Chapter 556: Volume Four, The Storm Forty-Five Seconds

"Chelsea! Chelsea! Woohoo!" Chelsea fans chanted their team name in the stands and in London pubs, cheering for the team to take the lead so quickly.

"Chelsea took the lead, they equalized the total score, as long as they scored another goal, they could complete the reversal, and at the same time offset the two away goals of the Forest team... maybe even Mourinho didn't expect this game. What a great start!" said the TV commentator, watching Mourinho, who was cheering and celebrating the goal from the sidelines.

"Go to Nottingham Forest! We must be the ones going to Athens!"

※ ※ ※

"Chelsea's full-court pressing tactics are very effective. Their frantic pressing in the frontcourt made the Forest team very uncomfortable. In fact, this conceded goal is not surprising at all. If Coach Twain doesn't make any adjustments, the Forest team will not be able to adapt." Will keep conceding goals! I'm not alarmist."

Chelsea's players finally finished celebrating the goal, and they returned to their respective positions on the field one after another, preparing to restart the game.

Albertini shouted to his teammates on the sidelines: "Don't worry, we still have a lot of time! Let them see how good we are!"

After hearing the captain's shout, Eastwood gave him a thumbs up, indicating that he doesn't have to worry, the team is in good condition now.

※ ※ ※

The Chelsea fans in the stands were still singing and cheering for the goal just now, and their voices annoyed the Nottingham Forest fans.

Fat John stood in the front row, looking back at his fan club and chanting: "This is our home ground, fellas! Don't let those goddamn Cockneys run wild here! Give 'em a good look and sing us up !!"

Immediately, the Forest team's team song sounded from this stand, and the singing spread from here to all directions, and soon spread to the other three stands, and the voices of Chelsea fans could no longer be heard in the sky above the city stadium.

"We are the best team in England! We are invincible, we are invincible! We are fearless! Because we are the best team - because the world is in our hands!!"

Amidst the singing, the referee blew the kick-off whistle.

Ruud van Nistelrooy kicked the football lightly, and Eastwood followed and passed the ball back to Van der Vaart behind him.

Before catching the ball, Van der Vaart made a gesture to let both wingers plug in, and then the football rolled to his feet. He didn't pass it out immediately, but controlled it. On the one hand, he looked for a more suitable way to get the ball out , Waiting for teammates to enter the attacking position on the one hand.

This time he is not worried that the ball under his feet will be robbed, because there is a "shadow" behind him.

As soon as the ball came out, the Chelsea players pressed up according to Mourinho's pre-match arrangement. Makelele even killed the center circle directly from the position of the midfielder, planning to start a robbery in Forest's half.

Seeing Makelele rushing towards him in a murderous spirit, Van der Vaart knocked the football to George Wood behind him with his heel, then ran without the ball and looked up again to find the best passing line.

Seeing the football suddenly reach Wood's feet, Makelele froze for a moment, changed his target and rushed towards Wood.

Wood passed the football back to Van der Vaart again, before he ran forward himself.

Chelsea players must still remember Wood's performance in the first round. His great offensive activity made Chelsea suffer. If the same goes for this game...

Makelele turned around and followed Wood without hesitation.

Twain told Wood that his task in this game was to defend, to protect Van der Vaart, to create time and space for him to hold the ball, and he didn't need to participate in the offense. Wood, who has been carefully taught by Albertini for a season, has his own judgment.

At the earliest time, Tang En asked him to protect others, but only asked him to rely on his strong defensive ability to snatch the ball back from his teammates. Now Wood's vision is different. He believes that such protection is negative and does not always work against strong opponents.

Protect your teammates, create time and space for them, you don't have to rely on defense, you can just use assists!

Wood proved his thoughts with his own actions. Makelele was pulled away, and Essien was also closely watching the sudden insertion of this "dangerous man". For a moment, there was not a single Chelsea player beside Van der Vaart who was holding the ball!

Van der Vaart looked up at the situation in front of him. He knew that he didn't have much time. Wood's counterfeiting would soon be seen through by the experienced Makelele. .

left or right? or in the middle?

His eyes quickly switched on the court, Lennon, Ribery, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Eastwood, four points, which one is the most suitable for passing the ball?

This kind of consideration is only a momentary thing. The situation on the football field changes rapidly. It is impossible for him to think everything through before passing the ball.

Van der Vaart swung his foot and passed the football to Franck Ribery who was running wildly on the left.

Able to break through, cross, and shoot... I will leave it to you, Frank!

Franck Ribery glanced back and found that the football was flying towards him. He slightly slowed down and was ready to catch the ball.

