Chapter 70: Anger

With a draw from Real Madrid away, Forest team has already gained an advantage in the duel between the two sides for the semi-finals, but this advantage is not safe. Don En dares not say that his team can enter the semi-finals. He must be cautious when fighting on both sides. This season is not like last season, and the policy of "giving up the league and ensuring the Champions League" was determined early in the morning. The team can concentrate on preparing for the battle on the same front. Now, Don En's team needs to make efforts in the league and the Champions League at the same time, narrowing the points gap with Manchester United in the league, and striving to reach the finals for the third time in the Champions League.

Back in Nottingham, Donn faced the weak team Birmingham in the league and implemented a rotation system.

The Forest team, which played as a half substitute and half main lineup, easily defeated Birmingham 2-0 at home. George Wood did not play in this game, and Sidwell's substitute performance was pretty good.

Tang En obviously also noticed the players' desire for more opportunities for the game. If conditions permit, he will let everyone play games.

Bentner started off as a substitute Van Nystruei, scoring two goals alone. After the game, he was selected as the best player of the game and got champagne. He seemed very happy when he was interviewed by reporters. When Donn brought him from Denmark to England, he said that he was the future of the team, the core player of the Forest team in the future, and the main striker. However... there were Viduka and Anelka in front and Van Nystruei behind, and Bentner's position has always been embarrassing. What he can do now is to seize these unusual opportunities and try his best to show himself and score more goals.

He performed very well this season, with eleven goals scored - eight in the league and three in various cups.

In the Denmark national team, he also firmly took the position of the main striker.

In his heart, Don Ng really treated Bentner as the forest to train the future main center. Van Nistruy always had to grow old and her physical condition declined. Athletic condition declined and frequent injuries... These are foreseeable normal situations. Bentner just grew up and took over. With the guarantee of a strong center, it is easy to find others on the front line, Eastwood, Al Shavin, and it will be almost the same to find one in the transfer market. In this way, Nottingham Forest's forward line basically doesn't have to worry too much in the next ten years.

After buying Bentner, the fate of the Danish boy had changed. However, in order to avoid the tragedy of quick success and instant benefits, Tang En planned to let Bentner grow slowly according to the experience he was familiar with, and did not push him to the main front line all at once. He hoped that in the past few years, Bentner could learn slowly, grow gradually, and finally become the leading shooter of Nottingham Forest.

This is his plan, and he is step by step. Tang En thinks that he has considered it very well. He takes into account all aspects. There should be no omissions...

So when he saw Bentner win the best game, he also praised the Danish boy in the locker room. When he was praising him, Don Edward seemed to have seen Bentner become the Premier League scorer in the future, and Nottingham Forest dominated Europe's glory years...

Another good news that made Donne feel comfortable is that in this round of the league, other Nottingham Forest competitors were either tied or lost - Manchester United drew 2:2 away from Middlesbrough. Arsenal drew 1:1 at home, while Chelsea lost 0:2 away from Manchester City.

In this way, Forests is still second, but there is only one gap with Manchester United in the first place.   It is six points away from Arsenal, third. As long as you don’t make big mistakes, the second place will basically not be able to escape.

Of course, Don't have the goal of second in the league this season. He has been second for two consecutive seasons. Some media have called him "Millennium Second-Old", which is unfair to him, because he is a coach who has won the Champions League and League Cup championships. However, the media does not have the word "justice" in the dictionary. As long as there is a gimmick, they have to do it.

Even if the media don't give Tang En such an ugly nickname, Tang En doesn't want to be the second in the league anymore. His goal this season is to win the league. The second-rate win in the league is not a reason to make him happy. What makes him happy is Manchester United's mistake. The two teams are only one point away now. More importantly, Forests have not played against Manchester United in the second half of the league.

As long as they don’t make mistakes, there is still a chance to fight to the death with Manchester United - according to the schedule, in the last round of the league this season. Nottingham Forest will challenge Manchester United away. At that time, as long as the points of the two sides are still a point, it is the moment the league championship is released.

The competition is so fierce.  It's a good thing for the Premier League and the fans.

After playing the 33rd round of the league, Nottingham Forest ranked second and accumulated 76 points. They will face their strong opponent Real Madrid at home.

This is not the first time Real Madrid has been visiting the City Stadium. Although it is the first time they have encountered it in the knockout stage, the first opponent in the group stage was Real Madrid, which was also the match of the City Stadium returning to the Champions League after many years.

