Chapter 510: The Contest

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the heavyweight matchup for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 brought to you by ESPN! The competing teams, Barcelona and Nottingham Forest, were rivals in last season’s Champions League final! Due to Manager Tony Twain’s words and actions after that final, both teams have accumulated animosity over this season, and now they can finally resolve this feud on the field!” The China ESPN commentator described the game between the two teams as if it were a showdown in a martial arts novel, but it was suited to describe the current relationship between the two teams.

The Barcelona fans in China would certainly not think of Nottingham Forest as a warrior that could be compared to their own team. A lot of Barcelona fans hated Tony Twain to the core and would clench their teeth at the mention of him.

The inclusion of the Chinese ESPN commentary showed that this round of 16 game had attracted the attention of the entire world. After a long period of media hype, everyone was interested in the sequel to last year’s final.

Not only in England and Barcelona, but also in the rest of the United Kingdom, Spain and other European countries as well as China, Japan, Southeast Asia and South America would be able to watch the live broadcast of the match via satellite.

The score of both teams 1:1 in the first half, but this was far from enough for the spectators.

Up until this moment, the two sides had only scored two goals total. There were no red or yellow cards, no fierce physical confrontations, and no noises of abuse from the stands. There was nothing. It did not do justice to the description given to the game —”The Earthshattering Clash.”

The commentators prepared a wealth of lexicon, ready to illustrate how wonderful and thrilling the game was but had now found them rendered useless.

Tony Twain was certainly not a saint who would sacrifice himself to fulfill others’ wishes. Rijkaard was annoyed by the Forest team’s hardcore defense. Therefore, everyone hoped that there would be changes in the second half of the game. No matter which party would score a goal, or whoever would be sent off, or be seriously injured, as long as there was an accident that could break the current equilibrium, then needless to say the second half would be wonderful!

“The second half of the game had just started and unsurprisingly, Barcelona has launched a fierce offensive against Nottingham Forest’s goal! They want to get in a goal as early as possible. Let’s take a look at Nottingham Forest’s countermeasure … Ah, it’s disappointing. They are still lifelessly hanging on to defense! Will Tony Twain be satisfied to leave Camp Nou with only one goal?”

The televised broadcast gave a close-up of Twain, who sat in the technical area.

The smile previously on Twain’s face was gone. The expression on his face gradually became serious.

“Well, it looks like he’s not satisfied.”

※※※

George Wood did not forget what Twain said to him during halftime. He had been told not to blindly cling to defense. He had to find a way to get the football moving forward. But now it was not that he did not want to send it forward, but that Barcelona’s offense was so fierce that he had no way of taking things forward.

Barcelona’s offensive routine in the second half became nimbler. Ronaldinho was no longer the only core. If he marked the Brazilians too rigidly, they would pass the ball to Messi or Eto’o, and then Deco, Iniesta and Xavi would swoop in. The Barcelona’s offensive surged like tidal wave which came in wave after wave, higher than the one before.

No matter how good George Wood was, he could not be on the left flank, in the middle, and on the right flank at the same time. Fortunately, the team gave him enough support in the second half.

It was currently a stalemate and the Barcelona offensive looked fierce but was unable to pose a real threat to the Nottingham Forest’s goal. In most cases, Deco and the others could only helplessly choose a long shot. Eto’o and Messi’s movements in the two flanks were even more tightly guarded. The Forest team was good at this kind of compressive defense.

In the previous final, Barcelona had a taste of the Forest team doing the same technique. That type of defense kept them from cracking open the Forest team’s goal until the end. This time, the Forest team lineup was complete. This time, no one was sent off and the goalkeeper was the mainstay, van der Sar. There was also the defensive core, George Wood to hold down fort. Twain was confident in playing the defensive counterattack against Barcelona.

He wanted to his reinforced concrete-styled defense, which he inherited from Italy, to bind the offense that Barcelona was so proud of, and then strike a fatal blow to them with speed!

For now, it looked like the situation with their defense was fine and they were able to fend off Barcelona’s offense. It was now up to their offense.

※※※

While the team was on the defensive, Ribéry and Ashley Young were also on both flanks, occasionally engaged in defense. Ashley Young came back to defend more often, but Ribéry was not able to do it like his teammate. As soon as he came back, Wood would stare at him. Even though he said nothing, Ribéry understood.

