811 A Last-Ditch Struggle

"Aaron Mitchell! He has scored the most brilliant goal of the match! No, the most brilliant goal of the Champions League! He went past four players on his way to score! At 2.02 meters tall, his techniques remind us of Ibrahimović, who is also over 1.9 meters. But Mitchell is even taller than him…"

Mitchell's teammates flung themselves at him after he scored the goal.

Mitchell's father looked absentmindedly at the young man, who had been weighed down by the other Forest players. He was not like the other fans around him, who were screaming and dancing in joy.

A fan next to him patted his shoulder and yelled excitedly, "You have a great son! You have a great son!"

Mitchell's father forced a laugh in response, but quickly averted his eyes back toward Barcelona's goalpost.

Is that man on the pitch really that foolish son of mine? he thought. That son of mine who always goes 'heh, heh' when he laughs? Who has a weird voice? Who, as a child, was thought to be suffering from "gigantism" because of how he could not stop growing taller?

The only reason that he had sent his son to Nottingham Forest's football academy was because Mitchell enjoyed the sport. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected his son to score not just one, but two goals in a top-level European match…

He had been overjoyed for his son when he scored the first goal.

The second goal was also brilliant, but he felt afterward like his brain was unable to comprehend everything that had happened.

Number nine. Mitchell. That's right, that's his last name.

He then took a look at the player's face, which bore an exuberant smile. It was indeed his son.

He thought, This all feels like… a dream… My son has just become Nottingham Forest's hero in the blink of an eye! I am now the father of a hero!

Guardiola turned around to look at his assistants seated next to him. He realized that they all had blank looks upon their faces.

It seemed like none of them had recovered from the shock that Mitchell's goal had given them.

There was nothing that any of them could say after such a brilliant goal.

But, it's not like the match has ended, right? Guardiola thought.

He stood up from his seat and readjusted his emotions. He then called Carles Puyol over to him.

"There's still 10 more minutes!" He told Puyol, pointing at his watch. "Nottingham Forest will be finished as long as we can score one more goal! One more goal! I don't need anything more than that! One goal is enough!"

Puyol nodded his head. He knew what he had to do.

"Tell the others to concentrate fully on offense. Don't think about defense right now. We have to score another goal against them!"

Puyol did as he was told. He called all his teammates over to him and relayed Guardiola's words to them.

"The match is not over yet! Now's not the time for our heads to droop! As long as we can score another goal, it will be game-over for Nottingham Forest! The initiative is still in our hands!"

Barcelona had not given up on the match, but Nottingham Forest did not lose themselves in their euphoria, either.

While the players were celebrating the goal, Dunn and Kerslake reminded them from the side of the pitch, "Don't let your guard down. The match is not over yet! I need all of you to put aside your feelings of happiness right now and pay attention to defense! From here on out, we are going to change our tactics to focus on defense and counterattack!"

Once the match started up again, Barcelona launched a flurry of attacks toward Nottingham Forest's half of the pitch. They knew that, if they did not hustle right then, there would be no chance of them winning the match.

Nottingham Forest responded to Barcelona's attacks by making their defense more compact and trying to find an opportunity to hit them on a weak point.

Both teams played as though they had tossed their midfield aside. Barcelona kept passing long balls toward the front of the pitch, and, similarly, Nottingham Forest's defenders also passed to their forwards at the front. The football kept flying about in the air.

Barcelona was making use of a playing style that they were not good at. However, long passes were right down Nottingham Forest's alley.

Mitchell was utterly exhausted after scoring his last goal. He was not even able to walk off the pitch after the celebration of his goal because of a sprain in his leg. Hence, Dunn took him off for Ibišević.

As he hobbled to the side of the pitch with the assistance of the team's medical staff, the fans in the stadium all leaped to their feet and applauded his performance.

"Aaron Mitchell. He has scored twice in this match. If Nottingham Forest ends up beating Barcelona, he will surely be the biggest contributor to their victory. His performance in this match can be considered perfect. The media might not have given him a score for his performance yet, but the fans at the stadium have all given him a 10 today! Look at all the fans who have risen to their feet! Well done to the 20-year-old Aaron Mitchell!"

