Chapter 799: Volume Six, Crimson, Dry Firewood
The two days passed quickly, and the day of the competition was approaching. Both sides have long been prepared to deal with this war.
Mourinho will never allow himself to make any mistakes at home. The most difficult thing to play in the knockout stage is the way of first host and then guest. But there is no way, who told them to lose the first place in the group at the last moment of the group stage?
Mourinho's plan is to never lose points at home. He requires the team's defense to keep the opponent clean, so he will insist on defensive counterattack at home.
And Tang En's idea is also very simple - to score goals. The advantage of playing the away game first is that there is still a home game as a buffer, so there are more opportunities for adjustment. Away goals are the most important thing, goals must be scored, goals must be scored, which is why Dunn still arranges 4231 instead of 442 in the away game. People may choose to defend when playing away games, but Twain does the opposite, emphasizing offense.
Winning Inter Milan is naturally the best result, and if you can't win, you have to draw. Losing... that is definitely not allowed.
Until the start of the game, Dunn and Mourinho did not meet each other again. The interviews of the two head coaches at the press conference were staggered, and they can only appear at the press conference together after the game.
But the media are not sorry. Because there will be more exciting stories when we meet after the game, right now, there is really nothing to hype... The war of words between the two sides is almost over.
Although Twain and Mourinho hadn't met before, they had long been fighting each other through various media. Looking at their explosive remarks, I really admire these two people. The Italian media even lamented that Mourinho has been a little lonely since he came to Italy, and now he has finally found an opponent...
Mourinho is an anomaly in Serie A. His outspoken style broke the superficial harmony of Serie A. When have those academic coaches seen such a person before? At most, they argue about tactical matters together, even if they quarrel with others, they are very substandard. In the face of Mourinho's eloquence, they were all defeated. Some people wanted to imitate Mourinho and fight with others, but they turned out to be anti-dogs, making themselves look more like a superficial clown .
So Mourinho gradually didn't bother to spit with those people-that was really a cheap thing.
Now, when Tony Twain brought his Forest team to Italy, people finally got to see the Mourinho who had flourished in the Premier League.
Psychological warfare and verbal battles are really fun only if you have an evenly matched opponent.
Tang En and Mourinho are like dry wood and raging fire, they are a perfect match.
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On the night of March 1st, the Meazza Stadium was brightly lit and full of people. The first round of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals kicks off here.
The Nottingham Forest fans who came all the way from the UK entered the stadium under the guard of the police. Next to them, some extreme Inter Milan fans were provoking them with ill intentions. Not to be outdone, the Nottingham Forest fans glared back.
The police responsible for the security of the stadium were on the verge of an enemy. The reputation of the Italian fans and the English media is not very good, not to mention that the atmosphere has been heated up by the spat between the two coaches before the game. If anyone wants to see the head coaches of the two teams spat at each other, then it must be the policemen responsible for maintaining law and order. The head coaches stir up the atmosphere, and they will also stir up the emotions of the fans , that is a very dangerous thing. The slightest spark could cause a volcano to erupt if not strictly controlled.
When the fans from both sides were at war outside, the players from both sides had already appeared on the field and started to warm up.
Dunn did his job well in the locker room and slipped out. He ran into Mourinho, whom he hadn't seen in years, on the sidelines.
"Ha, what a coincidence. Mr. Mourinho." Tang En greeted each other with a smile.
Mourinho kept a straight face and didn't want to talk to him.
"Don't put on such an expression, Mr. Mourinho. I won't ask you to drink again, I quit that stuff a long time ago. You are the master here, you can't be so indifferent."
"Want me to say 'nice to meet you'? But I'm not happy at all."
"Because you're afraid of losing?" Tang En approached Mourinho with a smile on his face.
This sentence obviously touched Mourinho's sore spot, and he snorted. "Whatever you think, Mr. Tang En. Football games are not won by lip service."
"Ha, heroes see the same thing."
Dunn didn't argue with Mourinho, because both of them had things to do. The war of words has been fought, and it is useless to start it now.
He walked to the sidelines to carefully observe the team's warm-up situation and learn first-hand information. Who is in a good state and whose mentality is not right... This is the last chance to adjust. When the game starts, if you want to make adjustments, you will have to take up three substitutions.
The performance of the players was not bad, and he didn't find anyone too confident and impetuous. These boys are not bad, these few days have been blowing their minds to them, asking them to take this game seriously. Because this is a "battle of vengeance", don't be sloppy, careless, or casual.
Twain also took a look at the situation of the fans in the stands. Inter Milan fans accounted for about four-fifths. It looked like a whole piece of blue, while the red gathered in a corner, surrounded by the blue ocean. , seems to be alone.
There is a layer of police protection around these fans, separating them from the Italian fans. Under the heavy protection of the police, the fans of Nottingham Forest were not afraid of the unfriendly boos and hostile eyes from the home fans, and sang the battle song of Nottingham Forest in their own stands.
Tang En smiled when he saw this scene. Lovely fans. He seemed to see John and Bill in the phalanx from the far side.
After staying on the sidelines for a while, Tang En could always hear bursts of boos coming from the stands behind him. This is of course aimed at him, the head coach who took the initiative to provoke a war of words with Mourinho. He didn't care, he even turned around and laughed at the fans with bad expressions, and then walked back to the aisle and went to the locker room.
