Chapter 351: The Champions League Grouping Part 1

As the timing of the second leg of the Champions League qualifying match with Villarreal had clashed with the third round of the English Premier League, Nottingham Forest’s third round in the Premier League was postponed to December 14. The Forest team was now ranked within the first group with a score of six points from two victories.

With their qualification in the Champions League, the Forest team now seemed to come across as a strong team.

Just as everyone was beginning to feel that way, the Forest team lost to Fulham by 0:1 in the away game two days later on August 27th.

The outcome was a surprise to everyone. After the game, the media used the word “upset” to describe the game. Before the game, no one had thought that Forest would lose. The betting companies gave favorable odds and were all optimistic about the Forest team. They did not expect the Forest team to lose in the away game to Fulham, which was in the lower middle rankings.

The Forest players were very active and gave all that they had. However, Fulham’s tight defensive formation was very effective. The Forest team inevitably became impatient after seventy-five minutes of not scoring.

Twain knew what had happened.

Having qualified for the Champions League tournament, his bunch of boys was overly excited. They were energetic on the field but did not channel their energy into the right places. He watched them repeatedly run half distances to intercept the ball, make mistakes during passing, intercept the ball again, and then make mistakes again during passing. It was no surprise that the game was lost in the end.

Twain did not lose his temper over it. He thought that it was still a good result. Sometimes it was necessary to lose a game. It was better to concede at this point than to lose at a crucial moment. He did not want his team to be unbeaten for thirty-eight consecutive rounds to win the championship and then to take a dive in the next season. He did not care about such records. Nothing was more important to him than the end result. If a loss was more beneficial for an ultimate win, he was happy to lose.

That was the case now. If the team had won in succession, he could not be sure if it would produce any adverse thinking within the team, but it would certainly be detrimental to the team’s continued progress. Although it was not intentional, it was just the thing to lose to a weak team in the fourth round of the league. It would help to make the excitable boys understand reality and calm down. Otherwise, they might suffer a heavier blow down the road.

Therefore, at the post-match press conference, Twain said, “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to lose a game occasionally.”

Some people thought he was stubborn and refused to admit the failure. However, whether it was the case or not, Twain would show them eventually.

※※※

Twain did not follow the team back to Nottingham. Together with Evan Doughty, he flew directly to Zurich, Switzerland from London to take part in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony for the new season at UEFA headquarters.

He had participated in the UEFA Europa League draw ceremony before. However, the draw ceremony for the Champions League was on a different level. It could be seen as a gathering of the most powerful managers in Europe, and one which was packed full of firepower too.

The draw had not started yet. Those who went early to the draw location and managers who knew each other would gather together to chat. Twain was still a newcomer to European football. He did not know any managers there. Even though he came early, nobody talked to him. So he and Evan sat quietly as spectators on the side.

Fabio Capello was not so serious as he was on the side of the technical area. At this moment, he smiled and chatted with others. He looked distinguished with his glasses on.

Frank Rijkaard was flushed with success in the last two seasons. His team’s popularity had soared in European football. His popularity had also risen rapidly in coaching circles. There were a lot of people chatting with him. Twain roughly counted that there were always five people around him.

Ferguson had a lofty status in England. It was the same in European football. As the creator of the Manchester United era, he had a stellar reputation in coaching circles. Naturally, one would never find the Frenchman, Arsène Wenger, within ten feet of him.

The Arsenal manager was not there yet.

“I thought you would go up there and look for a topic to cut into the conversation.” Evan pointed to the small group of managers.

Twain snorted. “I’m not interested.” His team was one of the thirty-two participating teams. He had come to participate in the draw ceremony, not to attend a tea party.

Evan laughed. “But I’m really happy that my team can be here for this. It was still just a plan two years ago.”

“In two years, these people will come to talk to us on their own initiative.” Twain pointed to the crowd in the hall.

Twain was not the only one who appeared unsociable. The media outside the door suddenly fired up with a lot of camera flashes, accompanied by screaming female voices from onlooking fans.

Such scenes were rare in coaches’ gatherings. Most of the supporters were calmer. They just asked for autographs or took pictures. There were never any screams because most managers did not have anything that women would scream for.

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That type of behavior was reserved for superstar players’ appearances.

Some of the managers in the conversations were attracted by the commotion at the door. Even Evan got up and looked over. Twain snorted while he sat. “Don’t look. Such a grand entrance can only be José Mourinho.”

He continued to gaze steadily ahead as if everything that happened at the door had nothing to do with him.

Evan sat down. “It’s interesting that a manager is more popular and well-received than his players.”

The person who entered was indeed a casually-dressed Mourinho. He gave no indication that he had noticed his welcome as he walked in with a blank expression. He slightly swept his gaze across the hall and paid no mind to the people who looked at him. He found an empty seat and went straight to it.

But…

Coincidentally, the vacant seat he found was next to Twain. Mourinho only realized it when he walked over. He was momentarily taken aback.

It was problematic for both of them to turn a blind eye to each other at such a close distance.

Mourinho smiled. “Mr. Twain, we meet again so soon.”

“Hello.” Twain had to stand up to greet him.

“Oh, I forgot to congratulate you on breaking into the Champions League.” Mourinho extended his hand.

“Thank you.” Twain also reached out with his hand. The two men briefly shook hands.

“Mr. Twain, I’m suddenly very interested. You did say we would meet again in the Champions League, didn’t you?” Twain had thought that they would not speak again after they each took their seats at the end of their brief exchange. He had not expected another question from Mourinho.

“You mean at the group stage?” Twain pretended to be confused.

“No, that was too unlikely. Teams from the same league have little chance of being in the same group.”

“Then I don’t think we’ll have a chance to meet.”

Mourinho shrugged. “What a pity. It could be interesting.” Then he pulled his chair and sat down.

The inexplicable start of their conversation came to an inexplicable end.

Twain looked at Mourinho who sat beside him, not doing anything. No one took the initiative to come up to talk to the young manager who had been in the limelight for the last two years.

He recalled some of the comments and articles he had read before about Mourinho. The reports might have been biased, but the Portuguese man’s relations with people did not seem good.

When he first came to England, he had almost offended all the managers in the English football circle. Maybe some people stayed away due to their jealousy of Mourinho’s current accomplishments. Whatever the reason was, Mourinho and Twain currently had something in common. There was a lively crowd in front of them, but it was deserted around them.

Arsène Wenger and the AC Milan manager, Carlo Ancelotti, only came at the last minute. As soon as they entered the hall one after another, Wenger was delighted to see Twain and came over to say hello. However, he completely ignored Mourinho next to him. The two men’s discord was so deep that it was definitely not just a rumor.

After the two men arrived, the draw was about to begin. The UEFA officials told the managers to enter the venue. After they were seated, the media began to focus on the new season’s Champions League group draw after the announcement, with their camera lenses all lined up.

At the same time, the supporters of those teams all over the world looked forward to the results of the draw. After all, this likely concerned the fates of the teams they supported this season.

Tang En had not done such a thing when he was a fan because he did not have a fixed team that he would support. But he had been surrounded by a lot of such people who would go through all kinds of emotions with their favorite teams.

As it was just a Champions League draw ceremony, there was no elaborate cultural performance. After the introduction of the thirty-two teams, they entered the most crucial step, which was the draw.

Tang En already could not remember the UEFA Champions League grouping for the 05-06 season in the world he had used to be in. Anyway, he believed that it would not be exactly the same as he remembered. Villarreal had been replaced by Nottingham Forest. It would be impossible for it to stay the same now.