'If it hadn't been for Buffon, we would have lost an embarrassing scoreline. Parma coach Malaisani was straightforward in his acceptance of defeat.

'Bayer Leverkusen played good football.

"Wave after wave of attacks made it difficult for us to parry."

'They have a couple of great players in their squad, especially their midfielders, and I think their midfield is terrible even in the whole of Europe, there are not many teams that can compete with them. Bayer Leverkusen are lucky, as far as I know, their players are young and they have a great future to hold, of course, these players are probably targeted by scouts in the stands, right? ”

"If you had to pick a player, who would you choose to join Parma?"

"Haha, that's ......," Malaisani touched his chin, "I'll pick number 10, that little guy is really good." ”

"Can you take Ortega's place?"

'If Ortega doesn't play with his brain on the pitch, he can't do it.

Malaisani couldn't help but knock Ortega through Zheng Zhi.

'He's young, but he's focused, he's confident, he's keeping Bayer Leverkusen's midfield in order, everyone has a clear division of work and a great collaboration. Our midfielder didn't do it, so we were doomed to fail today. ”

……

……

'I'm very happy with the team's performance, everyone is doing great, the only thing I'm not happy about is that Novotny may be missing the start of the season and from the preliminary results of the doctor's examination, his injury is not optimistic.

Worrall laughed happily at the press conference, thinking that playing Parma was a test, but it was a surprise, the only unhappy thing was of course Novotny's injury, but it was just a small episode, and the successive kills of Aston Villa and Parma were enough to make him proud, and he became more and more confident about the upcoming new season.

"But Lucio can take his place."

He also praised Lucio, Novotny is injured and he needs Lucio now, and Lucio's performance is really remarkable.

At the mention of Zheng Zhi and Barak, he couldn't stop laughing from ear to ear.

"Zheng and Michael have been two of the best deals Bayer Leverkusen have made this season, and the two of them are now integrated into the team, and I believe they will play better and better as the game progresses."

Mention your goals for the new season? Worrall was cautious and didn't say he won the championship.

"We don't think so much about the new season, we don't want to put too much pressure on the players, we just want to play every game with our feet on the ground. When the end of the season comes, we know where we stand and what we have achieved. ”

"Will Daum be back at the club?"

"I don't know ......"

……

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Although Worrall is very low-key, but the 3:2 victory over Parma, almost the whole of Germany is cheering for Bayer Leverkusen, "Kicker" directly pulled Bayern Munich out of the whip corpse - 3:2 defeat Parma, Bayer Leverkusen showed their strong fighting power and resilience, and two months ago Barcelona, Bayern Munich did not do it, also in the last three minutes, Bayer Leverkusen won the victory, and Bayern Munich lost the Champions Cup!

- Leverkusen under Worrall is clearly stronger, more confident and more resilient than Bayer Leverkusen under Daum. They may overthrow Bayern Munich's dominance and win the Bundesliga title in the new season, and the midfield of Beinrich, Ballack, Zheng Zhi, Emerson and Ze Roberto is not inferior to Bayern Munich, or even stronger! The scariest thing is that these guys are quite young, not comparable to those old guys at Bayern Munich!

Bild is also optimistic about Bayer Leverkusen and believes that this year's Leverkusen will make a difference in the Champions Cup, even better than in previous years – beating UEFA Cup winners Parma means that this team can beat any team, and if they play well this year, there may be a surprising result. The new forces Zheng Zhi and Ballack will be the biggest motivation for them to move forward, and it took them just four games to integrate into the team.

"Eintracht Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" - When Frankfurt's heart was transplanted to Leverkusen, Leverkusen has become the most favorable contender for the Bundesliga title, and Frankfurt will likely continue to usher in a relegation season.

Der Spiegel – Bayern Munich will no longer dominate the Bundesliga this season, with Bayer Leverkusen attacking the champions even harder, and it looks like they will be the only ones who will beat them, not their opponents.

Deutsche Zeitung - Bayern are trembling, and a senior brass has revealed that they regret not buying Zheng Zhi and Ballack this summer, so as to further strengthen Bayer Leverkusen's fighting power, saying that this is a decision-making mistake by Bayern's Munich management.

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And several famous spinach companies in Europe have also offered the odds of the Bundesliga championship this season, and Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich are tied for the top spot! At this time last year, Bayern Munich was far ahead, and Bayer Leverkusen was in second place, but the odds gap was quite large, but this year it was different, not even the distance.

In the championship index opened in the new season, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen are in first place with ultra-low odds of 1.21, while Dortmund is second with 5.00. Dortmund in third place has a winning index of 18.00 and Kaiserslautern is fourth with 41.00.

It looks like the title race is between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.