Of course, Boulahrouz would not let such an obvious pass pass past his own defense zone. He jumped in the air, pushed the football out, and cut off the passing route...

"Boulahrouz's defense was timely, and this attack by the Forest team...Eastwood!"

The gypsy received the ball from Boulahrouz. He didn't hesitate. Seeing that Ribery ran right behind the Dutch defender, he immediately slammed his foot straight to the penalty area!

Franck Ribery was disappointed when he saw Boulahrouz jumping in the air and pushing the football back, but the inertia of speed prevented him from slowing down and he was still rushing forward. Just when he thought the attack was over, he saw the football appear diagonally in front of him again!

What a big surprise!

Boulahrouz spared the front defense and left a large space behind Ribery.

Relying on speed to break through is his favorite thing. He no longer hesitates, immediately increases the speed to the highest, and chases after the ball.

"Chelsea's defense has a hole, Nottingham Forest's chance!"

After Ribery received the football, he waded into the penalty area. Carvalho, who came to defend himself, didn't dare to make a move easily. He could only run to the bottom line with Ribery, trying to block him out of bounds.

Franck Ribery, who dribbled the ball in the penalty area, slowed down and made a fake move to shoot. He raised his foot and put it down. Carvalho just made a defensive posture, and he was no more than cheated out of balance.

Getting closer and closer to the bottom line, Carvalho's defense is about to succeed.

A smile appeared in Carvalho's heart, and the rhythm of his feet slowed down a little. What if Ribery deliberately kicked the ball on him and bounced the baseline when he saw that there was no hope of shooting and passing? He didn't want to give the opponent another corner kick at the last moment.

Ribery could feel that Carvalho was not following as tight as before, and he could even see the goal and goalkeeper Petr Cech. This is the last chance!

Ribery swung his foot again, Carvalho thought he was going to create a corner kick, deliberately leaned back, and the defensive legs were not completely sealed in front of the ball.

This is not a fake move, Ribery shoots directly!

The football flew past Carvalho, went up and over the head of Petr Cech who was close at hand, then hit the lower edge of the crossbar behind him, and bounced into the net!

Go in?

The ball went in!

"What a wonderful goal! Zero angle! Franck Ribery, his goal turned Chelsea's newly ignited hope into ashes!"

The cheers above the city stadium reached a peak.

After scoring the goal, Ribery shrugged his shoulders and looked at the annoyed Carvalho in front of him, as if he still couldn't believe that he could really score with his small angle shot. His celebration was an even greater humiliation in Carvalho's eyes.

Yeah, he didn't expect that Ribery would still want to shoot in this situation, and he could still score...

※ ※ ※

"Damn it!" Mourinho rushed out of his seat, waving his fists angrily. He was completely unprepared to concede the ball so quickly... who was prepared?

Just now the whole team was immersed in the joy of equalizing the total score, but they didn't expect this...

"Forty-five seconds." Tang En, who had just celebrated his goal, looked up at the time on the big screen. There were only forty-five seconds of game time between losing the ball and scoring again. He smiled to the people around him: "Forty-five seconds to equalize the score, now it is Chelsea who have been hit hard, not us."

"We are only ahead for forty-five seconds! What is Carvalho doing? At that angle, Ribery can still shoot and score!" Mourinho roared angrily, and the people around him All of them dared not take a breath, watching the boss get angry. "This is a disgrace to Chelsea's defence! FUCK! FUCK!"

The swearing broke out again and again, which shows how angry Mourinho is now, he is almost out of control.

The light of hope for promotion only flashed ahead, then disappeared again. This is a terrible blow to people, and few people can remain calm in the face of this situation.

On the other side, everyone on the Forest team's bench and coach's bench was high-fiving each other.

"Nice job, Frank!"

"I'll treat you to dinner after the game!"

"another one!"

※ ※ ※

In the VIP box, Evan Daugherty saw this scene, and he remembered what Tang En said when he was chatting at his home a few days ago.

Three points skill and seven points luck.

Tony's luck is really good...

※ ※ ※

"Nottingham Forest equalized the score immediately after falling behind. Chelsea didn't expect it at all. Looking at these close-up shots, their eyes revealed confusion...It's pathetic, only leading for forty-five seconds..."

The Chelsea fans in the stands of the city stadium completely turned off the fire. This blow came too fast and too hard, and many people couldn't accept this reality for a while.

The Forest fans went crazy, they chanted the name of the goal scorer Ribery, and returned all the frustration of losing the ball to the Chelsea fans.

