Fox in the Penalty Area

Although the Champions League has become the highest level football competition in the world, it is also the highest honor in the club field.

But the World Cup still has a very important and special status in the minds of professional players.

Participating in the World Cup still has a fatal attraction for players who are soft on club honors.

For Maxi Carey, the opportunity to participate in the World Cup also means more. Although he is the first among the "Four Kings", it is somewhat incredible that this Dutch football superstar has never really Participated in a World Cup match.

Yes, it sounds unbelievable, but it's true.

Last year's World Cup in the United States and Canada was supposed to be Maxi Carey's first time on the World Cup stage, but he was injured before the World Cup.

Before that, when Maxi Carey was 27 and 23 years old, in the two World Cups, the Dutch national team was very unfortunate and failed to reach the finals...

In the World Cup four years earlier, the Dutch national team reached the finals. However, although 19-year-old Maxi Carey had shown amazing talent, he was not selected for that national team.

In this way, the greatest talent in Dutch football in the past two decades has not played a minute in the World Cup.

This sounds incredible, but it actually happened.

Not participating in the World Cup has also become a thorn in Maxi Carey's heart.

For Jim Castian, he really had no choice but to use this trump card.

Having worked together for many years, he certainly knows what Carey values ​​most.

"According to what he said, can I participate in the World Cup?" Kyrie asked.

"I don't know, but at least it will reduce your risk of injury. As long as you can stay healthy, you may not be able to participate in the World Cup..." Castian didn't finish his words.

Because he really couldn't guarantee this.

Whether you can participate in the World Cup or not, physical condition is only one of the factors.

There are also the players' own status, the technical and tactical style of the Dutch national team coach, and even his personal preferences... can all determine the final candidates.

At his peak, Maxi Carey was the absolute main force and core of the Dutch national team, and even became the captain of the team.

But after experiencing two major injuries, it's hard to say whether Carey can still be included in the national team's inspection range.

Carey fell silent again, seeming to be considering what his agent said.

At this time, the car also drove to the San Antonio clinic that is responsible for the physical examination of Madrid Pirates players.

"Let's have a physical examination first. We'll wait until the results of the physical examination come out." Castian parked the car and turned back to Kaili, who was sitting in the back seat.

"good."

Kaili agreed, opened the door and got out of the car, and doctors and nurses were already waiting to greet him.

A physical examination related to the future of his career is about to begin.

※※※

As soon as Hu Lai arrived in the locker room, he saw that there was an extra person in the locker room today.

Maxi Carey is greeting his teammates one by one.

He has passed the physical examination and officially started recovery training.

Although it is still very early for him to step on the court, at least it shows that he has hope to return to the court in the future, instead of just sitting in the stands and applauding his teammates and acting as an atmosphere group.

When Hu Lai saw Maxi Carey turning around and seeing him, he took the initiative to say hello: "Is your injury healed?"

"It's not completely healed yet, but I can resume training." Kaili replied.

Hu Lai smiled and said, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

The two greeted each other politely, Hu Lai returned to his position, and Carey continued to greet other teammates.

When training actually started, Maxi Carey was nowhere to be seen. He has a separate training plan and does not train with the team. Instead, he is led by a dedicated person for recovery training.

The next Champions League final group match against Ruerrhein has nothing to do with him.

Five rounds of the Champions League group stage have been played. Madrid Pirates currently has 13 points, four wins and one draw, ranking first in the group. Not only has it qualified early, but it has also qualified as the first in the group.

Ranked second is Ruerrhein. They currently have eight points and also qualified early.

So the final group match has nothing to do with the qualifying situation or the ranking of the first and second place in the group.

Whether it is Madrid Pirates or Ruhr Rhein, their mentality will be very relaxed when facing this game.

The focus of the final round of the group stage is Leeds City and Kiev.

Leeds City are currently in third place with four points, while Kiev is in fourth place with just one point.

In the last round, the two teams are in direct dialogue, but if Kiev can beat Leeds City away from home, then if they have the same points as Leeds City and their mutual winning-loss relationship is dominant, they can squeeze out Leeds City and finish in the group. The third-placed team qualified for the knockout rounds of the Europa League.

As Leeds City has already failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, retaining the Europa League has become their only goal.

Leeds City have yet to win a game in the Champions League this season, and their four points came from four draws. The first draw was a 0:0 away draw with Kiev. Leeds City drew both home and away games against Ruerrhein. The third draw was a 1:1 away draw in the fourth round, which was the previous round. Draw with Madrid Pirates.

In that game, the Leeds City team was very crazy and wanted to defeat Madrid Pirates away from home. Because only by winning this game will they have a chance to continue competing for the Champions League knockout qualifications.

But on the one hand, it is the strength gap, and on the other hand, it is away games.

Although Hulay did not continue his excellent form of scoring in four consecutive Champions League games, the Madrid Pirates are also difficult for Leeds City to challenge.

Being able to score a point in the end is considered a sign of mercy for the Madrid Pirates.

Participating in the Champions League for two consecutive seasons, but unable to break out of the group stage for two consecutive seasons, also illustrates Leeds City's current strength.

After losing the main scorer, this is actually a very reasonable result.

But Leeds City fans will still be disappointed and regretful. They will think that if Hulay had not left the team, with his current state, would we have been able to reach the Champions League knockout rounds this season?

Unfortunately, there is no if in reality.

※※※

In the last round of the Champions League group stage, Leeds City finally broke out.

They defeated Kiev 4:1 at their home court.

Kamara and Lasky each scored twice.

With the outstanding performance and goals of both of them, Leeds City has locked in the qualification to participate in the Europa League knockout rounds.

