Kaka opened his arms, pointed to the sky, and ran towards the corner flag. It was his signature celebration, and even in such a fierce final, he scored a goal to thank God first. He can thank God, but his teammates have to thank him, and the Milan players are cheering and rushing at him.

In the stands, AC Milan fans set off long-prepared fireworks, "Milan! Milan! The song began again.

Although it was just a goal, it gave hope of an equaliser. A 50-meter-long solo ride is indeed too morale-boosting!

"George. Is Wood powerful? But he can't stop our Kaka! In the fifty-meter run, he can only run along, he can only run along!! He is Kaka's foil, a dim little star in the light of a superstar! ”

Wood sat on the ground with his hands on the ground and still in a tackle position - one leg outstretched and one leg pressed under his buttocks.

Of course, he couldn't hear the Italian commentator's agitated gibberish, but he knew he had lost to Kaka this time. Whether it's speed, technique, or experience, he loses, and he loses completely.

Defensive players are not like offensive players, they do not have the right to "lose", because "losing" is likely to mean that the whole team will "lose".

The Forest's players looked a little demoralized, and Kaka's goal left them speechless, even if they wanted to admit defeat - George. Wood, the team's best defender, ran 50 meters with Kaka and couldn't find a tackle. Pepe, a central defender who can be ranked in the top 10 in the Premier League, was thrown off by Kaka's acceleration with a change of direction, and there was no room to fight back.

What else is there to say about such a goal?

It's so devastating......

※※※

The players felt that there was nothing to say, but Don had a lot to say, and he didn't admit how good Kaka's goal was, because if he was Wood, the attack would have disappeared from the start.

He jumped off the field like thunder, waving his hands vigorously and roaring on the field: "George!! You bastard, you give me down!! ”

Amid the huge cheers of the AC Milan fans, Wood still heard Donn's roar.

He got up and ran honestly.

Don pulled him to his side, gritted his teeth and whispered, "You need to take full responsibility for this conceded goal, you know?!" ”

Wood nodded, and his attitude was good.

"I know what you're thinking, but you have to be mindful of the occasion. It's a Champions Cup final, not a fucking medieval knight duel where two sides throw white gloves at each other! In order to win, you have to do whatever it takes, whatever it takes! Donn roared in Wood's ear, and Wood buried his head in silence, taking the manager's anger to himself.

"How do I usually teach you? Defending is not a glamorous job, it is the most tiring and dirtiest thing. Those fans ......," he said, pointing to the fans at AC Milan, "and you're going to destroy whatever they want to see." Whatever they like, you have to object. You have to always be against them, against them! Do you understand? ”

"I know, sir."

※※※

Albertini smelled a hint of danger. He turned his head to look at the reveling AC Milan players and the Milan fans in the stands.

It was a beautiful goal that affected the mood of his teammates, and it was too dangerous to leave it alone. He's the captain, and wearing the captain's armband isn't for the sake of looking good, so he has to do something.

He yelled at his teammates to rally around him, he had something to say.

Everyone gathered obediently, but Wood was being called by the head coach to lecture on the sidelines, looking at the expression and gestures of the head, the words that came out of the up-and-down lips were definitely not good.

Time was precious, and Albertini couldn't care about his superiors anymore, so he ran over and interrupted Donn's lecture to Wood.

"I'm sorry, sir, don't you mind if I call everyone together and say something?" He pulled Wood away.

Donn certainly didn't mind, and he would love to see Albertini do it. What does a captain do? There is a saying that the captain is the team's on-field manager, and he can help the manager do a lot of things that he can't do from the sidelines.

While the Milan players were still celebrating, Albertini, the former Milan player, now wore a Nottingham Forest shirt and a golden Forest captain's armband to rally his team-mates.

"It's just a ball, guys. You don't have to be so downset, we're one goal ahead of them. He glanced at the Milan players who were still celebrating, "This is the Champions Cup final, and no title can be easily won without going through repeated obstacles with opponents." And, look......" he pointed to the Milan players.

'They've only scored one goal and haven't equalised yet, so it's so exciting. They are AC Milan, one of the biggest clubs in Italy, and now they are happy as if they have won the championship. What does this mean? It shows that they are afraid of us, and they have a sense of security when they score a goal, but they are still behind us. I used to be an AC Milan player and I know this team. They are not as strong and invincible as you think, and they also have a lot of weaknesses. Like what...... They're not really good at playing against the wind. Think of the night in Istanbul in 2005, when Liverpool scored three goals in a short period of time, and they panicked......"

There was something Albertini was not telling the truth, because to be honest, there is no guarantee that any team will be calm when conceding three goals in ten minutes. He said this in an attempt to restore confidence and calm the emotions of the Forest players.

