"This is the first time in AC Milan's history that they have played Nottingham Forest, and the first time they have played Nottingham Forest in a Champions League final. Forest are unfamiliar opponents to them, despite coming from England like Liverpool. In this match, AC Milan wore a white jersey and attacked from the right side of the pitch to the left. The white jersey always seems to bring them good luck, and AC Milan wore it to win the Champions League in 1963, 1989, 1990 and 2003. The stadium also has fond memories for AC Milan, and even for the current captain of the Forest team, Albertini, who beat Barcelona 4-0 here in 1994 to inflict a blow on Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team. The commentator took time out of the game to give the TV audience some background information and analyze which of the two teams had the best chance of winning the championship.

"The referee of this game is German Vander, he has not officiated the game in which Nottingham Forest participated, but the AC Milan game he officiated, AC Milan won all five games! Perhaps these circumstances show us that AC Milan have a better chance of winning this game? ”

"I disagree, Steve. If you analyze from the historical record, Nottingham Forest reached the final three times and won the cup twice, and their success rate is a little higher than that of AC Milan. I don't think the historical data says anything, the winner of this game is not based on historical data, but on the level of performance they played in this game. If AC Milan think they have won, they could well capsize...... This has happened many times in this Champions Cup, but not against AC Milan, of course. I think both managers have a deep understanding of this. ”

Maldini won against Albertini before the game, and Forest were given the kick-off.

Before the game, everyone expected that Forest would continue to defend and counter-attack as they excelled in such an important game, but from the opening minutes, Forest showed that they were proactive, laying siege to AC Milan's goal long after kick-off.

Two shots in five minutes, both in the woodwork. It has shown countless people that the Forest team is just as capable of playing a dangerous attack.

Could it be that Forest are going to play attacking football and AC Milan in this game?

That's really unusual, Tony, who has a "good reputation" in European football for his conservatism. How could Donn have given up his defense in such an important final and opted for a risky offense?

Carlo Ancelotti decided to stay put, and judging by Forest's performance in the past five minutes, he still couldn't figure out what Donn was thinking. Was it because the Forest really intended to attack, or was it just because the five minutes of football happened to be controlled by the Forest players for most of the time?

He needs to keep watching.

He had expected that the Forest would be able to counter-attack in such an important final, as they had done along the way, relying on a solid overall defence and excellent speed to defeat their opponents. It took a lot of thought for him.

AC Milan are not afraid to press out against the teams that attack them, but there is nothing they can do with the teams that stick to the penalty area.

If the Forest team really wants to press out against the attack, Ancelotti can't ask for it, that will only accelerate the opponent's defeat. If Forest continue to defend and counter-attack, Ancelotti has also made arrangements, and what AC Milan have been doing for more than a week is to practice how to break down the opposition's dense defence.

Before the game, Carlo Ancelotti warned his disciples that no matter what tactics their opponents used, they only needed to stick to their own rhythm of football, patiently maneuver with their opponents, find an opportunity to strike another lethal blow, and the victory was in hand.

This is similar to what Donn said to his team, does it mean that the heroes of both sides see things in common?

Five minutes later, AC Milan regained control of the ball and Carlo Ancelotti saw that Forest were not retreating as quickly as he thought.

More often than not, Nottingham Forest counter-attack in front, and if the strikers don't succeed in counter-attacking, they are not just there waiting for their teammates to break the ball and pass it to them, but turn around and run back as soon as possible and continue to participate in the defense. In addition to the on-the-spot counter-robbery in the frontcourt, the midfield pressing is also very fierce, George. Wood spared no effort to run, and from one end to the other, the number 13 could be seen in almost every corner of the midfield. Next to him, assisted is the veteran Albertini.

"The whole court is pressing?" Ancelotti frowned and muttered, he still couldn't be sure.

Judging by the few games he has watched for Forest, it seems that the Forest team is more accustomed to recycling the box all at once, then shrinking into the 30-metre area and allowing the opponent to pass backwards on the outside. It's no wonder that Donn was criticized by the media for "playing conservatively and the scene is ugly", such a shrinking football, although it can bring victory, is indeed disdained by many people.

Carlo Ancelotti looked at the back of the Forest team, and despite the busy midfield and midfielders, the defenders had no intention of coming up to help, they were standing still in the back, quietly waiting for the possible attack from AC Milan.

Seems a little disjointed?

