Chapter 74 The arrival of the super death group, Guardiola’s on-the-spot essay (two-in-one)

On August 27th, the eyes of European football are all focused on the city of Monaco.

Located at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, a draw related to the situation of this season's UEFA Champions League slowly began under the spotlight.

As Guardiola is preparing for the fourth round of the Premier League two days later, he has no time to attend to it.

Therefore, Manchester City sent CEO Ferran Soriano to attend the lottery ceremony.

Although he did not have time to watch it live, Guardiola still took the entire Manchester City team to watch the live broadcast of the draw ceremony.

Everyone was in a nervous mood, silently wishing Manchester City a good draw.

Zhao Jinge kept praying, never to meet Wolfsburg, never to meet Wolfsburg, even playing against Barcelona is not impossible!

Guardiola's script against Barcelona is much better than Zhao Jinge's bloody drama.

"Zhao, you seem to be very nervous."

While watching the live broadcast of the draw, Guardiola smiled and patted Zhao Jinge on the shoulder.

"Relax, Zhao. With our current strength, no matter who we draw, it should be our opponents who have a headache."

Zhao Jinge did not answer immediately. This was the first time in his career that he had been exposed to the Champions League draw ceremony. It was related to this season's Champions League journey. It would be a lie to say that he was not worried at all.

But to talk about nervousness is a bit out of the question. Just like Guardiola said, Zhao Jinge also believes that Manchester City's strength is not afraid of any challenge. What he is worried about is just not wanting to face his old club.

"I can't say I'm nervous, I just don't want to face Wolfsburg."

Guardiola immediately became interested when he heard Zhao Jinge's answer:

"So that's what I'm worried about. Don't worry, the one-eighth chance is that it won't be such a coincidence! Besides, Zhao, is there any team you particularly want to meet?"

"Which team do you want to meet? There is no such team. I just hope to draw a weaker No. 1 seed, not Wolfsburg."

While we were talking, the lottery ceremony soon began.

Before this draw, UEFA first reviewed the feat of defending champion Barcelona in winning the Champions League five times in its history.

The four draw guests are leaders from the previous four Champions League winning teams, namely legendary goalkeeper Zubizarreta, Brazilian full-back Belletti, former Barcelona team spirit Puyol and the player who overcame the disease and won the championship at Wembley.

Abidal holding the Big Ear Cup.

Since this season's Champions League final will be held at the San Siro Stadium (Meazza Stadium) in Italy, Champions League final ambassadors Zanetti and Maldini also appeared at the ceremony as draw guests.

Among the first teams drawn first, Barcelona was the first to be drawn by Zubizarreta and entered Group E. Subsequently, the other seven seed teams were also divided into various groups.

Due to the avoidance principle of the same league, apart from Group G where Chelsea is located, Manchester City, as a second-tier team, may be drawn into any other group.

The most eye-catching part of the lottery is undoubtedly the second-tier teams drawn later. The grouping of these teams will directly determine which giants will usher in a strong dialogue.

At this time, the Manchester City players watching the live broadcast were nervous and motionless, with all their attention focused on the big screen in front of them.

The first one to be drawn was Atletico Madrid, and Simeone's team was placed in Group C.

For them, it is undoubtedly a good draw to avoid many wealthy teams and meet Portuguese Super League champion Benfica.

The next one to be drawn was Manchester City's rival in the same city, the Premier League giant Manchester United. They were lucky to enter Group B and met PSV Eindhoven, which was recognized as weak. New aid Depay will face a duel with his old club.<

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The third team to be drawn out is the "European black club" Porto. They are placed in Group G to face Chelsea. Chelsea coach Mourinho will also reunite with his old club.

Subsequently, Real Madrid, the heaviest team in the second tier, was drawn out, and the Galacticos entered Group A and faced Paris Saint-Germain. New aid Di Maria of Paris Saint-Germain will also face a "battle to rectify his name" with his old club.<

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Seeing the draws of these three groups, Zhao Jinge's heart was already in his throat.

The crazy UEFA really understands traffic!

If we continue at this pace, one of Guardiola and I may have to face our old club.

Immediately afterwards, the fifth team Valencia was drawn out, and they were placed in Group H with the weaker Zenit St. Petersburg.

Then the sixth team "Gunner" Arsenal was drawn out. This time they will encounter Wolfsburg. For Wenger, this is obviously a good draw.

Wenger breathed a sigh of relief at the scene and really wanted to thank Wolfsburg! If they hadn't won the Bundesliga championship, I feel like they might not have been drawn to Bayern Munich this time!

The professor knows very well the urinal nature of those people at UEFA.

In the conference room, Zhao Jinge, who was watching the live broadcast, excitedly made a cheering gesture.

Guardiola, who was sitting next to Zhao Jinge, looked at Zhao Jinge's excitement, smiled bitterly and shook his head. It seemed that he might really have to face his old club this time.

