Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was Twain’s third time at Camp Nou, and it felt more intense than the previous two times because the nearly eighty thousand home fans were booing the Forest team with imposing momentum. The last time he was here, he did not receive such a warm welcome. What happened today was all to the Catalan media’s credit.
As the Barcelona players walked into the stadium, the fans were still chanting Barcelona’s team song, singing at a crescendo. Every one of the eighty thousand people chanted “Barça! Barça! Bar-ça!” Then when they saw the Nottingham Forest players ran onto the pitch, these people uniformly burst into shrill boos like they were one person.
“What a welcoming host.” Twain laughed.
While eighty thousand people hissing at the same time was a magnificent sight, it did not affect the Nottingham Forest players. As the annoying Tony Twain’s men, they were long used to being booed when they played in away games. The difference was whether it was a lot of or fewer people. The stadium was smaller if there were fewer people, and the noises would reverberate. The more people the bigger the stadium and the sounds were spread out, so the side with more people would not have any advantage to their number.
The Nottingham Forest players might be weaker than Barcelona in other respects, but in terms of their mental strength, they considered themselves second to none in the world. So, they were calm in the face of the thunderous boos.
George Wood shook hands with Puyol and exchanged the team flags. Then they did the coin toss. He won Puyol and got to pick the side. In fact, Twain had always felt that picking the side was not as important as the kickoff. Therefore, he hoped Wood would lose in the coin toss every time.
After the game started, Barcelona used the kickoff to launch an attack and Nottingham Forest retreated to defend.
“The game has just started, and Nottingham Forest are on the defensive. The pre-match spat was so intense that I thought Tony Twain would pounce to attack at the start of the game.” The television commentator was slightly critical of Twain’s retreating defense.
The commenter next to him laughed, “Barcelona has the ball. If Nottingham Forest wants to attack, how can they attack without the ball under their feet? Nottingham Forest will stick to the defensive counterattack in the game if there are no surprises. Tony Twain is a smart man who knows what the result is to go directly against Barcelona at Camp Nou.”
“But can they really hold on if they cling fast to defense at Camp Nou? I think it will be a matter of time before a goal is scored if they are besieged by Barcelona.” The commentator also had his own opinion on this.
“You’re right. If any team just wants to attack when it is up against Barcelona, then it’s normal for them to concede goals. On the other hand, if they just want to defend, they will also concede their goal sooner or later. So, Tony Twain did not go to the extremes here, and defensive counterattack is his special measure. I think if Barcelona can’t score after a while, the game will be on track for Nottingham Forest.”
Guardiola was aware of this point too. He knew that Tony Twain would play defensive counterattack in the away game, so the key was whether he could keep him from defending successfully. As long as the Forest team lost the possession of the ball first, Tony Twain’s defensive counterattack would collapse.
The crux of the game was not how strong the defense was, but whether the offense was sharp.
One of the best attacking lines in Europe today was facing the best defensive line, and the clash between the spear and the shield was not as exciting as one might think.
Barcelona’s offensive met with a tenacious obstruction from Nottingham Forest outside the thirty meters zone. George Wood’s and Tiago’s defense was solid, especially Wood’s. His tireless running ensured that he would appear where he was most needed. Both Xavi and Iniesta met with a lot of trouble.
Iniesta took the ball and stopped outside to observe and found that there was no suitable chance to pass the ball inside. Just as Messi found the same problem and pulled out to receive in the midfield, Iniesta simply handed the ball to him.
While Iniesta and Xavi were the brains of the team, Messi’s popularity was much higher than theirs. As soon as the small statured Argentine received the ball, a huge cheer went up in the stands. Everyone was waiting for his magical performance.
Barcelona’s No. 10, known as the king of the new generation of footballers, was last year’s European Footballer of the Year, FIFA World Player of the Year, champion of the Champions League and World Cup. When he stood in front of you, it was as if his entire body radiated with light. Even if he did not do anything, he would still be the most eye-catching target on the field. Then he easily bypassed Baines.
The combination of speed and technique was perfect. It was a simple feint and another kick to the ball tricked Baines into stumbling. Such a gap in level was really frustrating—no, that would be the general idea. But for the Nottingham Forest players, they might smugly underestimated the opponents if they were too weak. However, when the opponent was too strong … they were more excited instead!
