Chapter Seventy-Two: The Opposite of Expectations

The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge has been ignited, with the red and blue bands in the stands forming two distinct phalanxes, unequal in numbers but seemingly evenly matched in terms of momentum.

Forest's undominant number of football 'fans' faced a large number of Blues 'fans' away from home, showing no weakness and frantically responding to the opponent's various provocations. They did everything except not pounce on them and throw their glasses.

Donn likes to be a fan of the ball, and at this point he and Roy are the same as Roy. Keane has one thing in common - they all hate the so-called ball "fans" who sit in first-class boxes in suits and leather shoes, and wear ties and are polite.

If the football fans who come to the scene are not crazy about the atmosphere of the scene, it is better to watch the TV broadcast at home honestly.

It is precisely because of the support of such a group of football "fans" that he has the confidence to lead Nottingham Forest to the south and north and sweep the opponent.

Before entering the stadium today, I saw those Forest football fans cheering his name wildly, fighting against Chelsea football fans for him. The sense of accomplishment in Donn's heart is beyond words.

In addition to winning the game and winning the Champions Cup, is there anything else that can be used to repay these cute ball "fans"?

So he told his teammates not to stop until they reached their goal.

Just kidding, we're speeding on the right highway, how can we stop?

"The two teams haven't had anything to do with each other for the last 100 years, they're strangers. Tony. The arrival of Don and Jose Mourinho changed all that, and neither of the two men with their unique "sexual" personalities and extreme conceit wanted to be defeated by the other.

Just because these two teams have been on good terms over the past 100 years doesn't mean they will be able to communicate with each other from now on, and that there will be another pair of rivals in England's classic red-blue rivalry...... But we all like to see games like this because it's exciting...... I don't say it's exciting, because this game may be a little conservative because of the importance of the result, but there will be no shortage of intense shots on the scene...... Even if you want to be less, you can't do it.

”

The TV commentator speculated on the tactics of both sides based on his local experience. Because it's a Champions Cup semi-final. The result is more important than anything else, so the odds of seeing a great head-to-head battle are too small.

Not to mention Mourinho and Toney. Donn is a notoriously conservative coach.

The only thing the audience could expect was the intensity of the pitch – red and yellow cards, fouls, thumping rushes, saliva, angry glare, passionate performances from both managers on the sidelines......

Don was standing on the sidelines at the moment waiting for the game to begin, with Jose Mourinho standing on the edge of the manager's command area like him. The two coaches were a little unable to sit still a few dozen seconds before the start of the game.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eastwood stood in the centre circle, waiting for kick-off.

The referee is passing the headset and the fourth official on time. The pitch at Stamford Bridge, which had just been noisy like a pot of boiling water, gradually fell silent.

The referee looked down at his watch and gave a thumbs up to the fourth official on the sidelines. Everything is ok, it's time to tee off.

"Toot-"

The narrator is still introducing his impression of Tony. What a conservative manager Donn is, his football is so boring that he can't get the crowd to cheer and applaud him, and I'm afraid no one will support him except for Nottingham Forest Earth 'fans'.

This man has offended a lot of people in English football.

Then, when he found out that England was too small, he went to plague the continent of Europe, and looked at what he did to poor Frank. What did Rijkaard do...... If he wins the Champions Cup in the end, I'm afraid the whole UEFA will go crazy......

While he was chattering, the Forest kicked the ball out. After a simple return pass, the ball was at the feet of Wood.

Rather than continue to pass back, Wood kicked the ball to Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart, who was diagonally in front of him, and he handed over the attack to Van der Vaart.

Van der Vaart also did not dribble with the ball. It's about passing the ball out. That's Donne's request, Chelsea's midfield defence is world-class, and one person with too much of the ball can easily get caught between Essien and Makelele, as well as Ballack.

Donn wants to get his team through midfield quickly without giving the opposition time to entangle himself. In such a situation, passing is obviously a more effective method than dribbling.

He always tells his teammates that no matter how fast a person runs, even if he lets the world's 100-meter flyers run. It is also impossible to outrun the speed of the flight of the football. So if you want to break fast, passing is the best option.

Van der Vaart played the ball to Ribery, who drew the attention of the Chelsea defence on the left and immediately shifted the ball to Ashley on the right. Poplar.

The Forest team's attacking pass was quick and decisive, and the overall movement and reception were very skillful, which fully demonstrated their tacit understanding.

"It was as if it had been calculated, and the Forest team switched the ball from left to right with a few passes. ”

"Watch out for his crosses!" Chelsea's goalkeeper Petr Cech shouted. As an opponent in the Premier League, he is very interested in Ashley. Yang's technical characteristics are well understood. Last season's Premier League assist king had a remarkable talent and ability to pass the ball.

Now the center forward of the Forest team is Ruud van Nistelrooy, known as the "king of the small penalty area". Ashley. Yang Di's biography has a place to use.