Mitchell could not believe that the scenes he had fantasized about the previous night had actually become a reality.

He lifted his head to look at the stands and raised his two hands slowly to thank the fans for their applause.

Tears welled up in his eyes. At that moment, he felt like he was the happiest man alive in the whole wide world.

"Well done, Aaron." Dunn stood before him and looked at him with a smile on his face.

Mitchell took a step forward and gave Dunn a hug.

"Rest up. Everyone's waiting to give you a hug." Dunn patted him twice on the back, lightly.

Mitchell noticed his teammates on the bench, who were winking at him. A smile broke out across his weary face.

The scene on Forest's bench might make one feel warm inside, but the scenes on the pitch would fire one up instead. Nottingham Forest and Barcelona were still having a heated battle with one another.

Barcelona's offense might have looked ferocious, but it did not rattle Nottingham Forest's defense in the slightest. They kept attacking Forest from all directions, but their incursions did not lead to any results. Instead, it was Forest who nearly scored another goal due to the void left behind in Barcelona's defense after their players moved forward to attack. If not for the fact that Forest kept being unlucky in their advances, the score would definitely not have remained three-one.

Guardiola stood by the side of the pitch and watched the match nervously. He became enraged every time Forest went on the counterattack. There was nothing else that he could do besides feeling angry.

Barcelona has to press forward and attack, and it is only natural that Forest would try to go on the counterattack. The Forest crew were no fools. With all the Barcelona players moving forward to join in the offense, it was the perfect opportunity for them to launch a counteroffensive. How could they not make full use of it?

All he could do was pray that his team would score a goal quickly. They just needed one goal to pronounce Forest dead…

Unfortunately, Barcelona was not able to get their wish. Nottingham Forest did not give them the slightest chance to score.

Five minutes had passed since the match had started up again.

Barcelona was a team that took pride in its offensive prowess, but, right now, they were being kept outside of Nottingham Forest's penalty box, and were only able to attempt long shots at the goal.

The Barcelona players started to grow more and more agitated as the end of the match drew near. The players from both teams engaged in physical contact with one another more often, as well. However, there was something different about the clashes that they now shared. There seemed to be a note of anger in the players' actions every time they collided physically with an opposing player.

Bojan Krkić was pushed to the ground by Wood when he tried to maintain possession of the ball in front of Forest's penalty box.

The Barcelona fans started booing to show their displeasure toward Wood's actions, and the Barcelona players all ceased playing as well. They raised their arms into the air to indicate that Wood had committed a foul. Every single one of them waited for the referee to blow his whistle—but he did not react at all!

Nottingham Forest did not care what the Barcelona players were doing at the moment. Wood passed the ball over to Lennon, and Lennon initiated a counterattack by bringing it forward.

Their actions snapped the Barcelona's players back into the game. Yaya Touré charged towards Lennon and tackled him from behind as revenge!

Lennon fell to the ground and rolled about, clasping his ankle. It looked like a serious injury.

This time, the referee blew his whistle. He determined that Barcelona had committed a foul!

The Barcelona players had initially intended to rush over to the referee to question his decision not to penalize Wood's actions as a foul earlier. However, they changed their target en route and dashed toward the spot where Yaya Touré had fouled Lennon instead.

That was because, over there, Yaya Touré and George Wood both had their hands around the other's neck.

"Ah! Look at what's happening on the pitch! George Wood and Yaya Touré have gotten into a fight!"

Sergio Busquets, who was 1.89m tall, ran up and shoved Wood in the chest. It was unclear if he did this in order to stop the fight or to vent his frustrations.

"Take your hands off him, you b*stard!"

The Forest players were not willing to take this lying down after seeing their captain get humiliated. Kompany bumped his head against Busquet's, and the two looked like two angry bulls in a fight. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they emitted hot air from their nostrils.

"Do you f*cking want to die? You b*stard!" Kompany harangued Busquets.

"Shameless son of a b*tch!" Busquets did not reply in English, but in Catalan instead.

