Group D, it's a good sign!

The first team in Group D is Valencia, among the eight seeded teams, such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and then Inter Milan and Lyon, are not good teams to deal with, Manchester United and Arsenal will not talk about it, in the Champions League group draw rules, teams in the same league will avoid each other, and Millwall will not meet Premier League opponents before the quarterfinals.

No matter how you analyze it, the above teams are a headache, Valencia can't be said to be easy to deal with, and they are also one of the worst teams.

The second-tier team is Roma, and their luck is quite good.

You must know that in the second-tier team, there are also top giants like Bayern Munich, and it is the best result if you don't meet the top giants, Rome may also be considered a giant, but it is only limited to Italy, and in the whole of Europe, it can only be regarded as a second-rate team, if it were not for the summer 'phonegate' incident, Juventus was canceled from the results, and Roma would not be eligible to participate in the Champions League.

Millwall is a third-tier team, but as the Premier League champion, even if the European media is not optimistic, they must admit that they have a certain strength.

Whatever the distribution, Millwall is sure to be in the Death Group.

Valencia and Rome's Group D is certainly the weakest group of death.

Wenger couldn't help but sigh, "I thought you would meet AC Milan, Inter Milan, no matter how lucky you are, you will meet a strong team, but I didn't expect ......"

The French shook their heads and smiled bitterly as they spoke.

If the two teams of Valencia and Roma heard Wenger exclude them from the ranks of the 'strong teams', they would definitely be very dissatisfied.

Arsene Wenger's statement is still based on performance.

In Wenger's view, Millwall is not a giant, but the strength has surpassed the giants, and the Community Shield can beat Chelsea, which is the biggest proof, their performance is not better than Arsenal, even if they have no European experience, the strength is enough to play well.

In the group stage, when they met Valencia and Roma, they almost crossed the threshold of qualifying.

Zhang Yang also smiled easily, "Thank you, I didn't expect it either." ”

Next, Arsenal also determined the grouping, Group G has Porto, CSKA Moscow and Hamburg, which can only be regarded as mediocre, not good or bad, the second-tier team meets Porto, it is definitely not good luck, CSKA Moscow is not easy to deal with, especially the away team has to go to the ice and snow of Russia to participate in the game, the impact on the team is very great, Wenger shook his head and smiled bitterly, "If I can, I really want to change groups with you." ”

Zhang Yang shrugged, "UEFA probably won't agree." ”

While the two were laughing, the grouping had ended.

The last team in Group D is Shakhtar Donetsk, a Ukrainian league giant who had a good qualifying season but was definitely one of the weakest teams in the last 32 of the Champions League.

————

After the Champions League group draw ended, Zhang Yang's trio all took a long breath.

Millwall has plans to meet the 'super death group', for example, there may be AC Milan and Bayern Munich in the same group, and Millwall must face a succession of big battles if they want to qualify.

The situation with D is much better.

First of all, the geographical problem, Valencia, Rome, one is a Spanish team, the other is an Italian team, go to the away game, there will not be much trouble, go to Ukraine and Donetsk Shakhtar to play, it is a bit troublesome, the weather in Eastern Europe is relatively colder, but after all, it is not to Denmark, Norway, Russia and other Nordic countries, the situation is not so bad, Shakhtar Donetsk is also the weakest opponent, the game will be relatively easy.

The second is the strength of the opponent.

Again, not meeting the top giants is the best result, Zhang Yang said with a smile, "The group stage can also be used as a venue for the team to accumulate European experience." ”

Wise and Wilkinson laughed along.

After the Champions League group draw ceremony, several English media interviewed Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang said about the result, "We were lucky to draw a good lottery. ”

The reporter immediately laughed and said, "Aren't you afraid that this sentence will cause dissatisfaction among your opponents?" ”

"It's a fact." Zhang Yang shrugged his shoulders, "Anyone can see it." If you had to choose between Barcelona and Valencia, a fool would have chosen Valencia, so I dare say we were lucky, and I'm sure everyone thinks so. ”

"So Millwall are confident of qualifying?" The reporter asked.

Zhang Yang immediately changed his words, "I don't like to talk about results. We're just a new team, and the main reason for coming to the Champions League is to gain experience, and European competition is very important for us. ”

“……”

Several English journalists were helpless.

————

The next day, the results of the Champions League group draw were reported by major European media.

