Luxemburgo suddenly frowned, then turned to walk towards the substitutes’ bench and said to Pablo Garcia, “Go warm up.”
Garcia was a little surprised, but he quickly noticed the manager’s look of anger. He hurriedly rose from his seat, threw off his jacket, and ran out.
The hissing in Bernabéu grew even louder when they saw the defensive midfielder warming up. Real Madrid’s hard-to-please fans had reason to make disgruntled noises. With the team still tied with their opponents, their manager was not going to bring on an attacking player to fight for a goal. Instead, he was going to bring on a defensive midfielder to strengthen the defense!
They could not tolerate that type of cowardly behavior.
They certainly saw that Real Madrid’s defensive line required urgent assistance, and furthermore, they were constantly in a state of emergency. However, they thought that as long as the offense was strengthened, that level of urgency was nothing at all. Real Madrid’s football philosophy was that if their opponents scored nine goals, they would score ten in return! They did not compete based on which team would concede fewer goals, they would compete on which team had scored more goals!
Twain understood that concept and became more aware when he heard the louder hiss. But he liked to compete with that kind of team because a team that placed less emphasis on defense made things easier for the opponents. What trouble had this Real Madrid team caused Nottingham Forest up until now?
As long as the football crossed the center circle, the Real Madrid players in the front field like Ronaldo, Zidane, and Guti would stop running and stand in the front to watch. The Forest players could almost pass through the midfield to directly enter Real Madrid’s thirty-meter zone without any hindrance. Then, they could do whatever they wanted.
In the minds of those megastars, defense was left to the defenders. They just had to wait in the front field and take a second to determine the outcome of the game.
Ronaldo, for example, was always praised as a superstar who disappeared for eighty-nine minutes and then used one minute to determine the outcome of the game.
However, Twain did not like that kind of player. As he was the manager, he had to look at the problem from the manager’s point of view. If he had such an arrogant idler on the field, then he might as well have only ten players on the team for eighty-nine minutes of the game. He did not need the ability to determine the game in one minute. If it was not even certain if Ronaldo could score, then what was the use?
If the entire team played as a whole, then they could have the opportunity to determine the outcome of the game within ninety minutes instead of counting on the individual star player’s condition to decide that illusory minute.
If there was such a big shot on his team who dared to ask Twain such nonsense as “Have you ever seen a pianist run laps?” when the entire team was asked to run laps to build stamina, then Twain would sell him without caring how much loss it would cost the team’s finance. If he could not sell him, he would toss that player into the reserves. And if the club sided with the player, then he would leave. He was not the kind of man who would tolerate a player publicly confronting his authority.
Therefore, he had once worried that Anelka would disrupt the atmosphere of the locker room and the balance within the team. Thankfully, after an in-depth conversation with Anelka, he found that the Frenchman’s attitude was not bad.
※※※
When Pablo Garcia returned to the technical area to be briefed by Luxemburgo, the Forest team launched an attack.
After Anelka’s shot was struck out by Casillas, Viduka’s rebound shot was thwarted by Carlos and bounced out of the end line.
A corner kick was awarded.
Watching the noble Real Madrid being pressed on by the English provincial team, Bernabéu’s boos resounded through the night sky.
Twain looked up at the people in the stands and savored the feeling. This is fantastic, they’re not jeering at us!
That type of hissing was obviously not the maximum loudness that the Bernabéu fans could produce. When they saw the fourth official raise the signboard on the sidelines to signal that Real Madrid’s number 14 player, Guti, was to be brought off and replaced with the defensive midfielder Pablo Garcia, that hissing sound made many Nottingham Forest fans cover their ears.
What was that behavior for? In the eyes of the Real Madrid fans, under such unfavorable circumstances, for the team not to win by attacking and instead to be satisfied with a draw, was a blatant betrayal of Real Madrid’s century-old tradition!
It was absolutely intolerable.
The camera especially gave Luxemburgo a close-up shot of his calm face and then turned to the platform to give the club president, Florentino, another close-up of his expressionless face.
Luxemburgo had done something that went against all the Real Madrid fans’ wishes.
He knew that the probability of winning under such circumstances was already not great. It was sensible to first ensure they did not continue to lose possession of the ball, and then consider attacking. But the Real Madrid fans did not see it that way.
The referee motioned for Guti to leave the field. Guti did not look happy and dillydallied to leave the field.
Pablo Garcia stood on the sidelines with an awkward expression and waited for Guti to slowly walk off the field. He did not know whether the fans’ boos were meant for him, but on the surface, it looked like he bore a lot of the pressure from the boos.
His head was bowed. He had never imagined such a scene when he had joined Real Madrid, a century-old powerhouse club.
Real Madrid’s substitution took one minute, which helped the Forest waste game time.
When Pablo Garcia was on the field, he took over Guti’s position and naturally took over Guti’s responsibility. However, what was Guti’s responsibility in the defense of corner kicks? He simply stood the edge of the penalty area for show.
Garcia could not do that. He was a defensive player, so he squeezed into the crowd.
Gareth Bale raised his arms to indicate that he was going to do kick the ball.
It was crowded in front of Real Madrid’s goal area. The football volleyed into the air and suddenly everything became chaotic.
Who struck the ball? Who was blocking whom?
No one could see clearly at that moment.
Twain raised his head and stared. Then he saw a raised arm in the crowd, followed by two and then three arms!
Clad in a red jersey, Pepe came out of the crowd and spread his arms wide. He roared and charged towards the corner flag! All the Nottingham Forest players came charging behind him.
“Nottingham Forest scores! 2:1! They are beating Real Madrid in their away game!!”
Twain punched the ground.
It had finally happened. The moment when the so-called “Galácticos” was sunk. The deformed team was yanked off of their pedestal and “the era of superstars” was coming into an end.
Looking up again, he saw countless white handkerchiefs flapping across the stands. It was a traditional way for Spanish fans to express their dissatisfaction.
As he looked at the white handkerchiefs fluttering in the sky, he suddenly thought of the white banners billowing in a funeral procession.
It really fits with the occasion.