Wood worried that there were not enough people ahead so that when a crucial figure was required to attack, he would not be able to go up, so he was not allowed to come back to defend frequently.

He actually wanted very much to tell Wood that he had no problem with his stamina and was fast enough to support the frequent dashes from the back to the front. But looking at Wood covered in sweat, he opened his mouth and immediately gave up the idea.

All right, I’ll just wait in the front for you guys to pass the ball.

When Ronaldinho took the ball, George Wood leaned up. This time, the Brazilian did not dribble the ball to the middle but moved to the right flank. He wanted to coordinate with Messi.

Wood followed Ronaldinho to the left flank and Messi immediately understood what his senior teammate wanted to do. He was ready to receive the ball.

Wood was not a fool. Next to him, he also noticed that Messi was going to run to the middle. Should he follow Ronaldinho or Messi?

“George!” Bale called out behind him. It was clear that the little monkey was also faced with such a choice.

Wood waved his hand behind his back and motioned for Bale to cover the middle and that he would defend this side of the flank. He decided that whether Ronaldinho passed the ball or he himself broke through by dribbling the ball, he would follow him.

After Ronaldinho came to this side of the flank, Messi bypassed him from behind. At this moment, Wood raised his guard and his eyes were fixed on the football. When Ronaldinho rotated the ball, he nearly pounced to intercept the ball. Ronaldinho did not pass the football. Messi did a feint to grab at the ball but fortunately Wood did not move. Otherwise, he would have given Ronaldinho a gap to break through.

Messi ran for nothing and Bale caught up to him. Ronaldinho did not pass in that instance and lost the opportunity to pass again. Even if he tried to pass the football to Messi now, it was not a good choice. It looked like he was going to have a face-off with Wood again on the flank.

In fact, Ronaldinho did intend to pass the ball to Messi the moment he and Messi crossed paths, and then he could break away to receive the ball and position a shot himself. But when he saw Wood closely watching the football, he changed his mind the moment he swung his leg and turn it into a feint.

He won only once during their several face-offs in the first half. He did not want to just forget about it.

He was skilled at doing all kind of feints on the flank, especially the one he was best at: the Gaúcho!

Wood did not know what his opponent had in mind at that moment. He was only focused on the football and did not even look up to see the expression on Ronaldinho’s face at this point.

He fixated on the ball. No matter how Ronaldinho circled his feet around the football to disrupt him, he only was only aware of the football. If the football did not move, he did not move. He was not afraid that the time passed just like that. Anyway, he was not the one who should be anxious. It should be Barcelona, which was eager to win. But at the same time, his body seemed taut as string that was about to shoot the arrow out.

Suddenly, the football moved in front of him and was about to tear past his right!

Wood did not hesitate to shove to that side.

But where was the football?

He clearly saw the football come toward that side, so how did it just move a bit and suddenly do a freakish ninety-degree change in midair and fly to the left side of his body?

Without waiting for him to understand the reason, Ronaldinho had already rushed past the left side of his body!

“The Gaúcho! Thrilling! Just thrilling… what else can we say apart from the brilliance of that move? No, words do not do justice in face of this extraordinary performance! Yes, this is a performance! That skill that made this performance a work of art!”

Along with the commentator’s high acclaim, there were loud cheers in Camp Nou and throughout Barcelona. The sound was a demonstration and warning to Nottingham Forest, who had intended to strut around on their turf.

We have Ronaldinho! He’s a football magician that God gave to the world!

Someone on the Barcelona substitutes’ bench stood up to shake his arms and shout for the bypass and in anticipation for the next goal at the same time.

Ronaldinho dribbling the ball to shoot from a tight angle or passing the ball both had great chances for scoring. Eto’o and Messi, and even Deco, rushed to the front of the Forest team goal at first chance.

And because Bale was broken though, Wood was bypassed. Kompany and Piqué, who were supposed to defend those people in the middle, had to split up. One player had to rush to the flank and stop Ronaldinho.

The situation in front of the Forest team goal was in critical danger!

Piqué looked back at Kompany and did not hesitate to charge toward Ronaldinho. However, he had just started when he heard a roar, as if a bolt from the blue exploded in his ear. “Go back! Protect the middle!”

Immediately after, he saw George, who had just been bypassed by Ronaldinho and had lost his balance, turned and pounced. His face looked ferocious, as if he was a black panther who had seen his prey.

