Chapter 96: Don’t wait for the trophy for too long

Even though the door to the locker room was closed, the singing outside was still a bit deafening.  It cannot be said that the sound insulation of the stadium is not good, it can only be said that the fans of both sides were too enthusiastic about this final.

Don Eun listened in the locker room. He heard the songs of Nottingham Forest and the songs of Milan that were once very familiar. He had not yet gone out to take a look at the stadium stands, but he believed that there must be a red ocean outside.

In this game, although AC Milan drew a visiting team draw and could only wear white jerseys, those Milan fans must only wear red and black sword shirts when they come to Greece.

The stadium was slight vibrations with singing, booing, applause, and even stomping.

Tang En looked at the ceiling and turned his gaze back into the locker room.

After a while, the jerseys that the players were going to wear were already hung in their respective cabinets, and cleaned sneakers and leg guards were neatly placed on the seats.

Unlike before, these tasks are now completed by dedicated people, players only need to put all their energy into the game.

The head coach doesn't have to take care of all the big and small things by himself. He just needs to do his own job well, and other self-employed assistant coaches, coaches, physical coaches, goalkeepers, team doctors, staff... to complete it.

Tang En thought that if he had traveled through time for thirty years earlier, this head coach would definitely not have been able to do it himself...

The tactical board is still blank now, there is no too many or complicated tactics that require drawing that thing so that it doesn’t even recognize it. Some things need to be explained, but they are just verbal explanations.

Tang En waited for his men to return warmed up.

Michael Bernard and his old guys stood in the stands at the Olympic Stadium, looking down at the grassy stadium, where players from both sides were warming up.

Since entering the court, he hasn't spoken for a long time, just looking around. Look here and where he looks. Although it is his first time to visit Olympia Stadium in Athens, everything here makes him familiar and feel very friendly. It is not about this stadium, but about this kind of atmosphere.

Fans from both sides kept singing, applauding, shouting various slogans in the stands to cheer for the players off the court. Demonstrate to the other fans. The smell of sweat mixed with the alcohol fluttered in the air, which was intoxicating.

He liked this taste, and after three years away, he was still fascinated by it.

This is...Champion Cup final!

I really didn't expect that I could see it again in my lifetime and appear on the Champions League finals. When Nottingham Forest was relegated from the Premier League to the First Division, he once thought it was just an accident and glory would be reappeared. But when the team was promoted to the Super League one year later, it was relegated again, and became a "lift" team a few years later. He no longer had any fantasies. He felt that being a loyal Forest team fan was enough. Regardless of whether the team could still appear in the Champions League finals, his goal was to enable the team to return to the Super League.

When his son died tragically at the feet of a football hooligan because of watching the game, he thought he would never return to the stadium and watch the game again. Because he could not forgive himself who took his son to watch the game. If he had a choice, he would rather let himself die and save his son's life.

But now he is back and back in the stands to cheer for his favorite team.

Is it because I don’t love Gavin anymore? Is it because I forgot the pain of losing my son?

No.

I took Gavin to watch the ball. I am here. Gavin is right next to me. There are too many people here, so I have to hold his hand tightly...

Since childhood, Gavin has brought me to watch every home game of the Forest team, so that he will become a staunch Forest team fan. Now, when the Forest team returns to its peak of glory, how can I not bring him here? He hopes to see the Forest team win the European Champions League and become the heroic team in his father's mouth again.

If he had the chance, he could have taken his son to the stadium to watch the Forest Team game decades later, pointing to the players wearing red jerseys, and proudly told his son: "Look, son! Dad saw the Forest Team win the Championship Cup with his own eyes! This is an amazing team! You will also like them!"

Michael lowered his head, afraid that John and Bill and others would see the tears in their eyes.                                                                                                                    �

After re-stabilizing his emotions, Michael raised his head and began to sing with the people around him. Time flies back suddenly, and he returns to that youthful and arrogant era.

"Forest! Forest! Nottingham Forest--!!"

The door of the locker room was pushed open. The players who returned from warming up came in one after another. Their faces were red and their breath was slightly breathing. They looked in good spirits.

Tang was the last one to come in. After entering the locker room, he nodded to Tang En, and then closed the door.

The noise suddenly became much smaller, so small that everyone could hear Tang En's words clearly.

Tang En was not in a hurry to give a speech. He waited for everyone to change the changes and finished all the things at hand. When everyone looked up at him, hoping that he would stand up and clear his throat when he said something.

"Everyone knows how to play this game, so I won't talk too much about technical and tactical things. There are only a few points that I need to remind you here." Tang En raised his right index finger, "1. You can't let AC Milan play at the rhythm they are used to. Their rhythm is slower than us. We have to find ways to drag them into our rhythm. Use the Premier League rhythm to deal with the Serie A rhythm. You all know how to do it in the training ground, so I won't talk more nonsense here."

