Godfather Of Champions

It was not an exaggeration at all when the commentator said “long time no see, the attacking players of Nottingham Forest.” In fact, the Forest team’s offensive players had not appeared in the view of the cameras and fans for a long time.

Since they scored the goal in the Barcelona goal, they had played under pressure from Barcelona. The rare few attacks had either gone nowhere or were cut off halfway. Bendtner even had to come back to participate in the defense.

Now, the Forest team launched another attack. Would the result be the same as the previous few times?

It was unknown.

“Ribéry receives the ball and sends it out beautifully! Eastwood prepares to receive…”

Ribéry certainly saw Eastwood. It felt different being in the middle versus on the flank. His job was simple on the flank. All he had to do was to break through the opponent, and then pass the ball. But he had more options in the middle. Eastwood, who came up to receive, was a choice but he could not pass it that way.

Why? Because when he saw Eastwood, the Barcelona players also saw Eastwood pulled back to receive.

Puyol followed Eastwood. If he passed the ball over, it would be hard for Eastwood to receive with his back to the offensive direction. He could barely turn around under Puyol’s watch. It would be an irresponsible pass and a pass that was in line with Barcelona’s wishes.

He could not pass the ball like that. Ribéry bent his head and saw that Ashley Young was just running across from the flank to the middle. This was a way.

Just as the two men were about to cross paths, Ribéry passed the football to Ashley Young, who ran across diagonally. Then he ran across to the right flank without the ball. He and Ashley Young had completed a change of position from left to right.

The Barcelona’s defensive line was fast-retreating except that several players on the front line could not run fast enough. After all, they were the offensive players, and not the defensive players. Asking them to retreat immediately and defend after losing the ball was tough.

The Barcelona players thought Ashley Young would continue to dribble the ball on the left flank after he received the ball. Unexpectedly, he only ran a couple of steps before he turned and passed the football back to Franck Ribéry, who was running past.

Ribéry did not continue to dribble the ball toward the right flank. Instead, he adjusted his direction at the same time as he caught the ball and faced Barcelona’s goal head-on!

Since he and Ashley Young had passed each other and changed positions, which resulted in no one keeping an eye on him, he seized the opportunity and suddenly swung his leg to take a long shot before Márquez rushed up.

“What a fantastic long shot!”

As the football came whizzing by, Valdés dared not try to catch it. He could only jump and punch the ball out with both fists.

“In most cases, Ribéry gives people the impression that he’s a winger who relies on his speed and skills to break through on the flanks, and then passes the ball. This long shot reminds us that he is also a goalscorer who has a personal highest score of nine goals in a single season!”

Indeed, Ribéry’s highest number of goals scored was nine goals in his most successful season in the English Premier League. It was his first season in the Premier League, and it was also that season when his superb speed and sharp breakthroughs, as well as his excellent scoring ability, made him the best foreign player of the season.

He still played well in his second season. However, in his third season, after his opponents had studied his routine, he was no longer as big a threat as he had been. Furthermore, Twain had bought Petrov, who was similar to him, and many people thought that Ribéry’s once secure main position in the Forest team was gradually faltering.

In this game, Petrov sat on the bench to watch the game. The crowd had speculated if Ribéry would be replaced immediately once he did not do well.

It was time to make a change.

The football that Valdés struck out fell to the left flank of the field. Ashley Young received it, and did not hesitate to pass. Unfortunately, he was not used to using his left foot on this side, so his pass was not very good, and it was headed out by Zambrotta, who had returned to defend.

Eastwood lost the contest with Puyol, and the Barcelona captain headed the football forward with force, hoping that the returning Deco or Xavi could get it. The two of them were close in distance. It was good no matter who received the ball. It was like a double insurance.

Deco was even ready to stop the ball with his chest.

“George Wood!” As the commentator exclaimed, Deco, who was ready with his move, saw a dark shadow suddenly appear on his side from behind from thin air

George Wood flew through the air, threw his body back, and exerted all the strength in his back and core to forcefully head the football back.

