Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Welcome to Calderon! You are now watching a match from Group C of the Champions League in the 10-11 season where Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest face off against each other. They have never confronted each other before so, to both sides, the other is a piece of blank paper. Nottingham Forest beat the Celtics 1-0 at home in the first group game while Atletico Madrid shook hands with Juventus away from home. In terms of points, Nottingham Forest are temporarily ahead. But this is in Calderon, the home of Atletico Madrid, so Nottingham Forest can’t afford to let down their guard! ”
The lights in the Calderon Stadium were bright at night. Towering lights shone from all directions illuminating the stadium. In a city that was plunged into darkness, this was a place where there was concentrated light, and fans walked through narrow streets, pouring into the stadium. The noise was like water droplets carried by the river into the ocean, and the pitch slowly became a buzz. The whole of south Madrid was in a feverish atmosphere.
People here did not mind spending a full day’s wage on a ticket, to just rush in and roar for 90 minutes and then be either satisfied or disappointed before going home to sleep. Football was not a pastime for them, it was almost their goal of life.It was a crazy stadium and any visiting team would be under a lot of pressure here.
“But we f*cking grew up under pressure! No pressure to play away? I don’t believe in such a gimmick.” Twain was making the final pre-match campaign for his team in Calderon’s dressing room for the away team. “As professional players and professional coaches, we all face all kinds of pressures. I don’t think that highly of Calderon. Atletico Madrid wants to use their home advantage to scare us, tell me, are you scared? ”
“How is that possible, Sir?” Eastwood stood up and said,” Who do they think they are?” King Kong? Godzilla? Or the Jurassic dinosaurs?”
Twain hastened to make gestures to stop him from continuing, otherwise the main character for the pre-game time would be replaced.
“Well, Freddy. I know your determination. This game concerns whether we can get out of the group… Actually, every game is about it, so I’m asking you to do your best! Aguero is the key man, the whole defensive line better put on some effort and pay close attention to the defense and completely freeze him. If I think Aguero isn’t capable after the game, you’ll win! He’s fast, so I’m asking the back line not to press down easily. The winger’s assists also minimized some of the opportunities not to give Atletico Madrid a quick attack. Pay attention to protect each other on the empty space behind them. George. ”
Wood got up.
“If Aguero pulls back to the midfield to take on the midfielder, you go up and defend. Stay away from the penalty area if you’re going to foul.”
Wood nodded.
After explaining Wood’s situation, Twain said to the team, “When attacking, stick to the side. The middle road has Camacho, who’s a problem. Bypass him and when he draws to the side-side co-defense, George and Thiago will be waiting for the opportunity to plug in. ”
When Twain played Atletico Madrid at home and arranged the line-up with two defensive midfielders he gave up almost entirely the tactics of the centre-back attack. One reason for using the main side of the road was to avoid the short route and play with Nottingham Forest’s best side flanks. The other was to prevent Madrid’s attack. He deliberately compressed the distance between the two players in midfield and the back line, denying Aguero and others the chance to make plays in the forward line.
The next attack depended on how well Matías Fernández and Lennon could do on the sideline.
Twain took a look at Fernández, whose translator was not allowed into the team’s most private place, the locker room, so he could only rely on the player’s experience and guess what the team was going to play.
Twain also could not speak Spanish. He was fluent in Chinese, but Fernández as a Chilean could not understand. Fernández was the key in this game so instructions had to be relayed to him clearly. He called Fernández’s name. Fernandez looked up. He could recognise his name being called, at the very least.
Twain drew his position on the tactical board and then a straight line in the circle representing Fernández, all the way to the other side’s penalty area. He looked at Fernández with his eyes.The Chilean nodded.
Twain then split scored two lines at this point, one continuing to walk near the baseline and pulling a dashed line near the bottom line all the way to the front. The other suddenly folded from that point into the penalty area and then pulled out a dotted line towards the goal.Twain looked at Fernández in the process of drawing and only continued to draw after Fernandez nodded. After he finished drawing,, Fernández had basically understood what he was going to do. Then, Twain spoke to him in very simple English, “No defend.”
“No” and “defend” were two simple English words that Fernández could still understand. He nodded and said, “Yes.”
Twain suddenly raised his voice and said, “Attack!Attack!”
Fernández was taken by Twain and also raised his volume of the answer, “Yes! Yes!”
“OK!” Twain gave Fernández a thumbs up.