Ancelotti thought so. The midfield and the front court are very close, but the distance between the back and the midfield is a bit large...... Aren't they afraid of being used for this space in between?

The AC Milan manager took a closer look at Forest's performance on every line after the opening five minutes, with the front and midfield being so active in attack that it was thought they were going to play attacking football. However, the back line never pressed past the halfway line, and the two full-backs did not attack the main attack...... Donn opted for the more defensively better Leighton at left-back. Barnes, not Gareth, whom he prefers. Bel.

It seems that the defense is still the main tone?

Carlo Ancelotti is watching, as is AC Milan's on-field commander, brain, and midfield commander Tapiello. He also saw that there seemed to be a 'fracture zone' between Nottingham Forest's midfield and the backline that could be exploited......

Thinking of this, Pirlo took the opportunity to readjust the ball at his feet and glanced at Kaka, who was looking back at him.

Kaka understood and thrust there.

At the same time, the ball flew out from Pirlo's feet and rolled against the turf towards Kaka. Ribery looted halfway, but the shovel was empty.

Kaka looked back and saw the ball rolling towards him, but at the same time he saw something else - a man.

The Nottingham Forest red jersey is a striking sight on the pitch, George. Wood and the ball rushed towards Kaka.

The ball must be received, but this man does not seem to be difficult to avoid. Kaka decided to protect the ball and use his body to make a hard hit.

He received the ball, tricked the ball over, held it in front of him, and ...... He was then overthrown from behind by Wood......

"Toot!" The referee's whistle sounded along with the boos of the AC Milan fans.

"George. Wood's foul! It looks like this game will be Wood's close eye on Kaka! ”

Kaka lay on the ground, waiting for his teammate Inzaghi to pull him up, he was helpless. Although it is not obvious from the outside, the other party is indeed stronger than he imagined.

Andrea Pirlo runs over for a free-kick. He had no regrets about the interruption of the attack, having won a free-kick up front, and he seemed to know why the opposition manager dared to leave such a gap between the back line and the midfield......

Because there is the No. 13 who can't run and is still strong.

With this person, the blank space is not a blank space.

With this figured out, another question arose that puzzled Pirlo: Tony. Don didn't really need to put Wood on such a big responsibility, he just needed to shrink the whole formation back. Why does he demand a tight press up front, but on the other hand he doesn't let the backline come up to cooperate with the defense?

Pirlo decided to continue his search for answers in the game.

Let's take the free-kick first.

Wood's foul was timely, and if he waited for Kaka to pick up the ball before committing a foul, he would have to make a behind-the-back tackle to stop the brazil, which would not have been a free kick.

Donn told him to keep the foul away from the danger zone, and Wood always kept that in mind.

The distance from which the free-kick was hit on the TV screen – 34 metres from goal.

If you hit the goal directly, the success rate was not high, and Pirlo decided to pass the ball.

Maldini was present in the Forest penalty area. The last time AC Milan met Liverpool in the final, the first goal of the opening game was scored by Maldini, and it was also a set-piece.

This is Maldini's eighth appearance in the final of the UEFA Champions League, and he hopes to add another goal to the experience.

Maldini and Nesta were in the crowd in the Forest box, waiting for their headers to score.

Forest's reunion Ruud van Nistelrooy is back in the box and it looks like it's a full-fledged defence. But when everyone didn't notice, Ribery quietly lay in ambush near the midline.

Don turned his head and smiled at Don, who was sitting next to him, and didn't say anything, and Don understood what he meant, and didn't say anything either.

Albertini with Ashley. Young and Van der Vaart formed a three-man wall in front of the ball and everyone else went back into the box to defend, especially George. Wood, he followed Kaka every step of the way.

Kaka has seen a lot of this kind of treatment, he didn't take it seriously, and took Wood around in circles. At this time, he is not the end point of the attack, the head is the key place.

After Pirlo set the ball and stepped away, he noticed that the Forest team was too close to the wall and waved for the referee to come over.

Naturally, Van Del saw it, and he ran over to warn Albertini to take two steps back from the wall.

Albertini did so. But as soon as Van der Sar turned to leave, he and his two teammates came up in small steps – that's the experience...... I'm not going to be honest enough to get your free kick to end with me, that's the best thing to do!

As he said before the game, when the game started, he forgot who he was once an AC Milan player, and he only thought about the Forest team in every detail, from every angle.

