There is a dream called football

Every time the Champions League draws, the famous bald Infantino will appear, and this time is no exception.

Li Qiao remembered that before he later became FIFA president, people's strongest memory of him was the Champions League draw ceremony.

The lottery ceremony began with a theatrical performance. Because this season's Champions League final was held in Greece, the theatrical performance had a strong flavor of Greek art, and the singers invited were also Greeks.

After the artistic performance, there was a review of last season, focusing on the two final opponents, Barcelona and Arsenal.

The first is a five-minute short film about Barcelona, ​​starting from the group stage and recording Barcelona's promotion step by step.

Then Arsenal's road to promotion will be more difficult, especially the match against Real Madrid.

In the end, the two teams gathered at the Stade de France to compete for the final crown, and then there was the battle a few months ago.

At the end of the war, it was Henry who lifted the trophy. At this moment, the dream came into reality. On the big screen, it was Henry who lifted the trophy. When the lights came on, it was Henry who came to the scene with the trophy. If you watch the broadcast, then the picture

It's seamless.

Henry walked into the scene holding the trophy with a smile, and then handed the trophy back to Infantino, and the new season began.

"This is the story of last season. It is very exciting. The final championship belongs to Arsenal, and the story of this season is about to begin. What should everyone pay attention to? The group of death? Or who is the unlucky guy and who will be the lucky one."

"So who will be the champion in Greece next year?"

"I know everyone is looking forward to it, but it will have to wait. We will do our annual review at this time next year, and I think everything will be wonderful."

The details of the lottery ceremony are very complicated, but there are actually only a few big rules. The first is that teams from the same country are avoided, and the second is that teams are divided into four tiers and drawn out in turn.

The first step is to determine the ownership of the first team. The eight groups are in their respective positions. This is the most boring part, because unlike the World Cup, after qualifying for the Champions League group stage, the quarterfinals still need to be drawn again, so

Saying which group you are in has no impact on subsequent games.

Arsenal was the first team and was eventually placed in Group G.

Then there is the draw of the second-tier teams. There is some suspense in this link, because the second-tier teams are the prototype of the group that creates death.

Under normal circumstances, the difference between the strength of the second-tier teams and the first-tier teams is not big, and there are even stronger teams. This is due to points.

Like the national team ranking, it is based on points, and everyone knows that points are very important. The difficulty of getting three points in the Bundesliga is definitely different from other leagues.

Wenger prayed in his heart that the second-tier opponent had better not be a team from the five major leagues, otherwise it would be very difficult.

This session was also the time for Infantino to show off his humor and talent. He was like a stand-up comedian, sometimes making fun and sometimes creating suspense. After all, the more than an hour-long lottery ceremony was a bit boring.

Chelsea and Barcelona, ​​the first prototype of the group of death has begun to appear, and these two teams are old enemies. Many people even said that this draw was made. How could Chelsea always face Barcelona.

Maybe, but Chelsea and Barcelona are bumping into each other again, and Mourinho and Rijkaard are going to be at each other's throats again.

Then Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in Group B are also having a strong dialogue. There are many things to watch. This is also a group that is likely to become the group of death. It depends on the draw of the third team.

The other is Group D. Roma and Valencia are two teams that are very close in strength. This may also be a weakened version of the Group of Death.

We finally came to Group G, the group Arsenal is in. There are actually not many strong teams left at this time, which may also be the advantage of being assigned to the later groups.

Porto.

When the lottery guests announced the results of the lottery, Infantino chuckled and said, "The defending champion drew a good lottery."

But Wenger didn't see it that way. Although Porto at this time did not have the strength of the Mourinho era, it was still one of the European powers, especially a dominant team in Portugal.

Of course, there is no problem with Arsenal being stronger than their opponents. Wenger is just worried that his opponents will cause trouble for him, but it should not be a stumbling block.

By the third gear, it should be said that a real group of death is about to emerge. This is the biggest highlight.

In addition to Barcelona and Chelsea, the third team in Group A is Werder Bremen. In this way, there is no problem in this group. Barcelona and Chelsea still have obvious advantages.

Group B has become a group of death. The third team is Cristiano Ronaldo's parent team Sporting Lisbon.

This is not a weak team. Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Sporting Lisbon all have strong groups, so this ball is not easy to play.

There were no big surprises in the following groups, with clear strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to Group G, this is also the biggest highlight, because there are no Premier League teams in the third pot. In theory, Arsenal has many potential opponents.

"Hamburger."

Bundesliga teams.

Wenger breathed a sigh of relief.

Not bad, Wenger is more worried about being drawn against a team like Galatasaray, which will be more difficult to beat.

At this point, Wenger is finally convinced that his last opponent is Russia's CSKA Moscow.

It’s hard to fly to Russia to play, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Under normal circumstances, the fourth-tier teams must be from Eastern Europe. This is almost inevitable. You can only endure the cold war in Russia. And based on historical experience,

Usually it's a snow fight.

After the draw ceremony, as usual, Wenger still accepted interviews with reporters. After all, Arsenal is the defending champion.

The first question Wenger was asked was the curse of defending the Champions League. After the Champions League was restructured in 1992, no team has been able to successfully defend the Champions League, not even teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid.

"I know how fierce the competition in the Champions League is now, so I know it is difficult to defend the Champions League, but I also think records are meant to be broken, maybe this season, at least that's what I think."

"But the team's strength has dropped a lot this year."

Wenger chuckled, "I don't think so. The replacement of old and new players will happen in any team. We are just younger. The veterans need to leave, and young people will rise, such as Robin van Persie, such as Theo Walcott, they all

It has grown up.”

"So I think we are fully capable of challenging the curse of defending the Champions League."