"Second, be careful of AC Milan's set-up pieces. Try not to give them a free kick near our penalty area line. George, if the foul is done, it is farther from the dangerous area."

Wood nodded.

"Three, no offside is allowed. The defense line shrinks its defense, pay attention to Inzaji's position."

"Fourth, we are playing defensive counterattacks. We must be patient and be more patient than our opponents. We are patient and wait for the opportunity to appear, and then grab it!" He clenched his fists. "No matter what situation we face, whether they score first or score three goals in a short period of time... we must keep calm, don't panic, and don't be discouraged. Of course, this is the worst case, in fact, I don't think we will encounter it."

"Five.  " Tang En looked at the players with a serious expression. He clapped his hands and smiled, "There is no fifth place.  In ninety minutes, let us win the championship trophy together!"

There was a burst of laughter in the locker room.

After everyone finished laughing, Tang En continued, "Okay, the things on the court are finished. Let's talk about things outside the court. Can everyone hear it? How noisy is there in the stands outside."

The players nodded one after another, and they had already felt the enthusiasm of the fans in advance when they were warming up.

"A lot of people came this time, although Greece is far from Britain. But many of our hard-core fans have come, and they occupy half of the stadium. They have traveled all the hardships and are not trying to see us fail. Last year, we lost the final in Paris. Do we have to lose again this year?"

"No!" Someone couldn't wait to yell, but no one laughed at him. Because everyone wanted to yell like this.

"It is certainly a proud result to reach the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons. But if we can only win the runner-up for two consecutive seasons, you and me..." He pointed at the players and pointed at himself. "It can only become a laughing stock in Europe! Wherever they go in the future, they will gloat: 'Look! This is the ten thousand-year-old second-year Nottingham Forest! Can you accept this insult? I can't!"

"No one will accept it!" There were a few more people shouting out this time.

Hearing this answer, Tang En smiled: "It's great. We are indeed from the same team, and our ideas are the same. There are many people who want to joke about us, but we can't give them that opportunity. Never give it!" He waved his arms and said loudly. "Remember, no one can defeat us except ourselves! Now I want you to close your eyes and think carefully about how we came through these two seasons. What opponents we met along the way..."

Donn himself closed his eyes and slowly said the names of those opponents: "Lier, Benfica, Real Madrid, Glassy Wanderers, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, ​​Eindhoven, Bordeaux, Galatasaray, Chelsea..." After pronounced these names, he opened his eyes again and looked at the players.

"Listen to the names of these teams, they are famous ones. Some of them have won countless championship trophys, and some are traditional strong teams in their respective national leagues. But no matter how famous these teams are or how strong they are, they all end up the same - losing! These stars are shining names. They are the spoils we ascend to the throne, and they are hung on the wall..." Tang En waved his hand. It seemed as if he was really standing in the palace and showing his subjects the spoils he had returned from hunting. "...Be the jewelry and diamonds on our crown. But now it is still the biggest, brightest and brightest one. "

He pointed to the door, "Acc Milan is waiting for us, I think they are already a little impatient."

Tang looked at the watch. It was too late because of Tang En's speech. According to normal circumstances, the teams of both sides should be lined up in the corridor to appear. He thought Tang En had forgotten the time, but he didn't expect that he knew it completely... It seemed that he deliberately asked AC Milan to wait for a while.

The players burst into laughter. They like to see such a motivated head because it will make them feel particularly at ease, as if there is a psychological hint that keeps telling them: "We will definitely win, we will definitely win, we will never lose!"

To be honest, if Tang En suddenly became unhappy, suddenly became depressed, and seemed helpless about everything, then he might lose half of his control over the team. Because the people are dispersed, the team is difficult to lead...

All the time to say is said, the players' emotions have also been mobilized, and it is time to summarize Chen Ci.

Tang En raised his hand: "I won't say that you can enjoy football, I want you to enjoy the joy of winning after the finals. Guys, whenever I'm with you. Tapping, forty-five minutes, halftime break, ninety minutes... I'm all by your side, I look forward to drinking champagne with you!" At this point, he paused and took a deep breath.

"Let's conquer the whole of Europe - let our opponents be scared!!"

"Let's conquer Europe - let our opponents feel scared!!" In the locker room, not only the players, but also the members of the coaching staff shouted with him.

The excited young men broke open the door of the locker room and rushed out.

The people in AC Milan are indeed a little impatient to wait.

They walked out of the locker room as usual and lined up in the corridor to wait for the show.

They waited until the referee and the two assistant referees arrived, but they still did not wait for the opponent Nottingham Forest to appear by their side.

