Chapter 125 Champions League Grouping

After the game against Stuttgart, the team returned to Dortmund. Afterwards, all international footballers with national team missions left the team one after another, and Zhou Yi was no exception. He boarded a flight back to China and rushed back to participate in two warm-up matches against Iran and Paraguay.

Also leaving Dortmund are the club's head coach Klopp and general manager Zorc, who are going to participate in the Champions League group draw ceremony.

This has special significance for the Dortmund team.

The last time they appeared in the Champions League was in the 2003-2004 season, but it was a qualifying match. They finished third in the Bundesliga in the 2002-2003 season and qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers next season. But Dortmund made their debut in the third qualifying round, and they tied Bruges 3:3 in the home and away two-round match. Both teams had the same number of away goals, one.

The two sides can only shoot out on penalties. In the end, in the penalty shootout, Dortmund lost 2:4 and was eliminated, and did not even participate in the Champions League.

The last time Dortmund participated in the UEFA Champions League was the 2002-2003 season. Because they won the Bundesliga championship last season, they can directly enter the main game without playing the qualifying round.

The UEFA Champions League format that season was different from what everyone is familiar with now. There were two group stages. The thirty-two teams entering the main match are divided into eight groups, and the top two teams in each group qualify to determine the top sixteen.

The top 16 teams do not directly conduct a two-round knockout match, but are divided into four groups for the second round of the group match.

The top two from each group advance to the final knockout stage.

Dortmund were drawn into a group with Arsenal, Auxerre and PSV Eindhoven in the first round of the group stage. In the group stage, Dortmund won six games, three wins, one draw and two losses, and finally won the second place in the group, qualifying from the group together with Arsenal.

In the second round of the group stage, Dortmund and AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Lokomotiv Moscow were divided into Group C. This group can be regarded as the group of death. At that time, Real Madrid was the defending champion of the Champions League, while AC Milan was the champion of the UEFA Champions League this season.

Dortmund is only better than Lokomotiv Moscow in this group, with six wins, three wins, one draw and two losses, ranking third. was eliminated.

This is the result of Dortmund's last participation in the Champions League.

Since then. Due to the deteriorating financial situation, Dortmund's strength has also plummeted, and its ranking in the German domestic league has declined year by year. No longer eligible for the Champions League.

After seven seasons,

Dortmund are back in the Champions League.

What powerful enemies will be waiting for them?

Everything will be revealed during the Champions League draw.

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After Zhou Yi arrived in the country. The Champions League draw is also underway in Monaco.

The UEFA Champions League group draw must first determine the teams of the four grades, and divide the thirty-two teams according to their European war points. Divided into different grades.

The eight teams with the most points are the seeded teams, also the first tier teams.

Dortmund has not participated in the Champions League for seven full years, and the Europa League has only participated in the 2008-2009 season. Also knocked out by Udinese in the first round.

So there are very few points in the European War, almost none.

They were assigned to the fourth tier team as a matter of course.

Thus. They are very likely to be assigned to a group with strong enemies like clouds.

In fact, Dortmund's luck this time is indeed bad...

As the fourth-tier team, they were assigned to Group A. The seed team in Group A is the defending champion Inter Milan, and the second-tier team is the Spanish powerhouse Valencia. The third team is last season's Eredivisie champion Twente.

Although the degree of death is not as good as Group G with AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax and Auxerre, it is still very difficult for Dortmund to qualify for the group.

Barcelona were grouped with Copenhagen, Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan. Basically, it is equivalent to being recommended to the top sixteen. This grouping seems to have given many people something to talk about "Barcelona has a godfather in UEFA".

As soon as the lottery result came out, the German media took the lead in reporting it.

This season, three Bundesliga teams participated in the main match, namely last season's champion Bayern Munich, runner-up Borussia Dortmund and third place Schalke 04.

These three teams represent the face of German football, and they also shoulder the most important mission-their performance in the Champions League will affect the number of places that Bundesliga teams will participate in the Champions League every season.

As last season's Champions League runner-up, Bayern Munich also drew a good lottery. They are in Group E with Roma, Basel and Cluj. No surprises in this group, basically Bayern Munich and Rome qualify together, and Bayern Munich must be the first in the group.

