Chapter 131 Top 16 Matchup

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Unlike the German media, the Chinese media not only pay attention to the performance of the two Bundesliga teams Dortmund and Schalke 04 in the Champions League, they also pay attention to Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid performed well after entering the Champions League this season, and were on par with Bayern Munich in the competition. The two teams ended up with the same points, but due to the relationship between victory and defeat, they were not as good as Bayern Munich, ranking second.

But such results are already very good for the Chinese media.

Why do Chinese media pay attention to Atletico Madrid?

Because Atletico Madrid has Chinese players.

Sun Pan is a player loaned to Atletico Madrid by Chelsea. This season is his last season at Atletico Madrid. If nothing else happens, with his good performance, he will definitely be taken back by Chelsea after the loan expires.

Although he is a player who will leave Atletico Madrid in the future, Sun Pan works very hard in the game and goes all out in every game to help the team win.

In the Champions League group stage, Atletico Madrid has not lost again except for losing 1:2 to Bayern Munich in the first group stage away game. Twelve goals were scored in six group matches, only fewer goals than Bayern Munich, but only two goals were conceded, the fewest in the group.

They also conceded the second fewest goals among all thirty-two teams participating in the group stage, second only to Paris Saint-Germain, who conceded only one goal.

In addition to Atletico Madrid's overall excellent performance in conceding so few goals, Sun Pan's performance in front of the goal also took the greatest credit.

Entering the knockout rounds of the Champions League as second in the group, the three Chinese players will go further in the Champions League, which also gives Chinese fans thousands of miles away more expectations for next year's Champions League match day. For them, staying up late to watch football is not just to cheer for the club team they support. At the same time, they will also pay more attention to the Chinese figure. Even if the team he is on is not their favorite team, they will definitely stay In front of the TV.

In fact, there was another Chinese player who participated in the Champions League. He Ying was included in Barcelona's Champions League squad by Vilanova at the beginning of the season.

But unfortunately, after six group matches, He Ying failed to get a chance to play in the Champions League, so the Champions League actually has nothing to do with him.

Let alone the Champions League, he has never had a chance to play in the league. His only appearance in Barcelona came in the Copa del Rey, coming on as a substitute.

Five minutes, no performance, but these five minutes really didn't give him any chance to perform.

So much so that when He Ying played in the Copa del Rey, the response in China was not very strong, because these five minutes of soy sauce were really nothing to brag about...

Against the background of Sun Pan, Yang Muge and Sun Pan, He Ying looks like a failure.

Guo Nu didn't have the opportunity to play in the Champions League because he was in Siena, but he was also the main player in Siena. As long as he was not suspended for fouls, he would never miss.

There are rumors that Inter Milan regretted after seeing his performance in Siena and is considering negotiating with Siena to buy back the general ownership of Guo Nu from Siena.

If that is the case, then Guo Nu will have the opportunity to participate in the Champions League. No matter how good Siena is, its strength is limited. It is almost impossible to participate in the Champions League.

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After the Champions League group stage ended, UEFA conducted a draw for the top 16 matches. This drawing ceremony has attracted much attention. After all, this is the draw for the knockout round, which is more confrontational and more likely to lead to strong dialogue. For participating teams, a draw may determine their fate this season.

For example, if a team like Shakhtar Donetsk encounters Barcelona, ​​their path to the Champions League this season will definitely stop here.

There are also some rules for the draw of the top 16, such as the first place in the group meets the second place in the group, teams in the same group cannot meet, and teams in the same national league cannot meet.

Therefore, Dortmund will definitely not encounter Paris Saint-Germain first in Group A, Schalke 04 first in Group B, Malaga first in Group D, Juventus first in Group D, and Bayern Munich first in Group F in the top 16. , Barcelona ranked first in Group G, and Manchester United ranked first in Group H.

Moreover, these eight teams also include Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich in the same national league, plus the second-placed Real Madrid in the same group will not meet.

So there are actually only seven teams left that can meet Dortmund. But in fact, this time, there are several teams that are first in the group that are surprisingly not seeded teams, so even if Dortmund encounters the second place in the group, it may not be easy to pinch.

The second place in Group A is the Portuguese team Porto, the second place in Group B is the seeded team Arsenal, the second place in Group B is the seeded team A Milan, the second place in Group E is Shakhtar Donetsk - the defending champion Chelsea is upset and eliminated from the group. , with the same points as Shakhtar, but ranked third because of no advantage in the outcome, they were squeezed out of the top 16 and could only participate in the UEFA Cup knockout rounds - the second place in Group F was Atletico Madrid. The second place in Group G is Celtic, and the second place in Group H is Galatasaray.

