Volume 1: Heroes Come and Go, People Pay Attention Chapter 20 Champions League Grouping (Guaranteed First Update, Please Vote for Me!)

Chapter 20 Champions League grouping (first update guaranteed, please vote for me!)

Qualifying for the Champions League is a very exciting thing. Media elsewhere in Italy are worried about Naples' prospects in the Champions League this season, but the local media in Naples appear to be ecstatic.

They all praised this as a great breakthrough, a new chapter in Naples football, and a great day.

This is especially true for the fans. When they defeated Sporting Lisbon at home to qualify for the main draw, many fans even brought up a portrait of Maradona to thank him for blessing the team...

Of course, Chen Yingxiong himself was dismissive of this. Maradona is not dead yet...

Not much to say about the carnival of Naples fans. For the Naples players, they don't have that luxury and can enjoy the joy of entering the Champions League.

Because just before the next day's training, head coach Mazzarri had warned everyone not to be happy about such a small result.

"...This is really nothing to be happy about. On the contrary, you should frown. Because we have now entered a more difficult stage than you have experienced before. The Champions League, guys! This is not something The Italian domestic league can be compared. It will be very difficult for us to qualify from the group stage here, let alone the top 16 and quarter-finals. And entering the Champions League main draw means that we will have to compete in the next new season. Two fronts in the center - at least it will be like this before the winter break. As for whether it will be like this after the winter break, it depends on your performance. Fighting on two fronts at the same time is a big problem for us. It’s a rare experience, but I’m not sure you’re ready for it.”

In last season's UEFA Cup, Naples players who were previously happy to participate in the Champions League were finally poured cold water on their heads.

They were eliminated in the group stage.

This disappointed many Naples fans.

Therefore, it is normal for many people to worry that Naples will repeat the same mistakes this season. The head coach himself is worried...

This is completely a rip-off. He originally didn't want to directly challenge for the Champions League this season, if it weren't for...the team's momentum was too strong in the final stage of last season...

He was worried that the players would not be able to cope with two-front operations. It was so miserable to deal with a UEFA Cup, but what will happen when faced with a higher level and more intense Champions League?

To be honest, as a head coach, he really had no idea.

Napoli have not participated in the Champions League for nineteen years. The last time they participated, the Champions League was called the European Champions League...

"So, in order to make you fully prepared, every day of training will let you experience... life is worse than death!"

The players let out a burst of exclamation. They knew that the good times were over...

※ ※ ※

For Sanchez, Sarayeta, Zuniga, Contini, and Pazienza, they can indeed feel the feeling of "life is worse than death"...

While the team is in full swing preparing for the second round of the new league season and the Champions League group stage, they can only hang out in the gym and physiotherapy room. Because they are injured...

They are on the team's injured list. This list initially included only Sanchez, but later other names were added, and Sanchez also had new partners.

These people are basically injured in training. Mazzarri's training is very intense, and some people get injured if they can't persist.

But Mazzarri did not stop his training program. He knows that high-intensity training at the beginning of the season is necessary, because only in this way can the players have sufficient physical reserves. If the pre-season training is too relaxed, everyone will begin to suffer from insufficient physical fitness before and after the winter break. If they don't join the team, their performance will decline, and many people will greatly increase the chance of injury.

This is experience.

Every head coach must understand the importance of pre-season training.

He took over the team midway last season, and the team's pre-season training plan was not made by him. This season he led the team for pre-season preparations for the first time, so he naturally had to implement his own ideas.

The purpose of high-intensity training is so that the team can fight on two fronts without losing their strength due to rapid exhaustion of physical fitness.

It would be too sad to be eliminated in the Champions League group stage and fall into the relegation zone in the domestic league...

※ ※ ※

While Naples was actively preparing for the match, the results of the Champions League group stage draw also came out.

Because Naples is participating in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in nineteen years, and their performance in the UEFA Cup last season was very poor, they have very low points in the European War and are classified as a fourth-tier team.

This means that Naples will most likely be assigned to the group of death...then they won't even be able to make it out of the group stage. The best result is to finish third in the group and go to the UEFA Cup knockout round.

But the final result is good or bad for Naples.

They were drawn into a group with Liverpool, Lyon, and Zenit St. Petersburg...

