Chapter 451 Volume 3 Red Forest Together

April 25, night.

Nottingham, Bridge of Trent.

A police car with flashing lights was parked on the side of the road, and police officers in bright yellow reflective vests patrolled back and forth in groups of two or three, with rustling sounds from the walkie-talkie clipped to their shoulders from time to time.

"Forest! Forest! Nottingham Forest!"

A group of Nottingham Forest in red jerseys waved their scarves and walked past shouting slogans.

The policeman stared at the group of fans walking past him, and tilted his head to report the latest situation in his jurisdiction to the walkie-talkie.

"We're in good shape here, everything is in order, over."

"Shusha...the north gate of the stadium...it's normal, it's over..."

After reporting the situation, the police turned their attention to the group of fans, followed them away, turned around the Trent Bridge, then turned left, merged with countless people like them, and flocked to the city stadium standing by the river .

The helicopter passed overhead, blowing a gust of wind.

※ ※ ※

"For the Nottingham Forest fans, this evening is like a big festival. The Champions League semi-final! They haven't experienced this feeling for a long, long time. The city stadium is full, maybe the chairman of Nottingham Forest Club. Wendogetti is going to be dissatisfied with the capacity of this stadium... In fact, on such an important night, there are more fans who can only sit in the bar to watch the game, because the city stadium cannot accommodate them... Arsenal We will encounter very tenacious resistance here, and we will face huge away pressure...Welcome to the second round of the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup in the 2005-06 season!"

There was a lot of people outside, and the singing of fans and other messy sounds came in through the crack of the door.

Tang En walked to the door and closed the locker room door. The uproar suddenly became much quieter, at least everyone could hear him now.

"Guys, in another ninety minutes, our fate for this season will be revealed." Tang En cleared his throat to make his voice less hoarse, but it didn't work. broke in the roar. "This is a fateful game." He bent down, put his hands on the table, and looked at the players in front of him, all of them had serious faces.

"The European Champions Cup semi-final, I don't want to introduce the importance of it to you, you must know it better than me. Listen to the voices outside, our fans have never looked forward to a game like today, and we can bring Give them more..." Tang En raised his hand, then swung it down violently, "Victory!"

He checks his watch. There's still a little time until his appearance, and he doesn't have anything else to say.

"That's all, rest and get ready to go out." He turned around and opened the door, voices from outside poured in instantly, Tang En walked out, closed the door again, and the locker room returned to silence.

Tang En went straight to the private bathroom, he was very familiar with this path. Before the first game he led the Forest team, he hid in the bathroom to calm his mind, telling himself that it was no big deal, even if it was not a game, he would continue to play it.

Now he continues to play, and he is getting better and better, playing to the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup. The feeling of being so nervous at the beginning is back. The second round is different from the first round. This is the last 90 minutes. If you succeed, you will be successful. If you fail, there will be no chance to make up for it.

The pressure suddenly increased.

In front of the players, he tried his best to not care about anything, and he was confident, as if it had been arranged long ago. He doesn't mind playing such a role, but the pressure in his heart also needs to be relieved. Sometimes it's a good idea to scold opponents in front of the news media before a game, but this time the opponents he can't just curse casually - Wenger and he still have some personal friends...

So now Dunn can only smoke in this dedicated bathroom to relieve the pressure in his chest.

He took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and took a deep breath. The heart calmed down following this deep breath.

He looked through the glass window on the left and saw the brightly lit stadium outside.

A group of children is drawing a huge circular UEFA Champions League logo towards the middle circle of the stadium. The fans were already seated, and the reporters gathered on both sides of the corridor of the stadium, and then extended to near the center line. All the shots were aimed at the exit of the corridor.

Everyone is looking forward to such a night, such a game.

As one of the protagonists, why not Tony Twain?

After smoking a cigarette, Tang En, who had completely calmed down, walked out of the bathroom, and walked through the narrow passage to the locker room of the home team.