"So, we now have a chance to keep the lead over them. I'm not a boss, but I also play the football manager game and I know a little bit about the psychology of a manager. If I were the leader, I would have switched to attacking players at this point and strengthened the attack instead of continuing to defend it. Do you know why? Without waiting for everyone to answer, he went on to announce the answer. Because if we can't open up the score gap again, we will always give the opponent hope of equalizing or even overtaking, this hope is their crazy motivation, they will tirelessly launch wave after wave of attacks towards our goal, our defensive pressure will only increase, and it will definitely not be reduced in the slightest. There's only one solution to the situation – goals. If we can score one more goal, they're finished! ”

Albertini clenched his fists as if he had forgotten who he was once an AC Milan player.

He glanced at his opponent again, and when he saw that the AC Milan people had finished celebrating, he clapped his hands: "Remember what the boss said before the game?" Don't give up no matter what the situation is, it's not the worst yet. Cheer up, and when they think they can beat us, tell them how wrong they are! Vaguely, Albertini had Stonei in him. Don's shadow, who has worked with Don for three years, has been more or less affected.

Everyone clapped their hands and dispersed, and Albertini grabbed Wood again, and he had something to say to his midfield partner alone.

"George, are you still thinking about the goal you just conceded?"

Wood shook his head, then nodded.

Albertini smiled: "Don't think about it, as a midfielder, there are many moments like this, if you think about every ball, don't play the game." Did you hear that? Although the leader has not made adjustments, we need to attack now, and we can't win this game by defending alone. ”

Wood continued to nod in agreement.

"But I can't run." Albertini spread his hands and smiled helplessly, "Pirlo is always running, running, he is led by his nose, and his physical exertion is too great." If the offense requires me to rush up, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back. ”

Wood noticed that Albertini's gasping was louder than before conceding the goal, and that his shirt was almost soaked with sweat. He turned 36 years old in August, and the high-intensity competition of the Champions Cup final is indeed not easy for him.

"So, I need you to help me. We adjust the position, you go up a little bit and I'm behind you, you go up when the team needs to attack, I protect you from behind. You're young, you're strong, you're fast, and you're able to come back even if you go up. I can't think of a better fit than you. ”

Wood didn't nod right away, he didn't shake his head right away.

Albertini saw his hesitation and smiled again, "I know what you're thinking. There's nothing to hesitate about, are you still doubting your offensive abilities? This final was the last game of my career, and then I retired and went home in Italy. You can't always want to have someone like me around you, and a lot of times you need to solve problems alone. When you need to move forward, just step forward, don't worry, I'm behind you. He said no more, pushed Wood away, and ran away.

※※※

Albertini was right, and after scoring the goal, AC Milan were in high spirits and high spirits, launching an even more fierce attack on the heart of the Forest team than before. The difference of only one ball is like the smell of blood in the sea, which stimulates the huge shark of AC Milan to chase after Nottingham Forest.

Donn made his first substitution of the game three minutes after conceding the goal. He used Gareth, a full-back who was better at attacking. Bale replaces Leighton. Barnes.

It's a clear signal that it couldn't be more obvious – Donn wants the team to attack.

The Forest players couldn't help but glance at captain Albertini. He was absolutely right, and the boss was about to attack.

Five minutes later, Donn made a second substitution. This time, he used striker Freddie. Eastwood replaces Van der Vaart.

The first substitution was understood by everyone, but the second substitution made some people unable to understand - they originally thought that Eastwood would replace Albertini, who was physically exhausted, but they did not expect to be replaced by Van der Vaart, who did not perform badly.

The substitution made Ancelotti smile very covertly. He felt that Donn was taking Albertini too seriously and chose to trust the experience of the veteran at this time. However, Albertini is clearly unable to run, and what is the use of experience, Pirlo has already shaken off the opponent twice in a row and sent a dangerous pass. If it weren't for Wood's desperate sticking to Kaka, the score would definitely not be 1:2 now.

If Don believes so much in Albertini's experience, then Ancelotti doesn't mind letting Donn build on that trust.

He walked to the sidelines and signaled for Pirlo to become the team's attacking playmaker again, and everyone else had the ball to Pirlo as much as possible, completely crushing Albertini.

Van der Vaart came off thinking that he had not performed well and had not made any outstanding contribution to the team's attack, so he was replaced by the leader. Unexpectedly, Don took the initiative to hug him, and smiled and asked him to wait on the field to celebrate the championship.

Eastwood sprinted and ran onto the pitch, leaving him with little time to perform, and every second had to be cherished.

He doesn't blame the boss for letting him be a substitute in the Champions Cup final for two years in a row. Because the leader must have the leader's considerations, and the player only needs to listen to the command. Without letting him play, he watched the game carefully below, finding something useful for him. Once he is put on the pitch, that's when these things come into play.

