Forest get the ball rolling. An act greeted by a rare old racket! The fans unveil a banner: “Our time has come again, we’ll give it everything.” Let’s see, then.
The teams are out! Forest in red, City in second-choice neon yellow and black. A typically fine City Ground atmosphere on a lovely spring day in Nottingham, not a single wisp of mist rolling in from the Trent. Nevertheless, take it away, Macca.
Ruben Amorim talks to TNT Sports. “We need to be really strong … especially at the beginning of the game … it will be really intense … they are ready … we have tried to manage the load … I know in the second half we will feel it a little bit [after extra time in the FA Cup last weekend] … we are excited to be here … we can cope with the physicality of the game … we watch the opponent and try to see the spaces … they put a high line and [Rasmus Højlund] can use this space … he needs to enjoy again playing football … to stay focused on the small things … he will be OK … we need possession of the ball … if we have the ball it is impossible to score against us … if we lose it in the build-up they are really strong and fast to go to the goal … we are prepared for that … we need to improve the way we have possession … that is the main focus.”
That aforementioned 4-0 win for United in 2021, then. You wouldn’t think Sociedad think of that rout fondly, but they do. Kind of. “They overran us so clearly; the difference was huge,” their keeper Alex Remiro explains. “We could compete in terms of play but physically they were better than us in everything. It finished 4-0 but it could have been seven or eight. We were awful. And watching them it was like: ‘Bloody hell, this is …’ It was: ‘Wow!’ … From that game, from that loss, we started to place more stress on the duels.”
Connexion
