Chapter 199 Top 8 Opponents

With Bayern Munich eliminated by Inter Milan, all the quarterfinals of the Champions League were born.

Because of Bayern Munich's elimination, the representatives of the Bundesliga this season have become Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. Both of their teams have also entered the quarterfinals.

In addition to the two Bundesliga teams, there are also two La Liga teams that have reached the quarterfinals, namely Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The other four teams include two in the Premier League, Chelsea and Manchester United, Inter Milan in Serie A, and Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine.

These eight teams will be drawn and matched to compete against each other.

After reaching the quarterfinals, the so-called rule that teams from the same country cannot meet becomes invalid.

So there is a possibility of civil war.

And there is no such thing as the first place in the group versus the second place in the group. It is very likely that there will be a strong dialogue.

Among these eight teams, Shakhtar Donetsk is the weakest and the one that all other seven teams want to meet.

Anyone who meets them will be guaranteed to be admitted to the semi-finals.

Dortmund fans can't help but yearn to be together with Shakhtar Donetsk.

The draw took place at UEFA's headquarters in Bern over the weekend.

Regrettably for Dortmund fans, Shakhtar Donetsk is not grouped with Dortmund. The Ukrainian team’s opponent is Barcelona...

As soon as this result came out, conspiracy theories began to spread again. Many people believed that UEFA was going to send Barcelona away.

Because of the match between Barcelona and Chelsea in the Champions League the year before last, some people have always believed that UEFA was biased in favor of Barcelona. Because UEFA President Platini expressed his appreciation for Barcelona more than once, some people jokingly called Platini Barcelona's "godfather."

This year's draw result seems to once again confirm UEFA's care for Barcelona...

But for Dortmund, they don't care whether UEFA is Barcelona's godfather, because they won't run into Barcelona now anyway.

Their opponent in the quarterfinals is another La Liga team...Real Madrid.

A very powerful and difficult opponent to deal with.

In fact, if we talk about the historical results in the past few years. Real Madrid should not be a stumbling block for Dortmund, because in the past six years, Real Madrid have all been eliminated in the first knockout round of the Champions League, so they are also called the "Sixteenth Son of the Champions League" by Chinese fans, which is a mockery of Real Madrid's performance every year. Investing so much money to dig out stars, they are known as the Galactic Battleship. But they can't even reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League and can only make the top 16 every year.

Real Madrid's dark history seems to have started after losing to Juventus in the quarter-finals of the 2004-2005 season. At that time, they had Zidane, Figo, Raul, Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Casili Real Madrid, which has seven of Asia's top stars, lost 0:2 to Juventus in the away game and was eliminated with a score of 1:2. Figo also missed a crucial penalty kick.

Since then, Real Madrid has met Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Roma, Liverpool and Lyon in the Champions League quarter-finals for five consecutive years, all of which were eliminated.

Analyze this data. Real Madrid has also been without Champions League quarter-final experience for six years.

But football games are not such simple data analysis. It does not mean that the combined ability value of my eleven players on the field is greater than your ability value, so I can definitely win.

Real Madrid this season already feels completely different from before because they have changed to a very powerful head coach this season.

Jose Mourinho, the legendary coach who led Porto and Inter Milan to win the Champions League respectively.

After leading Inter Milan to the Triple Crown, he was recruited by Real Madrid to the Bernabeu. His arrival brought fighting spirit to the noble team of Real Madrid. The most obvious change is that Real Madrid got rid of the shameful nickname of "The Sixteenth Man of the Champions League". They eliminated their previous host Lyon in the quarter-finals. Breaking into the quarterfinals and becoming Dortmund's opponent.

Real Madrid and Dortmund were drawn together, which must be a very complicated mood for one person.

This person is Real Madrid's young midfielder Nouri Shaheen.

At the beginning of this season, when he switched from Dortmund to Real Madrid, he certainly did not expect to see his old club again so soon...

And he met his old club under such circumstances - after he came to Real Madrid, he did not play any games in Real Madrid. Mourinho did not trust him, especially he was dissatisfied with his defensive attitude in the game.

So Shaheen is either a backup now. Or he can't even be a substitute.

This scene must have been something he never expected when he decided to leave Dortmund.

He was thinking that Real Madrid was pursuing what he was pursuing so passionately. With his performance in Dortmund, it would be no problem to go to Real Madrid and play as the main player.

result……

Looking back at Dortmund after he left, and Zhou Yi, his midfield rival and partner in Dortmund.

His departure prompted Klopp to make up his mind to completely determine Zhou Yi as the core and only core of Dortmund.

