Godfather Of Champions

“Franck Ribéry — he seized the chance to shoot from the crowd! Nottingham Forest leads Barcelona for the second time! The game is still has… seventeen minutes. This situation is really bad news for Rijkaard’s team. If they want to win, they have — including injury stoppage time — just a little more than twenty minutes to score two consecutive goals and make sure their defensive line does not continue to concede any goals. This will be difficult… The Nottingham Forest fans are cheering. This is a really delightful score for them!”

Fat John and Bill hugged each other in the stands. This score not only made them happy, it was also thrilling for them. The hardcore fans were obviously well aware what the win at Camp Nou meant for them. Throughout the ages, there were only a handful of teams that could take this stadium.

“Guys, let’s sing!” John turned towards the back and hollered at the thousands of Forest fans in the stands.

“We’ve got the whole world in our hands! We overcome every attack, we’re invincible! Because we’re the strongest team! Oh, oh, oh—”

After a few seconds of silence, the Barcelona fans booed loudly again to drown out the singing voices of the Forest fans.

The Forest fans saw this situation and raised their volume. They only had seven thousand people, but they did not want to lose to the seventy-thousand Barcelona fans.

At the end, the Barcelona fans struggled with their booing, and the Forest fans tried harder to raise the volume. They were no longer singing but yelling out the song. They yelled at the top of their lungs until their throats were hoarse.

As the Forest fans in the stands frantically battled the Barcelona fans, the Forest players on the field frantically celebrated their goal. They celebrated heedlessly in front of the Barcelona players.

Ribéry led his group of teammates and ran across the vast tract of the field. They rushed toward the stands where the Forest fans were. A group of them waved their arms and conducted the fans’ singing to make them sing louder.

It was really an opportune moment to incite the mood.

Even Tony Twain’s celebration was a bit more excessive than normal. He had no intention of giving his opponent a shred of respect at the stadium. He celebrated as if he were on his home ground. He hugged all the coaches and substitutes, and turned around and brandished his fists at the Barcelona fans in the stands behind him as a show of force.

The move certainly invited more violent abuse at him. If he could have understood Catalan, the words of abuse were vicious enough to bring the dead back to life. It was a pity he could not understand. He just smiled and looked at the angry Barcelona fans. He bowed slightly, and turned around and let them see his back.

“Before the game, we thought that when Tony Twain vowed that the game was within his control, he was either just lying and it was a psychological warfare, or he really had something up his sleeves to deal with Barcelona. Now it looks like it’s the latter. His team does have a way of dealing with Barcelona. The Nottingham Forest players clearly remember last season’s defeat. Now they have finally found the best way to avenge that and vent their feelings. For Twain’s team, Barcelona is really the best opponent for the Round of 16, the best of the best opponents.”

“… An English team is different from the other national league teams. The manager is the soul of a team. A manager’s character often determines the character of the team. By studying Tony Twain, we clearly know what kind of person he is. To put it in not-so-nice words, he is narrow-minded, vindictive and a sore loser. And his team is likely to be the same. Barcelona beat them in last season’s final which made them unhappy. They are more motivated to play this game than any other game. It’s no surprise that they were able to lead Barcelona twice…”

“Tony Twain, even though you’re not my favorite manager in England, you represent England in the Champions League arena, so I’m going to say-well done Forest!”

“Barcelona dominated but ended up being led by the Forest team twice. Nottingham Forest was almost always in a disadvantageous position, and yet they led Barcelona twice. Football is such a marvelous game!”

“The game is not over yet. Barcelona still has a chance! Nottingham Forest has not won the game even though they scored two away goals. I’m sure Barcelona won’t let them leave Camp Nou with three points. The people here will not agree to that!”

The various countries’ commentators expressed their views in response to the situation. There were some who evaluated from an objective and neutral standpoint, there were some who professed their admiration for Tony Twain, and there were also some who encouraged Barcelona not to give up.

Compared to Twain’s flamboyant display, Rijkaard looked pained as he stood in the empty space in front of the coaches’ seats.

The Forest team was obviously good at playing defensive counterattack. After they had lured Barcelona out, they had launched a sudden counterattack. They were very familiar with this set piece.

But now it was not the time to think about why Nottingham Forest was ahead, but to seriously consider how to equalize the score and overtake them to achieve a big reversal in the last twenty-something minutes.

Rijkaard did not want to admit it, but it did present some challenges.

A big push meant that there would be a lot of gaps behind. The gaps behind them meant that there would be more opportunities for Nottingham Forest to carry out the defensive counterattacks they were best at.

Should they go all out to attack and overcome their loss with more goals or should they prudently watch their front and back as they waited for the final whistle to be blown?

Was this still a choice to be made?

Rijkaard walked back to the substitutes’ bench and summoned the French winger, Giuly.

As Rijkaard brought on Giuly, Twain also made a substitution.

