Godfather Of Champions

Huge Real Madrid emblems and silhouettes of the Champions League trophy appeared in the stands at the Bernabéu. They were collaborations made up of cardboard pieces held by the fans. Every Real Madrid fan would find a piece of cardboard of a different color in his seat. They just needed to lift the pieces of cardboard up to form a giant image that covered the entire spectator section. The atmosphere created at the stadium was feverish, and the confidence in Real Madrid’s victory at the Bernabéu was full to bursting.

The poor Nottingham Forest team did not receive such treatment as they were truly playing in an “away game” this time.

The Nottingham Forest fans huddled in a corner of the stands, clad in their red jerseys and were surrounded by white squares everywhere. Real Madrid’s anthem was also played in the stadium.

It was a scene that was not commonly seen in the UEFA Champions League finals. Real Madrid took full advantage of their home-field advantage. Their relationship with UEFA’s top brass was good, and Platini also acquiesced to their behavior which was “contrary to the spirit of fair play.”

“Long live! Madrid!! All Hail! Madrid!!”

Seventy thousand people roared at the same time, emitting a deafening noise. Amid such a continuous roaring sound, the players from both teams came out.

※※※

In fact, the players on both sides had been waiting at the Bernabéu for several minutes. The Bernabéu’s tunnel was different from the one in the City Ground stadium. The tunnel had a wall made of iron fences that separated the two teams. The players from both sides could see each other through the open mesh but could not engage in further physical contact.

Standing next to Gago was Higuaín. The two Argentines were engaged in a conversation. They were once sworn enemies in the country, and then they became members of Real Madrid. After which, the two men took two completely different paths. Higuaín quickly matured and seized the opportunity to secure a position as Real Madrid’s main striker, while Gago, due to overcrowding in Real Madrid’s midfield and was unable to be put in an important position, left Bernabéu and went to Nottingham Forest. The two of them were bound to have something to talk about when they got together.

But the two of them were actually not as close as people thought. The two men would only chat briefly before Gago would stop talking.

He used to be familiar with this particular tunnel. He previously stood on the other side, wearing white.

Now he stood in his red jersey on the opposite side of those players wearing white jerseys.

It was his first return to Bernabéu since he became a member of Nottingham Forest. He did not know how the Bernabéu fans would treat him when he took the ball on the pitch. Instead, he had seen the kind of treatment received by a lot of players who used to be part of a particular team and had returned to their mother teams’ home game after they left the teams.

He was mentally prepared for that.

Higuaín could see Gago’s concerns across the fence. He smiled and said to Gago in Spanish, “You can rest assured that the people here won’t treat you that way. After all, the team you have joined is not Barcelona or Atlético Madrid.”

Gago glanced at Higuaín and did not pay any mind to his words. He said, “What if we lead you, or defeat you?”

Higuaín almost laughed and said, “Fernando, to be honest, I don’t think you guys can beat us.”

Looking at his former teammate, who was flushed with success at Real Madrid, Gago rolled his eyes and said, “We’ll wait and see.”

Having said that to Higuaín, he suddenly found himself completely unconcerned with what kind of treatment he would expect during the game. Because he had figured it out. He was no longer related to Real Madrid now. So, if that was the case, why should he be concerned about how they were going to treat him?

※※※

Ribéry was not as worried as Gago was because he was playing in his team’s home ground. If he were to return to the City Ground stadium, he would definitely receive deafening boos. There was no doubt about that. He certainly knew that when he had chosen to leave during the period when the boss had a heart attack, it was a form of betrayal in the eyes of the Forest fans.

But for him, it was the only chance. A one-time chance in which the king had lost control.

He did not talk to his former teammates in the Forest team due to his ill-timed departure in the past. No Forest players would come forward on their own to speak to him as well. He hid within the Real Madrid team, bowed his head and kept quiet.

Across the fence was his former teammate, Pepe.

Pepe looked down on Ribéry’s departure. Knowing that none of them had chosen to leave at the most difficult time for the boss and the team, Ribéry had become a deserter. He gave Ribéry a sideway glance and then suddenly leaned his head over to speak to the Frenchman with a smile, “Franck, you’d better be careful during the game.”

Standing in front of Ribéry, Sergio Ramos heard Pepe’s words. Although he could not understand the words, he felt Pepe’s smile was unfriendly, so he turned his head back to glare at Pepe.

