Chapter 237: Europa League knockout opponents
A total of 24 teams have qualified from 12 groups, plus eight Champions League third-place finishers, for a total of 32 teams to participate in the Europa League last-32 knockout draw.
At present, the top teams in the Europa League group are: Anderlecht, Valencia, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Sporting Lisbon, Roma, Galatasaray, Red Bull Salzburg, Fenerbahce, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, PSV Eindhoven, and Yunda Bremen.
The second-placed teams in the group are: Ajax, Lille, Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin, Fulham, Panathinaikos, Villarreal, FC Twente, Everton, Club Brugge, FC Copenhagen and Athletic Bilbao.
There are four teams from the Bundesliga, and it can be seen that the teams in the Bundesliga are still very competitive in the Europa League. Then there are three teams in Spain, which is the two teams with more teams in the competition.
Then there are eight teams that finish third in the Europa League group: Urzicheni, Juventus, Wolfsburg, Marseille, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Rubin Kazan and Standard Liege.
So these teams are mixed together to make up the Europa League round of 32.
Of course, the Europa League also divides these 32 teams into two tiers, the first and the second.
The first tier is made up of the four Champions League groups with better results and the first place in all the groups in the Europa League, and the second pot is composed of the four Champions League groups with the lower results and the second place in all the groups in the Europa League.
The teams in the first tier are: Urzicheni, Juventus, Wolfsburg, Marseille, Anderlecht, Valencia, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Sporting Lisbon, Roma, Galatasaray, Red Bull Salzburg, Fenerbahce, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, PSV Eindhoven, Yunda Bremen.
The teams in the second tier are: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Rubin Kazan, Standard Liege, Ajax, Lille, Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin, Fulham, Panathinaikos, Villarreal, FC Twente, Everton, Club Brugge, Copenhagen and Athletic Bilbao.
At this time, the draw for the round of 32 is based on the principle of the first group against the second in the group, and the team under the same group and the same football association is avoided.
Now the scene of the lottery ceremony is naturally full of people!
This is not the first time Gu Zhen has been here, he has come here to participate in the lottery last year.
This time, Gu Zhen naturally seemed more calm.
Of course, Gu Zhen still followed Klopp's side, thinking that there were many people who wanted to find him at this time, very many.
When Gu Zhen went to the toilet, the people of Juventus Club found Gu Zhen.
Gu Zhendu was stunned, he didn't expect the Juventus people to be in such a hurry. Obviously, the Juventus people have only one intention, that is, they want to bring in Gu Zhen, and contact Gu Zhen privately to see the feasibility of this matter.
Obviously, Gu Zhen has no intention of transferring now, at least not this winter.
Juventus naturally left disappointed, but they didn't give up, they gave Gu Zhen a word, next summer, they Juventus will charge Dortmund, hoping to bring in Gu Zhen.
Gu Zhen only smiled politely at this, who can say for sure what will happen in the future?
Not long after the Juventus people left, Gu Zhen ushered in two more groups, one from Atletico Madrid and one from Liverpool.
Obviously, these two clubs also like and appreciate Gu Zhen very much.
They also expressed to Gu Zhen that they wanted to introduce Gu Zhen, but Gu Zhen really didn't have any other ideas, and now, so Gu Zhen rejected them.
Fortunately, this is not the draw ceremony of the UEFA Champions League, otherwise, Gu Zhen doesn't know how many giants will be welcomed, and now these giants are really seducing Gu Zhen, hoping that Gu Zhen can go to their club to play.
However, now Gu Zhen really has no intention of leaving Dortmund.
Gu Zhen is now very good and very domineering in Dortmund. He's the main force of the team, the absolute main striker, he has absolute playing time here, and the team is still very good, to be able to challenge for the Bundesliga title, and at the same time to be in the Champions League, he really has no need to go to other big clubs, at least for now.
Now what Gu Zhen needs is time to play, he went to other big clubs, he is a little brother, and it is still difficult to get stable playing time.
So, it's good to stay with Dortmund.
The most important thing is that the coach here attaches great importance to him, and he is also very suitable for the coach's tactics, and the two cooperate seamlessly. Now Gu Zhen can have such a sharp performance, a big part of the reason is because of the support of coach Klopp's tactics.
Go to other giants, in the initial period of time, the giants may give you Gu Zhen a certain amount of playing time. But tactics will never be executed around you Gu Zhen, so if you can't adapt to the tactics of the new team during that time and your performance is not as good as before, then Gu Zhen will be greeted by a dark bench career.
Look at how popular Owen was before he went to Real Madrid? But after going to Real Madrid, he didn't just sit on the bench and wait for his chance.