When he came out, he saw Wenger who was also standing outside the door. When Wenger heard footsteps, he also turned his head and saw Tang En.

"What a coincidence." Tang En took the initiative to say hello.

"Yeah, what a coincidence." Wenger replied calmly.

He wasn't nervous at all, or so it seemed. Perhaps because Wenger can be considered an "old man" and well-informed, Tang En's mailbox will not feel nervous. But on second thought, for Arthur Wenger, this is also the first time he has led his team to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Such a meeting is really embarrassing, both sides can't say anything, because they are opponents now, and they don't know anything about their future fate.

Tang En walked to the door of the home team's locker room and said to Wenger who was standing in front of the visiting team's locker room: "See you after the game."

"Goodbye." Wenger cherished words like gold.

Tang En turned the door open, and the players all looked up at him.

"Ready, guys?" he asked, leaning against the door.

※ ※ ※

"They're coming out!" Someone in the stands yelled loudly, and everyone around him turned their attention to the exit of the player tunnel. This move was like throwing a stone into a calm lake, and the ripples spread to the entire stand. .

Amid huge cheers, players from both sides walked into the field side by side. At the front of the line were Arsenal captain Thierry Henry and Nottingham Forest captain George Wood.

In this game, Albertini was still sitting on the bench. As the season drew to a close, his physical fitness could no longer keep up. More often, he could only sit on the bench and be sent to the field when needed.

The state shown in the game against Inter Milan really can't last long. When I get older, my body functions can't keep up. He is now consciously sitting on the side close to the coaching bench, and he can hear the voices of the coaching staff discussing tactics during the game. He is preparing for his dream of coaching in the future from now on.

Every time Henry and Wood shook hands before the game, exchanged team flags, and then started to guess coins, he would have a strange feeling-the captain in front of him was too young. Wood is the youngest captain of a top-six team in the league. It is said that Wenger is very good at reusing young people, and Tony Twain is not to be outdone. In the Forest team, there are several players who seem more suitable to be the captain than Wood, such as Van der Sar, who starts every game.

In fact, if it is only young, it will not be too surprising. What is even more surprising is that the young Wood has done a good job as the captain...

"Word." The referee put the coin in front of Henry's eyes, and he pointed to the upward side.

The referee turned the coin over and handed it to Wood, who nodded.

The coin was thrown high and then fell onto the turf. The referee leaned over to watch, and Henry met Wood's gaze.

"Word!" The referee picked up the coin, pointed at Henry, and signaled him to go first.

"The right to kick off." Henry did not hesitate to choose the one that was most beneficial to them.

There wasn't much to pick from the rest, with Wood opting for the side of their team's current warm-up for their half.

The captains of both sides shook hands with the three referees, and then separated.

Twain admitted that at this time he hadn't thought about what to do after successfully advancing to the semi-finals. In his eyes, now was the final.

He adjusted his sitting posture and waited for the referee to sound the whistle to start the first half.

※ ※ ※

"Friends from the audience, welcome to the second round of the European Champions Cup semi-finals in the 2005-06 season. The two sides are Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal! This is a civil war in England. I believe that the English people prefer that the two teams meet. The Stade de France (the venue for the Champions League final). Taking this opportunity, let us introduce the starting lineups of both sides..."

Kenny Burns sat at the bar, looking up at the large-screen TV hanging from the ceiling. The whole bar was packed full of people with the same posture as him.

This forest bar used to be a place where Tang En often came. Everyone here knows what kind of person the head coach of the Forest team is, and they are also Tang En's most loyal fans. These people do not worship a certain star, but a coach. Although due to work reasons, Tang En seldom comes here to drink and chat, but Tang En's fixed seat is still reserved, and no one else is allowed to sit.

Today, in a crowded bar, that's the only place that's empty.

When the roster of the Forest team began to be introduced on TV, the people in the bar were like fans at the scene, shouting those names one by one. When the last name "Anelka" was called, everyone added another one——

"...and Tony Twain!"

