On the second lineup, Notts County still beat Schalke 04 at home without temper, this time, the media are glad that they didn't sit crooked before the game, otherwise their cheeks will definitely hurt again!

At the end of the game, the Schalke 04 players felt hot on their faces, even if they wanted to exchange shirts with the Notts County players, and the Schalke 04 coach, who was still making a big fuss before the game, even forgot the courtesy part of shaking hands with Loew, and ran back to the away team's dressing room. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Naturally, after the game, the reporters began to enjoy the humiliation again, and every opponent who slighted Notts County before the game but was slapped in the face again will be hurt by another critical hit.

However, for Notts County, it doesn't really matter if the big win is not a big win, it really doesn't matter if the abuse is not bad, as long as it wins, it drags on this game, in addition to the four injured players, the other players who are not in good physical condition can also adjust well, and the lineup is still quite combative, and it will not be a team that makes Loew scratch his head.

After eliminating Schalke 04, the reigning champions of the League Cup, Notts County, broke into the round of 32 of the League Cup, plus the eight clubs who fell from the third place in the group stage of the Champions League and fell into the League Cup, the last 32 teams of this season's League Cup are also officially released.

The top five league teams that stood out in the second round of the UEFA Cup are Bordeaux and Oterre in Ligue 1, Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle in the Premier League, Barcelona, Valencia and Villarreal in La Liga, Roma and Perugia in the Bundesliga, and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

Coupled with the giants in the second-rate leagues such as Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Feyenoord, it can be said that this season's League Cup is very orthodox, and there are almost no strong teams eliminated, so the next games are bound to be very exciting, and it is likely that every game will be Mars hitting Earth.

In fact, the game with a strong team or even a giant team may not be a wonderful game, on one side is a giant, on the other hand is a weak team, it is very likely to be a massacre, although there may be a lot of goals, but the intensity is far less than the two teams with similar strength.

Not only did the UEFA Cup itself not have an upset, allowing most of the strong teams to be retained, but the shocking group stage results of the Champions League have turned this season's UEFA Cup into a cup competition that is not inferior to the Champions League.

This is the first season of the Champions League restructuring, with the cancellation of two rounds of group stage, and in the only round of the group stage, each club can be said to have shown their talents, creating the most watery Champions League knockout round.

In Group A, although Bayern, who have always been steady, were unable to overpower Ligue 1 hegemons Lyon, the two clubs still joined hands to advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League and kicked the Soviet Super League giants Celtic into the League Cup.

Group B, Arsenal and Inter Milan were the favourites to qualify, I am afraid that no one would think that Lokomotiv Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv, who accompanied the runners, would have much chance of qualifying, but the final result made the fans of the Nerazzurri cry into tears......

Arsenal's results were as stable as ever, and they secured a place to advance to the round of 16 of the Champions League, but Inter Milan dropped the chain, and in the clash with Lokomotiv Moscow, they drew and lost one in two legs, and gave up the right to qualify generously to their opponents, so they could only play the League Cup by themselves.

In Group C, Monaco, Eindhoven and Deportivo La Coruna are almost the same in strength, anyone can appear, and the final result is exactly like this, Monaco has 11 points to qualify for the top spot in the group, Deportivo has 10 points, Eindhoven also has 10 points, and finally with the advantage of the number of goals in the direct confrontation between the two, Super Laco was lucky to advance to the round of 16 of the Champions League, while the Eredivisie giants Eindhoven can only go lonely to play the League Cup.

In Group D, the giant Juventus was caught between the dark horses Real Sociedad and Galatasaray, but they actually dropped the chain in the group stage, were eliminated directly from the group stage, and had to move to the League Cup.

In Group E, Stuttgart, a German youth janissary team that played against Notts County last season, also finished third in six group games, and was eliminated from the Champions League and entered the UEFA Cup.

In Group F, Real Madrid firmly occupied a place, Mourinho's Porto lost the two cores of the midfield and the backfield, but still stumbled out of the group stage, and the former Champions League winner Marseille could only be relegated to the League Cup.

In Group G, Claudio Ranieri's Chelsea advanced strongly, dark horses Sparta Prague also qualified as group runners-up, while Serie A giants Lazio tragically dropped into the UEFA Cup.

The final group was the most competitive, with each club hoping to qualify, or even the top of the group, until the final round of fixtures, and finally, after two high-profile battles, Ajax and Celta Vigo teamed up to make AC Milan a classic in the UEFA Cup.

As a result, more than half of the Champions League round of 16 are not traditional powerhouses, which makes UEFA a little embarrassed.

In contrast, the squad for the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup is much more star-studded, and even if it is slightly lacking in the top strength, the average quality even exceeds that of the Champions League, which is a miracle.

Bookmakers are busy, with Serie A giants Juventus in first place with a strong squad and a huge name in the latest UEFA Cup odds, while AC Milan and Inter Milan are tied for second place by a narrow margin.

There is no way, who let the three Serie A giants are all famous giants in Europe, but there is a higher level of Champions League not to play, and they have to surrender their identity to play in the League Cup, who can compete with them!

But the funny thing is that the top three in the north of Serie A have all been relegated to the League Cup, so that there is a rare absence of a team in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and in the round of 32 of the League Cup, there are six teams in Serie A......

The three Serie A giants are followed by the reigning UEFA Cup champions Notts County, whose odds are even higher than Premier League giants Liverpool, which speaks volumes about the expectations of the defending champions.

It's no wonder that everyone thinks that Notts County is more likely to win the championship, they are the leaders of the Premier League standings, and even the exaggerated stability of Arsenal can only chase Notts County's ass, and Liverpool, who can't even enter the top four in the league, is qualified to shake the status of Notts County!

Well, David admits he didn't expect Notts County to have such a difficult road to defending the UEFA Cup, but when you think about the bombastic Champions League semi-finals this season, nothing is impossible. (To be continued.) )