novelkee Chapter 534 Champions League Group Stage Draw
Chapter 534 Champions League Group Stage Draw
Chapter 534 Champions League Group Stage Draw
Monaco, the air here seems to exude a sense of luxury, which is recognized as the most luxurious city in the world.The annual draw ceremony for the UEFA Champions League group stage is about to be held in this city.
A week before the draw ceremony, the hotel in Monaco was packed with journalists from all over the world. Surprisingly, these media colleagues included not only sports reporters, but also entertainment reporters, editors of fashion magazines and so on.
This also shows the super charm of football as the world's largest sport.
The day before the draw ceremony, representatives of the top 32 of this season's Champions League came to Monaco and stayed at the hotel provided by the organizer.
For Bayern, Sammer and Rummenigge led the team, accompanied by Ram and Lewandowski.
For Dortmund, Zorc and Klopp led, accompanied by Hummels and Reus.
In the hotel lobby, the head coaches of the two teams met on a narrow road, but they ignored each other, not even the most basic nod.
In the evening, the organizer held a reception and invited the top 32 coaches to participate. This is a must, although Klopp doesn't really want to go.
Far away, Summer saw an old acquaintance - Manchester City coach "Guardiola", and not far away was Tottenham coach "Pochettino", and not far to the left of Pochettino was his fellow Argentine - Simeone.
This banquet hall gathers the best head coaches in the world today, and you can talk about three days and three nights if you take any one out.
But there is an obvious trend, that is, the current good coaches are transformed from good players, such as Real Madrid coach "Zidane" and Fiorentina coach "Paolo Sosa".
It can be said that there are very few people who suddenly become famous head coaches like Klopp and Mourinho.
What factors lead to this?I think it may be that after the story of Mourinho's "stealing" football skills spread, it would be difficult for the translators and assistant coaches to learn the real skills. Only the players of the team can really listen to the coach's precious thoughts, which means that the possibility of spreading the essence of football is greatly reduced.
But one thing is certain, that is, it is an indisputable fact that the top coaches have been replaced, and it is obvious that the old coaches are slowly withdrawing from football.
Maybe 10 years later, we can see Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, and even Messi start as a coach.
Germans are not very gregarious, and Sammer started drinking champagne and eating after the host finished speaking.
In a blink of an eye, Klopp was surrounded by people, holding champagne in his hand, and was boasting. Tomorrow's draw ceremony, he will be the protagonist. As the defending champion, he will be the first to appear and participate in the return of the Champions League trophy. This also means that the new season of the Champions League has officially started.
"Why don't you go," someone said behind Summer's back.
Surprised, Summer almost spilled the champagne in the glass.
"Oh, sorry," Wenger said.
"nothing",
Somer suggested a toast.
The two coaches clinked glasses.
"Then why don't you go there?" Sammer asked back.
The professor smiled, and that smile seemed unnatural, "Does anyone in European football still care about Arsenal?"
"See what you're saying," Summer thought.
But if you think about it carefully, Arsenal was the best team in Europe, the champion of the Premier League, and the most powerful contender for the Champions League, but now? ?It's almost the same as Shakhtar Donetsk. Although they participate in the Champions League every year, they also accompany the prince to study every year.
"Arsenal are great", Summer said.
Wenger smiled, showing the elegance of the French, "Thank you".
"You haven't answered me yet"?
Wenger thought to himself, "Bayern was the runner-up last season anyway, you should be one of the protagonists tonight."
"There is nothing to say, last season was a failure",
"fail"?Wenger thought to himself, "If this is considered a failure, then should the others still live?"
"The runner-up is great",
Summer has heard too many words like this, and it seems to be a pity for you, "Don't be discouraged, it's just a little bit worse."
But that kind of sympathy was the last thing Summer needed.
I remember that after the 2010 World Cup, when the Dutch team returned home, some Dutch fans said: "What is the difference between the runner-up and the last place? No one remembers anyway."
Now Summer is more or less the same mentality.
"Sorry, I'll take my leave first,"
Wenger nodded, "Then let's go together."
After getting on the elevator, they arrived at the luxurious top floor where the coach arranged to live. Summer and Wenger were about to go back to their own rooms.
"Good night",
"Good night, hopefully we won't be in the same group tomorrow," Wenger said.
Summer smiled, "I hope so."
*****
The draw ceremony officially started on the second day. All the previous preparations were for this moment. First, after the host made some impatient speeches, the big screen began to review last season's UEFA Champions League.
