From the start of the game against Sunderland, Nottingham Forest once again went into closed training. The English media have complained that there has never been a coach like Tony. Don used closed training so often to prepare for the game.

Cal. Spike then says that this proves Tony's everything. How terrified Donn was - he didn't dare to let the media and his opponents know what he was doing now. This means that he himself has no faith.

Donne naturally did this with a secret surname, because he wanted to give Juventus a "big surprise". But he doesn't feel that he lacks confidence, and self-confidence and blind arrogance are two different things. Anyway, he is also facing the strongest opponent in this group, and arrogance on the surface and arrogance in the heart are two different things.

In fact, what Donn said to the media before coming to Italy was not exactly to cause some problems for Ranieri's brain, he did have to be careful.

He said that to the team as well.

When the team arrives in Turin, they train at the Alpi Stadium to acclimatise to the venue. For the first fifteen minutes, the media can come in and shoot. This is what the rules have to allow, otherwise Don won't even give them a second. However, the media actually didn't shoot anything meaningful in these fifteen minutes. Because the team has been doing simple physical training. After those fifteen minutes, watching all the media pack up and leave, the team began to practice the real tactics – and just a few set-pieces.

Don knew that there would be someone from Juventus watching him somewhere in the pitch, so he wouldn't show the real thing on the enemy's turf.

The training session was followed by a pre-match press conference. Don meets Ranieri again. Both sides are low-key. It's normal for Ranieri to keep a low profile, but it's not normal for Donn to keep a low profile. Donn repeated what he had said in England, but he deliberately acted as if he was making a joke and did not mean it.

He just wanted to make it impossible for anyone else to guess what he was going to do.

"Juventus are a very strong opponent...... I said before that the teams that qualified were Nottingham Forest and any team? Well, yes. But isn't Juventus one of them? Do you have to let me name it? In that case, I said that A is out of the line, what do you think about B and C? I'm not stupid enough to make enemies for myself......" Donn grinned as he completely overturned his previous arrogant image.

Many media muttered below: "If you just say it for a long time, you can turn your face and deny it, it's too shameless!" ”

"If he still wants face, he's not Tony. Don ......"

Don seems to want to make overtures to Juventus, but the Torino media won't give him that chance. They kept bringing up the two group games two seasons ago and asked Donn what he thought.

"What do you think? Winning and losing on the football field is normal. Besides, does it make sense to talk about what happened two seasons ago now? Winning too much or losing too much will be useless for tomorrow's game. I only care about tomorrow, not the past. ”

"Have you ever wanted to get revenge at the Alpi Stadium, Mr. Donn?"

"I have a lot of respect for Juventus, it's a great team. Since she was founded in 1897, she has received a total of ......" Donn began to memorize the introduction of Juventus, which took about two minutes. After reciting it, he said to the reporter who asked the question, "Do you understand what I mean?" ”

The Italian journalist's brain had temporarily lost the ability to think.

But it would be impossible for the media to let him go so easily. Another journalist came off the bench: "You know Juventus well, Mr. Donne. But you still haven't said whether tomorrow's game will be a revenge battle for Nottingham Forest. ”

Don En stared at the reporter who stood up for a while, his eyes were slowly getting cold, and the reporters were expecting Don to suddenly slap the table and turn his face and scold, so that there would be a good show. But that look only appeared for a second, and he suddenly smiled: "When is the time for retribution." I'm not interested in revenge, I'm only interested in winning. ”

This answer was so disappointing to the reporters.

They had to ask Ranieri if he was worried about Nottingham Forest's revenge at the Alpi Stadium. Ranieri was also not fooled by the media, and his answer was the same as that of Donn: "I'm not interested in this kind of question. ”

Due to Donn's sudden anomaly, the press conference, which should have been a lot to watch, ended in a semi-cold atmosphere.

When he left the press conference, Don stopped Ranieri and asked him to shake his hand: "Hopefully tomorrow will be a good game." He said in Italian with a smile.

Ranieri was a little surprised: "I didn't know you could speak Italian, Mr. Donn. ”

"A little." Actually, not at all. This sentence was written down by rote memorization before Tang En's arrival.