What Zhang Yang said in the interview also appeared on the media pages, mainly in the British media, with detailed reports from Manchester Sport and the Daily Mirror.

Manchester Sport and the Daily Mirror are both influential in European sports media, especially the Daily Mirror, which is one of the most influential sports media in the UK along with The Times, The Guardian and The Sun.

When the "Daily Mirror" reported the news in a high-profile manner, it was still related to the Champions League grouping, and many eyes from Europe began to notice Millwall and Zhang Yang.

This may also be the result of the media's encouragement.

The English league is always inseparable from a few topical figures, and publicity is the new focus, and the English media likes to sell their own country's topics, as if to use this to carry out a propaganda offensive and increase the influence of English football.

The passage that Zhang Yang said that 'Millwall wants to accumulate experience' was skipped by the media, and they only reported the previous words--

"We were lucky enough to get a good draw!"

"If you had to choose an opponent between Barcelona and Valencia, a fool would choose Valencia!"

"We're out of luck!"

“……”

Under the offensive of big media reports, the other three teams in Group D also knew what Zhang Yang said.

They were immediately dissatisfied!

Especially Valencia, who was named by publicity, felt even more angry, they are indeed not as good as Barcelona, but you can't slap people in the face, doesn't this make Valencia lose face in the world?

If this sentence is confirmed, when others introduce Valencia in the future, they can say, "It's the team that is not as good as Barcelona!" ”

How can this be endured!

The first to fight back was the Spanish media, which was divided into two camps, one was the Spanish media and the other was the Catalan media, and some people might think that it seemed to be about the same as the British media, but in fact, the difference between the two is very large.

Influenced by Spanish domestic history and political factors, Catalonia is dissatisfied with Madrid's rule, and there have always been Catalan extremists who want to separate Barcelona from Spanish territory, and the extremists are not a minority, and even nearly half of the Catalans think so, so the Catalan media and the Spanish media are completely different, and even hostile to each other.

When they learned that the British media reported the news of Zhang Yang, the Catalan media was supportive, they believed that Zhang Yang was telling the truth, Valencia was indeed inferior to Barcelona, and if they chose an opponent from the two teams, they would choose Valencia with a little brain.

The Catalan media also praised Zhang Yang for "daring to tell the truth", "When European football is full of bureaucracy, most of them close their ears and listen, and when they are doing false propaganda, Zhang Yang dares to speak his mind, which is rare in the world." ”

After the mouth of the Catalan media, even Zhang Yang felt that he had become tall.

The Spanish media generally criticized Zhang Yang as a "rookie remark", for example, the "Marca" newspaper said, "He is only in his twenties, and it is the first time to lead the team to participate in the Champions League season, and he may not know some of the default 'rules' of European competitions. ”

"He's too young!"

"Also, for Millwall, whether it's Valencia or Barcelona, the result is the same, it's impossible for them to beat."

This kind of talk is probably to deceive Valencia fanatics.

Soon Valencia coach Flores also responded, he was very dissatisfied with the flamboyant words, "Our historical results are not as good as Barcelona, but I don't understand, Millwall has the right to say such things." He thinks it's good news to meet Valencia and I'm happy because the two games in the group stage have become easy. ”

Enrique Flores is a representative of the new generation of managers who have high hopes in Spain.

Before 2001, Flores was a professional footballer, playing for Atletico Madrid for most of his career and was part of the Spanish national team, before retiring as a teenager in charge of Real Madrid's youth team before a very successful season in Getafe, where a brief spell in charge gave him the opportunity to move into Valencia.

Valencia is a quasi-giant club, and being able to enter Valencia to coach is enough to prove how favored Flores is, but the Spanish league has been dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, and with the rise of Barcelona, it is more difficult for other teams to get a chance, and Valencia won nothing last season, only finishing third in the league to participate in the European Champions League.

This also made Valencia's top brass a little dissatisfied.

Although Valencia is not the best team, in the previous season of Flores's management, Valencia also won the 'double' of La Liga and the UEFA Cup, and the following season did nothing, which seems to prove that Flores's coaching level is not enough.

This season is also a test for Flores.

If Flores can lead Valencia and win in the league and the Champions League, he will definitely be able to gain domestic and club recognition, otherwise his position will be unstable.

Flores' response to Zhang Yang's words can be regarded as a show of confidence, which makes Valencia more confident to work hard.