The group draw ceremony for the 05-06 season of UEFA Champions League had just ended. Nottingham Forest drew Group D. Included in the same group were La Liga’s powerhouse, Real Madrid; last season’s champions of the Primeira Liga, S.L. Benfica; and the previous runner-up in France Ligue 1, Lille.
To Forest Team, the abilities of that group were far from weak; any one of those teams could bring them a lot of trouble.
Lille was perhaps the only opponent they could hold any kind of expectation for.
Real Madrid had practically made reservations on one of the advancement slots; no one would doubt that. No one believed that Real Madrid would be unable to advance from a mere group stage. That meant there was only one more advancement placement left amongst Benfica, Lille, and Nottingham Forest.
When Tang En had brought Shania to tour Spain in the summer of 2003, he had told her outside the grounds of Bernabéu that there were only two possibilities that would warrant him entering this stadium: one, that he became the main manager of Real Madrid and walked into this sanctum as its owner; or two, he leads a team to Bernabéu for a match and walks in as Real Madrid’s enemy, an opponent.
He had not expected for the second possibility to turn into reality so quickly.
Group D was not known as the Group of Death. The analysis of Europe’s media deemed Nottingham Forest and Lille to be teams that had no hope of advancing. Instead, they were thought to be the first targets for Real Madrid and Benfica to mine points and goal differences from as the two competed to get the first position in the group. That perspective was brought up by someone during the press conference at the end of the draw with Tang En.
“I don’t really mind being a slab of meat waiting to be slaughtered, but I hope the people preparing to butcher us sharpen their cleavers first. Otherwise, they might damage their own blades instead.”
Tang En did not show any inkling of fear or worry. On the contrary, the media felt that Tony Twain appeared to be brimming with confidence.
However, on the flight returning from Zurich to London, Tang En’s tightened brows could not relax.
He was deep in thought about how they could advance into the best 16 from among the group.
Lille, who was at about the same level as the Forest Team, was an opponent that Tang En felt it was necessary to take down. Only after taking both rounds of the match would they have the qualification to fight for an advancement. It was just like preventing relegation in the League. If they were unable to accumulate enough points from the weaker teams, they could not hope to be able to turn the tables on the stronger ones.
The Group Stage was a two-legged tie in both the home and away fields. Tang En did not wish to put his stake on the matches against Real Madrid. The key was to win both matches against Lille.
Time was extremely tight. After he got back, he needed to commence his attack strategy for the Champions League.
According to match schedule, Nottingham Forest would be welcoming to their home grounds the La Liga giants, Real Madrid, in their first Group Stage match.
To Evan, that was great news. The ticket revenue from their home ground, as well as dividends from the TV broadcast, would all go to Nottingham Forest. Real Madrid’s arrival would certainly make City Ground, which was popular to begin with, even more popular. That way, large sums of money would be rolling into Forest’s bank account.
But to Tang En… His brows furrowed even more tightly. George Wood’s bar from matches was still in enforcement with two more matches to go. It would be officially enforced from the beginning of the Group Stage matches. Without Wood, Tang En was unconvinced that they could shut down the terrifying force coming from Real Madrid. Although Real Madrid was undergoing consistent internal conflict, their football stars each had the ability to resolve problems on their own. Zidane, Ronaldo, Raúl, Roberto Carlos, and Beckham… the names were enough to dazzle anyone and be a source of an immense headache.
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During their first training back in Nottingham, Tang En spoke to his team.
“Guys, I’m sure you already know what opponents you’ll be facing in the Champions League Group Stage. In 10 days, we’ll be welcoming Real Madrid into City Ground. How about it? Does that name make you unsteady on your feet? Is your heart beating faster?”
Ribéry raised his hand.
“Boss, my heart is beating faster. But, my legs haven’t gone soft. So, it’s not because I’m nervous. I’m excited. I’m really looking forward to the match!”
“That’s right, Boss. We’re all looking forward to it!”
“It’s only worth it when we play against strong teams!”
Watching his players all raring to go, Tang En was reminded of when he had gone to the bar yesterday to chat with Burns. He bumped into John and the rest and they had talked about the night of the group draw. That group of hardcore fans had been watching in the Forest Bar. Their reactions at the end, when the draw revealed Nottingham Forest to be in the same group as Real Madrid, was a far cry from what Tang En had imagined; the bar had erupted into unanimous cheers.