※ ※ ※

The most wronged person in this conceded goal is probably Cech. He believed in his teammates so much, but he didn't expect Carvalho to let the football over. It was too late to make a save at such a close distance. Can watch football go in. As a world-class goalkeeper, there is really nothing to say in the face of such a conceded goal...

He got up and fished out the football from the net, pinched it in his hand and looked at it for a while, then kicked it back to the middle circle. He could only use this action to express his dissatisfaction, and he couldn't growl at Carvalho.

Carvalho himself knew that this was his mistake, he lowered his head and said nothing. Originally, everyone thought that if they equalized the total score and continued to work hard, they would have a good chance of winning the game and advancing to the final.

Unexpectedly, one of my negligence... made all my efforts in vain.

For this conceded goal, Terry was also very disappointed. But he is the captain, so there are more things to consider. He came over and patted Carvalho on the shoulder.

"Don't take this to heart. There is still time in the game. It's not the last minute. Who knows what the result will be?"

Carvalho nodded.

"Don't give them the slightest chance, those people have to be very careful." Terry said, looking at the Forest players who were still celebrating their goals. "Although I feel a little strange that they haven't won a game in the past few seasons, I must admit that they are very strong. Well... Although the boss said that he hoped that when he went to Athens, no one was left behind. But I think... …If you don't play hard, you can't win this game."

Terry smiled at Carvalho.

※ ※ ※

The game experienced two kick-offs in the middle circle within a few minutes, and the atmosphere of the stadium gradually became intense. These two goals ignited the passion on and off the field.

Chelsea still insisted on their full-court pressing strategy, and it would be useless not to press at this time. The Forest team responded with a small range of passes and cuts in the midfield.

The two sides fought fiercely in the midfield, and the football changed hands many times. No one wants to hand over control of the midfield easily.

The first half came to an end in this chaotic stalemate.

Chelsea were not reconciled to this score, they desperately wanted to score again. Helplessly, the Forest team's defense was more vigilant than before losing the ball. Even if Chelsea steal the ball through the frontcourt, it is still difficult to threaten the goal guarded by Van der Sar.

On the other hand, Nottingham Forest put more energy into entanglement with Chelsea in the midfield, and the offensive efficiency was also not high. Despite George Wood's protection and sharing, the midfield iron gate formed by Makelele and Essien still made Van der Vaart very uncomfortable.

Everyone had no chance. By the end of the first half, the score was still 1:1.

But when they were off the field, the expressions on the faces of the Forest players were obviously lighter than those of the Chelsea players. This score is not bad for them, even if it remains the same until the midfield, they will still advance. The Chelsea players were different, frowning one by one, lowering their heads and walking quickly to the aisle.

※ ※ ※

In the locker room of the visiting team, Mourinho looked at Carvalho with an uneasy expression. The Portuguese iron guard who followed his mentor from Porto to Chelsea lowered his head and dared not take a breath.

Because of Terry, everyone did not express their dissatisfaction on the court for the goal conceded just now, but many people are still a little upset. At this time Mourinho glared at Carvalho, and no one stood up to speak for him.

The boss's tactic is to use the practice of overdrawing his physical strength in exchange for the lead in the score. They almost succeeded, but a defensive lapse by Carvalho 45 seconds later gave the opponent a chance to equalize. The result was forty-five minutes of wasted energy for nothing in the end.

It is a person who will feel uncomfortable when encountering such a thing.

The results of our hard work made it so easy for you to give away... What you gave away was not a ball, but a ticket to the final of the European Champions Cup!

After staring at Carvalho for a while, Mourinho said sullenly: "I don't want to see any mistakes in the defense in the second half." Although he said this to the whole team, he still looked at Carvalho . "I want you to understand that maybe Nottingham Forest's defense line can make one or two mistakes, but we can't afford half a mistake ourselves! We have no right to make mistakes, we have no right to be negligent, and we have no right to think that victory is in sight! Before the final whistle, keep your nerves tensed and don't relax!"

After teaching Carvalho a lesson, he turned to look at Captain Terry again: "John, you also pay attention to me. You got a yellow card in the first half, so pay attention to your actions in the second half."

Terry nodded. "I'll pay attention, boss. But..." He hesitated.

"But what?"

"But boss, you know, there are some things in football games that are hard to say, and you can't say clearly. In case I encounter a foul that must be committed, I will not hesitate." Terry stood up and said to his coach.

Mourinho looked at his captain without speaking. After a while, he turned around and said, "Then you'd better pray that that never happens before the game is over. Twain made it to the final without Wood, and they failed in the end. I don't want the scene at Nottingham Forest to be in my memory." Repeated on the team."

Terry sat down in silence.

Carvalho, who kept his head down, turned to look at him, but didn't say anything.