Therefore, it is not necessarily a good thing to join a wealthy club now.
If you can reach the level of Cristiano Ronaldo and join the giants, it will be different. You go to any team where you are the core, the team's tactics are all made around you, as long as you don't have problems, you will perform well.
Gu Zhen has obviously not reached the kind of tactics that other giant teams have customized for him, all the tactics are run around him with him as the core, and he has not yet reached this level.
Now he is in Dortmund, and the tactics revolve around him, mainly because he fits Klopp's tactics, so Gu Zhencai benefits.
That's why Gu Zhen has such a good performance.
At this time, Gu Zhen would really not have such a performance if he went to other teams. Gu Zhen and Klopp can now be said to be mutually accomplished, and it is really a blessing for Gu Zhen to meet such a coach, especially when he himself is so young.
Gu Zhen still has a strong sense of knowledge for Klopp, so he will not choose to leave the Dortmund team at this time.
Here, he can do well and he can also make a run for glory.
Gu Zhen is not a fool, so he will not leave Dortmund at this time.
Gu Zhen got rid of these people and came directly to Klopp's side and sat down.
Seeing that Gu Zhen had been gone for so long, Klopp didn't have any reaction, let alone ask any questions. Klopp is very familiar with such an occasion, and he naturally knows what Gu Zhen will encounter? But he believed Gu Zhen, so he didn't ask.
Klopp said directly to Gu Zhen: "Look, this lottery ceremony is about to start!" ”
To be honest, Klopp and Gu Zhen still attach great importance to this draw ceremony, and at present, this situation is not very ideal for Dortmund.
In the first bracket, teams from the Bundesliga include Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg, as well as Hapoel Tel Aviv, who are the top teams in their group. They can only avoid these three teams, and the other teams really have a chance to draw.
Among the first-tier teams, Yes is a relatively weak team, but they are all rare, and the other teams are very strong, and it is unlikely that Dortmund will easily deal with it in the knockout round!
Of course, the last thing I want to encounter is Juventus, the strength of this team is really very strong, and Dortmund is really unlucky when they meet them.
Of course, for Borussia Dortmund, the one they want to meet most is the Urzicheni team from Romania, which is actually not very strong. In the eyes of the Dortmund people, this is considered a soft persimmon, compared to other teams.
But the fact that this team has come so far shows that they still have something.
However, Klopp just thinks that they have great hopes of qualifying against this team, and he hopes that their team can draw this opponent.
And at this time, the exciting lottery ceremony slowly began, and the people on the scene were very nervous, staring at these masters on the stage, I want to see what kind of tricks you can come up with?
Gu Zhen sat next to Klopp, staring at the stage and discussing with Klopp.
To tell the truth, Gu Zhen is naturally very concerned about this draw ceremony, which is concerned about who is their team's opponent in the knockout round?
Borussia Dortmund's ambitions this season are very big, they hope to win the Europa League and lift the trophy, so they naturally hope that the road will be relatively smooth.
Klopp's brother-in-law muttered at this time: "Don't be Juventus, don't be Juventus, don't be Juventus!" ”
Yes, at this time, no team wants to run into Juventus, a team that has the strength to break into the top four in the Champions League.
That's why Klopp did it at this time!
Gu Zhendu looked sideways slightly, he really didn't expect that Mr. Klopp would have such a side. However, he also agrees with Klopp's approach in his heart, at this time, Dortmund must not meet Juventus, leave Juventus to other teams, it is better for Juventus to play Liverpool or Atletico Madrid, so that this game will look good.
Yes, Gu Zhen really thinks so, he wants to see such a strong showdown.
In this way, some strong teams can be eliminated as soon as possible, which is the most favorable news for their dream of winning the championship, and I hope that such a battle of death will appear soon!
Soon the draw for the Europa League was over, and the final result was as follows:
[Rubin Kazan vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv] [Athletic Bilbao vs. Anderlecht] [Copenhagen vs. Marseille] [Panathinaikos vs. Roma] [Atletico Madrid vs. Galatasaray] [Ajax vs. Juventus] [Club Brugge vs. Valencia] [Fulham vs. Shakhtar Donetsk] [Liverpool vs. Urzicheni] [Borussia Dortmund vs. Eindhoven] [Villarreal vs. Wolfsburg] [Standard Liege vs. Red Bull Salzburg] [Twente vs. Werder Bremen] [ Lille vs. Fenerbahce] [Everton vs. Sporting Lisbon] [Hertha Berlin vs. Benfica].
This was the result of the draw for the round of 32 knockout round of 32 in the 2009-2010 Europa League, with Borussia Dortmund drawing PSV Eindhoven, which is a tough opponent to play against.