Of the remaining seven teams that may meet, three are seeded teams, and the second lineup of this group is also very strong.

Before the draw ceremony, a reporter interviewed Zhou Yi and asked him if he hoped to avoid the seeded teams ranked second in the group. In this regard, Zhou Yi said that entering the Champions League knockout rounds, no team is easy to play. Therefore, it doesn't matter which opponent he encounters, it doesn't matter who he encounters.

But the reporter insisted that he predict the outcome, perhaps because the "wizard" was so famous before, and everyone wanted to see how accurate his prediction was this time.

Zhou Yi couldn't resist, so he had to say: "It's hard to say who I hope to be drawn with. There are too many teams, but if I want to say it, I don't want to be drawn with Atletico Madrid."

As soon as he said this, the reporters' eyes lit up: "Why?" they asked quickly.

"Because Sun Pan is at Atletico Madrid, I still hope that Chinese players can go further in the Champions League." Zhou Yi said seriously.

Yang Muge's Schalke 04 is first in the group and will definitely not be touched. He Ying's Barcelona will definitely not be able to run into him, and if they run into him, they may not be able to play.

Among the teams that Dortmund may encounter, only Atletico Madrid has Chinese players.

His reason is quite convincing, because Chinese reporters also do not want the teams of Chinese players to meet prematurely. If possible, they certainly hope that all three teams can reach the semi-finals. There are three teams with Chinese players, it is simply a "Chinese Civil War"!

With such beautiful blessings and expectations, everyone waited for the draw ceremony of the Champions League top 16.

Compared with the Champions League group stage draw ceremony, which has an awards ceremony, the draw for the top 16 is much simpler.

Soon, the results of the lottery were released one after another.

Dortmund was drawn together with Shakhtar Donetsk, perfectly avoiding Atletico Madrid. Chinese players did not have to kill each other when they had just entered the top 16.

Yang Muge's Schalke 04 was drawn against Galatasaray. This team is not very strong. Schalke 04 has the ability to compete with it. It performed better and entered the quarterfinals. Not out of reach.

As for Sun Pan's Atletico Madrid, they were grouped with Paris Saint-Germain.

He Ying's opponent in Barcelona is A Milan. This is a strong dialogue, but it may have nothing to do with He Ying...

The other quarter-final matches are Juventus vs. Celtic, Manchester United vs. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal, and Malaga vs. Porto.

In addition to not being very satisfied with Bayern Munich's draw results, the German media were also able to accept the draw results of Dortmund and Schalke 04. Dortmund, in particular, was called by the media as "the winner".

Shakhtar Donetsk should be regarded as the weakest team in the top 16. Everyone wants to "be friends" with them. In the end, Dortmund got their wish and was basically guaranteed to enter the quarterfinals.

Some media joked that Dortmund's biggest suspense now is who its opponent will be in the quarter-finals.

However, Klopp said with a straight face in an interview that there is no weak team in the top 16, and any opponent must be taken seriously and cannot be underestimated.

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After the Champions League draw, each team ushered in the league games.

In the sixteenth round of the league, Dortmund faced Wolfsburg at home. The two sides fought fiercely. In the end, Dortmund defeated Wolfsburg 3:2 at home.

However, because Bayern Munich defeated Augsburg 2:0 in the away game, they have won the half-time championship one round ahead of schedule with a four-point lead over Dortmund. This was a hot topic in German football coverage, and the Munich media even started celebrating.

In German football, the half-time championship is of great significance. Eighty percent of the league championships come from the half-time league champions.

Therefore, being able to win the half-time championship means that the hope of winning the league is very high.

That's why Munich attaches so much importance to this "champion" who has no trophy but two medals.

Yang Muge's Schalke 04 lost to Stuttgart 1:3 in the away game. They have made great progress in the Champions League this season and have a great impact on the league. Now that they have entered the knockout stage, Schalke 04 head coach Stevens may have to consider more in the second half of the season to ensure that Schalke 04 is still in the top four of the league at the end of the season and wins the league title. Qualification for next season’s Champions League.

There is still the last round of the league. After the game, the Bundesliga will enter the winter break. Players should take a vacation and rest.

However, those teams that have reached the quarter-finals of the German Cup will have a holiday later and have to play another German Cup.

Dortmund and Schalke are among them. (To be continued.)