Ranieri laughed too: "I hope so, Mr. Donne." ”

By the time Donn said goodbye, the smile on Ranieri's face faded. He felt that he was getting more and more incomprehensible about this man. Ever since he had to play against himself, his performance has become more and more abnormal. In the face of all kinds of provocations by reporters, he did not get angry on the spot. Did you have a much better temper because you had a heart attack?

Does his unusual performance have anything to do with the game?

Ranieri shook his head, not thinking about such pointless things. Anyway, Juventus only plays their own football, and no matter what tricks Donn plays, it is meaningless in front of Juventus.

It's a desperately consistent team.

※※※

"No one asked me how I was going to play the game against Juventus, they were all scared to look elsewhere." In the hotel room, Don was chatting with Don about the afternoon press conference. "We'll surprise them tomorrow!"

Meanwhile, at the hotel where Juventus was staying, Ranieri gathered all the players and coaches for a final tactical meeting. In this meeting, it is necessary to clarify the tactics that the team will use tomorrow and what to do with the tactics that the opponent may use.

This is a meeting that is directly related to the outcome of the next day's game and everyone has to take it seriously.

'Nottingham Forest focus on attacking from the wings, that's their tradition. No matter what opponent you face, no matter what the situation, Tony. Don won't give up on that. Ranieri explained the Forest's tactics to everyone in front of the tactics board.

"Matthias. Fernandez have been in good form of late and Don will surely focus on the wide flanks for tomorrow's game. However, judging from the last two games, Fernandez and the other Forest players have not been tacit enough, and more often than not, he has played alone on the wing. This is our chance. Cut him off from the rest of the Forest team, and he had nothing to fear. ”

'Our defensive focus is on the flanks and as long as we don't let the two wings of the Forest team fight, they don't have much of a threat in attack. I think tomorrow's game will show Donn the same starting line-up as they did when they played Atletico Madrid. The midfielder has two midfielders at the back - George. Wood and Thiago, whose main role is to intercept our attacks, are focused on the left and right flanks. However, you must also be prepared to deal with the opponent's two backs. Sissoko. ”

Claudio Ranieri named the team's defender Mohammed. Sissoko's name.

"You're in the middle tomorrow and stop them."

Sissoko nodded vigorously, clearly pleased with Ranieri's arrangement. Because the manager did not choose Paulsen and Marchisio, who are also defensive midfielders. This shows that in a hard-to-go game, the manager trusts himself more than the other two.

He actually wanted to be with the other party's George for a long time. Wood is a long one. As a midfielder who is also physically fit, he sees Wood as his biggest rival. In the past few years, Wood has relied on the team's results, fame and value, as if he had made a rocket, and he has soared all the way. And he came to Juventus from Liverpool, and he has always been in a state of half-black and not red.

He believes that his strength is not as weak as Wood's, and Wood's strength is more likely to be hyped up by the English media. He used to play in England and he is well aware of the virtues of the media there.

When he was still at Liverpool, he played Nottingham Forest a few times. Wood was a high-profile rookie at the time, but in Sissoko's eyes, he was no different from himself. It's all physical, technically rough, and good at defending. That's all, but just because Wood is a homegrown player in England, he is praised by the media as if he is quasi-world-class......

At that time, he happened to be marginalized at Liverpool and could not even play the main team, and Benitez also brought in Mascherano who played an overlapping role with him after having his own full-time defensive midfielder. He knew his days at Anfield were over.

Juventus played against Nottingham Forest two seasons ago and he missed those two games after being sent off in the previous games. This time he finally won't miss it again.

Back to back? He's looking forward to it.

Ranieri only left a Sissoko in the middle and left the rest of the group to focus on the wing. Despite being at home, he intends to use counter-attacking defence to play Nottingham Forest. Two seasons ago, he used this tactic to beat the then unbeatable defending champions Nottingham Forest, and he believes he can still do so two seasons later.

"Defend solidly, then fight back. Nottingham Forest are a team that are used to counter-attacking others, but they are not good at counter-attacking others. The five minutes at the start and end of each half are good chances for us to score, try to take them. If we want to attack, we use the middle, Nottingham Forest are all focused on the wings and the middle will be our chance. ”

After explaining the tactics, Ranieri announced the starting line-up for tomorrow's game.

The veteran will turn 36 next month. Piero didn't start, but he was in the squad. If he can't open the game, Ranieri could bring him on and use his experience and skill, as well as his ability from set-pieces, to break the deadlock.