After shouting, they laughed and raised their glasses to drink.

Burns raised his glass to greet everyone, and the charm that only Brian Clough had was now reflected in Tony.

The noise gradually subsided, and everyone looked up at the TV, waiting for the game to start.

A clear whistle came from the TV and sounded in every corner of the city.

The game is on!

※ ※ ※

"Arsenal have taken the initiative to attack from the beginning and they have to do the same. To get the final ticket, Arsenal who conceded a goal at home must attack in this game, score goals and break Forest. The only way to put the game back under Arsene Wenger's hands... however, they are up against a team with the third best defense in the Premier League this season..."

"I don't quite agree with this statement. The Premier League is not the same as the Champions League. A good defense in the Premier League may not be able to do it in the Champions League..."

Arsenal's Henry attacked with the ball, and he quickly fell into a circle surrounded by two people. Twain asked the team to pinch Henry and pay attention to front and rear protection. The defense must be deep, and he must not be allowed to break through easily. Henry is no stranger to this kind of defense, after all, he has already competed with the Forest team for almost two seasons.

After attracting two Forest defenders, Henry passed the football.

Cesc Fabregas followed to receive the ball, and at the same time, George Wood pressed up. The Spanish teenager didn't stop the ball to observe. He saw Wood running over and passed the football directly to Reyes.

Reyes crossed and he pushed a low ball in an attempt to create chaos in front of Forest's goal. Pepe kicked the football out of the touchline first.

Wood waved to his teammates in front of him, signaling them to come back and participate in the defense.

By the way, forgot to say. One thing that made Twain very happy recently is that George Wood has become more and more proactive in telling others his thoughts. For example, his actions in the game were hard to see a season ago.

If he wanted his teammates to come back, or play, he'd tell them in his own way, not just keep silent.

Wearing the captain's armband really made him grow a lot.

It can be seen that defense may be needed at the beginning of the game, and Wood asked everyone to return to defense.

His approach was correct. After the opening, Arsenal really wanted to use this period of time to attack for a while, trying to break the deadlock early.

Three minutes, five minutes... Arsenal kept attacking the Forest team's penalty area, and the Forest team could only rely on dense defense to stop the opponent's attack.

But no one in the stands was dissatisfied with this. The Forest fans had long been accustomed to Twain's football. For them, as long as they can win, it doesn't matter what they play.

The players of the Forest team are also accustomed to this-defense first, then attack. In many cases, this is the basic tactics of Nottingham Forest.

Henry forced a breakthrough into the penalty area, causing a riot. In the chaos, his shot hit Piqué, there was a change of line, and it flew straight to the back corner of the goal. At this time, Van der Sar was blocked at the near corner, so there was nothing he could do?

The Arsenal fans who saw this scene in front of the TV were about to start celebrating and cheering ahead of time. At this time, a figure rushed out and kicked the football out!

"George Wood's clearance was very timely. He saved the forest! Arsenal's offensive is too fierce, and Nottingham Forest is a bit overwhelmed!"

Piqué patted Wood with lingering fear, thanking him for his rescue.

Tang En, who was sitting off the field, turned his head to look at the visiting team's coach bench. Wenger was sitting in the same position as him, and did not express anything.

Arsenal put a lot of effort into this game, they had to score goals, so Wenger abandoned the defensive counterattack and switched to what Arsenal is best at against Forest.

This kind of Arsenal is the scariest. Originally, it would be too easy to rely on this to advance to the finals by learning how the Forest team played defense halfway through. It should be what it should be...

Tang En was not afraid of Arsenal's attack. Last round, Arsenal did not attack, and he tried his best to force the opponent to attack. Now that Arsenal is taking the initiative to attack, the Forest team can play more comfortably in the defensive counterattack.

Facing the tide of offensive from Arsenal, Tang En decided to stand still and wait and see what happened.

I've seen this kind of scene a lot, it's no big deal...

(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in

, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading! )