Godfather Of Champions

The stitched area at the corner of his eye was affixed with a piece of tape. It stood out under illumination from the night lights and the scouring of the rain. This made George Wood easily distinguishable on the field.

Even though Wood was injured, it did not affect his play on the field. Instead, it made him fiercer, like the lion king, guarding his pride of lions and turf, which only became more brutal after being hurt and not run away with its tail in between its legs.

He clearly saw the circumstances in which his team was being crushed by Chelsea on the field when he came off for his treatment. Without his tireless running in the midfield and his fierce and precise defense, Nottingham Forest was suppressed by Chelsea’s ferocious offensive.

Now he needed to reverse this incorrect situation.

Consequently, he strove harder than he did before he got hurt.

When he came on, the situation changed immediately. Chelsea could not pass through the midfield without any qualms. Their offense was met by the tenacious obstruction by George Wood and the others which made it difficult to advance even by a fraction.

With George Wood’s participation, Nottingham Forest slowly took back the initiative in the game.

Makelele still looked like he had not recovered. More often than not, he stayed behind and did auxiliary work, during which the defense in the midfield was shared by several other people.

See the contrast of this scene, some people could not help but exclaimed at George Wood’s otherworldly physical quality.

“He is a treasure that any manager has always dreamed of. An outstanding body, strict adherence to the tactical discipline, good psychological quality, stable state, utter loyalty… and he does not get hurt! The mover whom that Tony Twain picked up from the streets made all managers in the world green with envy. With him around, Nottingham Forest’s good results are not surprising at all!”

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Nottingham Forest, which recaptured the initiative in the game, began to spur on more threatening attacks. The game had been played for twenty-five minutes now and there were few threatening attacks from both sides. The number of threatening shots were even fewer. Chelsea took advantage of when George Wood was treated off the field and launched an attack. While Nottingham Forest did not even have one yet—if Bale’s pass which went crooked was not counted that one time.

Both sides vied with each other in the midfield most of the time.

In one go, Chelsea’s lineup deployed four players who could be the defensive midfielder—Lampard, Ballack, Makelele and Essien. Although Essien was the guest right back, sometimes he could rush to the midfield to defend. Makelele’s ability was never in doubt and Ballack and Lampard were tough midfielders. They could seriously execute the tactics when they were needed to defend.

And on this side of Nottingham Forest, George Wood alone covered almost the latter half of the midfield, with the addition of the actively running players like Ribéry and Lennon. Both sides were equally matched in the midfield and inextricably locked in battle.

In the twenty-seventh minute, Lennon forcibly broke through Ashley Cole in the wing but the football under his feet was shoveled out of the sidelines by Cole. Nottingham Forest was awarded an out-of-bounds ball.

As an out-of-bounds ball could not be offside, Lennon almost moved to the end line to catch the ball, while Ashley Cole also had to follow him to move near the end line to prevent the Forest team from hitting directly behind him again. Joe Cole blocked in front of Rafinha, who was in charge of throwing the ball, to interfere with him and not allow him to easily throw the football to his target.

Rafinha was not stupid enough to throw the football at whomever Chelsea kept an eye on. He threw the football directly into van der Vaart in the middle.

After van der Vaart stopped the ball with his chest, Makelele leaned forward. The effects from the collision had gradually dissipated, and his ferocity did not diminish at all.

Van der Vaart, who tried his best to protect the football, gave up his intention to pass a threatening shot after he quickly observed the situation on the field. He passed the football to George Wood, who plugged in from the back. The boss had said that the offense in the game was organized by the captain, so he would hand it over for him to organize.

Wood did not stop the ball but brushed the ball to pass it on. The football drew an arc in the air and turned to the left side of the field.

Gareth Bale had already appeared in that position. As a full back, his assists were frequent and firm.

Once he beautifully took down Wood’s pass, Bale started to pass the ball. Van Nistelrooy attracted the attention of both Terry and Carvalho in the front, but the unguarded Eastwood quickly rushed up and did a powerful diving header!

Fortunately, Čech reacted quickly. Coupled with his well-position stance, he struck out the football the moment he fell to the ground.

The football bounced up and out. It flew toward the right side of the goalmouth, which happened to be where van Nistelrooy was with Terry and Carvalho.