Deco and Xavi had run for nothing. The football returned to Barcelona’s half of the field.

This time, it was Eastwood, not Puyol, who received the football.

After he caught the ball, Eastwood did not turn around, but directly passed the ball to Mikel Arteta, who plugged in.

Nottingham Forest’s offense was fully rolled out.

Twain’s instruction to the team was they must retreat fast and attack quickly. In short, one word: speed!

This point was well reflected in this game.

The Forest team attacked quickly. After Arteta received the football, he was surrounded with options for a passing route that he could use. Whether he passed it to Ribéry, Ashley Young, Eastwood, Bendtner, or even George Wood who was not far behind as well as Gareth Bale, who was charging up, he could pass the ball.

The biggest difference between Nottingham Forest and Barcelona was that the Forest team did care about how it looked. If there was a direct passing route, it had to be chosen.

Arteta looked around and decisively passed the football to the core of the team’s organization in the second half — Franck Ribéry.

Ribéry had reached the right flank when he caught the ball. Zambrotta thought Ribéry would break through from the flank. The change of positions between him and Ashley Young just looked like an ordinary left and right edge crossover.

Ribéry made a feint of breaking through in a straight line and managed to fool Zambrotta. He did not really directly break through. Instead, while Zambrotta shifted his center of gravity, he took the opportunity to suddenly shift the ball toward the middle and cut inside!

His left foot cut inside from the right flank to the middle. What was the most likely and best thing he would do?

“Watch out for his shot!” Valdés yelled.

He was definitely going to do the long shot which he was good at.

As if to coordinate with Valdés, Ribéry swung his left leg as he ran crosswise. He was going to shoot.

Márquez recklessly threw himself forward to block Ribéry’s long shot and completely forgot the situation behind him.

But Ribéry saw it clearly and did not shoot. It was just a feint to lure the Barcelona defensive line out and pull it apart to create gaps. Márquez rushed up and a small crack appeared in Barcelona’s otherwise consistent defensive line.

The Frenchman pulled his leg back for a push instead. The football quickly rolled past Márquez’s side into the penalty area.

“A beautiful straight pass!”

It was really beautiful. Before Ribéry sent the ball out, Bendtner had already moved to position himself in the gap and arrived as the ball came. Bendtner prepared to shoot at a narrow angle.

Had it not been for Valdés’s quick reaction to move in time to block off Bendtner’s shot angle, the running pass set piece in front of the penalty area might have really scored a goal.

The football struck Valdés’s leg and rebounded out of the end line.

Loud gasps were heard throughout the stands in Camp Nou. The Barcelona fans were horrified.

When Twain saw Bendtner and Ribéry coordinate wonderfully, he stood up with clenched fists, poised for the moment when he would pump his fists to celebrate the goal, but he did not expect Bendtner’s shot to be blocked and sent out of the end line by Valdés.

He almost lost control of his body with the ups and downs of his mood. He suddenly jumped up and then immediately punched the ground. “Such a good opportunity… and the shot didn’t actually go in! It didn’t go in!”

He was still jabbering on as he got up and walked back to his seat in the technical area.

“At least we have some good news. Ribéry’s performance was excellent.” Kerslake pacified him.

Dunn nodded beside him. “He’s better than we anticipated.”

“But that’s not enough,” Twain grumbled. “We need to put more pressure on Barcelona.” With that, he turned around and took a deep breath as he stood on the sidelines. Then he roared, “George! Speed up when you rush in for the attack! If you can’t run, I’ll bring you off!”

※※※

“Nottingham Forest’s offense has picked up. This is really a treat for the eyes of our neutral audience. It’s entertaining to watch, and the both offenses are high caliber. The current question is… who will be the first to break this current thorny stalemate?”