Baines was knocked to the ground. Fernández was already blocking in front of Messi as he prepared to cut inside. The quick-to-react and nimble Messi rushed to kick the football to the outside line and flashed past Fernández. When he evaded Fernández’s amateur defensive action with his excellent response, he was tangled by Pepe, while Baines had rushed back to defend him from behind at the same time.
The embattled Messi also tried to protect the football, but he fell to ground when he was kicked by Baines who rushed from behind!
Baines kicked the back of Messi’s right ankle, and Messi screamed as he fell to the ground. He held his ankle as if he was in agony.
The stands burst into earthshattering hisses. The impetus was enough to scare a man with a weak heart to death.
The Barcelona fans hated all fouls against Messi because it would simply be killing the art of football and destroying their beliefs in football.
The referee’s whistle was almost drowned out by the boos. Baines reacted quickly and immediately leaned over to comfort Messi to show goodwill to the referee. But the commentator did not let him go easily, “The game has just begun, and Messi has been attacked by the Nottingham Forest player. This scene is simply too familiar. Recently we often see such a scene. As Barcelona’s most famous and powerful player, Messi has reaped numerous honors while he has also been given the attention of the defenders. Baines’ foul is enough for him to get a yellow card!”
The referee did not give Baines a card. Perhaps given that the game had just begun, he did not want to affect the intensity of the game that followed. It seemed that the Italian referee was not an “iron-faced judge.” Otherwise, he would not be able to evade a yellow card.
The Barcelona fans close to the sidelines were swearing at Baines in Catalan and English, “You bastard! Only a coward kicks another person’s ankle!!”
“You English savages! Football hooligans!!”
Baines turned a deaf ear. When he saw that the referee did not issue a card, but only a verbal warning, he turned and ran off after listening.
Messi looked miserable, much to the delight of Twain off the field. He thought Baines had caused Messi to leave the pitch with his kick. But soon he was disappointed—Messi groaned for a while and stood up…
Looking at the way he was moving his ankle, he guessed he was okay.
Twain’s mouth twisted and said to Dunn somewhat disappointed, “Just as I thought. How could he scream like that with such a light kick?”
Guardiola was furious that the referee had not shown Baines a yellow card. He protested loudly on the sidelines until he drew the attention of the fourth official. He finally calmed down under the behest of the fourth official.
“I’m wondering if Baines’ kick was accidental or Tony Twain’s special request before the game…” The commentator said after he saw the scene.
“We’ll find out as we continue to watch the game. But I bet it must have been arranged by Twain. He has said that he will use all means and ways to win. So why will he not use the lethal tactics against Messi which are so popular now?” The commentator said.
In fact, they blamed Twain wrongly. He did not instruct the players to use rough fouls and lethal tactics against Messi before the game. He just told the players to keep a close eye on Messi, so the players themselves understood that it was difficult to use the conventional defense tactics to defend against the football genie. The simplest and most effective way was naturally a foul. As for whether to kick the ankle or the knee, whether to knock or pull the person, it was all only a formality.
Of course, the possibility that Baines was resentful after being easily shaken off by Messi and turned around to kick Messi in retaliation could not be ruled out.
※※※
Messi did not cut back on his ball possession rate because he suffered Baines’s attack. When the team could not get a breakthrough, he always actively pulled back to ask for the ball. Then in the face of Baines, he would insist on bypassing him one-on-one. Messi’s active play put the focus of Barcelona’s offensive on the right side. Nottingham Forest’s defense on the left was under immense pressure. George Wood, Pepe and the others started to consciously lean towards this side.
At this point, Iniesta, who was in charge of diverting the ball, did not continue to pass the ball to Messi, but shifted to the right side and handed the football to Silva.
Nottingham Forest’s right side was emptier as compared to the heavily guarded left side. Silva beautifully stopped the ball to suddenly cut inside and charged into the penalty area!
“Silva! This is Barcelona’s chance! He tried to keep going in the penalty area. Rafinha is defending against him, but doesn’t dare to make a move lightly… A breakthrough! Success!”
Silva seized the opportunity when Rafinha did not dare to make a move. He pushed the football past him and then lifted his leg to sweep the ball. The football rolled along the turf in front of the goal. Anyone who kicked the ball could hit the goal in this way.
Bojan grabbed the ball in the crowd, but his shot was blocked by Akinfeev, who was in an excellent position and used his body to block!
“Bojan shoots! Oh, that’s a shame! It did not go in!”
Blocked by Akinfeev, the football fell to Iniesta’s feet. He hit a long shot under Wood’s close marking but hit it too high.