He brought off Mikel Arteta and put Petrov on the field. In this way, Ribéry was completely fixed in the middle of the midfield, in a similar capacity as an attacking midfielder. Petrov would assault on the left flank.

“Both sides have made adjustments. What excites us is that the leading Nottingham Forest has not brought on a defensive player but continues to make adjustments on their offense. Tony Twain has replaced Mikel Arteta in the middle with the swift left winger, Petrov, whose speed will be an important weapon for the Forest team’s defensive counterattack. It seems that Manager Tony Twain is here to thoroughly carry out his defensive counterattack.”

The commentator said it well. Twain knew that under such circumstances, Rijkaard would have no other choice. He would never accept conceding here, and that he would definitely deploy his offensive players to stake it all to fight Nottingham Forest.

As for Twain, he would take the opportunity and continue to step up the pace of their counterattack. On one hand, their defensive lineup remained unchanged, which stabilized their defense. On the other hand, they would continue to accelerate the speed of their counterattack and increase their capability for individual combat. He knew that as the game moved to the end, it was no longer realistic to ask the team to send more people during an offensive. They could only count on the players’ individual abilities to fight back. Petrov was fast and his dribbling was excellent. He was good at passing and shooting. He was the best candidate to play the counterattack.

Rijkaard also knew Twain’s intention in doing so. He was not a fool; he could see it. Twain followed closely every time he made a substitution. Why? Because he wanted to make adjustments according to his last change. This cunning and vile fox!

Now the Dutch manager could only curse his opponent in his head. Other than that, he had no other way… he had no choice. Even if he knew that Twain was going to do that, he could only let his team continue to step up the offensive and threaten the Forest team’s goal, hoping to crack open van der Sar’s fingers soon. Barcelona only had one way to go now, which was to use offense instead of defense.

※※※

As the game went on, it entered a state whereby Barcelona frenziedly counterattacked and Nottingham Forest was battered and exhausted but defended tenaciously.

Rijkaard’s thinking was sound. Barcelona’s reckless drive and offense pushed the Forest team, which still wanted to play defensive counterattack, back to the other half of the field. Petrov, who was brought on, could only run back to participate in the defense, and simply had no time to strike back.

Going into the 80th minute, Twain made a substitution before Rijkaard. This was also his last replacement for the game. He replaced Gareth Bale with Leighton Baines to step up the defense in the left flank. When Baines came on, he passed on a message to Wood:

Twain wanted him to drop the offense and devote himself to the defense. He must closely mark Ronaldinho and also assist in defending Messi if possible.

Wood was entirely in his element with this task. He kept close to Ronaldinho and followed him wherever he went. He did not give him any space. He did not simply follow him. He also constantly pressed against Ronaldinho with his superior physique and persistently disrupted Ronaldinho’s control of the ball so that he could not easily execute his moves. He made him so annoyed that he could only pass the ball.

Twain saw this scene on the field and snickered. Turning his head to his two assistant managers, he said, “now Ronaldinho must regret George Wood not playing in the last final. He missed the first-hand and most detailed information. Before this game, I bet his knowledge of Wood was limited to a written profile and game videos. Ah, with this sort of matter, he still has to experience firsthand to know. Haha! An actual physical experience is still more trustworthy than words and video material.”

This was not the first time Ronaldinho had felt agitated. He had experienced it in the away game against Chelsea during the Champions League group stage and the first leg of the El Clásico this season. In both games, he felt this kind of relentless defense shadowing him. He was very skilled, but he needed time and space to operate his techniques. He could not just exhibit his magical skills in any situation. Wood’s defense did not allow him that time and space. He kept feeling the collisions from his opponent. He had to put more energy to keep his body in balance and not to lose the ball.

Ronaldinho was the current core of Barcelona’s offense. If he could not perform, Barcelona’s offense would be messy.

In fact, that appeared to be the case. Barcelona became more impatient in the last few moments. Most of the players did not have the patience to meticulously coordinate with each other in front of the penalty area to shoot inside the box. They attempted long shots continuously, hoping to score in the simplest and most convenient way.

In the face of Barcelona’s long shots, the Forest players used any part of their bodies other than their hands to block. There was not much time left. As long as they held out until the end, they would be the winner and leave Camp Nou with three points and their heads held high. No matter how battered they were now and how ugly the situation looked, the feelings would vanish as long as they won the game.

※※※

“Defend! Hold on!” van der Sar roared on the field. The current situation was critical. Barcelona began to organize precise short passes to penetrate after their frequent long shots were ineffective. They had broken through the penalty area twice and made shots at the goal.

Both Twain and the assistant manager, Kerslake, got up from their seats on the sidelines. They could not remain seated in the face of Barcelona’s frenzied attack.

A thunderous cheer sounded over the Camp Nou stadium, “Barça! Barça! BAR-ÇA!!” The fans were cheering for their team. This was a critical moment, and no one wanted to see an arrogant man strut around on their own turf. At that moment, their hatred of Tony Twain exceeded the sum of their hatred toward Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol.