Pepe spoke in English, which Cristiano Ronaldo understood. He shot back, “Hey, boy. Mind your words. Are you trying to intimidate us?” When he was at Manchester United, he did not get along with the Forest team. The two teams did not meet when he was at Real Madrid. But in the current environment, the feeling of being mortal enemies came back to him.

Pepe showed no signs of weakness. He widened his grin at Ronaldo and said, “Portuguese dude, you are not my target.” He leaned his head towards the front of the line. Standing with his back toward everyone and not speaking was the team captain, George Wood.

Ronaldo certainly knew what he meant. He was fearless but just a little restrained around George Wood. He stopped talking.

Bale stepped forward to act as the peacemaker. “All right, don’t get worked up. It’s no good if we start quarrelling now. If the boss knows about this, he’s going to scold you all.” He said to Pepe since he knew that Pepe looked down on Ribéry and Bendtner as well. This man had well-defined likes and dislikes. To ease the atmosphere, he even took the initiative to greet Ribéry, “Hello Franck.”

Pepe still looked at Ribéry with a smile. His smile contained traces of ridicule.

Ribéry smiled at Bale, somewhat helplessly. He said, “Hello… Bale.” He had wanted to say, “little monkey.” But when he thought of his present identity, he forcibly changed it to “Bale.” He appeared to be a little unfamiliar in this way, but it was so as to prevent other people from needless assumptions.

Higuaín noticed the small disturbance in front of the line. He probed his head up to look around and asked, “What’s going on?”

Gago also lifted his head to looked over and realized what happened when he saw Pepe’s look. He said, “It must be Pepe putting blame on Ribéry…”

“Putting blame? Why?”

“When Ribéry chose to leave Nottingham Forest at the time and join Real Madrid… you knew about this, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I thought what was the big deal? Isn’t this kind of thing normal in the world of football? One player leaves one team and joins another team… What’s the point of holding on to a grudge like this?”

Gago, who only joined the team later, did not know much about that matter in the past, so he shook his head and said, “I’m not too sure either. Maybe that’s the Forest team’s style…” He had seen the “treatment” that Bendtner received when he went back to the City Ground stadium. Stop short of throwing a pig’s head down, the Forest fans scolded Bendtner in the stands in many various forms. They even composed a song live on the spot to humiliate the “traitor” who had betrayed the team.

“The English teams seem to be like this…” He added.

Higuaín smiled and shook his head, somewhat disdainful. “I wonder why you were so worried. It’s because you’ve seen too much of that in England. Don’t worry, this is Spain, this is Real Madrid.”

Pepe continued to stare at Ribéry with a smile.

Ribéry could only pretend that he did not see this person, and then simply closed his eyes.

Bale poked Pepe at the back and said, “Enough is enough, Pepe. Focus your energy on the game!”

George Wood looked back, and only then Pepe averted his gaze.

“It’s time to play.” Wood said to the people behind.

※※※

The Real Madrid players and Nottingham Forest players appeared at the same time. The stadium erupted in thunderous cheers. The home fans cheered for Real Madrid, while the away fans cheered for the Forest team. The cheers lasted only a short time. When the live broadcast began to announce the name lists of the two teams’ lineup, warm applause and cheers broke out when the names of the Real Madrid players were called while sporadic hissing rang out in the stands when the names of the Forest players were announced.

Twain looked up at the stands around him. He opened his mouth and laughed, “I’m really surprised by the scattered boos.”

“We’re not Barcelona.” Kerslake said beside him.

“We’re also not Atlético Madrid.” Eastwood added.

“Ha!” Twain barked out a laugh, “It doesn’t matter. Very soon, they’ll think we’re more detestable than both of those teams.”

※※※

The players from both sides filed onto the pitch and stood together to be photographed by the reporters. Then the visiting players took the initiative to shake hands with the referee and the home team players. When the players of both teams parted, the captains exchanged the team flags and did the coin toss to pick the side.

Casillas was now Real Madrid’s captain. He lost to Wood in the coin toss and Wood was given the right to pick the side while Casillas was given the right to kick off.

Seeing the result, Twain gently shook his head off the pitch and said, “I want the right to kick off… Letting the other side control the ball first is not good for our tactical layout.”