In the ensuing period, Barcelona completely suppressed Nottingham Forest. For a period of time, Nottingham Forest could not even pass the football past half of the field, never mind start a counterattack. George Wood’s and Tiago’s job was to keep intercepting the ball again and again.
※※※
Tiago was shown his first yellow card in the game in the 24th minute when he fouled against Messi. At the time, Messi suddenly switched to the middle and directly broke through Tiago. As Tiago turned a little slower, he could only stretch out his hands to drag Messi to the ground as if he were wrestling in order not to let Messi break through successfully.
It would not do to not issue a yellow card with such an obvious foul. The referee gave a yellow card to warn Tiago, but the Barcelona fans were still unwilling to forgive—they felt that the referee on duty for the game was too soft and that many of Nottingham Forest’s fouls were only verbal warnings. For example, George Wood shoveled Iniesta from behind. After the ball was intercepted, the referee actually indicated that it was not a foul and the game continued! The thunderous boos came at Wood and the referee at that time.
The Nottingham Forest players grew bold after they realized this and stepped up their defensive moves. It was not until the 24th minute of the game that the referee showed his first yellow card of the game. Tiago did it right under the referee’s nose and it was no excuse that he even used his hands to encircle the waist…. The football match was fast becoming a wrestling match. If he still did not show any cards, perhaps the game would become an unrestricted wrestling competition.
The referee’s yellow card slightly moderated Nottingham Forest’s actions. But within minutes, when they found that Barcelona’s attack became lively as they exercised restraint, they suddenly threw the yellow card warning out of their minds.
Messi was knocked straight out of the field by Baines and hit a billboard when he was dribbling the ball on the side. The scene was visually impactful as if he were dead. Consequently, the boos suddenly grew louder again.
This time, the referee took a yellow card out of his pocket and gave it to Baines. When Baines saw that he had gotten a card, he simply stopped pretending to be a nice guy … He did not pull Messi up. He just turned around and ran away.
In fact, Messi was not injured. He got up himself and spread his hands somewhat helplessly. He had met with such treatment countless times, but he was not used to it. The defenders always looked vicious and could not wait to break the joints in his whole body whenever they saw him.
The series of violations against the Barcelona players had brought down Nottingham Forest’s image to the bottom of the Barcelona fans’ minds. At the beginning of the game, the home fans still maintained the basic courtesy to the visiting team. But thirty minutes later, as soon as the Nottingham Forest players touched the ball on the pitch, what “welcomed” them was a burst of boos.
Another thing that made the Barcelona fans feel fretful was—it had been thirty minutes since the game started, Barcelona’s attack could be said to be aggressive, and at the most dangerous time, Nottingham Forest’s goal looked like a skiff in a tempest, ready to be capsized at any moment. Despite this, the score on the big screen remained at 0:0 so far.
“Time went by so quickly and before we know it, thirty minutes had already passed in the first half. But Barcelona still did not score. They had numerous chances to shoot in the thirty minutes. It looked like every time they were able to break the goal that Akinfeev guarded, things turned out contrary to what they wanted. Until now, they and Nottingham Forest are still 0:0! It’s indeed embarrassing for the Barcelona fans. The only highlight within the thirty minutes might be that Messi was knocked to the ground again and again, right? I think in the second half, he should change to a new jersey to play. Otherwise, we won’t be able to tell the number on his jersey…”
“But the result of Nottingham Forest’s efforts is clear. Messi is heavily marked, and Iniesta and Xavi have no better way in the face of Nottingham Forest’s heavy forces deployed in the middle. With Messi being so active on his side, Silva’s side looked a little deserted, while Bojan was completely inundated by the Forest team’s strong defenders… Tony Twain is good at defense and Guardiola should consider how to deal with it. Maybe he should make some adjustments? His offense is a little too dependent on Messi. Twain is clearly targeting him on this point by sending people to attack Messi in turn.”
“The aggression against Messi was uncomfortable to watch but from the Nottingham Forest manager’s point of view, he did it very well. It looks like Nottingham Forest intends to bring Messi off. Three players had been shown the yellow cards so far. In fact, I think Guardiola did not have to rush to adjust and he should just wait until the second half. As the Nottingham Forest players get more and more yellow cards from Messi and the others, problems will appear within Nottingham Forest’s defense and it will be Barcelona’s chance when the time comes. Tony Twain will have a chance to pay for his actions…”