The Forest team’s corner kick was headed out by Lilian Thuram. Lying in wait outside, Arteta tried a direct long shot, but kicked it high, causing Twain to slap his own thigh from his seat off the field. In the face of such situation, he did not want to see his players being hasty. He would have prefered to see Arteta slow the ball down to reorganize the attack, rather than kick the ball toward the grandstand.

Barcelona continued its offensive against the Forest team after the ball was sent out from the goalpost. The situation on the field was in a deadlock and it looked like everyone had a chance, but every opportunity seemed to brush past them. Fate appeared to be playing tricks on the emotions of fans from both teams. Sometimes it made them nervous, and other times, it let them relax. Every so often, it excited and frustrated them.

The first twenty minutes of the second were a stalemate.

Twain did not replace any players. He was waiting for an opportunity. He believed that Rijkaard would not be willing to obtain just one point at Camp Nou. He would definitely start to deploy offensive players at the last minute. That point would be his chance.

In everyone’s view, Twain should have been satisfied with this situation. In fact, he had the same idea as Rijkaard: failure was unacceptable. A draw was equally unacceptable.

The game had gone on for seventy-three minutes and Rijkaard finally could not sit still. He was going to make an adjustment first.

The Brazilian full-back, Belletti replaced Thuram. This was not an adjustment in defense. Belletti had a very good assist ability and Rijkaard brought him on to strengthen Barcelona’s flank attack.

Seeing this change, Twain also got up from his seat and asked Kerslake to call van Nistelrooy back from his warm-up. Bendtner was still not up to scratch. He now needed an experienced world-class center forward with remarkable awareness. Twain needed a terminator.

Bendtner was not as good as van Nistelrooy.

After calling van Nistelrooy to his side, Twain looked up to observe his expression first and found nothing unusual.

“I only have one request.” Twain extended his index finger. “Do everything you can to score goals.”

Van Nistelrooy nodded. He liked this. He was an experienced striker. If a manager prattled in his ear, he would just feel like he was being underestimated and did not have the trust he deserved.

“Go and terminate them!”

Van Nistelrooy was brought on and Bendtner trotted off the field. Twain grabbed hold of him and said, “You did a good job, Nick.”

“Thank you, chief, but I didn’t get that goal…”

Twain interrupted Bendtner’s self-blame with a smile. “Even an excellent striker cannot guarantee a goal every time he shoots. If you’re not willing to accept that, practice more shooting when you’re back in training!”

※※※

“Both sides have made offensive adjustments and it seems that in the final moments of the game, neither team will settle for this 1:1 draw. This is really exciting!”

After Wood was yelled at by Twain, Wood ran faster and was more resolute when he attacked. Naturally, there was more room behind him for Barcelona’s offense to partake.

The balance between offense and defense had always been a big conundrum for every team’s coaches and players. Twain did not expect Wood to perform spectacularly in this area. Strengthening the offense was bound to weaken the defense. The price of a solid defense was the sacrifice of a lot of opportunities to counterattack.

This was the manager’s dilemma to face.

Twain chose to attack twenty minutes before the end of the game; bringing on van Nistelrooy was a clear signal.

The Dutchman was more experienced and he was better than Bendtner at cutting in for the goal. With the assist from Eastwood and Ribéry, it looked like Twain wanted to win this game at all costs.

The consequence of this was that Wood loosened his mark on Ronaldinho and as a result, Barcelona would have plenty of attacking opportunities as well.

Now it was up to the teams to be one step ahead.

※※※

After Ronaldinho shook off George Wood’s defense, he had to pass the football to Eto’o while being hindered. Eto’o played with frustration during this game. His speed was impeded under the Forest team’s intense defense. Whenever he received the football, he could only attempt to shoot, or send the ball out again.

In terms of shooting, because Twain had asked the defensive line to push Eto’o out of the penalty area before this game, the farther away from the goal the better, Eto’o could only rely on long shots instead. Now that he discovered the Forest team’s defense seemed a bit slack, he planned to break directly though.

