champion godfather

Chapter 812

In the past few days, what Guardiola cares most about is not the training ground, but the team doctor.Iniesta and Milito were injured in the game against the Spaniard, and Iniesta's injury was slightly mild. At that time, the team doctor said that he might catch up with the Nottingham Forest game, so after the game against the Royal He began to care about this issue during the World War in Madrid, for fear that there would be a repetition.

Iniesta is now the team's midfield organizer. He and Harvey just sorted out Barcelona's offense in the midfield.Barcelona are considered the most beautiful team on the planet right now, thanks to both of them.

Against an aggressive Nottingham Forest, Guardiola doesn't want to lose anyone.

Apart from the serious injury of Gabriel Milito, he really hoped to use the strongest lineup to deal with the tiger Tony Twain.

Two days before the race, the good news finally came.After the team doctors did a detailed physical examination on Iniesta, it was confirmed that he was in good condition and could play in the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Guardiola breathed a sigh of relief.

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Although the two teams are facing a life-and-death battle, there is already a smell of gunpowder between the two head coaches.But the relationship between the players is not as bad as outsiders imagined.Piqué, as a Barcelona player who has played for Nottingham Forest for many years, although many of his former teammates in Nottingham Forest have left, there are still a few people who have a good relationship with him, such as Bale and Lennon There is Pepe, his former centre-back partner at Nottingham Forest.

Fortunately, Twain wore it a few months earlier, otherwise he would have had such a wonderful feeling when he saw the main central defender of Real Madrid and the main central defender of Barcelona chatting and laughing together as brothers and sisters...

Of course, some media used this relationship to hype. When the Nottingham Forest team arrived in Barcelona, ​​Pepe was asked such a question in the interview.Pepe bluntly said that he and Piqué are very good friends: "...we have a tacit understanding on the court, and I enjoyed that time. Of course, I cooperate well with the current Kompany, Woodgate and others... But I also think it's normal for him to leave, after all, he came from La Masia... What will happen when you ask about the game? Of course I will not show mercy, friendship is friendship, the game is a game..."

Piqué also responded to Pepe's words: "...Yes, I still remember the time when I played at Nottingham Forest. But I have a clear head and know what kind of game it is. You don't have to doubt my loyalty to Barcelona, ​​​​otherwise I would have done it at the beginning. I wouldn't choose to leave Nottingham Forest. Maybe I'll treat them to dinner after the game, but until then I just want to beat them."

He was also asked by the reporters how he felt about working with Twain. Since the Catalan media was very active in saying bad things about Twain recently, some remarks were completely enough to constitute personal attacks and slander, which made Piqué a little bit Disagreement - Leaving aside his loyalty to the team, Guardiola can't keep up with Tony Twain's position in Piqué's heart in terms of loyalty to the head coach.

So he decided to put aside his previous "no comment" attitude and say something nice for Twain: "Tony Twain is a very charming head coach. He seems to have a magical aura that can make you fall for him." Attractive. In fact, there are many people in England who criticize his style, but his players always stand with him."

The Catalan media is not very satisfied with this answer. They hope to hear the voice of the Barcelona players who share the same hatred, not such "heterogeneous".Then someone asked: "But every player who left Nottingham Forest seems to have said nothing good about him..."

Piqué smiled: "Am I not one?"

"So what about comparing with Guardiola?"

This is a trap, and Piqué circumvented it carefully: "Both of them are very good coaches. I was fortunate to play under them, and both won the European Champions Cup." Piqué was under Tony Twain He won two European Champions Cups, and under the leadership of Guardiola, he won the Champions League for the third time last season.So when it comes to the experience of winning the Champions League, he may be richer than many teammates in the current team.

Piqué may be the only player in the Barcelona team who has good intentions towards Nottingham Forest and Tony Twain.The tone of other players was not good when they were interviewed.

"There is no doubt that we will win."

"I want a win."

"We are the defending champions!"

……

Declarations such as these make people feel that Barcelona is bursting with confidence.

What do you think of Tony Twain, a master of psychological warfare?

"The louder the shouting and the more nonsense they say at this time, the more guilty they are. They must use this kind of bluff to gain some confidence in themselves. And me? I never talk nonsense before the game." He said so lightly All Barcelona's angry attacks were resolved, although many Catalan media ridiculed him for slapping himself: "If he 'never talks nonsense before the game', then maybe the end of the world is coming." Fans from China and Barcelona denounced Twain as "thick-skinned and can be the Great Wall". On the Internet, they scolded those Nottingham Forest fans who they called "hillies nouveau riche" who appeared in large numbers with the rise of the Forest team.

That's what Tang En said, and he did the same.When the team arrived in Barcelona, ​​he refused to accept interviews from unknown sources. Outsiders who want to know what the head coach is doing can only pass Pierce Bruce's "Nottingham Evening Post".Despite this, he revealed very little information to the "Queen Reporter".

He is concentrating on preparing for the game and intends to fight at the Nou Camp.

The media complained that "Tony Twain's little secret time" came again. I really don't know why he likes closed training so much.But what made the media even sadder was that even though Tony Twain drove them away like flies, they really flocked to them like flies on a cake.To put it more bluntly - they are really cheap.

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On April [-], after a month of repeated hype, the two sides had countless wars of words, mixed with several heavyweight games such as the Barcelona Derby, the Spanish Derby, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea, this high-profile Mars The war against the earth is finally on the verge of breaking out.

At this time, all the noise seemed to disappear at once. No matter whether it was the Forest team or Barcelona, ​​no one jumped out to spit at each other.At this time, if they are still obsessed with winning or losing with their mouths, they are not qualified professional players.