He was frightened by Wood’s expression and swift reaction. He did not withdraw to defend but stood frozen in place.

This was a good opportunity for Ronaldinho. The Forest team’s defense in the middle defense was ripped apart by his breakthrough. There were three Barcelona players in front of the goal and they were covered on all fronts. As long as the pass was effective, the probability of scoring a goal was high!

He stopped hesitating and prepared to kick the ball.

It was then that he saw Messi, who had rushed to the front, suddenly stop in his tracks and look at him in horror, as if he had seen something incredible.

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You stupid bastard. Why are you standing in the same spot? You’re right on the same path as Piqué. How can I pass the ball to you?

Ronaldinho scolded Messi internally for dropping the ball at this crucial moment and completely forgot the danger around him.

As Wood sprinted back to defend, he saw Ronaldinho swing his leg high and look as if he was about to pass the ball. His supporting leg was still some distance from the football. This was the best opportunity, and also the only opportunity…

“A ferocious shove by George Wood! Ow!” The commentator yelled as if he had been shoved off of the field by Wood.

Wood shoved the football out the moment Ronaldinho was ready to pass, while the uncontainable excessive power knocked the Brazilian out of the penalty area. The pair knocked to the ground together just in front of the billboard outside the perimeter.

The Camp Nou Stadium gasped and then immediately roared, “penalty kick!!”

The same noises came from Barcelona’s substitutes’ bench. Rijkaard stepped forward and rushed to the sidelines, intending to cheer for the penalty kick.

But what did they see?

The assistant referee and the referee pointed to the corner flag at the same time!

Corner kick?

Corner kick!

Corner kick?!

Rijkaard jerked up. He was furious.

The Barcelona fans gave up and the Barcelona players also gave up. Ronaldinho was still lying on the ground and looking like he was in pain, ready to make Wood take responsibility of the foul. In the end, after he saw the referee’s hand gesture clearly, he jumped straight from the ground and angrily waved his arms at the referee to protest this penalty. His teammates had long rushed to surround the referee to dispute this.

“The referee decided on a corner kick… It’s unbelievable. George Wood’s shove was so fierce and looked lethal. And it was just a corner kick? Let’s take another look at the replay…”

The moment was replayed repeatedly in slow motion. It unmistakably showed that Wood hit the ball first, and then because his energy could not be checked, Ronaldinho was knocked out. The referee’s decision was not a mistake.

“Well, it looks like it was indeed a clean and beautiful kick. That was really close. If he had been a second later, I bet his foot would have hit Ronaldinho’s right foot.”

George Wood was pulled up by Piqué. The Spanish kid also patted him on the thigh. He was still had some trepidation as he said, “I didn’t think you would really get over there to shovel…”

“Was there another way?” Wood asked in puzzlement.

“No, uh… I mean, aren’t you afraid of getting a penalty?”

“I didn’t think too much.” Wood’s answer left Piqué at a loss for words. Should he say that Wood played skillfully and boldly or was he all brawn and no brains?

Bale dashed over in excitement to forcefully embrace Wood and shouted, “You did a beautiful job, George! You knew he was going to leave the football, didn’t you?”

Wood pushed him away. “All right, go and guard against that corner kick.”

Bale obediently left. Only then, Wood noticed that Ronaldinho had been next to him the whole time and was staring at him with anger on his face. He must still be angry that the shovel was a corner kick, not a penalty kick. He did not want to pay him any mind, but he was halted.

“Hey, hey!” Ronaldinho did not speak much English. He could only grill him in Portuguese., “That was clearly a foul! If you had played more honestly, you shouldn’t be celebrating here!”

In fact, it looked more like he was grousing to himself. Ronaldinho also did not expect George Wood to understand his Portuguese.

He did not think that Wood would stop and look back at him when he heard him speak. Apparently, he understood.

Wood just looked at Ronaldinho and did not say anything in the end. He turned around and ran away again.

The Barcelona players were still hounding the referee. Rijkaard drew special attention from the fourth official because he was too worked up just now.

He repeatedly reiterated to the fourth official that he was convinced the tackle had been a foul in the penalty area. A penalty kick should have been awarded. The fourth official replied like he was a robot with ready-made answers and just repeated, “I believe in the referee’s decision on the field. Not to mention that this is a decision made by the referee and the assistant referee at the same time. There is no problem. Please calm down, Mr. Rijkaard.”

