Chapter 998 Don't Lose to Messi!

"real Madrid!"

On TV, when UEFA Secretary-General Infantino took the ball from Paul Breitner, the ambassador of the UEFA Champions League final, broke it open, took out the note, turned it over to show it to the camera, and shouted the name loudly. You can feel the scene. There was a commotion, and even a cry of exclamation.

In front of the TV, in the rest area of ​​the Valdebebas training base, Real Madrid players also exclaimed in surprise.

Draw to Real Madrid!

This is the fourth draw in the knockout round of the Champions League quarter-finals, and it is also the most anticipated one, because the team in the third draw is called APOEL, which is the weakest team in the quarter-finals.

Real Madrid is known as the strongest team so far in this UEFA Champions League. Galacticos has defended the UEFA Champions League for two consecutive years. As a result, this year they reached the quarter-finals with such momentum.

What is even more surprising is that the first and second draws ahead are AC Milan and Barcelona respectively. That is to say, AC Milan and Barcelona will meet again in the quarter-finals, and the winners of these two teams will meet the winners of Real Madrid and APOEL in the semi-finals.

The reason why everyone exclaimed is that Real Madrid and Barcelona were the two most promising Western Super League teams with the ability to win the championship before the game, but now they are actually assigned to the same half of the semi-finals, which means that the possibility of them meeting in the final is gone.

The draw in the second half became boring. Marseille met Bayern Munich, and Benfica met Chelsea.

...

Greek athletics, this is not a dark horse, but a god horse.

Why do you say that?

Because this team comes from a semi-professional league, Cyprus.

Yes, APOEL does not come from Greece, but from Cyprus, and it is also a semi-professional team, but what is interesting is that such a team, in addition to playing football, players also work part-time as fishermen, carpenters and cooks to support themselves.

Good luck with the draw?

It’s true, but you must know that Zenit St. Petersburg, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk encountered in the group stage.

According to outside media conspiracy theories, UEFA President Michel Platini favored small and medium-sized league teams in the draw in order to implement his own policy of equal exposure.

But the problem is that in this unremarkable group, which many fans may not even care about, the seed team Porto fell, and the Ukrainian iron army of Shakhtar Donetsk collapsed. In the end, the semi-professional team from Cyprus turned out to be the first in the group. Even the former Europa League champion Zenit St. Petersburg could only come in second.

accidental? Or luck? Or is it just the referee's care?

Soon, APOEL gave the answer in the knockout round of the sixteenth round.

The opponent is still not strong, but it is definitely not weak, Ligue 1 Lyon.

In the first round, Lyon won 1-0 at home. In the second round, APOEL fought back 1-0. Then the two sides scored a penalty shootout from overtime. In the end, APOEL won the game.

There is no doubt that in Cyprus, APOEL is a veritable giant, but in European football, it is an out-and-out team, but it is such a team that has overturned Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St. Petersburg and Lyon.

Long before the draw for the quarter-finals, the other seven teams were also looking forward to it. They all wanted to draw this big team. Some media even believed that APOEL was the honey that the other seven teams were eager to eat.

But now, this candy has fallen to Real Madrid's mouth.

...

When the APOEL was drawn, there was joy in the rest area of ​​Valdebebas.

Everyone knows that APOEL's Champions League trip this season has come to an end.

Facing Real Madrid with such stars as Yang Yang, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robben, Di Maria and Kaka, the Cyprus team cannot perform miracles again anyway.

"Don't be careless. APOEL performed very well this season. In the first five rounds of the Champions League, they scored nine points with two wins and three draws. They qualified for the group stage ahead of schedule. They gave up the game in the last round and lost to Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2."

"But even so, they only conceded four goals in the first five rounds, and they only conceded one goal when they met Lyon in the knockout round of the top 16. This team's defensive ability is very strong, and it is no accident that they can get to where they are today."

Captain Iker Casillas patiently reminded his teammates not to slack off because the drawn opponent is weaker.

If APOEL can overthrow teams such as Porto and Lyon, it will be able to overthrow Real Madrid.

Yang Yang also agrees with Iker Casillas' caution, but he believes that Real Madrid only needs to perform at their normal level, and advancing to the semi-finals is not a problem, so he is more cautious and optimistic about this.

Ramos patted Yang Yang on the shoulder vigorously, and said with a smile: "That's right, as long as we play normally, we can enter the semi-finals against Barcelona, ​​but before playing Barcelona, ​​I think you should score more goals first, don't lose to Messi!"

