Chapter 191 Champions League Giants

One day after Dortmund defeated Schalke 04 2-0 at home, Leverkusen challenged Nuremberg away.

In this game, Leverkusen unexpectedly lost to their opponent. As a result, they missed an excellent opportunity to catch up with Dortmund. Now the point gap between the two teams has widened to six points.

This is good news for Dortmund, because the Champions League knockout rounds are coming soon, and Dortmund needs a lead in the league so that they can temporarily focus on the Champions League.

At the same time, after losing to Dortmund, Schalke 04 announced the dismissal of Magath.

Club president Tonis explained to reporters: "From the club's point of view, there are good reasons for this breakup, but we will not make it public. I think this is a good result for Schalke."

Although he said he would not disclose the reason, all fools know that it must be because of the poor record, especially the Ruhr derby loss to Dortmund again, which became the last straw for Magath.

Magath originally came to Schalke 04 after winning the league title with Wolfsburg. At that time, he had the highest annual salary in the Bundesliga of 5.4 million euros, but it did not reach the heights expected by people. .

However, although the Schalke 04 club announced Magath's dismissal, it did not announce who his successor would be.

There is current media speculation that Rangnick, who resigned from Hoffenheim this season, may become Magath's successor at Schalke 04.

Zhou Yi really got it right, and within a week, Magath resigned.

So is this a good thing for Yang Muge?

Then no one can know...

※※※

In the 22nd round of the league, the last league game before the start of the Champions League quarter-finals, Dortmund challenged Kaiserslautern away from home.

It's obvious that the whole team has been affected by preparations for the Champions League quarter-finals. Not only did Klopp rotate, but the players on the pitch also seemed a little distracted.

As a result, they were tied 1:1 by Kaiserslautern away from home.

Zhou Yi didn't play at all in this game.

And what about Leverkusen? Defeated Frankfurt 3:0 away from home.

They caught up with Dortmund again. Only four points separate them from Dortmund.

However, Dortmund had no choice but to do this, because the opponents they had to face in the quarter-finals were not easy to deal with. It’s Milan, the giant club in the Champions League!

Klopp certainly wouldn't want his team to be eliminated just after they made it to the knockout stages. So he values ​​this game very much, so much that he is willing to sacrifice the league.

Having said that, isn't establishing such a big lead in the league just to create some room for maneuver for the team in the Champions League?

It is Klopp's idea to exchange the points advantage in the league for results in the Champions League. This will ensure both league results and Champions League results. It won't be like Schalke 04, who reached the knockout rounds in the Champions League but ranked outside the top ten in the league. As a result, the head coach was fired...

In fact, Milan's performance in the group stage of the Champions League this season was not good. In six group stage games, they won two, drew and lost two. They only scored seven goals and accumulated eight points, ranking second in the group. Just one point ahead of Ajax, third in the group.

But Klopp still dare not take it lightly.

Because the group stage and the knockout round are two completely different worlds, doing well in the group stage does not mean that the team will do well in the knockout stage, and doing poorly in the group stage does not mean that it will be bad in the knockout stage. It is always right to be cautious, especially for a team like Dortmund that has not participated in the Champions League knockout rounds for many years...

Speaking of which, how many years has Dortmund not participated in the Champions League knockout rounds?

I'm afraid even Klopp doesn't know this very well, because it's been too long ago...

Actually. Since Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997, they only reached the Champions League knockout rounds in the subsequent 1997-1998 season, when they reached the Champions League semi-finals. However, they were eliminated by Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

Real Madrid, who eliminated them, finally defeated Juventus and won the Champions League.

Since then, Dortmund has never been able to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

In the 2002-2003 season, Dortmund made it through the first round of the group stage, but at that time the Champions League had two rounds of group stages. They ranked third in the second round of the group stage and failed to enter the real knockout stage.

So until now, Dote has not played in the Champions League knockout rounds for 13 years.

They have absolutely no experience playing in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

Klopp cannot afford to be cautious.

What's more, in the first round of the quarter-finals, as the first in the group. Dortmund is going to challenge Milan away from home.

Whether it is the atmosphere or the turf of the San Siro Stadium, I am afraid it will not be too friendly to Dortmund...

※※※

Because of preparation for this game. Dortmund came to Milan two days in advance.

As a result, he was able to meet Guo Nu.

Among the four friends, he had only met Yang Muge in Europe. Guo Nu was the second person he met.

At first, when Guo Nu took the initiative to invite Zhou Yi out for a get-together in the group, Zhou Yi refused to go: "No! I'm afraid you'll hit me, but I can't beat you!"

"Fuck, why should I hit you?"

"Because I beat Inter Milan!"

"...Damn it, you don't want to be a villain!" Guo Nu was speechless.

All joking aside, Zhou Yi finally came out to have dinner with Guo Nu.

Compared with when we met on the reality show before, Guo Nu was much more lively and cheerful, but compared with the group, he talked much less.

