814 The End of the Season

The press was still publishing numerous articles about Twain's hearing days after it had happened. Everyone wanted to know what the exact words were that he had said to the UEFA officials during the hearing which had actually compelled them to let him walk away scot-free; it had been clear that the UEFA had wanted to drive Twain into his grave.

Twain did not utter a single word to the press about what happened at his hearing press—not even to Pierce Brosnan, who had called Twain to ask for some "insider information."

What happened at the hearing was destined to become a secret that no other person would ever know about. All people could hope for was that Twain would include some details about this hearing in his bibliography when he retired from being a football manager.

The UEFA also made no further mention of the incident. It was as though the entire hearing had not happened.

The Catalan media was upset with how things had turned out, but what else could they possibly do besides rant and moan in the papers and on TV?

They had lost to Tony Twain both on and off the pitch. They needed some way to vent their frustrations, and they could only achieve that through various media platforms.

However, the Catalan media did not walk away from this "battle" with Tony Twain empty-handed.

A few of the more level-headed reporters were able to point out that Nottingham Forest had actually paid a steep price for their actions, despite successfully defeating Barcelona and evading punishment from UEFA.

In the first leg of the match against Barcelona, Tony Twain was served a four-match ban for insulting the referee. The ban had only been in effect for one match so far, and there were three more to go. This meant that, should they somehow manage to land themselves a place in the finals, Forest would have to play in the League championship without the guidance of their manager.

Tony Twain would certainly not be able to rely on the 27,000 Forest fans to be his mouthpiece then, either.

Pepe had received a red card in the first leg, and was banned for two matches. He had served his ban for one game, and still had one more remaining.

George Wood was also shown a red card for his violent behavior in the second leg. He also had to serve a two-game ban, which would mean he will definitely miss out on both of the semi-final matches.

Both Wood and Pepe were key players in the team. Their absence undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to Forest's defense.

In addition, Lennon had also picked up an injury after being tackled by Yaya Touré during the second leg. His injury was determined to be very severe in his post-match examinations, and he would have to miss out on all the remaining games for the season.

Nottingham Forest was truly down on their luck to have two of their key players severely injured and unable to play for the remainder of the season.

The four aforementioned points would make it very challenging for Forest to win their semi-finals match.

The two most fatal aspects of these, according to the Barcelona media, were the bans on Wood and Twain.

The "trick" that Tony Twain had used against Barcelona had already been exposed to the public, and he would not be able to use it a second time. Furthermore, there would be supervisors from the UEFA who would be sitting with him throughout the following matches to prevent him from making use of his fans as his mouthpiece to convey his instructions to the team.

Nonetheless, one could not deny that his method of using his fans to communicate with his team was truly ingenious…

Forest's opponent in the semi-finals would be Germany's Bayern Munich. They were a tough team to beat. Football teams from Germany had always been tenacious, and Twain's psychological trick of trying to rile up the players during the match would not work against the Bayern Munich players.

Without Twain's onsite guidance, Forest would only be half as strong as they usually were.

Everyone realized, If we add George Wood's absence to the equation as well…

Wood has always been Nottingham Forest's protective screen in the midfield. The influence that he had on the team was huge. Most people would not be able to tell how big of an influence he had on the team when he was playing on the pitch, but the difference became significant and discernible once he was off of it.

Anyone who knows football knows how important a defensive midfielder is to any team—especially to a defense-oriented one like Forest.

Without Wood on the team, Forest's opponents would be able to threaten their defense directly. Tiago is clearly not well-suited to carry out Wood's role. He could not measure up to Wood in terms of both abilities and stamina.

Wood's absence from the team also served as a crude reminder of an issue that had been largely ignored but had always existed.

The team had not been able to find a substitute for George Wood.

Now that Wood has been banned from playing for two matches, Forest had no other defensive midfielder like him that they can employ for the next game. Tiago was not a player who mainly operated in the midfield. Most of the time, he would move forward to join in the attack. He would play as a defensive midfielder occasionally, but, even then, he would have Wood right beside him to support him. His inability to defend in the midfield would undoubtedly be magnified when Wood was not playing next to him.

Nottingham Forest's happiness was bound to be short-lived.

When an article that brought up all the aforementioned points was published, it was mocked by Nottingham Forest fans as being nothing more than 'Barcelona trying to console themselves over their loss.'

However, it proved to be the case, some time later, that the article had hit the nail on the head…

"The match is over! Nottingham Forest has lost zero-to-two to Bayern Munich in an away-game. The final score is one to three. Nottingham Forest is eliminated from the Champions League!"

The Allianz Arena erupted into cheers following three blows of the referee's whistle.

Bayern Munich's coaching staff and substitutes rushed onto the pitch in a frenzy, and they hugged the players on the pitch tightly.