The three men huddled together and wanted to head the football. In the end, no one headed the ball.

The football bounced high on the ground as if to laugh at these three entangled fools.

At this time Ribéry appeared out of nowhere like a phantom.

He took down the football and quickly flashed past Terry to immediately start shooting!

The football came out of the cracks between the people, and suddenly appeared in front of Čech, who could not do anything even if he was a god—he was too close, almost within easy reach.

Čech did not even have time to wave before the football swooped down to bypass his side and flew into the goal behind him!

“The ball went in—”

A sound of “bang” was heard and the red squares in the stands of Luzhniki Stadium erupted with huge cheers.

“This is Nottingham Forest’s second shot in this game, and it pierced through the gate guarded by Čech!”

It must be said that Čech here was not the Čech with the tank helmet in Twain’s impression. Today’s Čech had not suffered that serious injury, and his state was not badly affected. He remained as one of the top three goalkeepers in the world.

“The defending champion leads with one goal in the Champions League final!”

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The Nottingham Forest players wildly embraced together and celebrated the goal on the field.

Off the field, Tony Twain brandished his fists hard and gnashed his teeth as he celebrated the goal.

Not far next to him, Grant slammed hard at the top of awning in the technical area behind him. The problem still laid with the wings.

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“This is Franck Ribéry’s sixth goal in the Champions League, only one goal away from Cristiano Ronaldo’s seven goals! Last year’s European Footballer of the Year had maintained a very high level of competitive state this year. If he could help the team win the UEFA Champions League again, then this year’s FIFA World Player of the Year may not be in any dispute!”

Ribéry finally broke free from his teammates’ hugs. He waved his fists hard and faced the Forest fans in the stands. Like a band conductor, every time he waved, the fans in the stands followed suit and turned up the volume to loudly call out his name.

“Ribéry! Ribéry! Ribé–ry!!”

After rousing the fans’ passions, Ribéry turned and ran back. When he passed by George Wood, he reached out to wood, and the two men high-fived each other again.

Twain, who celebrated the goal off the field, stood on the sidelines, cupped his hands up around his mouth and shouted toward the field, “Keep up the pressure, don’t relax! Continue to press and attack!”

Using offense to suppress the opponent, Nottingham Forest did not plan to be too conservative in this final.

Nottingham Forest’s style of playing football was previously criticized as conservative and passive during last year’s Champions League final. Even when they took the title, they were thought to have won by depending on defensive counterattack. This year, Twain wanted to take a title that would leave all the critics dumbfounded—to be the first defending champion since the restructuring of the Champions League, and that no one could find fault with the way they picked up the trophy!

Chelsea looked frustrated by this goal concede because the opponent breached the goal guarded by Čech’s with only two shots. Any goal concede in a game like the Champions League final could cause upheavals in the players’ mind.

Grant stood in silence on the sidelines like a statue. Who knew what was going on in his mind?

At this time, it was his assistant manager, Clarke, who walked up to the sidelines and loudly reminded the players on the field to focus and not let the Forest team take advantage to attack again.

A minute later, Drogba did a return pass after he caught the ball in the box. Ballack followed up with an angry shot, showing Chelsea’s determination not to accept this result. Unfortunately, the corner shot flew straight toward the grandstand.

Grant finally came back from his contemplation. He whistled and gestured, demanding that the team stepped up the offense and temporarily pressed back on the opponent’s offense, while they dialed up the scramble in the midfield and not let George Wood easily pass the ball out when their defense turned into offense.

After thirty minutes, various wonderful scenes emerged in succession.

Lampard sent a long pass to Drogba. Drogba ferried to the back, while Piqué almost did an own goal under Ballack’s tight interference. The football hit the goalpost and fell outside of the end line which startled all the Nottingham Forest people who broke out in a cold sweat.

Chelsea seized this corner shot and tried to break Nottingham Forest’s goal. Terry and Carvalho rushed to the front of the Forest team’s goal.

But after the corner kick was sent out, Eastwood, who had to return to defend, was cut off. While Chelsea’s defenders were not back yet, he dribbled the ball to the midfield and sent a long pass across. He passed the football to Ribéry, who followed closely on the wing.

