After the final round of the group stage, the dust has finally settled on the last 16 teams of this season's Champions League, and the quarter-finals will be decided by a draw, which will take place in two days and will be very fast-paced.

Simeone learned about the draw through a live webcast on the way to the away game with the team, and this round of away challenges against Real Betis is not a big challenge for Atletico Madrid, who are currently on the rise, and Simeone can immediately make arrangements for the round of 16 after returning from the away game.

Although there are still about two months before the start of the knockout round, the preliminary intelligence preparation should be rolled out as soon as possible. If you happen to win the big club, you will have the advantage by preparing early.

The draw ceremony was broadcast live to more than 70 countries around the world. The mainstream media in Asian, African and Latin American countries are concerned about the fate of their own talents. The Chinese media even predicted the possibilities of the knockout round for Wen Zhihao when Atletico Madrid had just locked in the qualification for the group stage before it was over.

The draw for the quarter-finals has some important avoidance principles, such as the avoidance of teams from the same national league, and the eight group winners and group runners-up will not meet. Under these two rules, Atletico Madrid are sure that they will not meet Real Madrid, who are second in Group H in advance. The other seven groups are second, and it depends on the providence of God who they are drawn to play against.

All the top teams in the group are reluctant to meet Bayern Munich and Juventus ahead of schedule. The same goes for Simeone. Although Atletico Madrid does not have to fear these two giants in terms of strength, it is too costly to meet in advance. If you can avoid it, you can avoid it, and the league championship will also involve a lot of energy for the team.

Of course, if the Swiss team Basel can be drawn, it will naturally be the best match.

The draw took place at UEFA's headquarters in Switzerland and the whole process was very fast, and after almost twenty minutes, the dust settled on all the matchups, which was great news for Atletico.

Not only did they manage to avoid Bayern and Juventus, but they also didn't draw reefs like Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk that could capsize, and Atletico's last-16 opponent is the Swiss side Basel, which is the coveted Swiss side of all teams!

Simeone, who was watching the live broadcast, whistled happily at the moment when the results came out, ignoring the eyes of the players around him, and directly pulled his assistant Boggs over to show him the latest matchup.

"Old man, we should be able to take that step this year, see, even God is watching over us." Simeone's expression was full of excitement.

Boggs nodded: "It's really bad luck." However, the first time I officially fought with them, I still had to be careful. ”

Simeone waved his hand: "Don't worry, don't you know me, when did I careless in the knockout round of fate." When I go back, I gather information about them. It's just a small shrimp, and it can't set off the wind and waves. ”

Before the start of the league match with Real Betis, Simeone revealed the good news to the players in advance, and it was no surprise that everyone was happy. If you draw this weakest and most comfortable opponent, as long as you don't die, the quarterfinals are basically a certainty.

When Wen Zhihao heard about the match against Basel, he was excited for a while, and his expression became a little playful.

Basel?

If I'm not mistaken, there should be my old acquaintances here!

Before he left Vitesse, Fan Xiaowolf seemed to have confirmed that he was going to join the Swiss team.

It seems that his performance this year should be very fierce, otherwise how could Basel, who was born in a third-rate league in Europe, squeeze into the knockout round of the Champions League.

Wen Zhihao's eyes widened, and a smile appeared on his face. Under the premise that the pressure of winning and losing is not great, how can people not look forward to such a game when they can reunite with their former teammates.

Simone glanced at Wen Zhihao's demeanor, and asked in a low voice, "Wen, what is your expression?" ”

Wen Zhihao came back to his senses in an instant, briefly explained the reason, Simone was stunned, and then asked, "Do you have any agreement with him?" Like meeting again, we have to score goals for each other or something? ”

'Well, no, but he's been in solid form and I think he's one of Basel's main goalscorers.'

Simeone nodded: "After the next game, you can talk to me about the matter between you and focus on him, okay?" ”

Wen Zhihao hurriedly agreed, he didn't expect that he could still contribute to the team in this regard.

The good news before the game made the players even more full of fighting spirit. Visiting the Lopera Stadium, Wen Zhihao knocked the mountain and shook the tiger in the opening two minutes, and after connecting three people in the middle, he turned and shot hard, and former Real Madrid goalkeeper Adan reacted quickly and lifted the ball off the crossbar with one palm.

In the Champions League three days ago, although Wen Zhihao scored two goals, Bakayoko and Kante imposed a lot of restrictions on him, and the whole game was very awkward, and he did not find a familiar feeling in the end. In this league, Wen Zhihao tried to find the feeling of running and breaking through freely under the premise of taking into account the overall situation of the team. The opening attempt to bring back this feeling a little bit.

With the strength of Real Betis, it is difficult to focus on Wen Zhihao, Thomas, Saul, Carrasco and Koke on the two wings are all strong individuals. As long as Wen Zhihao makes a pass before the defenders come around, the entire defensive system of Real Betis will open the door and be full of holes.

Real Betis coach Setien chose a 4-5-1 anti-counter formation in a low-key and pragmatic manner, except for striker Sanabria, and the heavy deployment was within 40 meters of his own half, which was clearly a test of Atletico's ability to break through the iron bucket formation.

If it is normal, this strategy may really work in the face of Atletico Madrid, who lack effective tactics in their active attack this season, but Real Betis is facing a Atletico Madrid team that has just been beaten by the good news of the Champions League. The bucket formation was only tested for 40 minutes, Wen Zhihao went through from outside the penalty area, and Gameiro broke the deadlock with a right-footed push.

In the second half, Atletico Madrid took advantage of the victory to chase, Wen Zhihao sent the nanny ball for the second time in the 80th minute, assisted Koke to score, and Atletico Madrid won the opponent with two goals without blood. The league, Copa del Rey and Champions League have won six in a row.

In the fifteenth round of La Liga, the other main title rivals, Real Madrid defeated Sevilla 3:2 and refused to fall out of the top four, Barcelona 3:1 Villarreal, Valencia defeated Celta 2:1, and the situation of the top four in the standings remained unchanged. Atletico remain six points off the top of the table, one point behind Valencia in third.

From December until the end of January next year, Atletico Madrid finally ushered in a honeymoon schedule, six consecutive league games against teams in the middle and lower reaches of the standings, and there is still nearly half a month of Christmas holiday in between, the holiday is a rare happy time, and the whole team wants to use a wave of consecutive wins to fight for a good mood for the holiday.