There are also many Spanish media coming to England with Real Madrid, and they are still very concerned about this game. Because Real Madrid has been in the quarterfinals of the Champions League for three consecutive seasons, they have reached the quarterfinals this season, making people expect them to win the tenth Champions League trophy in the club's history. If this is really achieved, Real Madrid's achievements can be regarded as the well-deserved first in football clubs.

In the face of such strong expectations, there is no reason to stop in the quarterfinals.

Although he was tied 1-1 by Nottingham Forest at home, the media and fans are still optimistic about Real Madrid. After all, Forest only scored one away goal, and the total score of both sides was a draw. They believe that for Real Madrid, it is impossible not to concede a few goals for the time being, and it is impossible not to let them score. As long as there is a goal, it is a away goal, and one offsets Nottingham Forest’s away goal. Any more goals will be the advantage of Real Madrid’s net profit.

Even if the two sides tied 3:3 at the city stadium in the end, Real Madrid would advance.

Based on the above analysis, Real Madrid people came up with optimistic results that they would inevitably advance.

Before the game started, the entire Real Madrid team had not set off for Nottingham City. Tony Donn started the battle first.

In an interview with the British Guardian, he talked about the first round of the two sides. He first admitted that his tactics were to deal with Guti, and then he praised Guti as the core of Real Madrid now. These seem normal, and it is just a very ordinary interview if sent out.

But then, Tang En changed his tone—

"... Actually, I think Guti should be happy about this matter (referring to being violated by everyone in turn and limped after the game), because this shows something that he has received attention from the enemy. Think about him a few years ago. On the bench..." At this point, Don An laughed loudly and didn't continue.

This passage during the interview was marked in bold by the newspaper editor, and the meaning was self-evident.

Sure enough, after the Spanish media reprinted the interview, it caused a great response.

I won’t say what the fans of Real Madrid in Spain have reflected. On the Guardian website alone, the comments after this interview were almost one-sidedly scolding Tony Don, some in English, some in Spanish, and even in Japanese and Chinese...

In addition to Real Madrid supporters, more people think that Tony Don lacks enough respect for his opponents.

"...I can't believe that such words were said by a famous head coach..." A famous commentator of the Spanish media "As" commented on Tony Don't.

"...We are a gentlemanly country, and sportsmanship is emphasized here. I think Tony Don't's remarks seriously violate this kind of thing that makes us proud..." Even British government officials felt that Don't say this made them feel embarrassed. Sports Minister Tesa Chowell criticized Don't directly. After all, Real Madrid's relationship with the Spanish royal family is very good. They represent Spain's sports image abroad, and this image was slandered by a Premier League coach...

"Tony Don't have a cramp in his brain again." The Sun's title was very eye-catching. They even made a special project to find all the incredible remarks that Tang En said since he took office. It is called "Tony Don't Go Crazy Words".

The Spanish media was full of strife, and the English media almost stood on the opposite side of Don En, slamming him for never speaking through his brain, and tactfully asked Don En to explain this remark that was obviously an insult to the opponent.

So Tang En came out to explain, in his own column—

"...I was very surprised by the reaction this sentence can cause. I just evaluated my opponent. It was completely true. In the eyes of some people, it became disrespectful opponents. You guys ask Guti. Did he only play substitute in a great team like Real Madrid in the past few years? I didn't say that he was not good enough, but the main position belongs to greater players like Beckham, Zidane, and Figo. Compared to them, Guti is really not good. Is it wrong to say that I really don't understand that it is a very interesting job for a group of people to find faults in my words with magnifying glasses all day long?"

This doesn't seem like an explanation? Or although this means an explanation, but with Tang En's unpleasant tone, it's all the fuel tone.

"Sports spirit? When my goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was hit by Reading player Hunter and retired directly, why didn't the respected sports minister Ms. Tesha Jowell come out to publish a high-profile discussion on 'sports spirit'? She should now pay attention to the Beijing Olympics and prepare for the London Olympics. Instead of saying anything to me,"

"Just express your opinions on the opponent's players. You will be criticized like this. Then we don't want to talk in the future, okay? Everyone shut up. The world will be pure now."

"If you really can't find anything good to report on, I suggest you take out all the pages and publish public service advertisements, and promote sports spirit, right?"

It's an explanation, but it's actually Tang En's counterattack?

I don't know if he criticized the British Minister of Culture, News and Sports in mercilessly, Tony Donn is the first person in English football history... Anyway, he is completely red, red and purple, purple and black... There are many more enemies in his family.