In truth, the Barcelona players had been fuming over the terrible state of the pitch for a while now. Their behavior had started getting rough when Messi was taken off the pitch due to an injury earlier. The fact that their team was now a goal behind only added to their frustrations.

They had been looking for a way to vent their vexation all this time, and now they had finally found one. Nottingham Forest had just given them the chance to let it out when Wood committed a suspected foul on one of their players. None of the Barcelona players were willing to let this opportunity slip away.

"Hey! Stop fighting!" shouted the Barcelona players; however, they were secretly punching Wood behind his back.

"Are you guys going to get rough after seeing that you can't win? I'm not afraid of you!"

"Pull them apart at once!"

"What do you want to do?"

The players from both teams were at each other's throats. The scene was utterly chaotic.

The Forest fans in the stands started booing the Barcelona players. They even threw coins, lighters, and other objects onto the field.

The security officers in the stands were on high alert. They were afraid that the more extreme fans would rush down from the stands and join the fray on the pitch.

That would be terrible, Dunn thought. He had not expected the situation to get out of hand. He was dumbstruck and did not know what to do.

Kerslake was the one who was shouting from the side of the pitch, "George! You are the captain! Calm down right now!"

No one on the pitch could hear what he was yelling about. All the players were lost in their anger, and the only thought in their minds was how to teach the opposing team a lesson.

Gerard Piqué from Barcelona and Jonathan Woodgate from Forest were the only ones with clear heads. They threw themselves into the fight that was going on between their teammates and tried to pull as many players away from the brawl as possible.

Wood appeared to be livid. He did not utter a single word and just glowered at Yaya Touré. He seemed to be trying to find an opportunity to grab hold of Touré.

If Wood caught him, he was definitely going to punch him in the face.

Piqué was well aware of the kind of temper that Wood had. He had seen him throw a fit numerous times during his time as a player on Forest. Wood was always the first person to get in the opponent's face whenever his teammates got fouled.

Perhaps that is his way of protecting his teammates, Pique thought.

Between the two troublemakers, he chose to run up to Wood first. He wrapped his hands around Wood's waist and forcibly dragged him away from Yaya Touré.

"George! George!" He shouted. "You need to calm down! You are the captain! You can't be the one getting into fights! Calm—down!" With concerted effort, he dragged Wood away from the fray.

Wood continued to struggle in his arms. He wanted to rush back towards Touré to teach him a lesson.

Meanwhile, Puyol was the one to drag Touré away. He had also wrapped his arms around him, just as Piqué had done to Wood.

Both Puyol and Piqué believed that Wood and Touré would likely fight to the death if they loosened their grip.

Twain swore when he saw what was happening on the pitch. However, none of the angry fans seated around him understood what he said, because he had cursed in his Sichuan dialect: "F*ck your mother!"

He was not reprimanding the Barcelona players. He was reprimanding his own team instead.

John and Bill's faces had gone red with fury. They kept yelling and scolding the Barcelona players at the top of their lungs.

Twain wished that he was in the technical area rather than the stands. If he were down there, he would have rushed onto the pitch and stopped the fight between the players.

Nottingham Forest was most likely going to progress to the next round of the competition. A wise thing to do at a time like this was to rile the Barcelona players up and let their players get penalized with yellow cards for committing fouls.

Forest should not be getting riled up as well! Twain thought. What are Dunn and David doing? Pepe cannot play in the next match! How are we supposed to play in the semi-finals if one more player on our team picks up yellow cards and gets suspended? F*ck, are all of you b*stards on drugs or something? Why are you all so damn agitated?

The referee kept blowing his whistle to signal for everyone to calm down. The conflict had abruptly started up again just when things looked under control; but, eventually, the players were able to calm down and stop fighting. However, both Wood and Touré still had to be held back by another player, because the looks on their faces still suggested that they were not ready to walk away from the fight just yet.

During the confrontation between the players, Forest's medical staff had run onto the pitch to treat Lennon.