After Ribéry took down the football, he lifted his leg to pass.

The football drew an arc in the air and bypassed Essien on the passing route. Van Nistelrooy got the upper hand in the contest against Makelele and jumped high to send a powerful header shot!

This time Čech did not let the football get past his fingertips. He strove to pounce the ball out.

The football was hastily sent out by Ashley Cole who rushed back. But he did not kick it far. The ball only flew to the top of the arc before it was intercepted by another Nottingham Forest player.

“Aaron Lennon!”

Lennon had observed that Čech had just gotten up and his center of gravity had not stabilized yet, so he did not hesitate to directly kick a long shot!

The football flew straight toward the right side of the goalpost. Čech had just gotten up, but he still managed to make a high-quality save. He threw himself out and leaped to use his fingertips to swipe the football out of the end line!

“A fantastic save from Čech!! What an incredible save! He proved his strength to safeguard the goal!”

At this time, Terry, who ran back, hugged Čech, who had just climbed up from the ground. He patted him hard the back and thanked him for those two crucial saves.

“If Nottingham Forest were to score another goal, this final would be hard for Chelsea to play on. The morale of Nottingham Forest during this time has been quite strong, and the situation has been very favorable to them. The trailing Chelsea team has to press out to figure out how to score. Nottingham Forest, which is good at defensive counterattack, has more room to play at this point in time. Look at this counterattack, it could almost be written into a textbook!”

This counterattack was almost the epitome of the entire first half. Chelsea tried its hardest to equalize, but Nottingham Forest’s solid defense and sharp counterattack constrained them. They were unable to do their best, and their offensive effect was greatly diminished.

Instead, Nottingham Forest was completely in control of the pace on the field, leading Chelsea by the nose to run.

The neutral commentators certainly did not want to watch a one-sided game, but they must also admit that this was Nottingham Forest embodying the spirit of a defending champion. “They are steady and not flustered, as if everything is in their control. By comparison, Chelsea, which lacks the experience of playing in the Champions League finals, is more tender. Tony Twain has injected his own spirit into this team, giving this team a unique soul, and this soul is—they desire any title, any victory.”

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It looked like the first half of the game would end with Nottingham Forest dominating, and Chelsea’s offense was of no threat to the Forest team.

At the forty-second minute, Ribéry broke into the penalty area from the flank and then passed a low ball. Van Nistelrooy apparently did not expect Ribéry to choose to pass after his breakthrough, rather than directly shoot. His follow-up was a little slow. Even though he used a technique of shoveling, he still did not touch the football. The football crossed past the goalmouth amid the Chelsea fans’ exclamations.

Twain was annoyed that this goal was not scored. He jumped off the field as he held his head in his hands. If we can score two goals, then Chelsea will be out of the game. That was what he thought.

Judging from the first half, Nottingham Forest fully deserved to win the title. Chelsea simply could not pose any threat to Edwin van der Sar’s goal. If Chelsea won instead, then it would be a real injustice.

A minute later, Lampard dribbled the ball and charged into Nottingham Forest’s thirty-meter zone where he was put to the ground by George Wood. Referee Micheľ awarded Chelsea a direct free kick that elicited a small protest from the Nottingham Forest players and boos from the Forest fans. As this position was too dangerous and about twenty-five meters from the goal, it was a very suitable range. Lampard and Ballack both had a free kick foundation.

The entire Chelsea team got excited. This was a great opportunity for them to equalize. As the first half was coming to an end, they definitely could not go into the locker room while they trailed behind in the score!

Ballack stood in front of the football. He was going to take this free kick.

The Nottingham Forest players lined up in a human wall of five people under the command of the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, while everyone got ready to face the opponent.

After a whistle, Ballack kicked the ball high.

“Judging from the first half, Ballack’s form is really underwhelming …” The commentator sighed.

Twain clapped his hands and laughed off the field.

After they had gotten a hard to come by chance, the whole team’s hopes were pinned on one person, only for that person to kick the opportunity away. This was really an essential recipe to strike a blow to the morale…

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Twain got up from his seat and saw that the first half of the game was coming to an end. He began to think about what he was going to do at the halftime interval in his head. Did the tactic need to be adjusted? And how should their mentality be maintained?