And in the odds of the top scorer, Elber ranks first with 3.40 odds, and the second is Kirsten, his odds are 4.33, and the odds of the later shooters have reached more than 8.00, and they are not on the same level, Zheng Zhi's former teammates Klose and Yang Chen are also on the list, Klose's odds are 20.00, and Yang Chen's is even more distant, the odds are 40.00, almost negligible. Although they both performed well last season, they may also lose a lot of ground because of Zheng Zhi's departure, and without Zheng Zhi to organize the attack in the midfield, the quality of Frankfurt's midfield will definitely drop significantly.

※※※※

This particular friendly match also attracted attention in Italy, with several major sports newspapers reporting and commenting on the match.

Milan Sport - Fresh from winning the UEFA Europa League, Parma suffered a waterloo in Germany, and the resilient Germans taught them a good lesson, with a score of 2:3 not embarrassing, but Parma exposed a lot of things in the game, new signing Ortega did not integrate into the team and almost caused a group of brawls on the field, the departures of Chiesa and Veron actually made their attacking power drop in the front, but Amoruso and Crespo were also full of expectations.

Then "Milan Sport" also sounded the alarm: although German football has been in a period of decline in the past two years, their club has not lost ground, Bayern Munich broke into the final, almost won the Champions Cup, Bayer Leverkusen can beat the League Cup champion Parma told us that Germany and England are catching up with us, the gap between them and us is getting smaller and smaller, and even Manchester United defeated the star-studded Inter Milan and Juventus in a row last season, and let us see that Europe is quietly changing!

Torino Sport – The UEFA Cup winners suffered an incredible defeat in Germany, where the German side beat Parma the Italian way. Bayer Leverkusen are a bit different from other German teams, they play flamboyantly, delicately and creatively, which is clearly not what a German team has. Ze Roberto and Emerson from Brazil, plus two German midfielders, Ballack and Beinrich, and finally a commander Zheng Zhi from China, the five young midfielders look like an invincible chariot.

Roma Sport - Football is still a team sport, Parma thought they could put the bet on Ortega, but Ortega just directed a farce, and Bayer Leverkusen's five-man midfield combination almost made Parma lose his armor, if it wasn't for the amazing play of teenager Buffon, Parma might have been slaughtered there, before that, Parma beat Premier League side Aston Villa 7-1, Parma lost not wronged at all, they should be thankful that it was only this score......

※※※※

At the Eintracht Frankfurt Eagle Stadium, Zheng Zhi appeared in the stands wearing a gray cap and black sunglasses. No Eintracht Frankfurt fan recognized him, he was cheering for Eintracht Frankfurt like an ordinary fan.

It's a Champions League play-off between Eintracht Frankfurt and Galatasaray to decide who will reach the group stage of the round of 32.

Frankfurt had already lost 3-1 on the road on the first occasion, with an away goal from Klose saving Eintracht Frankfurt's hopes but they would have to beat Galatasaray 2-0 at home to win. Schuster and the team were full of confidence before the game.

Only Zheng Zhi is not too optimistic......

If memory serves, Galatasaray are the winners of the Confederations Cup this season, having been knocked out of the Champions League before winning the Confederations Cup. And Zheng Zhi also recognized several pervert-level guys in this team.

Haji and Jadel. It's enough to have these two guys.

Hadji, known as the "Maradona of the Carpathians" and the "midfield conspirator". This nickname Dora Style, there is such a guy in the midfield, plus a phenomenal striker......

Although Eintracht Frankfurt were playing at home, they were unable to fend off Galatasaray's attack, and Li Yin and Shure were unable to prevent Jardel from scoring.

Eintracht Frankfurt, who were 1-0 down, were eager to equalise, only to be snagged by Jadel for a second goal, both assisted by Hage.

In the end, Eintracht Frankfurt was defeated 0:2 at home and bid farewell to the Champions Cup with an aggregate score of 1:5.

"I knew that without Zheng, we would be nothing."

"I still expect the team to compete in the Champions League? I was so stupid and naïve. ”

"The guy who Schuster bought back to replace Zheng didn't even play for a minute, what the hell was he bought for, I remember when he joined, he vowed to become the new Zheng Zhi, but, hehe......"

"The chairman of the club is brain-dead, even Zheng can sell it, alas, this is the stupidest deal I have ever seen. Now, we're going to be cold, bye bye for the Champions Cup, or prepare for how to be relegated this season! ”

"Ah, what a damn day."

……

……

Zheng Zhi sat in the stands and listened to the fans' discussions, and his mood was also very sad, indeed if he hadn't left Frankfurt, maybe there would have been a fight in this game, and now he has no power to fight back. It's normal for the fans to miss him, but he is also full of guilt in his heart, and he really doesn't dare to face the Eintracht Frankfurt fans.