Cech didn't dare to be careless and told everyone to be vigilant.

Ashley. Young did pass the ball. But instead of passing to Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eastwood in the middle, he kicked the ball back and passed it to Chimbonda, who had the assist.

"Trap their offense on the side!" Chelsea's players rushed to the fence with the idea in mind, keeping Chimbonda and Ashley out of the way. Young played the combination of the side attack.

Chelsea's left wing-back Ashley. Cole had a firm eye on Ashley. Young, denying him a chance to slip away from him, while Essien came over to guard Chimbonda and didn't let him pass the football to Ashley easily. Poplar.

'Forest's attack quickly stalled and Chelsea's defence was very solid. ”

Generally speaking, more people are needed to support Chim Bonda at this time. Van der Vaart didn't go, he just watched from a distance in the middle, maybe this matter has nothing to do with him?

No, it's just that there are better candidates.

George. Wood ran from his defensive position. Chimbonda saw him in the cracks and immediately passed the football to the captain who came up to pick him up.

Wood received the ball without adjusting or even observing, and just kicked the ball back to Van der Vaart, who was waiting in the middle.

Ballack also wanted to come up and "force" him to turn around and pass back while Wood was stopping the ball, but Wood didn't even observe and passed the football again, and the pass was accurate......

After Van der Vaart stopped the ball, he couldn't turn around under Makelele's close marking, so he moved the ball to the left. Ribery plugs in again and crosses!

Ruud van Nistelrooy had a head-to-head confrontation with Terry in front of goal, and in the end Terry pushed the ball off the line with his interference.

'A good attack, but unfortunately it didn't score. Terry's defence was reassuring! The commentator gave the praise to Blues captain John Brown. Terry.

Donn and his coaching staff looked at each other and smiled, and these people saw what they wanted to see.

Where is the crux of this offensive, or where is the transit station? Not Van der Vaart, but George. Wood 'plugged' in and then answered the ball, pulling the ball out of the mud and into the open area.

That's the kind of ability that Donn always wanted Wood to have. Help the team's offense and accomplish seemingly inconspicuous but very critical tasks in seemingly inconspicuous places.

Apparently he had seen Van der Vaart's position before he ran to pick him up and knew what he was best at what he could do. That's why he was able to get the ball to where it was right after receiving a pass from Shhimbonda.

The front waist is too far forward, the vision is limited, and it is easy to be stared at by the opponent's back waist. The back is the same. There is more freedom in position, there are no inseparable defenders around you, there is plenty of space and freedom to make moves.

It's a waste of this position if it's just used for defense.

'We didn't score, but we started well. Don shook hands with the coaches in celebration. Then he walked up to Albertini.

"He's done a good job. ”

Albertini nodded. The expression is proud. "Of course, my students. ”

Don laughed. "I hope he can be the next metronome. ”

Albertini had this nickname when he played, meaning that he controlled the rhythm of the team and the rhythm of the game like a metronome on the pitch. If it's just a midfielder who can participate in the attack, Don is not reconciled.

When Wood can become the dual core from mental to tactical, he can develop a special strategy around this kid, and then the Forest team will ...... Gathering a large number of good players around Wood would be incredibly powerful.

"Then he still has a long way to go. It takes not only training, but also experience. ”

"He's still young anyway. Looking at Wood running on the field, Donn added, "I'm still young......

From Forest's corner, Pique's header was met by Petr Cech before Chelsea launched a quick counter-attack.

Petr Cech tossed the ball and Ballack received it and passed the ball to Essien, who in turn passed it to Frank Lampard.

It's also a quick pass through the midfield. Jose Mourinho doesn't want to go head-to-head with Nottingham Forest's midfielders here. While Forest don't have world-class squads like Ballack and Essien and Makelele.

But a George. Wood was enough to give him a headache.

Frank Lampard picked up the ball and opted to 'shoot' straight at goal, and he fired from 28 yards away. I wanted to hit Van der Sar by surprise, but I didn't expect it to be out of the goal.

A brief sigh rang out at Stamford Bridge before applause was immediately replaced.

"Both sides started with a good attack...... Maybe this game will give us a completely different picture of Nottingham Forest and Chelsea? This is the narrator's good wishes.

That desire was shattered by the relentless reality of the rest of the game.

Forest quickly opted for counter-attacking tactics and Chelsea didn't have many options against Forest's stubborn defense. The semi-finals of the European Champions Cup were mired in the mud just five minutes after the start of the competition.

Defense, turnovers, steals. That's all the key words of the game in these ten minutes. After each side had a 'shot' on goal, their attack suddenly went silent.

Ten minutes later, there was the first yellow card. Makelele tackled Van der Vaart in defence and was booked by the referee for overdoing it.

Both managers wanted to get their side of the ball through the midfield quickly. At the same time, they didn't want the other side to pass through their midfield quickly, so the midfield became the most fierce area of the war, and it became a strategic place for both sides to not give an inch.