Having done this, Twain clapped his hands: “Okay, guys. In this game, just remember one thing: I don’t need a draw and a defeat, I just need to win! Take on Calderon at home and take down Atletico Madrid! ”
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Atletico Madrid started the game with their home ground, launching a ferocious attack on the heart of Nottingham Forest, which seemed to never stop.Twain stood on the edge of the field with his hands crossed over his chest and regarded the changing scene coldly. He was not in a hurry. He was still quite confident with Nottingham Forest’s defence; as long as it was solely defence, the number of teams who could score on Nottingham Forest was pitiful. Maybe Barcelona could? But all of this was just speculation; both sides would have to meet for a conclusion to be drawn.
Five minutes later, Atletico Madrid were back to no avail and they slowed down a little. The next wave of attacks was brewing while guarding against Nottingham Forest’s quick counter-attacks.Nottingham Forest fought back.
The attack from midfield sent the ball straight onto the sideline and gave it to Matías Fernández.Atletico Madrid players had expressed some attention about Fernández, but more often than not, they set their sights on George Wood.
The latest information told Atletico Madrid coach Pellegrini that George Wood had been in excellent form lately and, to the chagrin of Nottingham Forest’s opponents, this defensive midfielder was now able to step up to the attack. It was difficult to guard against something you could not see. Fernández had such a good defense, so it was annoying that George Wood would] attack suddenly with a screamer.
Fernández then began his performance on the sideline.He was not too fast, but his technique was excellent. He was also outstanding in a game where the emphasis was on technology in La Liga.Twain gave him the most freedom in this game, allowing him to play at will under the bottom or inside. He was also not required to defend, which was Fernández’s favorite point.
He used his first touch to dribble past Simão quickly, then passed the ball suddenly when he was facing against the Greek right-back Setaridis, then went down. Agbonlahor then passed the football out immediately, a one-two!After, Fernández did not wait for the defensive centre-back Zé Castro to advance. He passed the ball in and the goal of the ball was to reach Žigić!
In this game, Twain did not have a technical striker, Eastwood, nor did he let the good-looking Ibišević start. Instead, he went to two extremes: one was the fast Agbonlahor and the other was the tall Žigić.Pablo, the tallest centre-back at Atletico Madrid, was 1.92m tall, but he was injured a month ago and had not recovered enough to play so he did not even make it into the roster of this match. Atletico Madrid’s first two centre-backs were a 1.83m Zé Castro and Heitinga, who were 1.8m.
Twain decided to make a big deal of the other’s centre-back’s height, using Žigić’s jump and header to cause trouble for Atletico Madrid. He succeeded!
“Žigić leaps high…header! ”
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL——”
Žigić jumped up when no one around him could compete with his height. Fernández’s pass ball was so easy comfortable to receive that he did not even need to adjust his posture. All he did was tilt his head slightly, then swing!
It was impressive enough that Atletico Madrid’s goalkeeper Leo Frank could react at such a close distance was already very good. He jumped out but was just a step late, and could only watch the football roll into the goalpost.
“Nottingham Forest scored a goal in the sixth minute! It was their first attack, their first shot since the start of the game! They’re ahead! Atletico Madrid has been dealt a heavy blow! ”
They really took a hard hit. Losing a goal so quickly at the start was definitely not in their tactical arrangement. What to do next?Atletico Madrid suddenly lost their ideas.
Should we attack?
After a few minutes of hesitation, Atletico Madrid launched another ferocious attack. With the cheers of the home fans, they seemed to be drowning out Akinfeev’s goal.
Twain was really entertained. He liked being overwhelmed by his opponent, taking all their hits while keeping an eye out for openings before shocking them with a counterattack.
Why would he arrange a double defensive midfielder? It was just for this moment to come. It was just that this moment came a lot earlier than he had expected.
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The next game was exceedingly well for Nottingham Forest. Atletico Madrid, who had lost a goal, was still attacking pretty strongly and they were left out in the frenzy at home.
Even Pellegrini did not think there was anything wrong with that. He had told the players to stick to the attack at home and try to take advantage of the home advantage to take on Nottingham Forest and pave the way for the group to come out of the game.
Wandering in the midfield was Fernández who looked at the lively backfield, he chose to continue to patrol. The head did not seem to make gestures on the pitch to make him defend. Of course he knew what the team was facing, so he knew that his personal skills will be the key to the team’s counter-attack.So he was at ease and continued to patrol in midfield.