At this time, all the weaker No. 1 seeds have been assigned, and the only ones left are the defending champion Barcelona in Group E and the Serie A class leader Juventus in Group D. No matter which one they are, they are tough nuts to crack.

The same is true for the remaining two second-tier teams, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and Premier League upstart Manchester City.

The last two teams, Bundesliga class leader Bayern Munich were drawn out first, and they will enter Group D to face Serie A class leader Juventus.

In the end, with Guardiola's helpless smile, Manchester City inevitably entered Group E, where Barcelona is.

Defending champion, alas! It seems that if you want to get first place in the group stage this time, you really have to do your best.

When the Manchester City players in the conference room saw Barcelona, ​​many old Manchester City players immediately smiled bitterly. This is the Cosmos team that is in full swing!

Moreover, Manchester City has been defeated by Barcelona in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for two consecutive years.

Facing Barcelona, ​​those veteran players felt that they were a head short because of their natural psychology.

Sterling covered his mouth and shrank in the corner, his eyes full of self-doubt. Am I really a crow's mouth?!

A few days ago, I just said a few words of joy, how come we really met a strong team, and it was the defending champion Barcelona!

It’s over, it’s over, it won’t really be a death group in the future!

Speaking of which, it is somewhat metaphysical. Manchester City has indeed been extremely unlucky in the Champions League group stage draws in recent years, which can be compared with Arsenal's knockout games.

Since being placed in the "Group of Death" with Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Napoli in the 2011-12 season, Manchester City has been placed in the recognized "Group of Death" for four consecutive seasons.

In the 2012-13 season, they were placed in a group with Real Madrid, Ajax and Dortmund, and were eliminated at the bottom of the group.

In the 2013-14 season, they were placed in a group with Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Plzeň. After qualifying from the group, they met Barcelona and stopped in the top 16.

Last season they were placed in a group with Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Roma. However, after struggling to qualify from the group, they ran into Barcelona again!

Needless to say, the result was another tragedy and a fateful fate.

Arsenal's three years in the knockout rounds were Barcelona and five years Bayern. Manchester City's luck was the same, either against Bayern or against Barcelona.

The only one they didn't meet was the 12-13 season, with Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in the group, two of the top teams that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League that season.

It can be said that he is always unlucky. As a result, he met Barcelona again in the group stage this year. If there is another stronger team in the third or fourth tier, it will be a dead group again.

Guardiola knows very well how powerful Barcelona is, but as the head coach of Manchester City, he must stand up and cheer for his disciples.

"Quiet and listen to me!"

When the Manchester City players heard Guardiola's words, they turned their heads and looked over.

"If you want to win the Champions League, you must have the courage to defeat any opponent, whether it is a third- or fourth-tier team or the defending champion!"

"The club spent so much money to buy you, not so that you can be afraid of strong enemies here, but because it wants you to have enough strength to defeat all opponents! Now continue to watch the draw!"

Looking at the Manchester City players who gradually became quiet after listening to what he said.

Guardiola sighed softly. From the eyes of the players, especially those experienced old players, he did not read the positive spirit.

It seems that meeting Barcelona in the group stage may be a good thing. At least it will give me a chance to polish the spirit of this Manchester City team.

Otherwise, with the current state of these old players, they will definitely suffer a big loss once they meet those top teams in the knockout rounds.

The draw ceremony continued, and Puyol decided the fate of the third-tier team.

In the increasingly uneasy mood of Manchester City players, Bundesliga powerhouse Bayer Leverkusen was drawn into their Group E.

When Puyol saw that he had personally sent Leverkusen into Group E, the smile on his face immediately sank.

Finally, "Liver Fighter" Abidal was responsible for the draw of the fourth team.

As expected, Roma, the strongest "Red Wolf" team in the fourth tier, was also sent to Group E.

Sure enough, Manchester City was sent to the "Group of Death" for the fifth consecutive year.

Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano, who was present at the scene, laughed out loud, but the smile was full of bitterness no matter how you looked at it.

After laughing at himself, Ferran Soriano sat there very calmly.

But no one knows whether he has already sprayed UEFA completely in his heart.

The lottery ceremony ended, and Group E gathered:

Defending champion Barcelona, ​​Manchester City ranked second in the Premier League last season, Bayer Leverkusen ranked fourth in the Bundesliga last season, and Roma ranked second in Serie A last season.

Good guys, they are all the top teams in the five major leagues, and they are all ruthless characters. UEFA, you are planning to raise your eyebrows in Group E, right?

At this time, the meeting room in Manchester City had become silent. Sterling shivered in the corner, and the old players on the team showed bitter expressions and remained silent.

The confidence I felt before the draw has now turned into uneasiness.

Looking at the lottery results on the screen, I'm afraid there are quite a few problems in qualifying.

Zhao Jinge, who was full of confidence just now, is now frowning. The situation in the Champions League is really looking bad. Every game is really a tough battle!
To be continued...