For the most part, the ball was circling around midfield, one moment at the feet of the Forest team, and the next moment it was running to Chelsea.

Because everyone is focused on the midfield, the offensive side is very inefficient. The number of threatening 'shots' on goal does not add up to five fingers on both sides.

This was something Don was happy to see, so he turned around and sat back in the dugout. The other side. Jose Mourinho walked out of the dugout.

On the road, Donne's bottom line is a draw and away goals, so he can stay on the Diaoyutai after the game is deadlocked. And Mourinho, as the side playing at home, is under a lot of pressure and he has to win.

Mourinho, who was wearing a light blue shirt, rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and was waving his arms vigorously to keep his team pressed forward, while constantly roaring into the field.

The team's offense is at a stalemate. He sat still, wandering back and forth between the command area and the seats in the dugout.

Don squinted at him, wondering if Mourinho would have to bathe and change his clothes at half-time. Look, his pale blue shirt has been turned into a dark blue by the sweat that gradually oozes out......

"Twenty minutes into the game, the possession came out. Judging by the statistics. Chelsea had the upper hand, with their 69 per cent possession rate against Nottingham Forest's 31 per cent, a huge margin.

However, Chelsea's players are not playing easily at all, and the lack of possession but not being able to score goals is Chelsea's biggest problem right now. Nottingham Forest...... If.

I mean, if the Forest win in the end, then it's a typical 'Tony'. Donn-style 'Race' – Win the most important match with the most ugly scenes. But that would be a disaster for us football fans......"

Tang En, who was sitting in the coach's seat, simply crossed Erlang's legs, he was deliberately angry with someone.

It doesn't matter if that busy person can't see it now, Donn believes that the sensitive TV broadcast will definitely be filmed, and the effect will be the same after the game.

"Messy", the more "messy", the better, "messy" so that Chelsea can't find a way to attack, "messy" so that they don't care to check the holes in their backline...... That couldn't be better!

Mourinho paced back and forth on the sidelines for a while before sitting back down. After seeing Donn's restless posture. He suddenly stopped being anxious.

"George. Wood is not a god, and he can't replace the entire defense line alone......" he muttered to his assistant as he sat in the dugout.

Forest continue to use fouls and ferocious defence to 'mess' up Chelsea's attacking tempo, and if Chelsea continue to follow the tactics laid out before the game, then it will only become more and more 'chaotic'.

It is no longer possible to pass through the midfield quickly, which will only increase your team's active error rate.

"Let them make more lateral transfers. Mobilize the Forest's ground line and look for loopholes......" he commanded his assistant.

Chelsea were quick to adapt to that directive.

George. Wood found himself struggling to defend on his own as Chelsea's attacks avoided him. They are always making lateral transfers and exhausting themselves.

Because of the full trust in Wood's abilities. He is the only one in Forest's midfield who is a dedicated defensive player.

Chelsea did it. It was intended to bypass him and break through the weak points of the Forest's defense.

Without the Forest defense to protect, it loses valuable strategic depth, and the opponent's penetrating direct or diagonal pass can easily tear through Van der Sar's front defense. And Chelsea's midfielders definitely have that ability.

Essien passed the ball to Robben, George. Wood came over to help defend, Robben was not greedy this time, watching Wood come up and pass the ball to Frank Lampard in the middle.

When Frank Lampard received the ball, George. Wood is still on the side, no matter how good he is, he can't run to the rescue in the first place......

'Frank Lampard has the ball, he doesn't have the Nottingham Forest players around him for the time being, and this is an opportunity for Chelsea...... Will he have another long-range shot? ”

The commentator thinks so, and so does Van der Sar, and his position is clearly that of defending Frank Lampard's powerful long-range shot.

The Chelsea no.8 is known for his penchant for long-range shots.

Now that there is no one to mark, there is no reason why he should not 'shoot'......

Pique, who didn't care about his defensive area, pounced to make up for George. Wood's bit. Just as he was getting forward, Lampard got up to his feet - a pass!

The ball rolled past Piqui, and he tried to reach out to stop it, but he was shaken and knocked on his heel, and this time he was completely out of position......

"Great opportunity!"

The stands at Stamford Bridge were violently swept into the waves, and the blue water pressed against the red magma from all directions.

'Drogba received the ball and there was no one around him...... This opportunity was given for nothing! ”

Mourinho, who saw this scene, left his ass and leaned forward, ready to pop out to celebrate.

Drogba received the ball and turned around, and Van der Sar thought he was going to lunge in, so he was ready to attack and intercept the ball.

Who knew that Drogba turned around and 'shot' at the same time, Van der Sar couldn't react at such a close distance, he watched the football fly past his face, and the wind blowing on his face felt very clear, as if in slow motion...... Very clear.

“hat_a_gooooal！”

Contrary to Donn's expectations......

The most wanted sound from Chelsea fans finally rang out over Stamford Bridge.