The opportunity reappeared towards the end of the first half.Fernández received the ball from Barnes and ran along the sideline. This time he managed to attract the attention of two Atletico Madrid players. Hetinga and Camacho came in one after the other. He did not choose to blindly dribble near the bottom, nor forced an incision, but in the gap of the two men he found the route of the pass, the football from between Hetinga’s legs rolled out.
Quick, kill Agbonlahor!
Because he came from the back, it was completely not an offside. Taking advantage of Atletico Madrid’s pressure and empty defensive half, strike again!
Agbonlahor received the ball and then accelerated, relying on his speed to shake off Guilo who was constantly chasing behind his ass, and then faced goalkeeper Frank, where he feigned to trick him onto the ground.
What was there to hesitate in the face of an empty door? Strike!
“GOOOOOAL – SECOND BALL! In the 41st minute of the first half, Nottingham Forest had a classic quick counter-attack! It was perfectly possible to write in the books! Fernández, who had two assists, was Forest’s best player in the first half, scoring two goals on two occasions. Perfect performance! ”
Twain and his colleagues applauded the goal. His two-goal lead over Atletico Madrid was far from him being overjoyed for Fernández, who was in his best form.
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At half-time, Twain praised Fernández’s performance, praising him as if he bloomed. Although there were still too many English words he did not understand, he understood “GOOD” and “VERY GOOD”. He finally began to think that his first choice to move to Nottingham Forest might not have been a failed risk.
Atletico Madrid stepped up their defence on Fernández in the second half. As a player who played in La Liga last season, he was no stranger to the game. That somewhat limited Fernández’s play. Even Camacho paid special attention several times to interfere with Fernández’s receiving the ball. In such cases, Twain instructed Wood from the sidelines to step in and get involved in the attack. There was no need to always defend at the back.
This play upset Pellegrini’s lineup at half-time. If Camacho was to stop Wood, then Fernández would have to hand over his wing-back and the forward defender to defend, which would be tantamount to sacrificing the team’s right-hand side of the attack and rely on one leg on offense. How would that even the score? The middle-of-the-road attack was stuffed by Thiago and Wood, as well as Pepe and others.
At the start of the first half, Aguero was still waiting for support from the midfield, and then he found that the midfield pass was cut off by Wood and Thiago, he tried to pull back the ball back, and then he fell into Wood’s tight watch.
George Wood was judged to be a one-on-one defender who could defend against Messi, and Aguero was unable to do anything but be silent the entire first half. Despite the fact that Atletico Madrid had plenty of opportunities to attack, Aguero had never had the chance to make a particularly threatening shot.
Wood’s chances increased slightly in the second half when he was about to attack, but he was still held back by Pepe and Thiago. Even without Thiago, Pepe was capable enough to take on Aguero alone. Aguero really faced a strong enemy today.
Atletico Madrid was basically Aguero’s team in the last two years because of his outstanding performance. The benefits and disadvantages were obvious. When Aguero was in good form, Atletico Madrid could kill whoever it saw, but once Aguero was frozen, then Atletico Madrid would soon become a second-rate team. Twain planned to freeze Atletico Madrid’s core Aguero in this game. Coupled with Fernández’s outburst, the victory came as no surprise.
Aguero only came to light in the final five minutes of the game, with his two consecutive shots narrowly scoring through the city of Akinfeev, but the morale-boosting performance came too late and did little to change the score.
Nottingham Forest finished with 2-0 on away with two assists from Fernández with the dual defensive midfielder strategy with counterattacks. Two wins in two games had already taken the lead in the competition with Juventus for a place in the group stage. If he could keep winning like that, then the team will really be the death group of the other three teams, as what Twain said.
Pellegrini looked dejected in his post-match press conference, admitting it was Nottingham Forest’s goal in the sixth minute which disrupted the team’s entire deployment. So much so that for the next eighty-four minutes, his team was in a state of total passivity, with Tony Twain’s team is leading the way.
And for Tony Twain? “It was just a wonderful night and we won. Fernández found his form, and I have no other needs.”
There was a reporter who asked what he thought of facing Juventus after playing against Atletico Madrid.
“Meeting old friends always makes people excited.” Twain laughed charmingly. It was as if that the opponent was really his old friend.
After this game, the media could start to officially hype Nottingham Forest and Juventus “double club”.