“We just have to hold off their five-minute offensive and we’ll be okay.” Kerslake felt it was nothing since the ball was going to come back to the feet of the Forest team anyway.

“You’re very confident.” Twain turned to look at Kerslake next to him and chuckled.

“After working with you for a long time, I have to be confident. If not, I can’t keep up with your footsteps.” Kerslake laughed too.

The feeling of tacit understanding rose from the bottom of two people’s hearts.

Kerslake did not hear Twain laugh heartily and openly. Instead, Twain nodded to him and said, “Thank you, David, for staying with me for so long…”

This caught Kerslake a little off guard. He cleared his throat and did not know what to say.

Twain patted him on the shoulder and said, “The game is about to start. Hopefully, as you said, we’ll be back in control after holding on for five minutes.”

※※※

Wood walked back after he shook hands with the three referees, as well as Casillas. He made a gesture and his teammates immediately gathered around.

“We’re not here to be first runner-up.” Wood put his hand out and put it in the middle of the circle.

“Neither am I.” Bale put his hand on top of his.

“This is the most glorious moment of my career.” Pepe pressed his hand on top.

“For the Treble.” Akinfeev’s big hand covered the palms of several people underneath.

The different skin tones and different sizes of palms piled on top and the pile of hands became higher.

After everyone put their hands on top of one another, Wood looked at everyone, and everyone looked at him. As the boss said, they were comrades in a trench through life and death. They supported each other all the way through countless baptisms of war. And now they stood on the last battlefield, ready to meet the last and most powerful enemy.

“I’m not good with words…” Wood said, “In any case…. I’m very happy to play football with you guys. Let’s win the championship together.”

Hearing him say so, everyone’s hands pressed down with force.

“Champion!!”

※※※

On Real Madrid’s side, they also formed a circle. Everyone came together to do the final battle mobilization.

“This is Bernabéu, partners.” Casillas’s eyes swept through the faces of every teammate as he said, “We absolutely cannot fail here. Seventy thousand people in the stands are all our motivation. We are Real Madrid! The glorious Real Madrid!”

He brandished his hands with great force.

“Don’t give your opponent any chance! Win the tenth UEFA Champions League title with all the energy we’ve got!!”

※※※

As the players from both sides stood in their respective positions and waited for the kick-off, the noisy Bernabéu stadium fell into a momentary silence after more than half an hour of clamor. The noise disappeared for a moment and everyone held their breath as they waited for the game to begin.

The referee stood in the center circle, looked at the watch on his wrist, and looked at the fourth official on the sidelines. After getting the signal for the kickoff, he blew a crisp-sounding whistle.

After Huntelaar passed the ball to Benzema, he ran forward. Meanwhile, Aaron Mitchell who had been waiting outside the center circle, headed straight for Benzema with the ball.

Benzema did not give him a chance to intercept the ball in place. He turned around to pass it to Lassana Diarra at the back as he brushed past Mitchell.

Twain did not put Ibišević in the starting lineup for the game. Instead, he deployed Mitchell who had score two goals alone in the FA Cup final and was in excellent form. It was also the first time he had played in the Champions League final. But Twain was not worried that the kid could not handle the pressure. The kid sometimes looked lively and he had his own set of methods to reduce stress – which was to use his imagination and release all the pressure through his imagination.

Mitchell ignored Benzema and continued to rush towards Diarra.

Diarra then passed the ball toward the back and gave it to the Argentine center back, Garay. Mitchell then ignored Diarra and continued to pounce toward Garay.

Garay did not pass the ball this time. He finally figured it out. If he continued to pass back to Casillas, the big guy would rush over without any hesitation, like a robot which was programmed with a way forward in advance and would go all the way!

He passed the ball ahead to Ramos on the side, and Mitchell finally stopped sprinting.

Ramos had just received the ball and found that Fernández had already rushed in front of him. He hurriedly hooked the ball in an attempt to flash past the Chilean.

Fernández was more difficult to deal with than he thought. Instead of flashing past the other party, he was entangled by him.

“Don’t dawdle, get the ball out!” Casillas could clearly see the situation on the pitch at the back. If Ramos still wanted to continue to play in the rear defensive line, he would be in trouble. From his position, it could be clearly seen that Nottingham Forest’s overall formation pressed forward along with Real Madrid’s every return pass. Huntelaar, who had just run up, was already in an offside position.