Schalke 04's performance in the league these years is still relatively stable, runner-up in the Bundesliga in 2004-2005, fourth in the league in 2005-2006, runner-up in the league in the 2006-2007 season, third in the league in the 2007-2008 season. They can participate in the European war almost every year, and they have more experience in this area than Dortmund.

In this season's Champions League, they are in Group B with seeded teams Lyon, Benfica and Tottenham Hotspur. Media analysis believes that the teams that qualify for this group should be Lyon and Schalke 04. Benfica's strength is not good, and Tottenham Hotspur has returned to the Champions League after decades. With zero experience, it is impossible to cause any disturbances.

Dortmund's situation is not very good. They haven't participated in the UEFA Champions League for many years, and they are still grouped with the defending champions. There is also a strong enemy like Valencia in the same group. It is not easy to grab a qualifying spot. Even It takes a little luck.

Bundesliga media analysis believes that Dortmund's entire team should correct their mentality. Returning to the Champions League after seven seasons should focus on accumulating experience. Klopp's team is still young, and young people should learn as much experience as possible in the Champions League this season. Their focus should still be on the domestic league, and they must ensure that they can still participate in the Champions League next season.

After this team matures, it is possible to achieve better results in the Champions League, and it is worth expecting more from them.

The honor of the Bundesliga this year still depends on Bayern Munich to maintain.

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In addition to the German media, the Chinese media and fans are also very concerned about the UEFA Champions League draw. Of course, this is a consistent concern, because the UEFA Champions League is a very popular event in China, no less than the World Cup.

Every season, the UEFA Champions League group draw will be reported by major domestic media, and fans will pay attention.

But this season because of Zhou Yi, everyone's focus is different.

In the past, everyone would pay more attention to the grouping of those wealthy teams. For example, will Real Madrid be divided with their enemy Lyon this time, and will Barcelona be taken care of by their godfather again...

Now, everyone is most concerned about the results of Dortmund's group draw.

After the results came out, the Chinese media and fans had the same reaction as the German media. They felt that the result of this grouping was not very favorable for Dortmund. It was definitely not a "top lottery".

Some Chinese media went to the national team's training ground to interview Zhou Yi. What they asked was not about the national team, but about the UEFA Champions League grouping.

"...I didn't watch the live broadcast. It was too late. I was jet-lagged and didn't watch it. But I know the result." Zhou Yi said calmly, facing a large group of reporters on the sidelines of the training ground. "What do you want me to say?" he asked.

"Do you think this is a bad result? Or it's not as good as you imagined..." the reporter asked.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "No, I haven't thought about who we will be with." He couldn't help laughing at this point, "A fourth-tier team, what qualifications do they have to pick and choose? "

When he said this, the reporters were also amused.

Because what Zhou Yi said was indeed quite right. Teams in the fourth tier are often the last to be drawn, and the teams in the first three tiers are basically stronger than them, so it is equally difficult to draw anyone.

"And I think, regardless of the strength of the opponent, we have to take it seriously, so it doesn't matter who the opponent is. If you think that the opponent is weak and the game is easy to play, you might lose badly. After all, this is the Champions League. "Zhou Yi, who has been in Europe for two years, can already be calm and composed when facing reporters, just like the confidence he has shown.

"So what are your personal expectations for the team in the Champions League?"

"First of all, of course the group qualifying." Zhou Yi replied.

"How sure are you?" The person who asked such a question must be a novice reporter, or the question was blurted out without thinking.

Faced with such a stupid question, Zhou Yi laughed: "You don't believe me when I say 100%?"

Everyone also laughed, and the slightly awkward atmosphere was resolved in this way.

Then Zhou Yi became serious and said: "Go all out, I can't decide what to do next. Let's do my own thing well first. Well, that's it."

It didn't have that kind of adverbial tone of pride, it was very flat, as if he was talking about a very ordinary thing.

However, these Chinese reporters who have gradually become familiar with Zhouyi can feel the strength of this young man from the plain tone.

Dortmund waited seven seasons for the Champions League, but what about Zhou Yi? This is the first Champions League in his life! (To be continued.) Enable new URL