From the beginning of the group stage, wonderful moments were solidified on the screen. The theme this time is "postcards". It is about a little girl sending a postcard to her father at the Antarctic scientific research station, telling him the warm story of the UEFA Champions League match.
So every wonderful moment will finally be frozen on a postcard, until the final, the final at San Siro.
When the last scene of Dortmund holding the cup appeared, Sammer seemed to have been punched in the heart, and it felt uncomfortable.
After the content on the big screen was played, it was time for Dortmund representatives to hand over the Champions League trophy. Hummels and Klopp held up one "ear" and handed the Champions League trophy to the UEFA Secretary-General.
Theoretically speaking, this moment is the real end of last season's Champions League, and the official start of this season's Champions League.
Then the most exciting part began-the drawing of lots.
The on-site media are most concerned about a few things to watch, which group the first Premier League myth-maker "Leicester City" will be assigned to.
What group the second defending champion Dortmund will be assigned to, other concerns are different. For example, German reporters may be more concerned about the grouping situation of Bayern Munich, while Italian reporters may be more concerned about Juventus' draw.
Before the official lottery draw, the Secretary-General has to take the trouble to introduce the rules of the lottery. Some people believe this anyway, and some conspiracy theorists suspect that it is all false, and it is all set by default. So, let’s treat it as a dispensable link.
*****
Both Bayern and Dortmund are seeded teams, so they only need to care about which group they will be assigned to in the first round.
The final result came out, Dortmund is in Group A, while Bayern is in Group E.
Then the second tier of teams is drawn, which is also the most critical part of determining the death group, because the second tier of teams is relatively strong.
The final result was that Bayern drew Manchester City, while Dortmund drew "Benfica" in the Portuguese Super League. As soon as the result came out, the two were happy. The camera sharply captured the expressions of the two. Guardiola over there smiled wryly, and Summer was similar here.
Is this fate, or a pre-determined wonderful plot?
It can only be guessed by everyone. In short, Guardiola must face his old club twice.
But this is also a good thing for Bayern, which means that Bayern will definitely not draw the big dark horse "Leicester City" in the fourth tier, because there is already a Premier League team in this group.
The draw for the teams in the third tier began. Bayern drew "Fiorentina" in Serie A, while Dortmund drew "Shakhtar Donetsk".
In this round, the teams drawn by the two teams are almost the same, so-so, Serie A has fallen, and Shakhtar Donetsk has almost been dug out in recent years.
The final, and most exciting, kicked off as the Premier League champions were in pot four.
The rules of the UEFA Champions League are as follows. According to the historical points of the European war, although Leicester City is the Premier League champion, he is a complete rookie in the European war, although it is certain that he will be in the fourth tier.
But here comes the problem. The strength of this fourth-tier team is similar to that of the first-tier team, so the teams in front want to avoid the "Leicester City" team. Now it seems that it is safe to draw Manchester City's E group, Tottenham's C group, and Arsenal's F group.
The on-site camera seemed to understand this kind of thinking. He specially gave "Vardy" a close-up during the last draw. Everyone at the scene laughed, and Ranieri also laughed. He knew that he was the protagonist of the last draw.
The suspense was soon revealed, and it was revealed when the first draw was drawn, and Leicester City was assigned to Group A.
So far, all 4 teams in Group A have been produced:
Dortmund,
Shakhtar Donetsk,
Leicester City,
Benfica,
It is no exaggeration to call this group the death group. They are the Bundesliga champions, the Ukrainian Super League champions, the Premier League champions, and the Portuguese Super League champions. A veritable champion group composed of four champions.
Soon other groups were assigned one after another. Bayern's last opponent was Borisov, a team from Belarus. Sammer was very happy. This is a pretty good group.
Bayern Munich,
Manchester City,
Florence,
Borisov.
Only Fiorentina and Manchester City can challenge Bayern. Summer believes that the only suspense in this group is who is the first in the group. As for who can qualify, there should be no suspense.
After the draw ceremony, two people were surrounded by reporters and became the focus. One was of course Klopp, and the other was Ranieri of Leicester City.
Ranieri was asked the most about whether Leicester City will become the "Kaiserslautern" of the Champions League, that is, they won the Champions League for the first time.
Ranieri was happy, he felt too unreliable, although he was happy, he didn't answer anything.
And Klopp was asked the most, "Will Dortmund become the first team to defend the championship for two consecutive years since the restructuring of the Champions League."
To this, Klopp only replied: "This will not be known until May next year."
(End of this chapter)