What was Nottingham Forest going to do by pressing so hard in the away game?

With Ramos closed in tightly by Fernández, he chose the most appropriate approach – he drove the ball forward with a long ball.

The long ball, which appeared to be blindly sent out, flew to Huntelaar instead.

Huntelaar lost his position in the fight for the header with Pepe. He was completely unable to compete with Pepe in strength. Pepe headed the football back.

In the midfield, Gago lifted his leg to hook the football down from the air and Ribéry pounced on empty space. But as soon as he turned around, the Frenchman leaned in closer again.

Seeing him like this, the Forest fans in the stands booed. Only two players would be booed vehemently by the Forest fans after leaving the team. One was Bendtner and the other was Ribéry.

Ribéry interfered with Gago at the back, but Gago was no longer the young boy who could not even hold on to the ball and was always intercepted from behind by his opponents. He defended the football and looked up to find a way to send the ball out.

In the end, he chose to give the football to Bentley on the sideline.

Ribéry was still pestering him, and the side was emptier. Bentley took a few steps forward after he received the ball. Diarra and Real Madrid’s left back, Marcelo both got their eyes on him.

It was at this moment that Rafinha stepped in from behind Bentley at a high speed and skimmed past Marcelo.

Bentley passed an over-the-head high ball and sent the ball over Marcelo’s head to Rafinha who plugged in.

Rafinha beautifully unloaded the football that flew in from behind. Marcelo turned around a little slower, and Garay rushed up. Rafinha did not appear to look like he was going to do a feint. Instead, he swept the ball straight into the penalty area. A low pass!

Şahin appeared like a shadow behind Mitchell. Mitchell had attracted the attention of another Real Madrid center back, David Luiz, but the football escaped past.

Şahin directly did a slide shot on the line of the goal area!

The commentator had not had time to finish reading the two teams’ list of appearances before Nottingham Forest’s first shot at the goal had already been made.

Nottingham Forest’s beautiful coordination suddenly put Real Madrid’s goal in jeopardy. The only player who could be depended on at this time was their “Saint Iker”

Good thing that Casillas acted almost at the same time as Şahin. When Şahin did the slide shot, he threw himself over to pounce toward that side, and the football was pushed out by his hand!

“What a – fantastic save! Casillas completed his first save of the game. He saved Real Madrid’s goal!” The commentator roared excitedly.

“Ah!” Twain held his head in his hands off the field. He looked incredulously at what had just happened in front of the Real Madrid goal. He did not expect Nottingham Forest to turn from passive to active and get such a good chance to shoot from the start. But he did not expect Casillas to be able to block the shot so close at hand…

This man is a monster!

“What kind of defense is this?” Casillas jumped from the ground and yelled at his teammates. He was much more proactive than before now that he was the captain.

Şahin sat on the ground and could not believe that Casillas actually blocked his must-have shot. One must know that when he shot, Casillas was still in front getting ready to defend against Mitchell’s grab point. He should not have seen him … Could it be down to a goalkeeper’s instinct?

Applause broke out in the stands for Casillas. If it were not for their captain’s heroic performance, Real Madrid might have conceded a goal in the opening thirty seconds of the game.

The Spanish reporters in the press box were even more terrified in their hearts. They could see clearly it from up there.

“The bastard… Do you really want to go head to head with Real Madrid?”

※※※

Twain got up from his seat and applauded the Forest players on the field to offer encouragement and appreciation for the team’s faithful execution of his tactical arrangements.

The group of Spanish reporters guessed right. He was going to go head to head with Real Madrid in the game.

Real Madrid had always been better at offense than defense. If the opponent were to play defensive counterattack against them, they would only suffer themselves in the end. To hand too much of the initiative in the home ground to Real Madrid was nothing less than a slow suicide.

That was why he wanted to use a more aggressive and more proactive attitude to deal with Real Madrid. He wanted the entire team to press ahead and counter press so as not to give Real Madrid too much time and space. They would not allow them any opportunities to show their footwork skills. Once the game started, they would seek to intimidate Real Madrid with fierce offensive, making them somewhat apprehensive and unable to attack at full strength.

He gently waved to the players to signal that they should continue to do so.

Let this proud team experience the difficult and dangerous situation we create!