When the group stage is over one by one, the knockout group has also come to an end in the spotlight, Real Madrid meets Bayern Munich in a European derby, the Red Devils Manchester United take on Super Laco, Roma get the only signing against Athens club Panathinai Koscos, and Leeds United meets the biggest dark horse of the year in history, Leverkusen.

After such a grouping, the situation gradually became clear, and Rome needless to say, faced the dark horse Panathinaikoskos, if they lost, it would really be the end of the game. On the other hand, although the match between Manchester United and Deportivo La Coruna is full of uncertainties, people are still generally optimistic about Manchester United. The battle between Real Madrid and Bayern is completely a final staged in advance, and no one expected that the two teams would meet so early, so this game has become the most anticipated game by fans and media.

As for Bayer Leverkusen vs. Leeds United, it seems that this is a half-catty vs. eight-two game, and it is really difficult to judge who wins and who loses between two teams with similar strength. However, Kani could only smile bitterly at this, although such thoughts flashed in his mind, but he later laughed it off, after all, among the many teams that participated in the Champions League, who could believe that the two clubs he stayed at would really meet so coincidentally?

This is God's arrangement!

You must know that the reason why Bayer Leverkusen at the turn of the century can be talked about and regarded as a classic in later times is because in this season Leverkusen made a comeback, challenged Bayern Munich's dominance at home, and reached the final in Europe. Although the last three fronts all lost and only won the title of "King of Sanya", in the Bundesliga, the German Cup, and the European Champions Cup, Bayer Leverkusen showed strong strength, which is still fresh in people's memories.

Bayer Leverkusen's 10-win and four-draw run in the first 14 rounds of the Bundesliga made the club's best start to the game, which caused the pharma fans who scolded the top board for being stupid after Kone's departure to forget everything and support the team like crazy. He also went all the way to the German Cup, reaching the Berlin final against defending champion Schalke 04 on 14 May 2002 for the first time since 1993. At the same time, in the Champions League, which represents the highest level in Europe, Leverkusen has made people recognise them.

If the successful breakthrough from Barcelona, Lyon, and Fenerbahce in the first round of the group stage can still make people think that it is within the strength of Bayer Leverkusen, then in the second stage of the group stage, they beat Arsenal and Juventus, and join hands with Deportivo La Coruna to win the group is to make people exclaim that the Bundesliga team is about to sweep Europe! To prove it, Bayer Leverkusen were brave enough to send England's double bonus Liverpool and Manchester United back to their hometown one by one in succession, reaching the final of the European Champions League at Hampton Park in Glasgow, Scotland on 15 May 2002.

At that time, almost all the people had their eyes on this irresistible army, and everyone was waiting to witness the historic moment, from the completion of revenge to the triple crown, which made these European people full of chivalry excited and tremble, but then, Leverkusen was cursed by Satan, and everything fell into the abyss.

First, in the Bundesliga, which saw that they were about to complete their revenge, Bayer Leverkusen lacked stamina, and at one point led their opponents Bayern Munich by seven points and beat Dortmund 4-0, they self-destructed their future and replicated the scene that once caused people to run back. In the crucial Bundesliga penultimate two, Bayer Leverkusen was defeated by Werder Bremen and Nuremberg in succession in the third round, and was finally snatched away by Dortmund with a one-point advantage in the Bundesliga.

How similar this is what Bayern Munich used to do! Twice in three years, someone snatched the Bundesliga championship that should have been won by a narrow margin, and how miserable Leverkusen was! Could it be that he struggled for a season just to change the object of revenge? Just when Leverkusen was excited, people also sighed when a week later in Berlin German Cup decisive unexpectedly, this is now Leverkusen only one of the remaining honors can be won in the country, the whole team has done their best, has been as a new signing, Berbatov has opened the scoring for the team, whether the championship is close at hand.

However, Real Lanschalke 04 did not leave Leverkusen with chicken soup for the soul, relying on the excellent performance of Naibome, Agali, Muller, Sander and others, the German Cup finally engraved the name of the blue-collar workers in the Ruhr area again. Schalke 04 defended their title and Bayer Leverkusen fell into the abyss. Countless pharmaceutical fans were devastated at this moment, but the devil's curse did not go away, and Bayer Leverkusen, who had already won two runners-up at that time, were then dramatically reversed by the white giant Real Madrid in the European Champions Cup, making the best gift for the opponent's centenary.