This is not a death group in the absolute sense, but the strength of the four teams is about the same, so it is normal for whoever wins and who loses. Because of this, people feel that the qualifying situation of this group is a bit confusing.

There is another episode in this lottery...

When Napoli's name was put on the big screen and appeared below Zenit St. Petersburg, the TV broadcast gave Zenit St. Petersburg general manager Sasaniya a close-up shot. The director responsible for broadcasting the draw ceremony obviously knows European football very well, and at the very least, he is extremely concerned about Zenit St. Petersburg.

This was the first time Chen Yingxiong and Arshavin met their old club after leaving Zenit. Unexpectedly, it was in the Champions League group stage.

Last season, relying on the victory foundation laid by Chen Yingxiong's crazy goals in the first eleven rounds, Zenit St. Petersburg still retained the league championship although its performance in the second half of the season was not as eye-catching as the first half of the season. They won it for two consecutive seasons. to the league championship and once again qualified for the Champions League.

Although Zenit St. Petersburg's performance in the UEFA Champions League last season was not satisfactory, they only finished third in the group and ended up playing in the UEFA Cup. But it also has something to do with the departure of two absolute main core players in one go.

With last season's Champions League points, last season's UEFA Cup championship and last season's UEFA Cup record, Zenit St. Petersburg ranks as the third-tier team in the Champions League this season.

In this way, the two teams were divided into a group...

Chen Yingxiong and Arshavin will have the opportunity to return to Petrovsky Stadium, where fans still welcome them.

It's just that Zenit St. Petersburg has changed everything.

The team's meritorious head coach Advocaat was fired by the club on August 14 this year. He had conflicts with the club for a long time. Initially, he was dissatisfied with the club's senior management because of the departure of Chen Yingxiong and Arshavin. The club's senior management did not try every means to keep these two core players, which led to the disastrous defeat in the Champions League. Moreover, the club's top brass blamed him for the Champions League defeat...

At that time, the relationship between the club and Advocaat was already very bad. If Advocaat had not led the team to withstand the pursuit of Kazan Rubin and finally retained the league championship, I am afraid that he would have dismissed get out of class at that time. .

As time entered 2009, Zenit St. Petersburg's performance in the domestic league was unsatisfactory. At the same time, in the summer, the team's captain and midfielder Tymoschuk was also sold by the club to Bayern Munich, which ignited the situation. The conflict between Advocaat and the club erupted. In addition, Advocaat announced in advance his intention to coach the Belgian national team after his contract expires in January next year. It aroused dissatisfaction among the club's top management. The club believes that Advocaat's move has led to the team's lack of morale and is the main reason for the team's current poor ranking in the league. As a head coach, he lacks the necessary work ethic.

In this way, Advocata was fired with half a year left on his contract...

Therefore, Chen Yingxiong will not have the opportunity to compete with his mentor. Now Zenit's former Zenit youth team coach Anatoly Davydov (anatoly_davydov) will temporarily serve as the caretaker head coach.

Caretaker head coach Chen Yingxiong still knows about this. Although he didn't stay in the Zenit youth team for a long time, he naturally knows the people he meets every day.

Davydov used to be Popovich's assistant. Later, after Popovich's contract expired last season and he left Zenit, Davydov was promoted to the head coach of the youth team.

When Advocaat came to Zenit, he brought his own coaching team. Now that he has been dismissed, there is no reason why his assistants can continue to stay at Zenit, so even assistant coach Porter They left together.

The assistant coach and head coach are gone, so naturally the head coach can only be promoted from the youth team to be the interim head coach.

The two parties signed a temporary contract valid for half a year. During this half of the season, Davydov will serve as the team's head coach.

Zenit began to actively search for a new head coach to replace Davydov.

Judging from Zenit's current situation, although they are the third-tier team in this group, from this point of view, they should probably be ranked in the fourth tier.

If Naples wants to qualify, they must score six points against this team. In this way, it is naturally impossible for Chen Yingxiong and Arshavin to show mercy when facing their old club.

As for Liverpool and Lyon, they are not easy opponents to deal with...

The results of the group stage draw are out. After 19 years, Naples' Champions League journey will officially begin on September 16th.

Their first opponent in the group stage is Lyon. On September 16, they are going to challenge the former Ligue 1 hegemon away from home.

※ ※ ※

***, there are less than two days until the end of November, please hold *** in your hands!