On the match day, there are only nine and 10 minutes of results that can determine who can be proud and who can only hang their heads with their tails crossed.If you don't want to be trampled in the mud and humiliated after the game, you can put all your mind on the game.

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Tony Twain is in the luxurious locker room of the visiting team at Camp Nou, giving the players one last reminder and special instructions.

"Iniesta will play this game, he and Xavi are their playmakers. You have to pay more attention. Don't give them too much space and time to get the ball in front of the box. We have to pay attention to the opponent's full-back on the wing. Assists, especially their right flank, our left flank, the defensive task is pretty heavy today. Both Alves and Messi are concentrated here. But I don't ask you to just defend because that won't work. Appropriate It's time to fight back and tell Barcelona that if they dare to press, we dare to fight back!"

Tang En's expression was serious, and so were his players.No one would underestimate such an opponent, let alone at the opponent's home court.

Today's Barcelona lineup is probably not strong enough to describe it as "luxury", but "horror".

On the tactical board, Tang En drew the opponent's starting roster he had just obtained:
Goalkeeper Valdes, central defenders are Piqué and Puyol, right back is Alves, left back is Lahm who joined from Bayern Munich this summer.There are three people in the midfield, Yaya Touré drags behind, Iniesta and Xavi top the front to organize the attack.In the middle of the three forwards was Bo Yang, on the left was Silva who was once favored by Tang En, and on the right was Messi.

The 34-year-old Henry has left the team, and Eto'o will spread the news that he will be sold every season, but in the end he still stays in the team, but his main position has been replaced by Bo Yang.The speed weapon he is proud of has gradually rusted with age, except for the mouth, which is no longer as brave as it used to be.

This time, Twain did not intend to hand over Messi to Wood, because there were two people in the middle, Harvey and Iniesta, and it was impossible to give way to them.Therefore, the main responsibility of Wood and Thiago will be in the middle, defending the two organizational midfielders.Messi was handed over to Barnes and Mathias Fernandez, among others.

At the same time, the pressure on the right defense is not small.Silva is not a vegetarian, and Lahm is also a full-back who is good at assisting.

Coupled with a flexible Bo Yang, it is really a headache. Facing such an attacking lineup, what should the defensive side do to be comprehensive and not reveal any flaws.

If it is really a confrontation with Barcelona, ​​there are probably not many teams in the world that can retreat unscathed.Dunn wisely chose to defend and counterattack, deploying heavy troops in the midfield and backcourt, strictly guarding against death, and cooperating with the whole team.

"You must ensure the formation and not let their passing and cutting be disrupted. The full-backs don't need to be too inward, which will give them a chance to play on the wing. Messi and Silva are all kinds of masters. In the ribs we There are George and Thiago. The range of activities should be increased appropriately, but don't lose your position."

"Guys, this game is very demanding defensively. But that doesn't mean we don't pay attention to attacking. The purpose of away games is not not to lose, but to score goals and score more goals. Pay attention when defending You have to think about offense anytime, anywhere. However, under the premise of defense, we cannot give too much support to the offense. This requires you offensive players to figure out their own ways, but no matter what you do, you must be firm. Go forward when you have the opportunity. Pass forward! Don't think about whether this attack can be played such a boring problem, you just get the football closer to the opponent's goal, that is success! As long as we can create enough trouble, Barcelona's offensive momentum will naturally weaken. This There is no pure offense or pure defense in the world, we must be more patient than our opponents!"

After talking about the technical and tactical points that need to be paid attention to, Tang En threw away the marker pen in his hand. "Okay, guys. Let's talk about something less boring. Would you be surprised if I said this season I'm not sure we'll end up with a championship?"

It can be seen that most players are not surprised, obviously they also have a certain degree of understanding of their own strength.

"I always have the impression that I am personally arrogant, but I have never been blindly arrogant. When did I say that we would win the championship and didn't? No, not once." He shook his head and said. "But this time, I can't ask for more from you. Barcelona is indeed very strong today. I think it's even stronger than last season when they won the Champions League." Tang En said with a serious expression on his face.

But some objected.Eastwood smiled and said, "Hey, boss. Are you kidding us? In all the years I've been with you, I've never seen you be so afraid of a team..."

Tang En glared at him: "It's not that I'm afraid. I've never been afraid of my opponents, but I hope you don't feel blindly confident. That will only push us into the dark abyss. To be honest, I don't want to fight this season." What a final, so I am very happy to meet Inter Milan and Barcelona in two rounds in a row - I don't have to wait until the final to get a chance to meet one of them, which is great! I ask you to take every now It’s meaningless to play every game as if it’s the final, no matter how far we can go in the end! It’s meaningless!”

The boss was uncharacteristically today, instead of boosting everyone's morale before the start of the battle, he said some words that belittled himself and the opponent, which really made the players unable to understand... But they saw the serious expression on the boss's face, they definitely did not pretend Yes, he also erased the smile on his face, leaving only the frown and sharp eyes.They always believed the boss, and since the boss said so, they followed suit.

"Play Barcelona as your opponent in the final, and any opponent in the back as your opponent in the final! That's all I ask of you."

The players finally walked onto the field with such emotions, while Tang and Twain fell last.

"What is this?" Don asked.

"Barcelona is indeed very strong, so I have to play tricks. Underdogs must win." Tang En smiled cunningly. "Tell them not to think about what's going to happen in the future, it's all about the finals, every game is exhausted, and then when they suddenly want to stop and take a breath, look up and say - wow, it's the finals It's gone!"

"Then do you want to be a champion or not?"

"If we've all reached the finals, why should we try our best to win the runner-up?" Dunn turned his head to look at his partner, with an unpredictable light flashing in his brown eyes.

(End of this chapter)