I thought about going to the locker room to comfort my former teammates, but I thought about it and forget it, so as not to irritate everyone again. The past is always in the past, so don't bother......

※※※※

The weather in Nyon, Switzerland, was fine in mid-August, and Worrall arrived just in time to meet Bayern coach Heathfeld. Worrall took the initiative to step forward and greet Heathfield, who deserved respect despite Heathfield's presence at Bayern. Heathfield smiled when he saw Worrall.

"Rudy,"

"Good luck."

"Good luck to you too."

At the German level, they are still very united, and they all wish each other a good draw.

99-00 This Champions Cup has been expanded, but it is not better to play than in previous years, even the group stage has to be divided into two rounds to play, this first round does not know if it can survive, European strong players are like forests, and winning the Champions League not only requires strength, but also good luck. If the thickness of the bench is not strong enough, I dare not think about it......

At the scene, celebrities gathered, and top coaches gathered, just like the annual World Football Awards Gala, which was so lively. Heathfield obviously has a good relationship with the crowd, and many coaches have come to say hello to him, but Worrall is a rookie manager, and not many people can recognize him.

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson also came over and gave Heathfield a thick hug, and at this time, Worrall noticed that the expression on Heathfield's face was a little cloudy, and he must have remembered the Champions League final in May. Ferguson was a winner......

Soon, the draw ceremony began, Worrall found an inconspicuous corner and sat down, his eyes were full of anticipation, Leverkusen was naturally not a seeded team, and being able to be in the second echelon had made him very satisfied.

The seeded teams in the eight groups are Lazio, Barcelona, Feyenoord, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Bordeaux and AC Milan.

Worrall didn't have to wait long when the seeding teams of the eight groups were determined, and the names of Bayer Leverkusen came out and they were placed in Group A!

Immediately following Lazio, they were in second place.

There was no stir at the scene, after all, there was really nothing to make a fuss about, Leverkusen at this time was really nothing in Europe, and Lazio was quite a terrible existence as a seeded team.

However, the second group immediately caused an uproar, as the mighty Fiorentina were placed in the Barcelona group! Florence, with its god of war, Batistuta, is naturally capable of causing madness.

There weren't many ripples in the other groups either.

Dynamo Kyiv and Maribo then entered Group A, and Worrall didn't even know which country Maribo was......

Let's win the lottery! That's what he thinks, Lazio are in Group A and Bayer Leverkusen's biggest rival should be Dynamo Kyiv, who were in the semi-finals of the Champions League last season! The team that almost overturned Bayern Munich in the gutter.

It is the so-called dark horse of Europe.

However, the Ukrainian striker in the team who killed Real Madrid and tossed Bayern to death has transferred to AC Milan, and this Dynamo Kyiv team should not be stronger than last season.

As for that Maribo? It's just a gift to someone's head!

Worrall had his wishful thinking......

The grouping is quite balanced, and if you want to talk about the group of death, it should be Group B and Group F. , and Group H......

Group A

Lazio, Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kyiv, Maribo

Group B

Barcelona, Fiorentina, Arsenal, Stockholm AIK

Group C

Rosenborg, Red Star, Feyenoord, Boavista

Group D

Marseille, Manchester United, Zagreb, Graz

Group E

Porto, Real Madrid, Olympiacos, Molde

Group F

Glasgow Rangers, Valencia, Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven

Group G

Bordeaux, Spartak Prague, Spartak Moscow, Tilburg Wilhelm II

Group H

Hertha Berlin, Chelsea, AC Milan, Galatasaray

※※※※

Walking out of the draw scene, the "Kicker" reporter had already caught Heathfield to ask questions. Heathfield's face is not good-looking again, because Bayern Munich is in Group F, Glasgow Rangers, Valencia and PSV Eindhoven, all three teams are not easy to mess with.

'I don't have much to say, it's like that every year, if you want to win the final Champions Cup, you have to win all the teams, it's the same for everyone, Bayern has to win.

Heathfield waved his hand and left the scene. Everyone had to go to Worrall for a few words.

"Rudy, what do you think about the grouping?"

Worrall looked relaxed, "There is no special feeling, we are new to Europe, we don't have a lot of experience in the Champions Cup, as long as we try to play every game, we are not like Bayern Muhei, we want the Champions League every year." ”

Heathfield, who had already left ten meters away, still heard it, and chuckled in his heart, always feeling that there was something wrong with Worrall's words, what does it mean to want the Champions League every year?

"Do you think the team can make it out?"

'Of course, that's the bare minimum and I'm sure we're motivated enough to play in the Champions Cup, but we don't put pressure on ourselves.'

"Will it affect the league?"

"Of course not, we have enough players to cope with the third line."

……

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