There is a dream called football

After playing the weekend's game, Benitez is about to fly to Zurich. He will take captain Gerrard with him. The draw for the Champions League group stage will be held in Zurich, which is related to the fate of many wealthy clubs.

The other team members were watching the lottery ceremony at the training base. For everyone, the lottery means whether they can go further in the Champions League.

The Champions League has the so-called group of death every year, and no one wants their team to fall into the group of death.

But Li Qiao is thinking about something else. He hopes that one day, he will be with the head coach instead of Gerrard, or the two of them will be together.

The most popular person in this draw is of course Mourinho. He led Porto to create miracles last season, and this season he came to Chelsea and started a trend in the Premier League.

The moment Jorge Costa handed the UEFA Champions League Big Ears Cup back to UEFA, it meant that this season's UEFA Champions League has officially begun.

Infantino kept talking non-stop. He was introducing some statistics from last season's Champions League, such as attendance reaching a new high and so on.

Then the conversation changed and it was about this season.

"This season there will still be 32 teams competing in the Champions League. In May next year, the final will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. We will wait and see who the champion will be. Then we will start drawing lots and invite guests."

The guests were some of the former big names in football, such as Suker and George Weah.

Although Liverpool only entered the Champions League through the qualifying rounds, UEFA team classification is based on historical points, and Liverpool, which has won the Champions League four times, is naturally placed in the first pot, which is the seed team.

The first step is to classify the seed teams, which is to divide the 8 seed teams into 8 groups.

Finally Liverpool entered Group A.

Benitez laughed, I don't know if this is a good thing or not, it just depends on the emergence of the second team.

There are many strong teams in this category, such as Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, and Juventus in Italy.

The guest held a small round ball in his hand. Infantino smiled and said: "This team will enter Group A. Let's take a look."

When the guests announced the results, the audience burst into applause because the winner was Monaco, the runner-up in last season's Champions League.

But at this time, Monaco, like Porto, was sold out, so Monaco, which was second in the Champions League, was no longer the Monaco of last season.

So Benitez is actually happy, this opponent has made a profit.

"Steven, what do you think of this opponent?"

Gerrard laughed: "It might be a little difficult to play away games in France."

"Um."

Judging from last season, Monaco was very fierce at home, but basically felt like a weak team away from home, and even the Russian team couldn't win.

The drawing of lots continues.

The camera frequently showed Mourinho's face, trying to capture some information, but Mourinho looked very calm and did not express too much.

The third team.

This is also very critical. Group A in which Liverpool is located should not produce a group of death, but for other groups, a group of death may be formed immediately. The third group usually determines the group of death, because the fourth group

The team is generally too weak.

“A Coruña.”

Benitez shook his head. As a Spaniard, he knew very well that Deportivo was a strong team.

Later fans may not know Deportivo, but in the first few years of the new century, Deportivo was a strong team in Europe and even won the La Liga championship.

In fact, in Benitez's mind, this is the second-tier team.

It’s the fourth tier’s turn. Teams in this tier are generally from Eastern Europe and their strength is relatively average.

The fourth-tier team that finally fell into Group A was Greece's Olympiacos, and all four teams in Group A were also produced.

Liverpool.

Monaco.

La Coruña.

Olympiacos.

The first game is when Liverpool plays Monaco at home on September 15th.

After the draw results came out, Benitez accepted a brief interview with reporters. He was still very cautious. This was his first season with Liverpool. He said his goal was to reach the top 8.

"I can't think of winning the championship for the moment, but it would be great to enter the top eight."

When asked who was the strongest in the group stage, Benitez pointed to Deportivo La Coruna, "I played against them when I was in Spain. They are a very strong team, a typical Spanish team."

The most arrogant person at the press conference was Mourinho, who said that his goal is still to win the championship.

Reporters have become very accustomed to the madman's arrogance. If he stops being arrogant at any time, everyone will be shocked.

Now that the group opponents have been created, Benitez feels at ease, and the next step is to prepare for the league.

Back in the league, Liverpool defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0, and then came the two more crucial games. The first one was the Champions League game, and the other one was against Manchester United.

As we all know, in the Premier League, the Double Red Club has a long history and is also a game that many fans talk about.

Manchester United and Liverpool are also the two most successful teams in England's top league, so Benitez is more important to the next round of league games against Manchester United than the Champions League group stage.

*****

In the tactics class after training, when Benitez posted small red circles on the tactical board, the players were still a little confused.

"Head, isn't Monaco's jersey white with red shoulder straps?"

"Yes, but did I say this was Monaco?"

sweat.

Midweek is the first match of the Champions League against Monaco. If the boss is not preparing for the match against Monaco, what is that?

Benitez tapped the tactical board and said, "This is Manchester United."

"But the Manchester United game is on the weekend."

"Yes, so we should start preparing now, right?"

Everyone understands that Benitez looks down on Monaco at all, but it's no wonder that at this time, Monaco's player turnover is very serious, and their results in Ligue 1 are mediocre, while Manchester United is a strong force.

Benitez kept talking, and the players also felt strange, because even if Monaco becomes weaker, they still have to prepare.

Unexpectedly, after Benitez finished talking about the tactics, he said, "Play like this in the midweek game. Let's practice with Monaco."

"..."

Players like Gerrard in the team understand it very well. They know the importance of the Double Red Club. Of course, Li Qiao also understands it because he saw a lot of reports on this aspect later. Even once, Neville of Manchester United was on the show.

When he received a Liverpool jersey given to him by the host, he fell in love on the spot.

Gerrard stood up and clapped his hands, "I think you are right. We cannot lose to Manchester United or Everton. In Liverpool, this is a matter of principle."

At this time everyone could only nod.