At the side, the fourth official came forward with an electronic display board and raised it high. There were four minutes of injury stoppage time in the first half!

Due to the collision between George Wood and Makelele as well as the clash between the players on both sides, the injury stoppage time in the first half was more than three minutes. This somewhat caused resentment among the Nottingham Forest fans. Most people had chosen to use boos to express their views on the incident.

The Chelsea people were overjoyed. This was their last chance in the first half. If they were to go to the locker room with a trailing score, it would be a heavy blow to the morale of the team.

In the forty-sixth minute, Essien, who had been active as the full back, embodied his comprehensive side. After he received Makelele’s pass, he suddenly dribbled the ball to plug in ahead and sped through the midfield to directly press on toward George Wood’s defensive line.

George Wood certainly could not tolerate the opponent to be rash under his watch. He pounced to try to stop Essien’s continued breakthrough.

It was at this time that Essien directly did a long shot!

A long shot was almost the only way Chelsea could threaten the Nottingham Forest goal in the first half. Drogba was firmly clamped down by Piqué and Pepe in the first half, with no room for play at all. He even disappeared at one point. So, whenever Chelsea attacked, the players who most often appeared in the television close-up were Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Joe Cole… and other good long shot players, whereas Drogba could only be a tactical center forward responsible for attracting Nottingham Forest’s defensive firepower.

Seeing Essien’s long shot, Piqué threw aside Drogba and threw his body to block the long-shot route, hoping for a bit of luck that the football could be blocked out by him.

But this time, things were a little different …

Essien’s shot did hit Piqué’s body, but the ball was not directly blocked out. Instead, it changed direction and rebounded in the opposite direction where Edwin van der Sar had pounced to. When he saw that the shot was going to fly into the goal just like this, Pepe extended his legs to block. The football hit him on the knee and deflected again. It did not bounce to Edwin van der Sar’s side, but fell directly in an unattended area!

The penalty area was only so big but after the football refracted twice, was it a coincidence that the football had found a drop point that had no one at all?

What was more coincidentally …

“Frank Lampard—–” The commentator roared with excitement.

Along with his roar, the Chelsea fans as well as the Chelsea manager, Grant, also sprang from their seats.

Without anyone to mark him at all and the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar also lost his balance to fall to the ground, such an opportunity … such an opportunity …

Lampard stared at the football leaping in front of his eyes as if there was a blazing flame burning in his eyes.

How can I let go of such an opportunity!!

“Lampard draws his leg back for a vigorous shot–!”

“What a powerful shot—-GOOOOAL!!”

“Frank Lampard!!” All the Chelsea fans at the stadium roared loudly.

“He did it! This is the first goal that Chelsea has scored in a Champions League final in its club history! From their steely midfielder, Frank Lampard! He had just lost his mother not long ago… With such a goal, surely he can comfort his mother in the heaven?”

Lampard’s face did not have the expression of excitement in creating history after the goal. He pointed his hands to the sky, lifted his head, and let the cold rain hit his face. The water droplets slid down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes. Was it rain or tears?

The rain was cold, but the tears were hot.

Did you create such an opportunity for me, mom?

His Blues teammates rushed up to hold the tearful Lampard and pointed to the sky with him. All the Chelsea players had black armbands fastened to their left arms. As teammates of a team, they mourned Lampard’s mother together with him in this way.

※※※

In the face of such a goal concede, everyone at Nottingham Forest could not even get angry. On the one hand, this goal was really bizarre. Who could have thought that after the two refractions, the ball would fall into a dead corner completely without the Forest team defenders? What was even more bizarre was that Lampard appeared in this dead corner! Did anyone see where he was before?

Twain stood dumbly in front of the technical area. All the adjustments he had just thought about just now were all invalidated in that second. The rain was getting heavier. What did it mean to have “his plans rained on?” This was what “being rained on” meant!

Turning his head, he looked at Kerslake and Dunn with their equally surprised faces and helplessly shook his head, “This is football. Lampard is really good, we …” He wriggled his lips, but he did not burst out with a string of obscenities. He just said, “…. are just damn unlucky.”