Zhou Yi understands this very well, because chatting in the group is done by typing, so there is no stammering...

The changes in Guo Nu also made Zhou Yi very curious. He stared at the top of Guo Nu's head for a long time and said: "Old Guo, you should stop using your head to kick the ball. Look, the hair on your head is getting less and less... "

"Damn!" Guo said angrily, "I, I... am a central defender, no, how can I get along without heading the ball?"

Zhou Yi smiled.

In addition to losing hair, Guo Nu's height has increased slightly. But it's still not high. At least Zhou Yi can now look at Guo Nu on an equal footing. He is actually stronger, under clothes that are not tight. The contours of the muscles are vaguely visible.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but go up and squeeze it with his hands: "It's so hard!"

"You, you are a man...can you...don't say this, this word to me!" Guo Nu shuddered, and goosebumps appeared on the arm that Zhou Yi pinched.

"Lao Guo, your thoughts are so dirty!"

"Bah, bah!"

Although Guo Nu is not tall. Only 1.78 meters. But this does not prevent him from being the main central defender in Inter Milan's youth team.

His excellent physical fitness makes up for his lack of height. At the same time, his fierce defensive style coupled with the defensive awareness and skills he learned in Italy have made him the "Great Wall of China" for the Inter Milan youth team.

"This, this is the nickname given to me by the local media in Milan. How, how about it?"

"The Great Wall, which is less than 1.8 meters high, seems unable to stop the Huns from invading south, right?" Zhou Yi said with a frown.

"Go, go, go!" Guo Nu knew that Zhou Yi was hacking him again.

But he soon grinned: "I'm not stuttering!"

He no longer cares much about his stuttering. This should have been a physical flaw of his, but he has been able to deal with it indifferently.

It's because of this person in front of me.

In this world, Zhou Yi is probably the only one who hacks him so unscrupulously. He still felt happy.

Because Zhou Yi really helped him a lot. Without Zhou Yi, how could he be a 1.78-meter "Short Great Wall" in Inter Milan?

"Lao Guo, I actually like chatting with you offline." Zhou Yi said.

"Why?"

"As soon as you speak, you can ask the author to add some words." Zhou Yi said seriously.

"Trick me again!" Guo Nu pointed at Zhou Yi and smiled.

Zhou Yi also laughed, Lao Guo's mentality was much better than before.

After hacking Lao Guo, they talked about business.

"...Milan is currently ranked first, but I don't think they are a big deal. They are worth noting because there are two people. One is Ibrahimovic. The other is Thiago Silva, just one in front of the other. Finally, a central axis... Just pay attention to these two people. Milan has nothing to worry about..."

Guo Nu began to provide information to Zhou Yi. These words were technically processed. If the scene was truly reproduced, the author would probably be scolded for making up the word count...

Zhou Yi listened carefully to Guo Nu's stammering information, but did not interrupt him or show any impatience.

Although Zhou Yi may know the situation in A Milan better than Guo Nu. After all, he has a virtual space to simulate the game in advance, but this is Guo Nu's wish and he cannot refuse.

After listening to Guo Nu's information. Zhou Yicai said: "Lao Guo, you are working so hard to provide information, don't you want Inter Milan to benefit?"

Guo Nu glanced at Zhou Yi: "My heart is not as dirty as yours!"

Although Inter Milan was beaten a bit badly by Dortmund in the group stage this season. But in the end, they still made it out of the group and finished second in the group. They were drawn against Bayern Munich in the knockout round.

"Okay. Do you need me to provide you with information about Bayern Munich?" Zhou Yi asked.

"It's useless if you offer it to me. I'm not in the first team, so I can't play in the Champions League!" Guo Nu said regretfully.

"Ah, okay, then I wish Inter Milan good luck." Zhou Yi said.

Then the two stopped talking about business and started chatting about casual things. From reminiscing about the past when they were on the reality show, to how everyone is doing in their respective teams now.

Express your youthful feelings and lament your fate.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Zhou Yi and Guo Nu finished the meal. He said goodbye to Lao Guo and returned to the hotel.

Although the game is only the day after tomorrow, Klopp requires every player to return to the hotel to rest before 10 o'clock in the evening.

"Will you go to watch the game?" Zhou Yi asked Guo Nu while waiting for the bus outside the restaurant.

"No, no, no tickets. But I will watch the game live in front of the TV." Guo Nu shook his head.

"Okay, let's chat in the group later." The taxi called by Zhou Yi arrived, and he waved goodbye to Guo Nu.

"Let's talk later." Guo Nu waved his hand and watched Zhou Yi get into the car.

Looking at the direction of the car leaving, he was a little lost.

We all met on a reality show, each with his own origins and his own way to go.

Now Zhou Yi is doing the best. But Guo Nu was not jealous of him because that was what he deserved.

Among the original five people, he was the core of this small group, so he became the core of Dortmund so quickly. Guo Nu felt it was normal.

In the future, when everyone goes to the national team, he will still be the core... (To be continued.) Launch a new website