章 371: Eve of the Europa League Semi-Final

After Rosenborg's domestic game against FK Bodø/Glimt, Zachary and his teammates started preparing for the Europa League semi-final match against Sport Lisboa e Benfica. They trained arduously over the next few days with the intent to improve their match fitness and to also master the tactics for the game. The team training covered all the essential areas of any typical football match, including physical conditioning, passing, off-ball movements, plus zonal and man-marking strategies.

Coach Johansen even went further and compelled the players to practice their penalty-taking techniques on a daily basis. He would summon them and have them take dozens of penalties against the Rosenborg keepers during the evenings. He would then end the day's training by giving lectures about theories covering effective shooting techniques.