Ramos' words seemed to express the aspirations of many Real Madrid players, and Real Madrid players including Iker Casillas also nodded in unison, agreeing with Ramos' statement.

Yang Yang said that Real Madrid wants all three champions, and they can't lose any of them. This expresses the aspirations of Real Madrid players.

But for the players of Real Madrid, not only should they kill Barcelona on the court, but their own stars should also kill Barcelona's stars. That would be a real victory.

Sometimes, this is the breath of football!

It was this breath that allowed APOEL to break into the quarter-finals, allowing Greece to miraculously win the European Cup.

"Brother, look at how the media close to Barcelona have been bragging recently? If they continue to brag like this, if Messi is really going to win the Champions League golden boot, then they don't know what the hype will look like next."

Ramos hugged Yang Yang's shoulders, instigated by fearing that the world would not be chaotic.

"Think about it, Messi staged five goals, we will give him five goals. Playing APOEL is the best opportunity, a god-given opportunity, and he can recover the number of goals behind in one go, and then kill Barcelona in the semi-finals. I want to see what kind of expressions those media who are close to Barcelona will have at that time."

After finishing speaking, Ramos himself laughed out loud.

He has always been the easiest and most courageous militant in the Real Madrid team.

"I support Sergio's statement!" Marcelo was the first to stand up and support.

"I certainly fully support it." Harvey Alonso also responded.

"I think Barcelona should not be left with any chance, any hope." Pepe is also very aggressive.

Before 2009, Real Madrid was really suppressed too badly by Barcelona.

Even captain Iker Casillas said with a smile, "If you can beat your opponent as much as possible in the first round, that would be a good thing."

Everyone spoke one after another, and then they all turned their attention to Ibrahimovic and others.

Ibrahimovic knows very well in his heart that this is the privilege of the number one star in the team.

It's as if Barcelona always pushes Messi to compare with Yang Yang, and Real Madrid always pushes Yang Yang to compare with the star players of other teams. In this comparison, Ibrahimovic can only be Yang Yang's assistant.

He doesn't have the strength and influence to replace Yang Yang, let alone the locker room status.

At the very least, captains Iker Casillas and Ramos both support Yang Yang, but few people support him sincerely.

"I definitely support you to fight!" Ibrahimovic said with a smile.

"Me too." Kaka immediately expressed his opinion.

"I don't need to say it." Robben also responded.

"And me." Di Maria also raised her hand.

And the whole thing was settled at once.

Yang Yang will definitely not refuse this, because he also wants to compete with Messi.

It's not that Yang Yang has never played the fifth son's success, but it was in La Liga.

As far as he knows, Messi has always been eager to stage five goals, but unfortunately he missed the opportunity. Until recently, he finally played one in the Champions League match against Leverkusen.

Even Yang Yang himself failed to do this, but Messi did.

It is impossible to say that Yang Yang does not want to reciprocate, but he also knows that it is difficult, and even rare.

Will APOEL be Yang Yang's chance?

He doesn't know, but his teammates support him, and there's no reason why he shouldn't give it a try.

So, Yang Yang stood up without hesitation.

"Okay, then I will prepare well these few days and adjust my state. When I play APOEL, I will try my best to score more goals. You have to help me, no matter whether it is achieved or not, Juan's House Barbecue Restaurant after the game!"

Real Madrid players laughed when they heard the name of this restaurant.

They are all too familiar with this restaurant. The most important thing is that the players have different tastes, but Juan's House Barbecue Restaurant can satisfy all of their taste buds. They even went to the away game with Real Madrid, which shows that Real Madrid players love this restaurant.

…………

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Perhaps Ancelotti knew the locker room agreement, or Ancelotti simply wanted to play well in the Champions League, so in the twenty-ninth round of La Liga in midweek, Yang Yang only played for 60 minutes and scored a goal with an assist from David Silva.

But veteran Marcos Senna pulled one back for Villarreal in the 83rd minute.

In the end, Real Madrid drew with Villarreal 1-1 away.

In this round of Barcelona's 5-3 home victory, Messi scored a hat-trick and chased his own goals to 38 goals, only one step away from Yang Yang's 40 goals.

But three days later, in the twentieth round of La Liga, Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 5-1 at home. Yang Yang made two shots and a pass. At the same time, Barcelona beat Real Mallorca 2-0 away and Messi scored a goal.

So far, Yang Yang once again leads Messi's 39 goals with 42 goals.