Once the situation was completely under control, the referee called Touré and Wood over to him. Both players bore looks of hostility on their faces as they stood next to each other, but they did not get into a fight in front of the referee.

The referee fished out a deck of cards from his pocket. Then, he flashed the red one at Yaya Touré to penalize him for his malicious tackle from behind.

Touré protested the referee's decision: "Why have you not penalized their player for committing a foul against us?"

The referee paid him no attention. He turned around and flashed a red card at Wood!

Wood had known that he was going to get a red card. He had already walked to the side of the pitch before the referee had shown it to him.

The fans in the stands applauded him when he walked off the pitch. They saw him as a hero who had stood up for his teammates.

He helped us take out our anger on those Barcelona players! they thought.

Kerslake chased after Wood when he saw him leave the pitch. He personally walked him back to the locker room because he was afraid that Wood would get into another fight with Touré on the way back.

On the way over to the locker room, Kerslake kept patting Wood on the head to chide him for being so rash before. The managers clearly saw things from a different perspective than the fans.

Dunn hung his head where he stood on the side of the pitch. He did not know what kind of expression he should have after everything that had happened.

Guardiola, on the other hand, was very upset with the referee's decision. He felt that the decision was biased against his team and that they had been treated unfairly.

He pulled over the fourth official and questioned him: "Why has their team not gotten any penalties for the fouls they committed against our players? Why are we the only ones who got penalized? And we even got a red card for it! Why was only one player penalized from their team? What about Kompany?"

He soon found out why Yaya Touré had to be given a red card, and why George Wood was so indignant.

Aaron Lennon was carried off the pitch on a stretcher. He was badly injured, and would not be able to continue playing in the match. Gary Fleming, Forest's medical doctor, gestured to the managers to make a substitution as he walked off the pitch alongside Lennon.

"That was one nasty foul. The referee made the right decision in giving Touré a red card!" said the British commentator furiously.

"This match has really been… horrible." There was a twinge of helplessness in the Catalan commentator's voice. He knew that the game was over for Barcelona. They were not going to qualify for the next round.

Wood and Touré were both penalized with red cards for their actions. Kompany and Busquets also got yellow cards for their involvement. Numerous other players were given verbal warnings, as well.

The entire confrontation had lasted five minutes. When the situation was finally brought under control, the match was already at minute 90, and was about to enter stoppage time.

The fourth official was able to shake off Guardiola after a moment of struggle. He raised the board to indicate the amount of stoppage time that would be added in the game:

Nine minutes!

Deafening boos erupted in the City Ground Stadium once again.

"Why don't you f*cking add 45 minutes to the game, then? Rotten referee!" The Forest fans chastised the referee's decision from the stands.

"The confrontation from earlier lasted five minutes. That's why the stoppage time is exceptionally long… Is there still a chance for Barcelona to win the match?"

But there was not a chance.

Dunn put Rafinha on the pitch to replace the injured Lennon, and he also reassigned Nicolas Nkoulos to play as the center back.

With the addition of Nkoulos, Forest's defense was now made up of five players. It was like a bulky iron chain that completely sealed off Akinfeev's goalpost.

The Barcelona players all showed the effects of the earlier confrontation. Their emotions and movements were erratic, and they were not able to perform at their best. They chose to make long passes to the front of the pitch instead of building up their attacks slowly from the back during their offensive plays.

The boos from the stands turned into cheers the moment that the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.

All the Forest fans celebrated their victory. They had triumphed over Barcelona with a score of three-to-one at home. They had not only exacted revenge on the other team with this victory, but had also proved that Nottingham Forest, which was the two-time defending champion of the Champions League, was still a strong team.

"The match is over! Nottingham Forest has just eliminated the 2009-2010 Champions, Barcelona, after knocking out the 2008-09 Champions, Inter Milan! Those two teams were the winners in the two seasons when Nottingham Forest failed to reach the top of the Champions League! They have now eliminated both of those victors… Nottingham Forest is truly the 'Champions Killer!' Tony Twain said at the start of the season that we could find out how good a champion team was by letting them play a game against Nottingham Forest! His team has certainly shown what they are capable of!"