You can't wait like this. The AC Milan officials went to negotiate with the fourth official and asked him to see what the Nottingham Forest was doing. The fourth official went to the door of the locker room of the forest team to knock on the door. But at that time, Don Eun was giving a passionate speech, roaring loudly, and his knocking was completely ignored...

The locker room is a very sacred place, and even the fourth official has no right to break through. He had no choice but to go back to comfort the somewhat anxious AC Milan, hoping that they would wait patiently.

A member of the coaching staff next to Ancelotti muttered after learning the news: "Nottingham Forest is so big, we have to wait for them..."

AC Milan's head coach looked back at the heat. He didn't say anything.

Now that I'm complaining, AC Milan can only wait honestly.

Just when the Milanese's patience was about to be exhausted, the players of Nottingham Forest rushed out with murderous aura. If the referee had not stopped him, they might have rushed to the court directly...

Waiting for the team to line up in the corridor, Tang En slowly swayed from behind. He saw the anger and anxiety on the faces of AC Milan players, and he was secretly happy.

And as if to add fuel to the fire, he still made a very proud gesture in front of his opponent, shaking in front of the Milan players for a long time before he shook out of the corridor and walked towards his coaching seat.

As soon as he left the corridor, he was welcomed by Nottingham Forest fans gathered in the stands on the right side of the corridor. Fanatic cry swept across everyone near the stands, whether it was Nottingham Forest or AC Milan.

They were shouting, stretching their arms to Donn: "Tony, we want a championship! We accept nothing except the championship!!"

Such naked things. The AC Milan fans on the opposite side cannot do it. They don’t want to do it, and they don’t need to do it. In recent years, they have won many championships, unlike the Nottingham Forest fans who are as hungry as those who are not as thirsty as those of the championship.

But it cannot be said that AC Milan has no desire for the championship.

They faced an English team, which gave them more motivation to win the championship. The night in Istanbul two years ago was painful for the AC Milan players. They lost to Liverpool in a good situation of leading three goals, and now Liverpool has not reached the final. Instead, another England ball - Nottingham Forest.

No matter who it is. As long as it is the England team, AC Milan will be very motivated to play. Because they want to take revenge. After that final, they celebrated the results in advance in the locker room due to the intermission, which became a joke around the world. This shame must be returned twice, and it doesn't matter if the opponent is not Liverpool. As long as they are from England and are wearing red jerseys, they will play like Liverpool.

Looking at the arrogant opponent next to him, the flame of revenge was burning in the eyes of all AC Milan players.

"This is a matchup like Mars hitting the earth! Nottingham Forest has been winning everyone's recognition with their outstanding and stable performance since returning to the Premier League. The two consecutive games to the Champions League finals are the best proof! But I hope they will not enter the finals twice in a row and lose to their opponents twice in a row like Valencia back then. AC Milan is a regular visitor in the Champions League finals. They have entered the finals ten times and won the championship six times! A great result! Nottingham Forest compared to them, it is as insignificant as their little brother... But! If Forest finally defeated Barcelona last season, they will become the only team to reach the finals three times and win the championship three times... It's a pity."

The commentator is excited to introduce the two sides of the game to the TV audience. Judging from the historical record, AC Milan obviously has the upper hand. They have more experience in reaching the finals and winning the championship. They have been at the center of European football since their founding. This kind of experience and temperament of a wealthy family is a huge wealth and a winning hand that may play a decisive role at critical moments.

Compared with AC Milan, Nottingham Forest has no advantage except youth.

However, in such a major final, almost everyone would rather believe in old age. Believe in experience. Young means having no experience, and no surprise means that the possibility of failure is rising sharply.

You may get a more intuitive impression from the data from the bookmakers.

Eighty percent of bettors are unanimously optimistic about AC Milan's winning championship.                                                   

Of course, Tang En knew about these information before the game. He was very happy that his team's odds were not favored. Because he secretly bet ten pounds before the game and bet on his team to win. He didn't care how much money he could win, he paid for confidence.

"The competition is about to begin! Let's look forward to this final together!"

Albertini stood on the left side of the center line, next to him were three referees, across from a center line. Opposite was his old friend in AC Milan, the captain of AC Milan, Paul Maldini.

Today, Maldini is still wearing AC Milan jerseys and still has AC Milan flags. And Albertini is wearing a red Nottingham Forest jersey. He is holding the Nottingham Forest team flag.

This kind of meeting is embarrassing.

Although it was not the first time he met like this, he had played against AC Milan when he was playing for Lazio. But how can an ordinary league be compared to an important Champions League final?

Maldini's eyes, which are as blue as the Mediterranean Sea, reflects his old friend.
To be continued...