored that goal, perhaps he would not have been able to stand up from his seat.

Fortunately, it was no longer in doubt.

“Congratulations Nottingham Forest! They now advance into the Champions League semi-finals! This is a great achievement for Tony Twain’s team!”

“On the other hand, I feel sorry for Inter Milan. They fought bravely in this away game. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side. Farewell, Inter Milan. Try again next season!”

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The Red Forest returns to Europe!

That was not the local Nottingham media tooting their own horn. It was the front-page headline of La Gazzetta Dello Sport in Italy. Under the headline, the image of the red Nottingham Forest players racing to celebrate contrasted sharply with the opposing blue-and-black Inter Milan players.

There was also a small photograph below the large cover photograph, which showed the same red figures. But the style of the jerseys was very old. It was a photograph of the glorious period when Nottingham Forest had won the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 1979.

With the two photographs put together, the meaning was obvious. It was to remind everyone that the team, after being almost forgotten by the world, was back.

The Italians analyzed the game from a tactical level and thought that Inter Milan’s defeat to Nottingham Forest was not unfair. Twain had used the Italians’ best defensive tactic to eliminate the Italian team. He made the Italians wholly concede their defeat.

Invincible Youth

That was the headline of the Spanish newspaper Diario AS. The main highlight of the article focused on the ages of the Forest players. The Spanish reporters said it was not unbelievable for the Forest team to reach the semi-finals. After all, the team was considered to be the darkest dark horse in the group stage of the Champions League. What amazed people more was that the team was so young. From the assistant manager to the manager and all the players, they were all so young. The 37-year-old Tony Twain was the youngest manager in the history of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

All of a sudden, Twain’s name and photograph were on the front pages of the major European sports media. The UEFA Champions League Magazine even released a carefully prepared feature film to introduce an overall view of Tony Twain and the astonishing Forest team.

The name Nottingham Forest was repeatedly mentioned in various articles. Evan was so delighted he could not stop smiling. He was once again convinced that he had made the right decision in choosing Twain and letting him stay on.

Nottingham Forest’s opponents in the Champions League semi-finals had already been decided. It would be an English civil war. The confrontation between the two sides had its origin in history. It began from the Nottingham Forest players who had first established this now brilliant club: Arsenal.

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When the assistant manager Pat Rice knocked on the door of the manager’s office, Wenger was fiddling with his video recorder.

“You called for me, what’s the matter? What are you doing, Arsène?”

“I asked you to come and study my latest video.” Wenger squatted on the ground and did not lift up his head. “As you can see, I’m jiggling with this VCR. There’s a little bit of a problem, but it doesn’t matter.”

“But there was no competition yesterday…” Rice opened his hands in puzzlement. He walked over to the snowy television screen.

“It’s not a video of a game, Pat.” Wenger stood up with the remote control in his hand, turned to his assistant manager, and said, “Did you watch it? The latest edition of the UEFA Champions League Magazine.”

Pat Rice guessed, “You mean the edition that introduced Nottingham Forest?”

Wenger nodded. “What do you think of that episode?”

“It wasn’t bad. I learned a lot of things that I didn’t understand before. It was interesting. I seldom see such a meticulous feature about a football club. But that guy, Twain, doesn’t act like a football manager. He acts more like a primetime soap opera star.”

“That isn’t something we care about. Even if he decides to release an album, it’s none of our concern.” Wenger was not interested in Twain’s character.

“So, you called me here to…”

“I recorded that episode. I partly agree with you. The show is very detailed, as if it were a documentary. I don’t think that’s Tony Twain acting and showing off in front of the camera. That’s just how he is.” Wenger pressed the remote control in his hand and an image appeared on the screen. It was the scene where Twain was urging his players on the sidelines of the training ground. “So, I think that this episode is very valuable for our research. Especially before the Champions League semi-final game.”