Super Marshal

Encircle and suppress the Premier League!

This is the attitude expressed by mainstream European media after the Champions League group stage.

Obviously, the strength of the Premier League in recent years has made teams in other European leagues quite fearful.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have all performed very well in the Champions League. The Premier League teams have reached the Champions League finals for several consecutive years. However, except for Benitez’s Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea finally failed. They all have a narrow chance of winning the championship, but being able to reach the finals already proves the strength of the Premier League.

Although La Liga has been very prosperous in the past few years, first there was the cold Atletico Madrid, then Rijkaard and Guardiola's Barcelona, ​​plus the star-studded Galacticos Real Madrid, the three giants have outstanding strength, but on the court But it is still difficult to conceal the edge of the Premier League, let alone the transfer market.

In the past few years, the football market has been sluggish, and the Premier League has always been the league with the most purchasing power in Europe. It is even rumored that the newly promoted teams in the Premier League are richer than the upper reaches of other leagues. This is not wrong at all.

The four giants have monopolized the top four in the Premier League for a long time and have firmly occupied the qualifications for the Champions League. Not only have they obtained huge profits and made a lot of money, it has also greatly boosted their financial income, making them more willing to invest in the transfer market. To the point of being proud of others.

However, some people believe that with the strong entry of Middle Eastern tycoon Mansour into Manchester City this summer, this pattern is bound to be broken, and the good days of the Premier League's top four counting money are gone forever.

But right now, everyone knows that the Premier League is strong.

Among the sixteen teams that stood out from the Champions League group stage, all four of the Premier League advanced. Manchester United and Liverpool both qualified as group leaders, while Chelsea and Arsenal qualified as second in the group.

These four teams are all headache-inducing and difficult opponents.

In addition to the Premier League, the top four teams in La Liga have all advanced. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are the group leaders, and Real Madrid and Villarreal are the second in the group.

Among the four teams in Serie A, Roma and Inter Milan qualified first in the group, Juventus qualified second in the group, and Fiorentina was eliminated and was forced to play in the UEFA Cup.

As for the Bundesliga, the situation is the most miserable. Only Bayern Munich stood out. Werder Bremen only finished third in the group and were forced to play in the UEFA Cup. As for Schalke 04, they did not even make it past the qualifiers. He was eliminated.

On the contrary, in the Portuguese Super League, Porto and Sporting Lisbon both advanced, and Ligue 1's Lyon also qualified second in the group.

From the distribution of the Champions League top 16 rosters, it is not difficult to see the current strength pattern of European football. The Bundesliga has even been reduced to the same level as the Portuguese Super League and French Ligue 1, and is gradually being widened by the other three major leagues.

But it is precisely because only one team, Bayern Munich, has qualified in the Bundesliga. According to the draw rules of the Champions League knockout rounds, teams in the same group and teams from the same country avoid the principle in the group stage. Therefore, among the eight teams in second place , any team is likely to draw Bayern Munich.

This immediately made all the second-placed teams in the group feel insecure, especially the wealthy teams such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus. Everyone was talking about Bayern, fearing that they would be drawn. This is a dead draw.

But what about Bayern Munich, which was lucky enough to escape the cold?

The answer is equally bleak.

Just like Chelsea, they avoided Manchester United and Liverpool in the same country, and Roma in the same group. The remaining five opponents are Inter Milan, Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich, Porto and Atletico Madrid.

Obviously, except for Porto, who is relatively sure, the other four teams are very worrying.

But who can blame this?

After losing 1-3 away to Roma in the fourth round of the group, Rijkaard's team drew 1-1 away from French Ligue 1 Bordeaux in the fifth round, directly handing over the top spot in the group to Roma.

It can be said that Chelsea gave up the top spot in this group with their own hands, and they are no different.

British media broke the news that Abramovich was so angry that she almost vomited blood.

But the drawing goes on, doesn’t it?

…………

…………

December 19, noon.

In the trapezoidal conference hall of the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, although the central air conditioner was turned on and the heating was on, everyone who walked into the conference room still felt the deep chill, especially the representatives of the top league teams.

From the face of everyone who walked into the conference hall, you can read the solemnity in their hearts.

The draw for the knockout round of the Champions League's top 16 is about whether they can qualify and about the income of more than 10 million euros. Who dares to be careless?

After the representatives of the sixteen teams entered the stadium, they found their seats in the club according to the paper cards on the table. They all looked anxiously at the rows of transparent glass tanks on the stage under the trapezoidal seats.

Wait a minute, the matchups for the Champions League knockout rounds will be decided in the tank.

Peter Kenyon was frowning and worried all the way.

As the CEO of Chelsea, he knows the current situation better than anyone else. Failure to win the first place in the group can be said to be a heavy loss for Chelsea, unless they can draw Porto, the weakest team in the first place. Otherwise, they will all have a hard time fighting.

This is obviously something Chelsea doesn't want to see.

On the contrary, those teams that won the first place in the group stage were obviously easier. At least they had a greater chance of winning an easier opponent.

The host of the draw ceremony was UEFA Secretary General, Italian Gianni Infantino.

