Chapter 1,237 Knockout Draw

Being selected as the final three candidates for the Golden Globe Award is no surprise to Gao Xiaodong.

Gao Xiaodong's Golden Globe Award last year caused a lot of controversy.

The controversy was mainly because last year was the year of the World Cup. Under normal circumstances, the Golden Ball award is awarded to one of the World Cup champions. Gao Xiaodong had not played a single game for the national team at that time, but he won the Golden Ball. It is normal to be questioned. .

This year is not a major competition year, but Gao Xiaodong has won the League Cup and Champions League triple crown. This time he is very likely to defend the Ballon d'Or.

Of course, Messi and Ronaldo are not without any chance.

Although Messi only has one La Liga championship, Messi's playing style is very enjoyable to watch. He has many extraordinary performances in every game and his passing is also very imaginative. His playing style is often criticized by football reporters and He is praised by celebrities and is called the representative of artistic football. It is not impossible for him to win the favor of the judges. At that time, Ronaldo, an alien, won the World Footballer when all four major players failed.

Ronaldo's playing style is the same as Gao Xiaodong's, both simple and crude, and he only won one King's Cup championship. However, he scored 40 goals in the league last season, more than Gao Xiaodong and Messi. Plus Real Madrid With such influence, Ronaldo may also win the award.

Although the voting for the Ballon d'Or has ended at this time and the overall situation of this year's Ballon d'Or has been decided, Gao Xiaodong does not dare to slack off. Messi's scoring momentum is very strong this season. The schedule is not even halfway through, and Messi has already scored 24 goals. If he doesn't perform well, it may be difficult to win the Ballon d'Or next year.

In the last round of the Champions League against Basel, although Manchester United had already secured the victory and Ferguson was preparing to train the young people, Gao Xiaodong was still allowed to come on and score a goal.

Basel still has hope of promotion. They went all out at their home court, but Manchester United's main players were reserved and the young people were inexperienced. In the end, they lost to Basel 1:2 away from home.

However, Manchester United also achieved their goal. Gao Xiaodong scored a goal and the team still qualified first in the group.

In another game, Benfica defeated Galati Steel 1:0 and also qualified from Group C in second place.

Back in the Premier League, in the 15th round, Manchester United faced Wolves.

After consecutive downturns, Manchester United finally bottomed out and swept away the decline. They defeated Wolves 4:1. Gao Xiaodong scored two shots and passed, which was the absolute contributor to the victory.

But this is a basic operation for Gao Xiaodong. The biggest surprise of this game was Pogba who came on as a substitute. The young Pogba not only completed the defensive task, he also used a long shot to score his first goal in the Premier League. ’s first goal.

After the 15th round of the Premier League, the much-anticipated UEFA Champions League knockout draw kicked off at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

UEFA Secretary General Infantino made an opening speech as the host, and then UEFA played the highlights of the 16 qualifying teams in the Champions League group stage this season, including Bayern, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Apoel , Barcelona is the top of the 8 groups, while Napoli, CSKA Moscow, Benfica, Lyon, Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit and AC Milan advanced as the second place.

Paul Breitner, a member of the West German championship team in 1974, came to the scene as a draw guest. UEFA Competition Director Marchetti introduced the draw rules for this Champions League 1/8 finals, and then the draw began.

The first one to be drawn out was Lyon. They were very lucky and met the Cypriot team Abol. The subsequent process was uneventful. Naples met Chelsea, Barcelona faced Leverkusen, Real Madrid faced CSKA, and AC Milan met Arsenal. It was an expected strong dialogue; Benfica met Bayern but was unlucky. Zenit, the team drawn by Manchester United, has average strength, but the ice and snow in Russia is a huge test for Manchester United. Marseille, second in the last group, will face Inter Milan.

Zenit won the UEFA Cup in the 2007/08 season and defeated Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup that year, becoming the only club in Russian history to win the UEFA Super Cup. , Zenit has eliminated the five major league giants such as Marseille, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern, which is impressive. However, with the departure of Arshavin and other main players, Zenit's current competitiveness is far less than its peak state in the 2007/08 season. Zenit was able to qualify from the group stage this season mainly because their opponents in the group stage were too weak.

There is no doubt that Manchester United is far stronger than Zenit, but this does not mean that Manchester United will definitely be able to break into the quarterfinals. For the Red Devils, a visit to St. Petersburg will be the key to whether they can advance. The cold winter in Russia makes it difficult for many wealthy teams to adapt. In the 2007/08 season, the powerful Bayern suffered a 0-4 defeat in the harsh winter of St. Petersburg. Therefore, the challenge faced by Manchester United in the away game is definitely not small.

Zenit head coach Italian Spalletti said, "Manchester United is a great team. They have superstars like Gao Xiaodong and Rooney. The result of the first leg at our home court is very important and will affect the second game. competition and hopefully the weather in Russia in February will be favorable to us."

The weather in Russia in February next year will be cold and rainy, and Russian teams generally use artificial turf in their home stadiums.

Due to the intensive schedule, Ferguson did not go to Switzerland to attend the draw ceremony, but Sir Alex Ferguson was very happy with Manchester United's draw result: "We will not think about other irrelevant things and will only focus on the upcoming game. We are here today." The draw result is quite lucky. But in the football world you can never predict the outcome. We are facing a dangerous opponent. The fact that they can beat Porto to advance from the group stage has proved their strength. Porto's strength is Better than Benfica."

Ferguson also mentioned the weather, saying: I have to say the weather is a factor that may affect the game, and their venue will be unfamiliar to us. But I think we have rich experience and can overcome these difficulties.

It’s still early for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but the Premier League is still in full swing.

In the 16th round, Manchester United played against Queens Park Rangers. In this game, Pogba once again got a chance to play. Although he only played for 15 minutes this time, he still seized the opportunity created by Gao Xiaodong and scored with one kick. , helped Manchester United seal the victory 2:0.

Pogba scored two consecutive goals, and outside media began to call for Pogba to start.

But Ferguson did not push the envelope. In the game against Fulham, Pogba still appeared on the bench.

Manchester United is getting better and better now, and they secured the victory 3:0 in the first half.

In the second half, Ferguson allowed substitute players to come on. Pogba showed excellent condition and good luck after coming on. In the second half, he scored a goal and created an own goal to help Manchester United beat Fulham 5-0.

Pogba's amazing performance made Ferguson dare not put him on the bench. In the 18th round of Manchester United's match against Wigan Athletic, Ferguson put Pogba in the starting lineup.

After getting the chance to start, Pogba was a little nervous and eager to perform, but made several mistakes.

However, Gao Xiaodong had already been prepared. He helped Pogba wipe his butt and scored a goal with a long shot in the 8th minute, stabilizing the situation.

Subsequently, Pogba performed better and better. His defense in the midfielder position allowed Gao Xiaodong to attack with confidence. In the end, Manchester United defeated Wigan Athletic 5-0.

The victory of this game established Pogba's status in Ferguson's heart. Pogba went from a dispensable potential newcomer to an important substitute for Manchester United in one fell swoop.

PS: I recommend a coaching article "Football Winner". Brothers who like it can read it.