John said to Tang En, “Tony, to be honest, we’re no longer that interested in watching you guys play against weak teams. We want to watch Forest match up with strong teams. The stronger our opponents, the more excited we get.”
Tang En rolled his eyes. “You guys just can’t wait for Forest to lose?”
“No. Who says we’ll lose? I believe that the stronger our opponents are, the greater our chances are of victory,” John said with a laugh. “Tony, this is the confidence you gave us.”
“Real Madrid is not just a team we’ve traditionally called strong.”
“Of course, we know. That’s why we’re looking forward to this even more.”
John raised his beer as he stood and opened his arms wide, shouting, “Cheers to Forest Team and this incredible grouping! Cheers for Forest Team! For victory!”
“For victory! For Forest!” The people in the bar yelled. Tang En held his beer as he lightly shook his head.
He could not let these people down; that gave him even greater pressure than aiming to get the championship.
Tang En, coming back to the present, found himself still on the training grounds. With a wave of his hand, he signaled for the players to quiet down.
“Very good. No matter what kind of opponents you meet, you can’t lose your spirit and confidence. Now, go train!”
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In fact, Tang En did not believe that surrendering was the only way out of facing Real Madrid. Truthfully, it was not just Real Madrid. Even if pitted against any rich and powerful team from Continental Europe, Tang En would not simply surrender.
In recent years, Real Madrid had been full of internal conflict; all sorts of negative news emerged endlessly from their locker room, and the team’s capabilities deteriorated year after year. Tang En could use that when the time came.
He remembered that this season was the time when the “Galácticos” would fall apart; the season of their separation and departure from the historic stage. Just before the end of the season, Zidane would announce his official retirement after competing in the World Cup. Even before Zidane, already in summer at the beginning of the season, Figo had joined Inter Milan on a free transfer. This period of history had played out the same way as it had in Tang En’s recollection. Tang En was certain that the era of Real Madrid’s “Galácticos, Fight of the Superstars” would soon come to its end in this world.
Even on their home grounds, it was probably going to be a great challenge to take down Real Madrid. However, Tang En intended to try; his original plan was to hold onto one point and defend, using high pressing as a strategy and sticking relentlessly to them. Sacrificing their offense and stamina, they would firmly hold back Real Madrid.
Now, he suddenly wanted to see if he could win.
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After the fourth round of the Premier League, between the end of August and mid-September, Forest had no matches to play; they could put all their focus into preparing for the Champions League Group Stage.
Tang En intended on going all out against Real Madrid on Forest’s home grounds. In that case, he needed to adjust his strategy. It was almost certainly useless to try to defend in this match. Due to Wood’s absence, Forest’s defense system was severely crippled. Tang En figured that he might as well throw caution to the wind and make a gamble. Anyway, if he only defended, the odds of losing a ball were huge. If they attacked… They might get lucky and even score.
However, the starting line-up was causing some headache for Tang En. While George Wood was not the only defending midfielder on the Forest Team, he was the only one in Tang En’s eyes. Tang En could not trust Gunnarsson’s abilities; not in a match like this.
On another note, Sun Jihai was bought to be their utility player. However, faced with Real Madrid, Tang En did not dare to let Sun Jihai be a starter against a team at their level. Furthermore, he knew that Sun Jihai excelled not in defending, but in assisting. Now that Forest’s offense was not lacking in manpower, the problem of defense in the central midfield was becoming apparent.
Either Piqué or Pepe could play briefly as an interim defensive midfielder, but they were, in the current season, Forest’s immovable center back duo. If one of them went to play as a defensive midfielder, who would play as a center back? Matthew Upson? Wes Morgan? Neither of them could set Tang En’s heart at ease.
His head starting hurting. Why was their first Group Stage match against an opponent like Real Madrid? Wood’s ban from matches affected the condition of the entire team. And it just happened that Wood’s substitute was immensely difficult to find; it had to be a player whose abilities were somewhat on par, yet also a person willing to sit on the bench for more than 30 matches in a season. Any player with such abilities would likely be poached by another club. Why would they choose to be a substitute on Forest?
In the end, Tang En decided to move Pepe forward into the midfield to play as a defensive midfielder. He had played that position for a period when he was in FC Porto, so he was not unfamiliar with it. For the center backs, Tang En partnered Piqué and Wes Morgan, forming a young defensive line.
Frankly, Tang En did not have any confidence in the duo’s ability to defend against Ronaldo and Raúl.