In contrast, Forest's players stood rooted to the ground with their heads hung low on the other side of the pitch.

The camera immediately zoomed in on a particular corner of the stands, and Tony Twain's emotionless face appeared onscreen. He was surrounded by a crowd of crestfallen Nottingham Forest fans.

Twain was not able to make use of any home advantage to create trouble for their opponents this time around. His good luck appeared to have reached its end.

The match had only been going for five minutes when Forest found themselves down by one goal. This accident messed up all of the team's plans, and the match slowly slipped out of Twain's control. There was nothing he could do from the stands.

The cheers from the Bayern Munich fans were all he could hear when the match ended.

Twain lowered his head. He then turned around and followed after a group of fans as they all made their way out of the stands.

"Tony Twain has finally lowered his arrogant head!" the commentator said as he watched Twain's actions.

Afterward, he went on to tease, "Nottingham Forest has eliminated both Inter Milan and Barcelona consecutively, and those two teams happen to be the winners of the Champions League from the past two seasons. The British media has hailed Nottingham Forest as the 'Champions Killer' ever since. However, this very name that they were given might have led to their downfall, because Bayern Munich has not clinched a Champions League trophy in years… The magical Forest appears to have lost its drive against the non-champion Bayern Munich team. This has led to their elimination from the competition…"

The commentator's explanation as to why Forest lost seemed to carry some truth in it.

Twain could only force a smile after hearing the commentator's words following the match.

It does seem like everything is as it was meant to be, he thought.

The commentator's words helped to cast an interesting light on the match.

Twain entered the locker room after the match had ended. He did not criticize the team, nor did he give the players a dressing-down. All he did was express regret at the team's elimination from the competition. Following that, he commended their performance. He told the players that they had all tried their best and that they should not have any regrets in their hearts over the result. All they could do was look forward to trying to claim the Champions League trophy again next year.

Twain even joked towards the end of his speech to his players: "Actually, this all works out just fine. We have embarrassed the UEFA too many times now. Lads, think about it. If we were to really make our way into the finals and become champions… It would mean that a team whose manager is sitting in the stands had actually managed to seize the trophy. How embarrassing would that be for the UEFA? We can't make things too difficult for them."

Everyone in the locker room burst out laughing at his words. The despondence in their hearts slowly started to vanish as they did so.

Twain relaxed after seeing that everyone's mood had improved after his speech.

It was no use for them to keep dwelling on the fact that they had been eliminated from the Champions League. It was all in the past now.

What he needed to do was to get his team back on track quickly, so that they could continue their fight in the Premier League. Ensuring a top-four finish and qualifying for the Champions League next season were the most important things for Nottingham Forest to accomplish this season.

"All right, lads! Head on home!"

Twain clapped his hands and ended the debrief. The players all got to their feet, one after another, and began packing their belongings.

Twain was quickly located and surrounded by the sharp reporters after he exited the locker room.

Countless microphones came toward him, all directed at his face. Some of them nearly hit his lips. Twain could not help but lean backward to avoid "kissing" the microphones.

"Hey! Hey! Get the mics away from my face!"

"Mr. Twain, is there anything you'd like to say regarding your team's elimination?"

"There's nothing for me to say about that. All football teams win and lose games. I hope that Bayern Munich becomes the final champions of this competition. That's all I have to say…"

"Mr. Twain! Would you agree that your ban has had a huge impact on your team? Your fiery temper has directly led to your team's elimination from the competition…"

"Nonsense! My team is collectively strong. We wouldn't become weaker just because we lost a certain team member. And, you say I have a fiery temper? I am not to blame for the incident from before. The UEFA has also agreed about this."

Ever since the hearing, Twain brought up the UEFA's name to shut the reporters up every time they tried to get him to talk about his 'feud' with Barcelona.

This move of his was indeed shameless, but no one could stop him from doing it.

"I'm just protecting my rights."

The UEFA's name was certainly an effective weapon. Several reporters shut their mouths, right there and then.

"All right, please make way. Don't block the door." Twain reached out both his hands and tried to shove his way through the crowd.

"Mr. Twain, I have one other question…"

"Keep your question to yourself! Someday, you might get your answer."

"Mr. Twain! Mr. Twain!"

Twain disregarded the reporters' reluctance to let him go. He forcibly made a path out for himself and rushed away.

The manager of Bayern Munich, Jürgen Klinsmann, chanced upon the scene, where Twain was looking a little worn out as the reporters surrounded him.

He laughed. "This man has been banished to the stands and yet remains the center of attention. As expected of a famous manager."

Nottingham Forest's loss in the semi-finals did not come as a surprise to most. After all, Bayern Munich was the leader of the Bundesliga. They were consistently placed first in the rankings.

Moreover, Forest had been in a very bad situation going into the match. Several of their players had either been banned from playing or were injured. The fact that they had been able to progress into the semi-finals was, in and of itself, a feat.