The starting strikers were Amaury and Iaquinta, and the midfield was lined up, from left to right, Malouda, who spent £7 million from Chelsea this summer, the talented young player Giovinco (sebastian_giovinco), the tough defensive midfielder Sissoko of Mali, and the old and strong Camoranesi. From left to right, the backline is Molinaro (christian_maolinaro), Giorgio Chiellini, Lerotalje, and Czech Griguera. The goalkeeper is Buffon, of course.

Also sitting on the bench was the old captain Del. Piero, Christian. Paulson (christian_poulsen), Yago. Falck. Silva (iago), Melberg (Mellberg), Crishitto (domenico_criscito) and other players who are not weak.

This is the strongest squad Ranieri can come up with in recent times.

You can see how much he takes this game seriously.

※※※

But after the start of the game the next day, after observing for a few minutes, after seeing the formation of Nottingham Forest for this game, he was immediately dumbfounded - Tony. For the first time, Don didn't stick to his wing attacking characteristics, but instead stationed heavily in the middle!

4132！

This is Tony. Donne's formation in this game.

Goalkeeper Akinfeev, centre-backs Pepe and Kompany, left-back Layton. Barnes, right-back Raphinha. Defender George. Wood, the three central midfielders from left to right are Matthias. Fernández, Thiago and Shaheen. Up front, Ibisevic and Eastwood are the strikers.

"What is this?" Ranieri stood on the sidelines and muttered to himself.

None of the information he has gathered suggests that Nottingham Forest have used or attempted to use such a formation. Fools know that the wide flanks are the foundation of Forest's success, and judging by the signings made every summer, Toney. Don has also always given the most importance to wide players. Almost every wide player who has qualified in Forest's squad is world-class.

On the other hand, players in the middle are a little less capable. Van der Vaart may have been the best attacking player in the middle of midfield since promotion to the Premier League, but he has now been sold to Real Madrid. Shaheen has talent, but he has never felt like he can take on a heavy responsibility, let alone Thiago. He's not the kind of star player who can change the course of a game.

Don relies on this midfield lineup, why does he play the configuration of three central forwards?

Although Fernandez can also play as a central midfielder, he is best suited to be a wing-back. Putting him in the middle isn't this self-destructing the Great Wall?

It didn't take long for Ranieri to understand why Donn had arranged it that way.

Juventus are planning to score a goal in the opening five to ten minutes to drag the game into their familiar rhythm. However, their attack was stubbornly blocked by Nottingham Forest in midfield. This time, even Fernandez was asked to defend aggressively.

There are four people in the middle, three in front and one behind, forming enough depth to protect each other. At the same time, you can attack directly from here. Once attacked, Fernandez and Shaheen on the left and right sides spread out like wings, and Thiago in the middle sorted out the team's attacking order, George. Wood was behind him and there were times when the two of them switched positions, with Wood stepping forward and Thiago dragging behind.

At the same time, Eastwood frequently retreated to respond, like a shadow striker, and a bit like a free man in the front, and there was no fixed position, and Ibisevic in front of him withstood the Juventus backline, so that they did not dare to act rashly. Such a lineup seems to have abandoned the wings, but it has greatly strengthened the defensive and offensive capabilities of the middle. Shaheen and Fernandez were given the chance to face the goal directly.

In addition, Forest didn't really abandon their wings, with Donn demanding that Barnes and Raphinha get forward and be actively involved in assists when they got the chance.

Such a combination of the side and the middle stunned Juventus at once. They were a bit at a loss in the first 10 minutes of the game – the pre-match tactical plan was to keep an eye on the flanks and defend the counter-attack. Nottingham Forest, on the other hand, have taken the middle as the main attack. And after dropping four men in the middle, they are not afraid of a possible counterattack from Juventus.

Ten minutes passed, and Juventus' offensive was fierce but fruitless. More often than not, their attacks were halted as they advanced to midfield, with Nottingham Forest's midfield jammed like a highway with a series of car accidents, where even the fastest attack had to slow down, or even stop altogether.

Ranieri stood on the sidelines, listening to the cheers of the home fans from the stands at the Alpi Stadium, and then at Toni, who was standing on the sidelines to direct the game. Donne, he felt a bit of a headache......

(To be continued)