Although Jowell is the sports minister, she has no right to ask Tang En to do anything. The only thing she did wrong was not to get involved in this matter. She made that statement and stabbed Tang En's hornet's nest. After Tang En counterattacked, she didn't say anything. For a senior government official, it was the most appropriate way to keep silent in a war of words with an ordinary person. She should have been like this long ago...

The Spanish media is unwilling to let go, but the voice of the English media has become much weaker. Because the game is approaching, it makes no sense to hype something like this. In the end, it will still be on the game itself.

In fact, the hype in the media is not just for the sake of "the dignity of Spanish football", "for sports ethics", "respect your opponents"... They just can attract attention and have greater benefits because doing so.

The media is the best profession in the world who is good at "being a bitch and having to set up a archway". Tang En knew what they were going to do, so he didn't give them a good look.

The most influential thing about his words was Real Madrid, and Guti, who was "named", was even more furious. When he arrived in Nottingham, he looked angry when he was interviewed: "I don't have any good feelings for people who judge others with malicious intentions. I have no interest in answering such boring topics." He rudely rejected the reporter's question about Don En's words, but even if he doesn't answer this question, will the media have nothing to say?

"Gutty expressed strong dissatisfaction with Tony Don't's remarks!"

"Gutty thinks Tony Donn is not worth mentioning!"

...

Such things.

Anyway, with the help of the media, both sides have officially come to an end.

In fact, Tang En suddenly talked about Guti. Tang was a little incomprehensible. He felt that Tang En did not need to cause trouble for him.

Don En just shrugged and said that the boring sports minister was an unexpected "accident" of his surprise.    It was normal for everyone in the football circle to spit on each other and a major highlight of the football world.     It was a gimmick that the media liked to see.    Mourinho once called Wenger a "peeping crazier", and Ferguson also said that he hoped to have two bullets to kill Wenger and Victoria... At these times, why didn't British government officials come out to speak out?

So it was indeed what Don En did not expect to stand out, which made him particularly angry. He was a kind of domineering "People in our circle talk about things, but why do laymen make trouble?" He didn't care about this being a government official and a woman. He retorted.

Putting aside this impulsive sports minister, Don En's plan went smoothly. He paid the price of carrying many infamous and being hated, and then successfully angered Real Madrid's midfielder Guti.

Maybe he is not as famous as Raul and others, but in Tang En's eyes, he is the real core of Real Madrid today. With him, he has direction and strategy for Real Madrid's offense, and without him, Real Madrid's offense will be messy.

Guti is angry. He will lose a organizer and must be calm. What will Real Madrid's offense be like at that time... You can guess it with your knees.

Everything was not as expected by Don En. In the second round of the two sides, Guti's performance was completely different from the first round. Anyone could see his impetuous mood. Real Madrid's offense also became messy for the first time.    First of relying on Guti, Guti made frequent mistakes and frequently lost balls. There were several times when he passed the football directly to the players of the Forest team to issue certificates.

Amid the overwhelming booing of the city court, his temper became worse and worse. Before the first half was over, he applied for a yellow card - once he snatched and knocked down George Wood without any need. He got a yellow card, and the Forest players refused to let the referee give him a red card and sent him off directly.

The game is full of gunpowder, and verbal conflicts between the players on both sides are common.

In the 70th minute of the game, Shuster could no longer bear it and replaced Guti with Gago.   In these seventy minutes, Guti passed the ball 76 times, but only succeeded thirty times. The frequent mistakes did not help the team's offense at all.    Instead, the whole team became restless with him.

With less conflict, Real Madrid's offense has completely lost its direction. They rely more on the stars' personal skills to fight alone, and occasionally if they want to cooperate, they will be overwhelmed by the overall defense of the Forest. The arrogant Real Madrid is really helpless in the home defense against Nottingham Forest.

In the end, the two sides tied 0:0.

This result made Real Madrid fans look dead, and Real Madrid players look lost and confused - they were eliminated by Nottingham Forest with a disadvantage of few away goals...

"Nottingham Forest once again broke into the semifinals! The third year in a row! This is amazing, this is amazing..." the commentator repeated, not knowing what to say.

This game was really ugly and had no highlights. If it were neutral fans who saw such a game, they would have turned off the TV or changed channels. Such a game made the commentator really not interested in answering it. However, it is indeed an amazing result to enter the semi-finals of the Champions League for three consecutive years. In today's football world, few teams can do this... No, it can even be said to be "almost nothing".

The ugly and disgusting game and the amazing great results, the contradiction was so wonderfully unified on Tony Don't's team. The commentator felt the lack of vocabulary for the first time and could not express this feeling appropriately.

Had to...
Chapter completed!