Like Peter Kenyon, he was a bald man.

Everyone familiar with UEFA knows that Gianni Infantino is a direct descendant of Platini. Two years ago, Platini defeated Johansson and became the president of UEFA. Johansson's direct descendant, the then Secretary-General, the Swedish Olson, was forced to withdraw and appointed Infantino as Secretary-General.

This person who has worked at UEFA for nearly ten years and specializes in player registration, legal and patent matters is familiar to everyone present and has first-class eloquence. It is a piece of cake for him to host such a draw ceremony. Introduction The performance of each team in the group stage was also humorous, but it did not ease the tense atmosphere at all.

Since it was a live broadcast, a review video of the group stage was broadcast on the big screen, introducing each team's qualifying experience, and the most eye-catching one was undoubtedly the cold Bayern Munich.

The Bundesliga giants are the only team that has won all six games in the group stage. They are also a nightmare that all second-place teams are afraid of. No one wants to draw them.

Since the final was scheduled to be held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, as usual, this time the lucky draw guest invited the famous Roma player and current Roma club manager Bruno Conte.

Even though Bruno Conte is wearing a suit and leather shoes, he looks very gentlemanly and a very handsome boy from Apennines, but in fact, he is a well-known youth training expert in Europe. De Rossi and other new generation players are all From his handiwork.

As a guest of the lottery, Bruno Conte spoke highly of everything Gao Han did at Bayern Munich when he was joking with Infantino, thinking that Gao Han's achievements were incredible.

"Look at his transformation of Bastian Schweinsteiger, his use of Modric, his training of Robben, and his promotion and cultivation of a group of younger players such as Hummels. I think they can be called a team leader. The best team in the country."

But when Infantino asked which team Roma most hoped to be drawn, Bruno Conte smiled and replied, "I think everyone knows."

There was a burst of laughter in the venue.

In fact, everyone knows that the first-place team that the second-ranked team wants to draw is Porto, because it is the weakest among the first-place teams in the group and the most promising to counterattack.

As for the team that the top-ranked team most wants to draw, it is undoubtedly Panathinaikos.

It is absolutely surprising that this Greek team can reach the top 16 this season, but because of this, it highlights the decline of the Bundesliga.

Because Werder Bremen in the same group couldn't even grab second place in the group.

After a while of pleasantries, the drawing ceremony soon began.

The organizer took the lead in placing the small balls with the names of the second teams of the eight groups in the glass jar in front of Infantino. The UEFA Secretary General reached in and after some stirring, he quickly selected one of them. One, after unscrewing it, called out the first team to be drawn out.

"Panathinaikos!" Infantino turned over the note in the ball and announced with a smile.

There was an uproar at the venue. Unexpectedly, the first team to be drawn out was Panathinaikos. This immediately made the eight first-place teams in the group eager to try.

The live broadcast footage was also specially shown on the faces of the representatives of these eight teams, and everyone's expressions were full of expectation.

Everyone knows that drawing Panathinaikos almost means qualifying early.

Even the other seven second-placed teams in the group are secretly praying that it would be best for Panathinaikos to draw the teams they least want to encounter, especially Bayern Munich.

God, please take away the high cold quickly!

Bruno Conti smiled and reached into one of the glass jars in front of him, took out a small ball, unscrewed it, and took out the note. The whole process happened very quickly, but in the eyes of everyone, it seemed like a long time.

Everyone opened their eyes wide and looked at Bruno Conti, watching him gradually turn over the note in his hand.

"Porto!"

There was an uproar in the conference hall, and most people were sighing. Only the representative from Porto was laughing and chuckling.

This is already the best lottery they can draw.

Sign up, definitely sign up.

But for others, it may not be the case.

The weakest team in the first place in the group was drawn against the weakest team in the second place. Could it be said that there is really nothing fishy about it? It has nothing to do with the average resources of major leagues that Platini has promoted since he came to power?

But everyone knows that this kind of suspicion can only be a conspiracy theory.

The words Panathinaikos vs. Porto immediately appeared on the big screen behind Infantino, and then the draw continued.

The next second-place team drawn was Real Madrid, while the first-place team drawn by Bruno Conte was Liverpool. This made Mijatovic, who represented Real Madrid, look a little depressed.

Benitez's team is famous for being good at playing cup competitions, especially the Champions League. With Real Madrid's current situation, it is indeed very difficult to defeat Liverpool in the Champions League.

Of course, drawing Liverpool is better than drawing Bayern Munich or Inter Milan.

So, this is a lottery that everyone is happy with.

When both Liverpool and Real Madrid breathed a sigh of relief, Infantino once again took out a small ball from the glass jar, unscrewed it, took out the note, and announced loudly, "Chelsea!"

When Peter Kenyon heard the name, he immediately tensed up.

It's finally our turn!

Bruno Conte also reached into the glass jar and took out a small ball.

Watching the famous Roma star unscrewing the ball, Peter Kenyon closed his eyes nervously and moved his lips slightly. If you get closer, you can hear him muttering, "No Bayern Munich, no Bayern Munich, never It's Bayern Munich."

"God, don't draw Bayern Munich!"