They could lose to anyone, but they absolutely could not lose to the rotten Tony Twain and his team!

Even under such circumstances, the Forest team had not forgotten the task that they had to seize the opportunity to fight back. Petrov finally managed to seize a chance to fight back. But unfortunately, after he raced for more than sixty meters on the flank, he had to take a shot at the goal facing Valdés. The football brushed against the goalpost to roll out of the end line.

At that moment, the hearts of the fans stopped beating en masse.

“Petrov… The ball didn’t go in! It didn’t go in! Brushed against the goal post and rolled out… It was so close! Barcelona desperately wants to equalize the score, but their defenses are teetering in the wind. If the Forest team fights back a few more times like this… I can’t imagine the results. Fortunately, not much time is left. The Forest team may not be able to strike more. It is also unfortunate that there is not much time because Barcelona is still a goal behind.”

The fourth official walked to the sidelines and held up the injury stoppage time sign: three minutes.

From the sidelines, Rijkaard anxiously waved for his players to press on and abandon the defense.

Twain was also on the sidelines, but instead of yelling at the team to defend, he crossed his arms and watched the show.

The coaches basically had nothing else to do. All adjustments had long been made. It was clear in everyone’s mind. What was the point in standing on the sidelines and yelling, other than putting on a show? Twain chose to quietly watch the last three minutes of the game.

No matter how Barcelona bombarded, he believed his team could hold on. Because he knew how fanatical and crazy this group was about defeating Barcelona. They were more unwilling than him to allow the victory in their grasp to slip away.

The Barcelona players were still frantically attacking and doing everything they could to seize the time. However, the three minutes of injury stoppage time passed by relentlessly. Every second took away hopes of more and more Barcelona fans.

Some of the Barcelona fans had already left the stands at Camp Nou, while the Nottingham Forest fans sang loudly in excitement in their stands.

Rijkaard was silent. The image of him biting his lips and furrowing his eyebrows appeared on the television screen. He was powerless against this situation in front of him.

The fight and confidence that Nottingham Forest had shown in this game was completely beyond his expectations.

Generally speaking, the other teams that came to Camp Nou just tried not to lose and treated a draw as a win. He did not expect the aim of the fearless Twain and his team was to win the game.

He looked at the Barcelona players who were desperately running around the field like headless chickens. They wanted to score goals and equalize the score — Barcelona’s goal had gone from a reversal to an equalizer — but the reality was brutal.

Rijkaard lowered his head. He did not want to see the scene when the final whistle sounded.

Twain turned his head and looked at Dunn behind him. Dunn knew what he wanted, so he said, “there’s half a minute left.”

Twain nodded, took his hands out of his pockets, slowly raised them, and clenched them into fists. That action looked as if he was stretching his back, causing the Barcelona fans in the stands behind him to look on with gritted teeth.

※※※

“The game is over!” When Eto’o missed another long shot, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the game. Camp Nou exploded in a deafening hiss, which was obviously meant for Tony Twain and his Forest team.

After they won the game, Twain was not as excited as his aides and players. He stood in one spot with his fists held high. The other coaches and players rushed past him to celebrate the victory with their exhausted teammates.

When he heard the final whistle, Kompany fell straight back and laid on the ground. He was too tired. Not only he was physically exhausted, but, more importantly, he was mentally tired. His nerves had been strained right to the last minute in fear that any mistake would allow the football to enter the goal.

Now it was all right. He could lie on the turf and take a deep breath.

Edwin van der Sar ran past him with open arms and was as excited as if they had won the Champions League title. As a player who had only joined in the summer, he sometimes could not understand why these people valued and clung to the idea of a victory over Barcelona. Was it not commonplace to win or lose? Who could guarantee constant victories and that all the championship titles would be taken?

But now, whatever it was, it felt good to be able to win.

He closed his eyes and listened to the cheers of his teammates around him. Even the boos from the rival fans sounded so melodious.

Twain did not rush up to celebrate this victory with his players. He politely put his hands down, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the dejected Rijkaard with his hand stretched out.

“Mr. Rijkaard, here’s to another round. I’ll be waiting for you and your team in Nottingham.”

Rijkaard took his hand out of courtesy but did not say anything.

The two men were soon separated. The first person to walk to the mixed zone near the tunnel to be interviewed by the reporters was Twain, who was stopped by a number of reporters.

“Mr. Twain, why does it look like you don’t have a smile on your face? Your team has just won at Camp Nou.” asked a reporter in puzzlement.

Twain shrugged. “Do I need to be happy? It’s not as if we got the Champions League title. I expected this outcome. I had said the game was in my orbit. Not one of you believed it before, did you? As it turns out, I was right and you were all wrong.”

With that, he turned around and left the mixed zone. No matter how many times the reporters called his name, he did not stop to look back.