※※※

"There's always someone who says Donn is a conservative coach. But when leading the lead, instead of changing defensive players to strengthen the defense, but replacing attacking players to continue to attack, can this be considered conservative? The commentator in England watched the two substitutions and began to cry out for Donne.

Don doesn't care what others think of him.

He shared the same idea with Albertini that at this time, strengthening the defense may not necessarily be achieved by adding defensive players. Strengthening the offense can help reduce the pressure on the defense from another angle. He didn't believe that in the face of Forest's attack, AC Milan would not defend. Of course, if Milan really want to continue attacking, Don can't ask for it, that means there will be a lot of space behind them, and if they are caught once, it will be enough to kill them!

※※※

Pirlo could see that Albertini was running out of energy, but he didn't really need to look, just listening was enough - every time Albertini defended him, he felt like he had a large bellows next to him.

He held his opponent back and passed the ball to Kaka.

Kaka had just managed to break through Wood's defence and score, and now his morale was high and he was in perfect form, so there was no reason not to pass the ball to him.

Just turned to break through Wood's defense, this time Wood kept Kaka out of the door. On a one-on-one break, Kaka's kick was hit by Wood's heel and deflected. Both of them pounced in the wrong direction, but the next second they both kicked the ball at the same time.

Wood kicked the ball out of front of Kaka first, and Kaka only kicked it to Wood's shin.

This scared Kaka, who was afraid that Wood would fall, and then the referee gave him a yellow card. Judging from the action, it's really not light......

As a result, Wood got up from the ground, turned around and threw himself into another Forester defence.

The football was passed to Kaka again. This time Kaka didn't choose to break through directly, he passed the ball back to Pirlo, who was plugged in.

Pirlo was going to play a one-two with Kaka, but before he could receive the ball, Albertini suddenly made a steal and cut off the ball. The Forest launched a counter-attack.

Pirlo had to turn back to defending.

It's just that this time Albertini's long pass lost some accuracy, and the landing point was grabbed by Gattuso, and the fast attack of the Forest team did not play.

Gattuso handed the ball to Andrea Pirlo, who had just finished an attack and didn't immediately get into a defensive position, and Pirlo saw the moment to make a sharp through ball.

Kaka suddenly activated, intending to use his speed to break through Wood's defense.

Wood had paid enough for that conceded goal. Defenders don't have the right to make mistakes, one mistake is enough, and Wood doesn't want to do it a second time. This time, when Kaka had just picked up speed and had not yet controlled the football, he decisively shoveled off the football and shoveled it out in front of Kaka, and Kaka couldn't stop the car and crashed into it and fell to the ground. The referee stopped blowing fouls.

Naturally, the AC Milan fans booed, and the Forest fans applauded Wood's defence.

Milan's attack is not over, Kaka is not good, so Pirlo comes.

They spotted Albertini's lack of energy and handed the football to Pirlo.

Pirlo shook Albertini off again with the ball and looked up to see what was going on on the pitch. Now he is not as urgent as he was dozens of minutes ago, and the "big bellows" behind him is still a little far away from him.

Now he can calmly observe the situation on the field, and then decide how to pass the ball and where to pass.

As is customary, he glanced at Kaka first.

There's no one around Kaka!

What about the Forest's No.13, who has always been inseparable from the Brazilians?

Just as Pirlo was startled, a wind silently appeared beside him, and just as he sensed the danger and was about to pass the ball to Kaka, he kicked it empty......

George. Wood poked Pirlo's ball away and gave it to Albertini, who was running back.

Wood didn't know how much he could achieve offensively in the future, and he didn't know if he could actually be Dmitrio. Albertini is a "metronome" that is both offensive and defensive. But there is one thing, whether he wants it or not, he must admit that Albertini will be leaving the team after this game.

Demy said to him: I can't run, I'm afraid I won't come back if I go up, so you go up, George.

Wood said to him, "You don't have to come back, but go up and wait in front." I'll break the ball for you, I'll pass it for you, and you'll just be responsible for organising the attack. Van der Vaart has gone down, and our attack can only be organized by you.

Forest's attack was thwarted again as Maldini drove up front and Wood had the upper hand in a header battle with Kaka and Seedorf, who was high enough to give the ball to Albertini.

When Albertini first arrived at Forest, Done told Wood that it was his midfield partner and his teacher, and asked him to learn from Albertini and learn everything about him.

On the pitch, Wood's task was to serve as a bodyguard for Albertini, so that the metronome from Italy could organize the attack without any worries. Since when did Albertini need to be Wood's bodyguard?

(To be continued)