With a nimble and quick change of direction, Eto’o bypassed Kompany’s defense, intending to squeeze through the cracks in the crowd. Just as he was about to succeed, Piqué rushed up to fill the gap.

He kicked the football out before Eto’o got to it and then knocked into the African cheetah, who could not stop in time. The two men fell to the ground at the same time. Another deafening hiss erupted in the stands. The Barcelona fans obviously thought this should have been another penalty, but the referee did not issue the penalty and signaled for the game to continue.

The ball that Piqué kicked reached Ashley Young’s foot. He did not pass it forward, because Barcelona rushed up to snatch at this point. By the time he adjusted the football, there was no room to send it forward. He could only protect the ball on the flank to either wait for his teammates to come up to support or kick the football on the Barcelona players’ bodies for the ball to bounce toward the sidelines and receive an out of bounds ball.

The second option was a desperate move, because once that happened, it meant that Barcelona’s defense had been successful, and they had stopped a fast attack by the Forest team.

The first option was a little difficult. Chimbonda wanted to come up to help, but he was closely followed by Eto’o. As for Arteta? His position was not very good and he himself could not confirm his location properly.

“Here!” Just as Ashley Young was ready to kick the ball out of bounds, he heard the captain’s voice.

Looking up, George Wood appeared in front of him, and there was no one around him for the time being. The Barcelona players apparently did not think that George Wood would pop up here to take the initiative to get the ball and participate in the attack. Ashley Young didn’t hesitate. He immediately passed the ball. Then he turned and continued to run forward, rounding the outside of the field. He would run over quickly so that Wood could pass the ball to him and they could do a penetrating two-over-one pass! After half a season or so of hands-on practice during training and competition, Ashley Young clearly understood Wood’s ability for long passes. He knew that this was the best way to rip through Barcelona’s defensive line.

Because he accelerated and ran, widening his distance from Barcelona’s Deco, the Barcelona players also thought Wood would choose to pass the ball at first chance, making use of Ashley Young’s fast speed. While everyone was trying to prevent Wood from passing, Wood unexpectedly chose to dribble the ball himself.

Wood did not dribble quickly, but he was steady. Deco followed Ashley Young as he ran for a distance. When he found that Wood had no intention of passing the ball, he turned back to defend against George Wood.

Up against Deco, Wood did not continue to dribble the ball, but passed it on to Mikel Arteta, who had ran up with him. Arteta then passed the football to Gareth Bale, who followed up from his left back position. The Barcelona players’ attention shifted to the flank according to the football. Then Bale suddenly made a cross pass.

The football passed between the players of both teams. No one intercepted it, and it ended up at Wood’s feet!

He had not gone back after he passed the ball. He continued forward to provide support. When Bale saw him, he sent the football over.

By this time, Wood was only ten meters away from the edge of Barcelona’s penalty arc. However, it was not easy to run this length as Barcelona had erected a barrier to block Nottingham Forest’s attack.

Puyol commanded the team’s defensive line to collectively press ahead to create an offside. As long as Wood passed the ball forward, either the Forest team’s two forwards were offside, or no one received the ball.

Meanwhile, Deco continued to move toward Wood, intending to intercept at the first opportunity.

Should he pass the ball or dribble it himself?

Wood looked at the large swathes of emptiness in front of him and suddenly kicked to send the football to the right flank.

It was equally empty over there, but a second later, a figure appeared in front of the camera. It was Ashley Young!

He had been running, but when he realized that Wood had not passed him the ball, he had stopped. Later, when he saw Wood received the ball for the second time and was blocked by Barcelona’s creation of an offside, he keenly spotted the neglected length of the flank. Ashley Young did not know if George Wood would see the empty section or if Wood would have sent the football to his side when he ran up.

However, at worse, he would have run for nothing. But if he did not run, there would not even be a chance. He chose to run ahead.

This was not an offensive routine that had been practiced in training. Wood did not turn his head to see Ashley Young’s exact location, but he accurately sent the football to Ashley Young’s feet.