Pirlo has also seen a lot of things that the referee's request is contrary to. Anyway, he didn't plan to shoot directly, just move the free kick forward a little bit, and kick the ball a little higher by himself, and it would be okay to waste time and entangle the opponent on this.

A whistle blew and the referee signalled that Pirlo was ready to take the free-kick.

Pirlo was going to rub the ball up and go around the wall, but he clearly underestimated Albertini's on-pitch intelligence, and just as he was on the move, Albertini took Ashley with him. Young and Van der Vaart collectively sprinted forward, and by the time the ball flew out, the distance of ten yards (nine .15 meters) had been reduced to eight yards. Pirlo's football was still on the rise, and it didn't reach its highest point, so he couldn't avoid the sudden forward human wall, and the ball hit Van der Vaart's head and jumped high, and the ball that had been flying into the penalty area became straight up and down......

Pirlo raised his arms to protest to the referee against the opposition wall.

This is a problem for the referee. Unless you replay slow motion, it's hard to tell if the wall moved before or after Pirlo's kick...... The referee chose to remain silent, believing that this was after Pirlo's kick, which was a reasonable use of the rules......

Seeing that the protest was ineffective, Pirlo rushed up to grab the ball and attacked on the spot.

This time, he was stuck in the position by Albertini, and the landing point no longer belonged to him.

Albertini restrained Pirlo, turned his head to observe the situation, and then looked up to watch the ball fall. He could tell from the sensations in his body that Pirlo was not willing to do this, and he was desperately squeezing in, trying to grab the landing spot. Albertini wasn't going to give him that chance, he opened his arms and guarded his position.

When he was still at AC Milan, Andrea Pirlo was seen as his successor, as the two of them had similar roles in midfield and similar playing characteristics. Albertini is always happy to pass on his skills in training, and he is proud of himself to be able to develop another midfield commander for the team.

At that time, he never imagined that his students would become fierce rivals with him on the field, and there would be such a fierce collision.

He didn't expect that he would teach another person how to be a "midfield commander" who can master the rhythm of the game......

The ball fell, and Albertini and Pirlo jumped at the same time.

Pirlo already knew he was destined to miss the ball, but he could interfere with Albertini's possession of the ball and prevent him from comfortably holding the ball before launching a counter-attack. This is Forest's chance to counter-attack, and even fools can see it, Captain Maldini, Nesta...... His team-mates are coming back and he's going to buy them time.

As a former teammate, he certainly knows how powerful the man in front of him is. If he is in good form, he must not be given the opportunity to control the football easily, and if he is in control of the football, it means that he is in control of the pace of the game......

Albertini felt a knock from behind in the air and he had to try to keep his balance or he would miss the ball on the ground...... It's a bit difficult for his current body, and he can only make up for it with technique.

Andrea Pirlo wanted to push Albertini into the air and use his header to get the ball out, so that his team-mates would have a better chance of grabbing the ball and the defenders would have time.

Albertini chose to stop the ball with his chest, which he used to stop the ball under Pirlo's close pressing. At this moment, his skills and experience played an important role.

But after all, his body is not as good as before, and under the constant impact of Pirlo, he feels that he has to use all his strength to protect the ball, not to mention what to control the ball and then pass it......

He needed someone to help him with the burden.

Just when he was about to run out of ideas, he saw George. Wood.

Without the slightest hesitation, he passed the football to his second "student".

Pirlo suddenly felt no pressure in front of him, Albertini turned and ran away, the football was not at his feet! So where is it?

Number 13!

George. Wood dribbled the ball and Pirlo didn't even have time to think, relying entirely on his body's instinct to react - he pounced on Wood again.

Wood saw Pirlo rushing up and passed the ball away, targeting Albertini, who had gotten rid of the defensive.

The Forest team is going to play fast break, and dribbling and adjustment are not allowed, as that will give the opponent the time they need most to get back into the defense.

After a clean pass, the ball was back at Albertini's feet. Pirlo had time to use his brain to think about the problem - he found it bad.

Albertini is not being guarded by anyone right now!

"Defend him......" he shouted back, as he saw Gattuso rushing towards his target, the stone in his heart falling to the ground......

The Forest team has George. Wood, we have Gattuso too!

Albertini knew everyone at AC Milan, whether it was Pirlo or Gattuso, and he saw Gattuso rush up and suddenly make a long pass!

The ball flew over Gattuso's head and into the wing.

Frank who was ambushed there before. Ribery received the football.