As a result, Leverkusen has achieved the king of Sanya on three fronts for the first time, although this also shows the world their strong strength, but it has also become an eternal pain in the hearts of Leverkusen fans and players. It was also in that year that Ballack, who was the well-deserved core of Leverkusen, was even more frustrated and depressed, because in addition to these three runners-up, as an unborn German genius and future leader, Ballack ranked second in the Bundesliga in terms of goals and assists, plus the runner-up in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan after the game, Ballack became the runner-up king of that year for the first time.

Perhaps it is precisely because of the experience of this year that the Leverkusen players have suffered too much, and after the season, the main players Ballack and Ze Barberto switched to the bitter rival Bayern Munich, which led to the team's performance all the way down, and the rest of the players also left one after another, so the irresistible Bayer Leverkusen became a short-lived unsuccessful dynasty.

Kani is also embarrassed about this, although he joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan and has never wanted to stay, Keni has formed a friendship with Bayer Leverkusen's players. Like Ballack, who takes the team as his own responsibility and reminds himself when he first enters the team; Barberto, who is taciturn but has a unique tacit understanding with himself; He can't talk a lot, and he is annoyed many times; There are also the two Croatian brothers Kovac, who are physically strong and somewhat strong, and so on.

In fact, Keni didn't think about playing the championship with his teammates during the loan of Bayer Leverkusen, but he had no choice but to think differently from the top management and let Kenny mention leaving the transfer for a year, and he didn't blame anyone for this, after all, Leverkusen's approach was not wrong. If you don't want to stay in Kenny the second year, there's no reason why others shouldn't develop their own players.

Keni and his Bundesliga teammates are very sorry for this, but what he didn't expect was that the two sides really faced each other in the Champions League, and it was a life-and-death knockout round, so it would be very embarrassing. Will it change history ahead of time and be eliminated by itself, or will it be the same as the development of history, Bayer Leverkusen will be irresistible all the way to the final, and Leeds United will become its stepping stone? There's no doubt that Kani wants the latter, and since leaving Bayer Leverkusen, Keni has had little contact with his former team-mates, only occasionally calling Ballack and Neuville when he sees Bayer Leverkusen on the news in his spare time.

However, this time, when the results of the grouping came out, Kenny did not speak to the two on the phone again, because both sides were in the midst of intense preparations, and an invisible pressure permeated the sky.

Back in the domestic arena, while the Champions League successfully advanced to the knockout round, Leeds United also went smoothly in the league.

In the 19th round of the Premier League, Leeds United played away to Bolton, and with Keane's brace and Bowyer's stabbing goal, Leeds United won by three goals.

In the 20th round of the Premier League, Leeds United continued their road journey, and after 90 minutes of fierce battle, Leeds United beat Southampton at St Mary's Stadium with a free-kick from Kenny.

With the New Year's Day schedule after the Premier League game more and more intensive, three days of games to make the European stage and the Premier League two ends of the team tired, even if the coach O'Reilly during this period boldly used a large number of rotation players, still can not fully maintain the sufficient rest time of each player, after all, in the current Leeds United team, some players are irreplaceable.

Like Rio Ferdinand, like Kenny.

It was during this period that Leeds United were defeated in the second leg against Roma.

It is worth mentioning that during Leeds United's small win over Southampton, Newcastle lost 1:2 to Chelsea, while Liverpool was forced to draw by the Hammers West Ham United, which also made Leeds, who was originally left behind by Newcastle United after the reversal, return to the same running line with the Magpies, and the points with Liverpool are also closer. At this moment, the mood of the Leeds United players gradually improved, and they came out of the depression of being beaten by Newcastle to complete a big comeback, and they also ushered in the New Year's bell.

This time, on the eve of the New Year, the club also arranged a small relaxing opportunity for the players in the tense schedule, and the game was not grand but all attended. Seeing the pairs of players around him, Kenny and Alan were alone. Smith was hit countless times more critically, and the two could only chat without a word on the side. Of course, because the club's senior management was also present, the players were not very open, but for them, it was a long drought and nectar, who asked the FA not to give a winter break for business.

End of chapter

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