“How did he see that?” The commentator’s exclamation was also Rijkaard’s question.

Everyone was focused on Wood, who had been dribbling the ball in the middle. The Barcelona defensive line unconsciously followed to concentrate in the middle, intending to completely blockade the defensive midfielder who was poor in offense and dribble.

They did not expect Wood to suddenly pass the ball to a spot that was not in his field of vision. There was a piercing sound and Barcelona’s defensive line was ripped apart.

After Ashley Young received the ball on the flank, he saw empty space in front of him. He tilted to adjust the football, and then dribbled the ball as he rushed into the penalty area.

Zambrotta gave his all to return to defend. It looked like there was still some hope to stop Ashley Young before he entered the danger zone.

Young swung his foot. Whether he was about to pass the ball or shoot, Zambrotta ran over in large strides and extended his leg to block.

This was not a shot, but it was no ordinary pass either. Ashley Young let the football roll close to the ground to his side, near the penalty kick spot.

Eastwood and Ribéry did not receive the ball in front of the goal, but van Nistelrooy’s professional sensitivity made him run towards the goal. He suddenly withdrew and received the ball. He did not hesitate and swing his foot.

Valdés’s quick response was amazing. Although there was usually a lot of criticism about him, his performance at this moment was amazing.

When he ran to seal off the corner, he saw the football being passed back. He quickly turned and ran to the middle of the goal. He ran halfway when he saw van Nistelrooy swing his leg to shoot. Valdés immediately sprang up and pounced on the football.

Van Nistelrooy’s shot did not enter the goal!

The Forest players had intended to raise their hands to cheer for the goal, which was replaced by the cheers from the Barcelona fans in the stands behind the goal.

They were ready to shout Valdés’s name. But just as the first syllable had come out of their mouths, the front of the goal had a sudden change.

Valdés had tried hard to pounce on the football the first time, but he did not have the capacity to strike the football furtheraway . The football landed in front of the goal, and Valdés himself had fallen to the ground. Just as he was struggling to stand up again, he caught a whiff of danger.

The football was right in front of him and near his hand, but the length of his hand away, and unfortunately, the danger also happened to be that far away.

Ribéry had initially intended to rush up to grab the ball but he did not expect Ashley Young to pass the ball to van Nistelrooy behind himself. He thought he had run for nothing, but, unexpectedly, van Nistelrooy’s shot did not go in. Valdés had pounced. And even more surprisingly, the ball that was struck out happened to land not far from his feet!

It was a golden opportunity!

Ribéry, who was ready to shoot, suddenly felt a powerful tug coming from behind him, trying to pull him to the ground. Evidently, Márquez, the Barcelona center back who had leaned in behind him, did it.

Valdés was also trying to get up from the ground, intending to grab the football.

How can I let you get what you want?

Ribéry did not fight with Márquez. He did not have time to compete with him on strength. He took advantage of Márquez’s pulling force and threw his body out, so that he could free his feet and use them to do more important things, such as turning his body around to shoot!

Valdés saw that his hands were approaching the football. It was just half a hand’s distance. But in the next moment, the football was gone, and he looked up to see fragments of grass.

“Franck Ribéry! He has scored a goal! He has fallen in front of the Barcelona goal with Márquez. Is it a foul? No, it’s not a foul! The referee indicated that the goal is valid! Nottingham Forest leads Barcelona for the second time at Camp Nou! Look at Tony Twain’s excitement on the sidelines. Ha, he looks as if he had scored the goal himself! Like a forest shrouded in thick fog and perils, Nottingham Forest has trapped Barcelona inside. Can Rijkaard’s team escape? They don’t have much time. There are only seventeen minutes left!”

In one of the camera footages, Twain swung his fists toward the sky and yelled with his mouth wide open. A little further away, Rijkaard stood on the sidelines, with his arms folded across his chest. He bit down hard on his lower lip with a grim expression.

The background for these two men was the blurry stands of Camp Nou, a roaring sea of red and blue.