In the away match of Madrid Pirates against Ruhr Rhine, Ruhr Rhine's young high center Janus Edman finally scored in the game.

With this goal, he is eligible to exchange jerseys with Hu Lai.

Hu Lai also scored a goal in the game, but failed to score twice.

But his goals are still important.

Because his goal was the second goal of the game for Madrid Pirates, this goal helped Madrid Pirates equalize the score.

In the end, Madrid Pirates drew with Ruerrhein 2:2 away from home.

The 2027-2028 Champions League group stage ended with an unbeaten record of fourteen points and four wins and two draws.

They also qualified with Ruerrhein with nine points.

Leeds City's final score is seven points, two points less than Ruerrhein, but they can only participate in the Europa League.

It can also be seen from this point difference that if Leeds City can defeat Kiev in the away game in the first round of the Champions League group stage, maybe it will not be Ruerlein who will qualify with the Madrid Pirates, but Leeds City.

※※※

With the end of the Champions League group stage in the second half, all 16 teams participating in the Champions League knockout rounds this season have been announced.

The seeded team in Group A, the defending French Ligue 1 champion Lyon Lions, was eliminated. The final group qualifying teams were Tramed of the Premier League and Valentia of La Liga.

The qualifying situation in Group B is very simple and clear. The two top giants in their respective countries, the Turin Bulls and the Madrid Kings, qualify together, but their rankings have changed slightly. The seeded team Turin Bulls only finished second, and the first place in the group belonged to the Madrid Kings.

The Madrid King's performance in the league this season has been a little slow, but he has been making great progress in the Champions League.

With five wins and one draw, they accumulated 16 points and advanced to the top 16 as an unbeaten team.

Scored eighteen goals and conceded only two.

Melli also scored five goals in the group stage and had two assists.

Whether in the league or the Champions League, he surpassed the original team's ace shooter Cerrados and became the top scorer in the Madrid Kings.

The first place in Group C was won by the seeded team Manchester United. Xia Xiaoyu's Alvara finally defeated Roma City by virtue of the victory and defeat, and then finished second in the group, narrowly qualifying.

It is hoped that Alvara's qualifying will allow Xia Xiaoyu to have more games to play on multiple fronts. If Alvara has to rotate more, substitute players like Xia Xiaoyu can get more playing opportunities.

There is no doubt that the first place in Group D belongs to the Bundesliga hegemon Blue and White Munich. After Mark Becker transferred from Ruerrhein to Blue and White Munich, just like Hulay's transfer to Madrid Pirates, there was no adaptation period at all and the seamless connection. He scored six goals in the Champions League group stage, ranking second in the Champions League scorer list after Hulay.

The original second-tier team Gulf Lighthouse was eliminated, and they were replaced by the third-tier Eredivisie giants Rotterdam Elite.

The first place in Group E was won by the second-tier team Stan Park Rangers. The original seed team, where Chen Xingyi also played, Atlético Amsterdam, finished second in the group.

The Portuguese, the seed team in Group F, failed to qualify for the knockout rounds. The first place in the group was the Serie A giant Insubre from Milan, Italy. The second place was a big upset. London Bridge, who was in the third level of the group, failed to qualify from this group. After qualifying, the second qualifying spot fell to Sporting Bordeaux, a team in the fourth tier of the group.

This season's Champions League final will be held in London, England. At the beginning of the season, London Bridge, which clamored to win the cup in London, failed to even qualify for the group stage. It was really embarrassing.

There is nothing much to say about Group G. Madrid Pirates ranked first in the group and Ruhr Rhine ranked second in the group. Leeds City went to participate in the Europa League, but this time they want to rely on winning the Europa League championship to qualify for next season's Champions League. This curved path to save the country will probably not work...

The first place in Group H belongs to the seeded team Catalonia, and the second place is Paris Eger.

Among a total of sixteen teams, all four La Liga teams qualified for the group stage and can be said to be the biggest winners.

In the Premier League, three teams have advanced to the knockout rounds and are still very competitive.

Among the remaining three of the five major leagues, two are in the Bundesliga, two in Serie A, and two in Ligue 1. Very balanced.

Among the minor leagues, the Eredivisie performed best, with two teams advancing.

Portuguese Super League team.

This is the league distribution of the top 16 of the Champions League.

After the top 16 was announced, UEFA conducted a draw for the quarter-finals.

According to the rules that the first and second place teams in the same group and the same Football Association cannot meet in the first round of the knockout round, and the first and second place teams in each group must play against each other.

The final results for the quarter-finals are as follows:

D2 Rotterdam Elite (Eredivisie)-B2 Kings Madrid (La Liga)

G2 Ruhrrhein (Bundesliga)-E1 Stan Park Rangers (Premier League)

F2 Bordeaux Sporting (Ligue 1)-C1 Manchester United (Premier League)

H2 Paris Eger (Ligue 1)-D1 Blue and White Munich (Bundesliga)

A2 Valentia (La Liga)-F1 Insubre (Serie A)

C2 Alvara (Portuguese Super League)-A1 Tramed (Premier League)

E2 Atletico Amsterdam (Eredivisie)-G1 Pirates of Madrid (La Liga)

B2 Turin Bulls (Serie A)-H1 Catalonia United (La Liga)

This draw result has different interpretations in the eyes of the media and fans of each team. Some people think that the Kings of Madrid and Manchester United have been eliminated by UEFA, while fans of the Turin Bulls and Catalonia United have felt the malice of UEFA.

Only Chinese fans feel that they have become the biggest winners.

Because among the sixteen quarter-finals, there were actually four "Chinese Derbys"!

This is to let Chinese fans enjoy watching it all at once!