But could he calm down?

As if he wanted to specially provoke him, Twain jumped from his seat, shook his arms and cheered. Then he turned around to the angry fans in the stands of the Camp Nou stadium and extended — not his middle finger, of course — his index finger over his lips and pursed his lips. His meaning could not have been more obvious. He wanted the noisy Barcelona fans to quiet down.

Could the Barcelona fans quiet down?

Twain was not so naïve as to think that. He was needling them. As a result, just as he wanted, the grandstand behind the technical area erupted like a volcano, and a huge outburst of boos and swearing suddenly broke out against Tony Twain.

Rijkaard certainly saw it. He pointed to Twain and yelled at the fourth official next to him, “You make that scumbag calm down first!”

The fourth official turned around and saw the scene of Twain needling the Barcelona fans, so he put Rijkaard aside and quickly ran to Twain. He stood between Twain and the grandstand fans and drove him back to the visitors’ technical area.

“Please mind your words and actions, Mr. Tony Twain!” With a grim expression, the fourth official sent by the UEFA warned Twain who was still setting himself against the fans. “Don’t cause trouble for us, and don’t get yourself into trouble!”

Twain finally pulled his index finger from his lips. He pointed to the excited fans in the stands and said to the fourth official, “Those fans call my players sonsabitches and cheats. Does the UEFA have any provisions to punish or prevent this kind of situations?”

The fourth official froze for a moment and shook his head, “No, we do not…”

Twain whistled. “And that’s fair?” He shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk back. Behind him, the booing and abuse did not stop. The waves of voices seemed to be urged by the wind and came attacking him as if trying to overwhelm his figure completely.

The direction he went back made him face Rijkaard directly. Their gazes met from afar. When Twain saw Rijkaard, he approached and spread open his hands toward his opponent. He tilted his head with a helpless look. The action made Rijkaard hate him. The Dutchman was not a man who liked to quarrel with others. However, in the face of a scumbag like Tony Twain, he was unable to contain his anger.

“This fucking bastard!” He turned around and punched the awning of the technical area.

“Calm down, Frank!” His assistant manager, the famous Dutch, Neeskens, who was older than him, had to shout to remind him. “You are the soul of this team, its leader. You cannot be infuriated by the other team till you lose your cool!”

“I’m sorry… I’m all right now.” Rijkaard covered his head with both hands as he sat down. His fingers fully inserted in his tight curls and rubbed his head.

※※※

Twain saw everything with his own eyes. Even though he could not hear the conversation between Neeskens and Rijkaard, he knew that Rijkaard could not fully calm down within.

His goal had been achieved.

He could put his attention back on the field next. As for the swearing by those Barcelona fans behind him? Well, he could not understand Catalan.

As for the universal word, “f**k,” the easy-to-understand English word, his ears automatically filtered it out.

The Barcelona players who surrounded the referee did not get the results they wanted. The referee and the assistant referee were in agreement this time. The referee did not even have to run over to ask the assistant referee’s opinion. He uncompromisingly issued the corner kick. He waved away the Barcelona players around him and told them to quickly take the corner kick, or he might have to pull out a yellow card to warn some of those who were still ranting.

This decision had a huge impact on Barcelona’s entire team, which struck their mood and morale in varying degrees.

Ronaldinho’s corner kick was not good. The football flew over the goal and was easily plucked out of the air by Edwin van der Sar.

The Nottingham Forest fans, whose voices had just been suppressed by the boos, were finally heard again. They sang the lyrics made up on the spot in tune with a music that was currently popular. “You have Ronaldinho, we have George Wood! Your footwork looks fancy, our shovel is fierce and direct—and yet not a foul! La, la, la, and yet not a foul! You want a penalty kick but no way! No! Way!”

As the singing voices of the Forest fans reverberated, the Nottingham Forest team, wearing their yellow away jerseys, Edwin van der Sar launched an attack by throwing the ball with his hands.

The Dutch goalkeeper’s hand ball was thrown to a far distance. It almost directly went over the midfield. Franck Ribéry appeared in the middle and received the ball.

The defensive players had done their job perfectly. They had stopped several attacks by Barcelona. Now it was the attacking players’ turn to play their part.

“Although it may an exaggeration to say this, I’m still going to say it — long time no see, the attacking players of Nottingham Forest!”