776 An Out and Out Conspiracy (1/2)

They beat Everton with the Christmas tree formation but drew 1-1 with Manchester City in the following league game at home with the same formation. This did not affect Twain's thinking and confidence, as it allowed Nottingham Forest's coaching staff to find out what the problem was. After all, this was a new tactic that still needed to be honed.

A draw was not a bad result; after all, they did not lose and did not let those watching the show get what they wanted. Bendtner was as combative as ever in the game. He was like an angry bull, but there was no longer media hype about this matter so Twain had no reason to argue with the transition coach. There were more important things waiting for him.

In Paris, the European Champions League knockout stage draw ceremony was about to start. The 16 teams that had qualified for the knockout stage would be put together by fate's hands to face each other. The English Premier League, which had been strong in recent years, had four teams, which was the most of any league who participated. The English teams in the draw were Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Serie A and La Liga were close behind with three teams each. Representing Italy were Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan, while Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Valencia represented Spain.

The Bundesliga, one of the four major leagues, was the most feeble, with only Bayern Munich being in the top 16. It was something that made all German fans feel helpless—the Bundesliga could only be supported by Bayern Munich, but in fact it had long been an indisputable fact that the Bundesliga had become less competitive because of Bayern Munich's domination. Bayern Munich were both the saviors of the Bundesliga and the main culprits of the Bundesliga's decline...

This time, even the French and Dutch teams had two teams in the top 16. The comparison made it obvious how embarrassing the situation was for the Bundesliga. The two teams representing France were Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, while the Netherlands had Ajax and Eindhoven. The Portuguese Super League had one representative and it was Porto, currently placed second in the domestic league.

Defending champions Barcelona were, of course, the most high-profile team, having won all six of their group games, scoring 18 goals and conceding only four. They were already being considered as the number one favorite for the Champions League this season.

Another high-profile team was Nottingham Forest. As a team that had missed a season and had only just returned to the Champions League, their performance in the group stage had been impressive. They did not defeat Juventus twice by luck. However, although Nottingham Forest got out of the group stage, they scored fewer goals than Barcelona.

Everyone remembered what Twain had said during the group stage allocation ballot at the beginning of the season. ”Come and use your unspoken rules on me!” It was an incident that resulted in him being fined. Whether under Johansson or Platini's presidency, UEFA had always declared that they were transparent and fair, something they did not allow outsiders to question. However, Twain was disturbing UEFA's procedures at this point for some unknown reasons, so fines were flying toward him like snowflakes, one after another.

To be honest, regardless of the fact that Twain picked a fight with the UEFA, they really did do suspicious things sometimes. For example, this time…

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The stage was set in the style of the Champions League with five-star symbols all over the place: on the big screen, on the background wall, on the drawing box and even on the back of the seats. The silver-studded European Champions Cup was back in sight, and it was placed in the center of the stage, attracting the attention of everyone here. That was the common goal, and there was always the power to dream, no matter how strong one was.

Collina, a former famous Italian bald referee who was invited to the draw as a guest, stood in front of the glass box and pulled out a colored ping-pong ball with his right hand. He opened it, glanced at it, showed the note to the people sitting in front of the stage, and announced, ”Barcelona.” Barcelona's name appeared on the big screen behind it. They were the first team to be drawn.

Time to draw the next team...

Zinedine Zidane was the other special guest. He fumbled around the box for a while and pulled out a small ball. After unfolding the paper withing it, he read expressionlessly, ”Nottingham Forest. ”

He was poker-faced, and the others on the stage laughed. Everyone knew what this draw meant. With Barcelona and Nottingham Forest both at the top of their respective games, it was absolutely impossible to hope that Barcelona and Nottingham Forest would hit the ground in the first round under the rules of the Champions League draw. But UEFA did not say that Nottingham Forest and Barcelona would not meet under any circumstances, so...

It was Barcelona's first game and Nottingham Forest's second. They could meet in the quarter-finals if they could beat their respective opponents. This was really to eliminate all difficulties and to overcome the rule limit to draw two teams together!

The coaches sitting around Twain were turning around to laugh with him. That was what he wanted to see. If he was playing to face the likes of Eindhoven, Ajax, Porto and Paris Saint-Germain, he was afraid he could not go all out.

The Chinese narrator, who broadcast the draw to a Chinese audience, laughed. ”There is a Chinese saying: You are not enemies if you don't come together. Nottingham Forest and Barcelona look like they're on the hook.”

The British commentator said, ”The first two teams drawing the same results is like Mars hitting the earth. There will be a lot of great games in the Champions League.”

A pundit from Spain asked,”Is this the first time they have met?”

Everyone seemed to think that the two teams reaching the quarter-finals were not a problem at all. They were talking about the situation in which these two teams played each other even before knowing their respective opponents were. In case of an upset, it would be wonderful to see how their faces would change. The telecast gave Twain and Guardiola a close-up each. Guardiola was expressionless, or even serious, while Twain was not any different from flowers.

It was difficult not to think of Twain as cheap. People wanted their opponents to be as weak as possible, but he liked to take the initiative to provoke those big bosses.

The sensational scenes did not end there. After the first round of the draw, the eight teams began to draw opponents.

Barcelona drew Eindhoven, which was the best draw. It could even be said that the draw could not be better. The envy in the venue was palpable. At last, there was a subtle smile on Guardiola's face. In any case, playing the first round against Eindhoven was better than the first round against any of those big teams.

The next person to draw Nottingham Forest's opponent was still Zinedine Zidane. This time, he pulled out Inter Milan.

The cheers and jeers echoed in the room. Tonight's draw was filled with the smell of intrigue! The English narrator shouted; he was a little disgruntled. It was like they were out to get Nottingham Forest; one blow after the other, this move was like insurance after that first move.

If this was two seasons ago, Nottingham Forest and the audience would have little to worry about but Nottingham Forest was not as good as they used to be when they won the Champions League, and they were clearly disadvantaged. Barcelona and Inter Milan were getting strong day by day. Even if he were lucky enough to pass Inter Milan, could Tony Twain guarantee his team would get away unscathed? Could he be sure that no one would accumulate yellow cards and that no one would be injured?

At that point, they would face the defending champions with that mindset. It was a dark future.

The telecast gave Twain a ten-second close-up. He was still laughing!