It seemed to have been planned for a long time, and the Forest team's transition from defense to attack was only a short time, and three passes were completed. A perfect illustration of the efficient football philosophy that Donn pursues. At this point, AC Milan's defenders were just getting past the centre circle – neither Maldini nor Nesta were defenders known for their speed.

Ribery received the ball, but he didn't dwell on the wing with the opposition full-back Odor, waiting for his teammate to step in to pick it up, and he picked up speed the next moment to break through and leave the newly coming up Otto behind.

"A sharp breakthrough, from Frank. Ribery! "There is no need to make a fuss about Ribery's breakthrough through Otto, the Frenchman has already proven that he is a world-class player with his seasons and performances at the World Cup.

Breakthrough Otto? Isn't that a normal thing?

Ribery didn't break down the flank, and when he picked up the pace, he cut diagonally into the middle. This makes it harder for Otto to catch up, and if he only breaks down the flanks, he can push Ribery out of bounds, and the space available to Ribery will be very small. Now in the middle of the lane, it's up to Otto to stop Ribery......

Because it was a hasty return to the defense, there are not many AC Milan players who are now in the defensive position, and there is plenty of running space in front of the front, back, left and right, and the sea and sky are wide in front of Ribery.

Nesta and Maldini have returned to the front of the penalty area, they can see that Ribery is alone, so they are not afraid of the opponent's anti-offside, one drags back to protect, the other comes forward to press, forming enough strategic defensive depth to deal with the striker who relies on speed to break through the pass on his own.

Having entered the thirty-meter area, a terrible alarm sounded over the AC's defense zone.

Maldini dragged behind, and Nesta pressed up.

How could Ribery not see what they were thinking? Nottingham Forest themselves are an outlier in the Premier League, and the manager takes pleasure in studying a wide range of defensive tactics, so how could they as players not know what to do?

Ribery didn't give Nesta time to press on, he suddenly shot from 25 yards away!

There had been no preparation, and the speed of the high-speed dribble became his running power, and the football swept past Nesta like a cannonball.

Whew-

Wind.

The ball went around Nesta and Maldini, who was building strategic depth in the back, creating a recognizable arc in the air, then around the tip of Brazilian goalkeeper Dida's right finger, hitting the inside of the far post before ......

Everybody saw it, and the ball bounced into the net.

"Boom-" The Athens Olympic Stadium was like a volcano full of TNT explosives that was ignited in an instant.

"It's only eight minutes! Just eight minutes! Nottingham Forest take the lead! Who would have thought that AC Milan's defence would be so vulnerable? A long-range shot from 26 meters from the goal actually pierced Dida's ten fingers...... Oh, God! Nottingham Forest showed their confidence in winning the championship with real actions! Frank. Ribery, at this moment he is a hero in the hearts of Nottingham Forest fans! ”

Seeing the ball in goal, Ancelotti turned around and punched the plastic baffle in the dugout. At the same time, on the other side, Tony did the same thing as him. Dawn.

The former is because of the chagrin and anger of conceding the ball, while the latter is because of excitement and excitement.

“1：0！ Just eight minutes into the game, we were ahead!! "The commentator from England is a Nottingham Forest fan at this moment." Great Frank. Ribery, Zidane II! ”

"0-1, just eight minutes before AC Milan were behind, which was unlucky...... Although Ribery's long-range shot was wonderful, I would say that Demy's long ball was the highlight of the attack! The Italian commentator was annoyed, but he still praised Albertini from their country, maybe that would make him feel a little better?

Maldini didn't have time to frustrate the goal conceded, and he'd seen it a lot. He just stared at Demitrio, who was celebrating with the Forest players. Albertini.

Demy is also familiar with the ball that Ribery passes, and when he was at AC Milan, he didn't know how many times he had to watch those passes every season, some of which ended up being converted into goals, and some of which were regrettable. Among those who received his pass were Basten, Marcelo, Bierhoff, Shepchenko and Robert. Baggio ...... Wait, now it's Ribery.

He used to pass the ball only to those wearing Milan shirts and Italian national team shirts, but now he has become Milan's enemies.

– I'm serious about beating Milan and giving it my all to beat you guys and help Forest become champions. That's the farewell game I want, you know, Paul?

Of course I get it, Demi......

Okay, I'll give you the farewell match you want!

Paul. Maldini lifted the fallen captain's armband again, turned and walked back to the back of goal, ready to kick off in the centre circle.

(To be continued)