In this game, he is destined to make the fans of Inter Milan unhappy...
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Not long after returning to the locker room, the team's warm-up was over. The players filed into the locker room and began to change the jerseys needed for the game. Tang En paced back and forth in the locker room, thinking about what to say to further mobilize the players' emotions.
The tactics to be said were arranged a day ago, and there is not much time at this time, so he will not repeat them.
After changing, the players sat down to catch their breath and waited for their spiritual leader to say something.
Tang En finally stopped and stood in front of his teammates.
"Anyone of you who lived through those two games?" He looked at the players.
George Wood raised his hand, followed by goalkeeper Akinfeev, defender Barnes, Rafinha, Pepe, Kompany, Thiago, Lennon, Shaheen, Eastwood all raised their hands hands. They all know which two games the boss asked "those two games"
That's almost two-thirds of the big roster.
"I know some of you must not be reconciled...ah no, everyone is not reconciled. After all, the opponent scored a total of five goals in the two games, but failed to score a single goal. If this is acceptable, it is not normal People. It’s great now, you have a chance to correct that mistake, let Inter Milan see that 0:5 is just an accident.” Tang En snapped his fingers, “I really doubt that UEFA fully respected it when it drew the lottery. It was done with our opinion.”
There was a burst of laughter among the players.
"Anyway, guys. Now we have a great opportunity! Are you going to let this opportunity pass you by? Are you really going to?"
"Nobody thinks that way, boss!"
"Very good! Then cheer me up! Overthrow them in their home court! Settle all the accounts that should be settled today!"
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Mourinho did not stir up emotions in the dressing room. Inter Milan is not Nottingham Forest, but it is not filled with a group of simple-minded and passionate creatures. Besides, he has nothing to encourage. Inter Milan and Nottingham Forest do not have any deep hatred. For many players, this is just an ordinary Champions League quarter-final. Star players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic have no interest in the "Forest's Revenge Battle" hyped by the media. Some people can't even understand why Tony Twain jumped up and bit people like a mad dog. Does it do him any good? Could it be that the more people he bites, the more dividends he can get?
Although their head coach occasionally bites, he has a purpose and bites well. It's not like Tony Twain who catches and bites anything?
If we let him be our head coach, I'm afraid he will bite his own people in the locker room, right? That's just horrible! I really don't know how the players of Nottingham Forest can tolerate such a bad tempered person leading them.
In fact... even more incredible, why did this person's team win the Champions League for two consecutive years? There must be some secret we don't know...
Mourinho arranged the tactics calmly, and then talked about what happened to the media in the end.
"It's their freedom to say what they say outside. Don't think about anything. This is just an ordinary game. If you have any emotional ups and downs because of this, you will be fooled by Tony Twain. In terms of strength, Nottingham Forest is sure Not as good as ours, they are desperate for away goals and will attack from the start of the game. We just have to be more patient than them to get the result we want. That's it, get ready to play."
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When the Inter Milan players played, they received huge cheers. In the hearts of Inter Milan fans, the Nerazzurri are their heroes. Many fans are quite confident in defeating Nottingham Forest. The two games of the 2008-09 season are still vivid in my memory. Few teams in world football can beat the defending champion so cleanly.
Of course, Nottingham Forest fans would retort that the loss was due to Tony Twain's absence. But the Italian fans couldn't understand this. They thought that even if Tony Twain was there, at most the loss would not be that bad, but the result would still be the same - losing. How powerful can a head coach be? The people who dominate the team and determine the strength of the team are the star players, not the star coach.
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic shook hands with the Forest players as usual, he suddenly felt a deep hostility. The animosity reached its peak when he shook hands with the Forest captain.
Wood's hands were below to make the necessary understanding with Ibrahimovic, but his eyes were always staring at each other coldly. This is not a very polite attitude, and it also made the Swedes feel uncomfortable. As if with a thorn, Ibrahimovic was pierced into a sieve from the inside out.
He didn't like this impolite look very much, so he touched Wood's hand and separated.
But even when he turned to leave, he could still feel those cold eyes staring at him from behind.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a typical representative of Inter Milan players. Almost all Inter Milan players feel the unfriendly atmosphere emanating from Nottingham Forest players.
They can't understand why these people regard this game as a vendetta. Even if we beat you by a big score, it is a very normal thing. It often happens in world football. It is too small to be so impatient, right? If someone beats you, you will seek revenge. Are you busy?
The Nottingham Forest players didn't care what the Inter Milan people were thinking. They just frowned, looked serious, and looked murderously at the opponent who came to shake their hands to express their friendship.
It's really hard to imagine that such a situation will appear in real football. Perhaps only a pervert like Tony Twain can bring out such an unreasonable team...
After the handshake ceremony ended in a strange atmosphere, the players from both sides returned to their respective positions and waited for the game to start.
The major media seized the last time to frantically shoot in front of the two head coaches.
Mourinho was expressionless, while Tang En smiled. He even glanced at Mourinho next door from time to time in front of the reporters, wanting to observe his performance.
Too bad he didn't see anything. Mourinho hid himself in the middle of the coaching bench, and you had no idea what he was doing until he was in front of him. Tang En was not in a hurry, he knew that Mourinho would come out by himself in a short time after the game started.
Why?
Because he won't be able to sit still!