Without Shaheen, Zhou Yi is getting better and better in Dortmund. This season, Dortmund can rank first in the league and lead its opponents by as many as ten points. This is inseparable from Zhou Yi. In the Champions League, the importance of Zhouyi is even less important. If it weren't for Zhouyi, Dortmund would never be as easy and simple as it is to qualify from the group, let alone reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Zhou Yi is thriving in Dortmund, and the more he gets better, the better.

Shaheen himself is almost rotting on the bench of Real Madrid. He has not played even a minute of the game for almost three months... His last appearance was in a game on December 20 last year. Copa del Rey match.

In these two Champions League quarter-finals, there is a high probability that there will be no chance of playing. I’m still not sure whether I can make the squad...

No one knows whether Shaheen regrets his decision to leave Dortmund and join Real Madrid, because Shaheen has never mentioned it in any public forum.

But he must have had an unhappy time at Real Madrid...

It was as if he had been forgotten.

※※※

But in fact, not everyone will forget him.

After the draw results came out, Klopp talked about Shaheen: "I know Nouri's situation there. It's not particularly good. I'm not criticizing anyone, but I hope he can get more opportunities. He has the strength. , but he needs games to show his strength. If he can return to Westchester United with Real Madrid, I think every Dortmund fan will be very happy, and of course I will be too."

However, the reasons why some people do not have Shaheen in the past are not the same.

For example, some Chinese media reporters went to ask Zhou Yi. Shaheen originally chose to move to Real Madrid, which seemed very prosperous, but now he is not doing well. He asked Zhou Yi what he thought of this.

This is a kind of gloating mentality, because Shaheen and Zhou Yi were considered competitors to some extent at the beginning.

Many people will feel happy when they see their competitors doing poorly.

But Zhou Yi didn't see it that way.

"Everyone has his own choice. There is nothing surprising about this. Besides, when Nouri transferred to Real Madrid, how could he have thought that he would definitely be a substitute?" Zhou Yi spread his hands and shook his head. "I don't think this question makes sense, next one."

He just solved the problem.

Although the reporters were reluctant and wanted to continue asking, seeing that Zhou Yi didn't want to answer the question, they couldn't ask anymore, because although Zhou Yi usually had a good relationship with reporters, after being in contact with him for a long time, he would I found this young man to be a very principled person. If there are things he doesn't want to do, don't force him to go. If you force him to do it, he will turn against you in a minute...

However, in private, Zhou Yi still used Shaheen and Sun Pan as examples in the group, suggesting that everyone should not be superstitious about wealthy clubs. If you find it difficult to play in the first team, then leave, whether on loan or transfer. . at this time. Playing games steadily and continuously is the most important thing.

In fact, He Yingting said this.

As the most talented person among the five, He Ying's future was the most promising. But after he accepted La Masia's invitation, he can't even play stably in the second team, let alone Barcelona's first team.

I won’t talk about the Book of Changes.

Now Sun Pan has firmly established himself as the main goalkeeper in the first team of Offenbach Kickers. Although it is a German third-division team, it is still playing in the first team, and the key is to be the main force. With his outstanding performance in this team Performance, he has attracted the attention of some teams. Even if he still can't get a labor certificate when he returns to Chelsea, he won't have to worry about where to go.

Yang Muge is already the main player in Schalke 04's U19 team, starting every game. In the Bundesliga, although there are reserve teams, the reserve teams of Bundesliga teams are very embarrassing. It is not the reserve teams that really provide talents for the first team, but the U19 of the youth team. If you can play the main role in the U19 and perform well, there is a high chance that you will be transferred to the first team for training. If you can still perform well during the first team training, you may be played in some less important first team games. If you also perform well in these games, you can stay in the first team...

Zhou Yi basically followed this path from the Dortmund youth training camp to the first team, and Yang Muge is also following the same path he took.

Guo Nu's situation is also good. Zhou Yi talked about his situation when he met him in Milan last time. He is now also the main force in Inter Milan's U19.

And what about He Ying?

La Masia U19 is the main force, but considering Barcelona's terrifying first-team lineup and some lessons learned from the past, Zhou Yi is actually not optimistic about He Ying's future in Barcelona...

In terms of his performance in La Masia, He Ying is not as good as the popular fried chicken Bojan and Dos Santos.

With their achievements in the youth team, it is difficult for them to play in the first team, let alone He Ying.

He Ying is a forward, and the competition for the forward position is not fierce, but there is no competition at all.

The main forward combination of Barcelona's first team is very fixed, that is, Villa is in the center, Pedro is on the left, and Messi is on the right.

This lineup is Barcelona's top offensive combination. Even if the other young forwards play in the first team, they are only substitutes and cannot pose any threat to this lineup at all.

He Ying is even more difficult.

If he wants to keep waiting for opportunities in Barcelona, ​​he is afraid that he will achieve nothing by the time he is twenty-five...

Zhou Yi does not want He Ying to become the second Shaheen. (To be continued.)