Some Forest fans even regarded the two matches against Barcelona to be like the finals of the Champions League. They did not need for anything else that season, as long as they had defeated Barcelona...

However, this wish would certainly be scoffed at by the Barcelona fans. They would deride Nottingham Forest for not setting their sights higher.

No matter what the Barcelona fans might think, however, it was still a fact that Forest had beaten Barcelona. As the victors, Forest has every right to choose not to set their sights higher.

Nottingham Forest's loss in the Champions League was not good news for their rivals in the Premier League.

It did not matter how much those rivals despised Twain. This was one of the few times that none of them would be able to say, "I hope Forest gets eliminated."

Forest's elimination from the Champions League signified that Twain's "pack of wolves" would now put all their focus on the Premier League.

Currently, Forest was in fourth on the ranking table. If they were to put in all their time and effort into achieving results in the Premier League, it would certainly not be a problem for them to climb up to second place. Only a few points separated the second-place team from the fourth-place team, after all…

Every single one of Forest's rivals wanted Nottingham Forest to progress as far as they could in the Champions League.

There was one exception, however, and that was Manchester United's manager, Ferguson.

His team had made its way into the finals once again. He had definitely been wishing for Nottingham Forest to make its way into the finals, so that they could then afford to lose against Manchester United. The arrogant and obstinate Tony Twain would thereafter have bowed his head before Ferguson, the master-manager, and would have announced his transfer over to Manchester United as Ferguson's successor. Twain would then go on to lead the Red Devils to glory in both England and Europe…

That would have marked a perfect end to his managerial career.

Thus, after Manchester United's qualification for the finals, Ferguson said, "I think it's a pity. If I could choose my opponent, I would rather meet Tony Twain in the finals. Of course, that's on the premise that he's not seated in the stands…"

His words led to unhappiness among Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga giant felt that Ferguson had insulted them with his words.

Ferguson immediately came out and explained himself shortly thereafter: "My words were not targeted at Bayern Munich. They are a big and prestigious club, and I do think that it's great that I can meet them in the finals. I will treat every single opponent with respect… I had just hoped to get my choice of opponent in the very last game of my managerial career…"

It did not matter how Ferguson tried to mince his words. It still sounded like he was looking down on Bayern Munich.

There were some media outlets that said that Ferguson was getting more and more muddled with age, and that everything he was doing was just adding fuel to the fire.

But, what if the 'old fox,' Ferguson, only said those words as part of a psychological trick against Klinsmann? they proposed.

Twain did not involve himself in that whole issue. He was perhaps one of the few people who understood what Ferguson was up to. Ferguson had definitely said those words as part of his psychological battle against Bayern Munich.

He thought, It looks like the old man is very confident that he will clinch the last Champions League trophy of his managerial career…

Twain's response to Ferguson's comments was: "I might go down to the stadium to watch the match. However, it's not because I care about the results. All I care about right now is the Premier League. We'll definitely challenge for the title again next season."

Ultimately, Nottingham Forest finished the season in third place, and they successfully qualified for the Champions League in the next season.

Wenger's Arsenal successfully overtook Manchester United on the ranking table because the latter had put in more time and effort into their Champions League games, and was crowned champion of the Premier League.

It was a pity that Ferguson was not able to achieve the Double, but the final result was an embodiment of Ferguson and Wenger's long-standing battle over the past decade.

Alex Ferguson, Manchester United's 'godfather' who had announced that he would retire from his role as football manager at the end of season, led his Red Devils team to a 2:1 victory over the King of Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, at Arena AufSchalke, which served as the stadium for Schalke 04. He was the one who had the last laugh in this clash between two giants.

Ferguson also fulfilled his promise from years ago: that he would retire after clinching one more Champions League trophy.

He lifted the trophy, which signified the highest possible honor for all European football clubs, in one of the best stadiums in all of Europe. However, the expression on his face did not look like that of a professional manager. It looked more like it belonged to an elder who ought to be enjoying his old age. There was no passion upon his countenance; there was only a look of relief that everything was over, and that he was finally able to remove the burden weighing down his shoulders.

In that very moment, it seemed as though he had aged another 10 years. Even the red hue on his cheeks seemed to have faded.

Tony Twain watched from the stands at Arena AufSchalke as Ferguson lifted the trophy before him. At that moment, he suddenly felt like Ferguson was very far away from him. They might only be separated by a short distance, since one was in the stands and the other was on the pitch; but Twain felt like the distance between them was the size of Europe.

He joined the other spectators in the stadium, who had all stood up to applaud Ferguson for having reached the end of his managerial journey. The happiness in his heart was intertwined with a twinge of loneliness.

From this day onwards, I will have one less fierce competitor, Twain thought. But, likewise, I will also have one less good competitor…

Farewell, Ferguson.