Chapter 365: Upside-Down Champions League and UEFA Cup

? In the second lineup, Notts County still played Schalke o4 without temper at home. This time, the media are very glad that they did not sit on their buttocks before the game, otherwise they will definitely have a sore cheek again!

At the end of the game, the Schalke o4 players felt hot on their faces, even if they wanted to exchange jerseys with the Notts County players, and the Schalke o4 coach, who was still talking nonsense before the game, even shook hands with Loew. I forgot about this etiquette, and ran back to the visiting team's locker room.

Naturally, after the game, the reporters began to enjoy the humiliation again. Every opponent who despised Notts County before the game but was slapped in the face in the end would receive another crit injury.

However, for Notts County, a big victory is not a big victory, and it really doesn’t matter whether it is abusive or not. As long as it wins, it’s fine. After dragging out the game, except for the four injured players, other players are not in good physical condition. The team members can also be adjusted well, and the lineup is still quite combative, and it will not make Loew scratch his head.

After knocking out Schalke o4, the defending UEFA Cup champion Notts County broke into the top 32 of the UEFA Cup, plus the 8 clubs that fell into the UEFA Cup from the third place in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup this season. The top 32 teams are also officially released.

The five major league teams that stood out in the second round of the UEFA Cup are Bordeaux and Auxerre in Ligue 1, Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle in England, Barcelona, ​​Valencia and Villarreal in La Liga, and Roma and Villarreal in Bundesliga. Perugia and Dortmund in the Bundesliga are all mid- to upper-middle teams in the five major leagues.

Coupled with the wealthy teams in second-tier leagues such as Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Feyenoord, it can be said that the UEFA Cup this season is very orthodox, and almost no strong teams are eliminated, so the next game will inevitably be unpopular, It is very likely that the field minister is the match of Mars hitting the earth.

In fact, a game with a strong team or even a giant is not necessarily a wonderful game. One side is the giant and the other is the underdog. It is very likely to kill with enthusiasm. Although there may be a lot of goals, the intensity is far less than that. Two teams of similar strength compete.

Not only is the UEFA Cup itself not unpopular, allowing most of the strong teams to be retained, but the shocking virtual results of the UEFA Champions League have turned this season’s UEFA Cup into a cup match that is not inferior to the UEFA Champions League.

This is the first season of the UEFA Champions League restructuring and two rounds of virtual matches, and in the only round of virtual matches, each club can be said to have their own magic, creating the most watery Champions League knockout rounds.

In Group A, although Bayern, who has always been stable, failed to beat Lyon, the Ligue 1 hegemon, the two clubs joined hands to advance to the Champions League knockout rounds and kicked the Soho Celtic into the UEFA Cup.

In Group B, Arsenal and Inter Milan were the favorites to qualify. I am afraid everyone would not think that Lokomotiv Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv would have a good chance of qualifying, but the final result was to let the Nerazzurri. The fans cried to tears...

Arsenal's results are as stable as ever.

It was very safe to get a place to appear and advance to the top 16 of the Champions League, but Inter Milan fell off the chain. In the confrontation with Lokomotiv Moscow, they had one draw and one loss in two rounds. Going to play the UEFA Cup.

In Group C, Monaco, Eindhoven and Deportivo Deportivo are almost the same in strength. Anyone can appear, and the final result is exactly the same. Monaco has 11 points to qualify for the first place, and Deportivo has 10. In the end, with the advantage of the number of goals in the direct confrontation between the two, Laco was lucky to advance to the top 16 of the Champions League, while the Eredivisie giants Eindhoven could only play the UEFA Cup alone. .

In Group D, the giant Juventus, under the attack of the dark horse Real Sociedad and Galatasaray, actually lost the chain in the virtual match and was eliminated directly from the virtual match, and had to move to the UEFA Cup.

In Group E, Stuttgart, a German youth guard who had played against Notts County last season, also ranked third after six virtual matches. They were eliminated from the Champions League and entered the UEFA Cup sequence.

In Group F, Real Madrid firmly occupied one spot. Although Mourinho's Porto lost the two cores of the middle and punished the backcourt, they still stumbled out of the virtual match, and the former Champions League winner Marseille, only Can be relegated to the UEFA Cup.

In Group G, Chelsea led by Ranieri advanced strongly, the dark horse Sparta Prague also successfully advanced as a virtual second, while the Serie A giants Lazio tragically dropped into the UEFA Cup.

The last one is the most competitive. Before the final round, every club has the hope of advancing, even the first one. In the end, after the two-point battle, Ajax and Celta teamed up with AC Milan into the UEFA Cup, which is a classic.

As a result, more than half of the Champions League round of 16 are not strong teams in the traditional sense, which makes UEFA feel a little embarrassed.

In contrast, the UEFA Cup top 32 lineup is much more star-studded. Even if there is a slight lack of strength at the top, the average quality is even better than the Champions League, which is a miracle.

Bookmakers are very busy. In the latest UEFA Cup winning odds, Serie A giants Juventus ranked first with a strong lineup and a huge name, while AC Milan and Inter Milan, two rivals in the same city, were weak. The advantage is tied for second place.

No way, who made the three Serie A giants all the famous Euro 6 giants, but there is a higher level of the Champions League not to play, and they have to drop their status to play in the UEFA Cup, who can compete with them!

But the funny thing is that all the top three northern Serie A teams have been relegated to the UEFA Cup. As a result, it is rare that there is no one team in the top 16 of the UEFA Champions League, while in the top 32 of the UEFA Cup, there are actually six teams in Serie A... ...

The three Serie A giants are followed by the defending UEFA Cup champions Notts County. Notts County's odds are even higher than the English giants Liverpool, which fully demonstrates everyone's expectations for the defending champions.

No wonder everyone thinks Notts County is more likely to win the championship. They are the leaders of the English standings. Even the exaggeratedly stable arsenal Arsenal can only chase Notts County's ass, even the top four in the league. Where can Liverpool who don't go are qualified to shake the status of Notts County!

Well, David admits that he didn't expect Notts County's road to defending the UEFA Cup would be so difficult, but thinking about the exaggerated Champions League semi-finals this season in his previous life, then nothing is impossible. (To be continued.)