Many people think that Gao Zheng's words are to provoke Barcelona, after all, the off-string sound of those words can be heard by everyone.

But this time, in the face of Gao Zheng's active provocation, Barcelona did not say anything. Even Pique didn't come forward and say anything.

A reporter asked him what he thought of Gao Zeng's words, and his answer was: "It's really not revenge." ”

This surprised the reporters - when did Pique be so honest.

Was it really in the Super Bowl to be subdued?

But no matter how much the reporter asked, Pique didn't speak, so no one knew what Pique was thinking in his heart.

But to say that Pique really doesn't care about revenge, everyone will never believe it, he must be holding back his energy to wait for Barcelona to win the game before talking.

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In fact, the match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will be followed by the first round of the Champions League group stage, but Simeone does not plan to rotate in this game, even if Atletico Madrid's first Champions League group stage game is away to Galatasaray.

It's really more important to play the league with Barcelona.

In the Champions League, Atletico Madrid have been drawn in Group C this season, seeded alongside Galatasaray, Benfica and Astana.

In terms of the strength of the teams in the same group, there are basically no opponents who can threaten Atletico Madrid.

But that doesn't mean Atletico Madrid's Champions League group stage will be easier this season.

Mainly because the away game is not easy to play.

It's not that the opponent can play well on their home turf, the main thing is that the away side is too far away.

In addition to Benfica being nearby, both Galatasaray and Astana have to work on an expedition.

Galatasaray is far enough, already at the junction of Europe and Asia, and even further from Astana.

Those familiar with European football may be unfamiliar with the name, but in fact this team is indeed a new face in the Champions League.

This is a Kazakhstani team.

As we all know, Kazakhstan is an Asian country, but why can their team participate in the Champions League? Because the Kazakh Football Association joined UEFA, not the AFC.

Before the collapse of the USSR, there were no Kazakhstan's. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vast majority of the country was in Asia – many people may think that Kazakhstan is naturally an Asian country, but it is not, and Kazakhstan has two provinces with a population of about one million living in the geographical sense of Europe. Europe in the geographical sense traditionally refers to the continents west of the long line of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Marla Sea and the Dardanelles, and Asia to the east.

And Kazakhstan happens to have two provinces - West Kazakhstan Oblast and Atyrau Oblast across the Ural River, so Kazakhstan, like Turkey and Russia, is a country with territories in Asia and Europe. However, perhaps because most of the country is in Asia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they automatically joined the AFC.

However, for a country that has no roots in the AFC, Kazakhstan has no one in the AFC court, so it is often bullied. Originally, they thought that with their victory, not to mention going sideways in Asian football, at least it would not be a problem to qualify for the World Cup - the reason why they did not choose UEFA at the beginning was probably because they felt that it was too difficult to go to UEFA and want to play in the World Cup. Unexpectedly, in the Asian zone, they also failed to qualify for two consecutive World Cups.

At the same time, they and the AFC are also at odds. After all, the AFC has been controlled by West Asian football for a long time, and the presidents of the AFC for nearly 50 years have been the agents of the local tycoons of West Asia, and only China's Zhang Jilong has served as the chairman for two years, and he is only an agent.

The trigger for the conflict was the 1995 Asian Club Cup, when a club in Saudi Arabia refused to play in Kazakhstan on the grounds that the weather was too cold. It stands to reason that Saudi Arabian clubs should be punished in this case, but the AFC, which is controlled by West Asian football, not only did not punish the Saudi Arabian team that refused to participate, but also sentenced the two sides to a 0:0 draw.

This incident caused great dissatisfaction in Kazakhstan, and later withdrew from the AFC.

As for joining UEFA, for Kazakh football, in addition to the support and assistance given to them by the Russian Football Association, which is also affiliated with the Soviet Union, the support and subsidies given by UEFA are also different from those of the AFC. In addition, playing against strong European teams often helps to improve the level of football in Kazakhstan.

As a result, Kazakhstan has been part of the UEFA family since 2002.

It's just that although they have been in UEFA for so long, this is the first time they have participated in the Champions League.

Because the strength of Kazakhstan's teams was too weak before, they couldn't even make it through the qualifying round.

This time, Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, eliminated Slovenian champions Maribor and then Finnish champions Helsinki in the qualifying round to reach the play-offs. In the play-offs, they will face Atletico Greece, league champions of Cyprus, who also played in the Champions League last season.

In the end, Astana eliminated their opponents with an aggregate score of 2:1 and entered the Champions League. The history of Kazakh football was created.

This team will also be Atletico Madrid's opponent in the Champions League group stage.

Astana is more than 5,700 kilometers away from Madrid, and it takes seven hours to fly by plane, which is a huge test for Atletico Madrid, which is located at the western end of Europe.

This could also be the furthest away trip in the Champions League – unless the professional team in Vladivostok, Russia's easternmost side, also make it to the Champions League...... But that's unlikely, that team is just too weak.

Considering such a long away trip, for Atletico Madrid, even if the opponent is very weak, I am afraid that the game will not be easy to play.

And in addition to distance, weather is also a very important factor.

Because according to the schedule, Atletico Madrid's away challenge to Astana was on November 3, when the capital of Kazakhstan was already entering a cold winter. Astana is the second largest capital city in the world, second only to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, with temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter.

Even if November 3 is not yet the depths of winter and does not reach minus 40 degrees, minus 20 degrees will still cause great trouble for Atletico Madrid......

Fortunately, Atletico Madrid don't have to think about it now, they just need to think about the game against Barcelona.

Maybe Barcelona is much cuter than the away game more than 5,700 kilometers away.