******

After Valencia's home game against Bratislava, Iello and his team-mates briefly celebrated before heading into the dressing room as he wondered about the result of United's away game against Benfica in Portugal, which was also taking place in Portugal.

"Brother Diving, Rooney! You're going to have to do it!! ”

Under Iroh's muttering, he opened the official UEFA website on his phone's browser.

In an instant, he was caught by a piece of news: "In a key battle in Group D of the UEFA Champions League in the 05-06 season, Villarreal, who played at home, beat Ligue 1 team Lille by one goal. ”

I'll go! How can the match between Villarreal and Lille compare to the focus of Manchester United and Benfica?

Isn't this a pit?

It wasn't until now that Iroh discovered that UEFA also had a title party.

What a waste of feelings!!

Iroh continued to scroll down to see another red headline: "In another key Group D match, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help the team win a difficult 3-2 win over Benfica......"

Whew――

After seeing this result, Iroh finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After reading the title, he was immediately attracted by Cristiano Ronaldo's brace, and continued to look down, "Cristiano Ronaldo helped the team turn the ...... with a direct free kick in the 78th minute and a long-range shot from the edge of the box in the 89th minute"

It's not easy!

When I think of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney I saw in Beijing this year, they were really thin and fat.

Shaking his head, anyway...... It's good to win.

In order to express his appreciation for Manchester United's difficult group qualification, he sent a congratulatory text message to Wayne Rooney and C. Ronaldo respectively.

The six group stages of the Champions League have all ended, and all 16 teams have been born to enter the round of 16 of the Champions League in the 05-06 season, but this year's round of 16 is a little different from previous years.

Why?

Because the five teams that finished second in each group of this year's Champions League are world-class giants: Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

So after the group stage, not only the mainstream sports newspapers in Europe began to analyze frantically, but even the sports media of other continents that follow the UEFA Champions League began to analyze the draw for the next 1/8 finals.

For Valencia, they only need to worry about whether they will meet Chelsea and Manchester United, because according to the relevant UEFA rules, the draw for the 1/8 final stipulates that it is impossible for teams from the same association and their group stage opponents to meet in this draw.

Therefore, it is only necessary to worry about two other strong opponents.

But Iroh knows... Real Madrid's 1/8 final is bound to meet Arsenal, and Barcelona will definitely be in the same group because of the feud with Chelsea last season, which is the unspoken rule of UEFA in the draw, and there will be basically no difference.

Ielloh's concern is whether they will draw the Red Devils Manchester United, and if the time comes...... Did you really draw Manchester United?

Valencia Sport, the best-selling newspaper from Valencia, is also analysing the draw for UEFA's 05-06 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw in Nyon, Switzerland, four days later.

"The group stage of this season's UEFA Champions League is all over, but the smoke of the group stage has not yet dissipated, and UEFA will start the draw for the 1/8 finals starting next year...... This year's Champions League group stage is a bit special, why is it special? Because after the end of the group stage of this year's Champions League, there are five world-class giants ranked second in the group, they are Bayern Munich in Group A, Manchester United in Group D, Real Madrid in Group F, Chelsea in Group G and Inter Milan in Group H, so ......"

“…… Throw away the Champions League 1/8 of the avoidance draw principle, that is to say, throw away Real Madrid and Inter Milan in the same group in the group stage, that is, Bayern Munich in Group A, Manchester United in Group D and Chelsea in Group G, any remaining opponent is not to be underestimated, although Bayern Munich is replacing the old and new, but it should not be underestimated, not to mention Manchester United, under the leadership of Ferguson, they have always been strong contenders for the Champions League title, and the last Chelsea is even more difficult to mess with, the owner' 'International Mercenaries', and last season they eliminated Barcelona in the 1/8 finals......"

After analyzing and analyzing, in the end, I still think that Valencia's games are not easy to play, and leaving these three giants behind, the remaining Werder Bremen, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven are not weak teams.

After all, how many of the teams that can stand out from the group stage are persimmons that are easy to pinch?

When it comes to the knockout round, no one wants to lose!

******

In fact, not only Valencia's sports media are analyzing Valencia's opponents in the Champions League 1/8 finals, but also China's media, which is thousands of miles away, is also analyzing, but they are not analyzing the odds of playing against these giants.

It's about analysing the odds of a 'Chinese derby' in the Champions League.

Valencia vs Ajax

Valencia v Werder Bremen

After the Champions League group stage, all kinds of such headline parties have been rampant on newsstands, and even the fact newspapers that usually have nothing to do with sports have also joined in this event.

The headline of this issue of "Football News" is written: UEFA is transporting "Chinese players in the Champions League's 'derby'" not to mention, it is quite reasonable to be analyzed by this "Football News", the text reads: "As the country with the most fans in the world, the most commercialized UEFA Champions League is impossible to abandon this big cake in China, plus the current UEFA President Lennart Johansson and China have a lot of fate, under the permission of the rules, at the draw ceremony of the Champions League 1/8 finals, It is not impossible for Valencia to draw Ajax and Werder Bremen, who also have Chinese players, after all, the amount of gold in the Champions League is there, and it is impossible to give up ......"

And the readers who bought this issue of "Football Newspaper" all subconsciously said:!!

Indeed, the Chinese market can be said to be very attractive to UEFA, and it is not impossible to carry a Champions League derby of Chinese players, but it is ...... It's just a matter of whether they want to or not.

******

Before the draw for the Champions League 1/8 finals began, the mainstream media in Europe were speculating about the next European 1/8 finals.

Not to mention, both sides of the match have been speculated by various media.

One of the most eye-catching was the headline of the day in the World Sports Newspaper, "Kneel down and beg Chelsea!" ”

After the Champions League group stage was over, Le Monde Sport began to make a difference, and it was surprising to find that Catalan fans chose Chelsea as the opponent in 44%, which is even more than the Eredivisie duo Ajax and PSV Eindhoven combined.

Among them, "World Sports" mentioned the 'wish' of this draw, and did not forget to ridicule Valencia, "Like thousands of Barcelona fans, we all hope that Barcelona can draw Chelsea!" Why? Because we want to get revenge on football, because it was unfair to be eliminated last season! Compared to Valencia, who are picking soft persimmons to play, we are more confident in our own strength! No strength is not football!! That's what we're all about Barcelona!! ”

As a result, Valencia also had to lie down and get shot.

******

Since there were no games in Valencia before the draw, the team was training for a restorative basis, and the technical and tactical training was only played for about ten minutes a day, because the coaches knew that Christmas was approaching, and the players' mentality was no longer on the game, and they wanted to go and play at the beginning of the winter break......

After all, after half a season of hard work and nearly half a month of rest, can you not be chic?

The combination of work and rest is king!

At noon on the 16th, after Valencia finished the day's training, club president Soler, head coach Flores and captain Canizares boarded a plane to Nyon, Switzerland, to participate in the draw ceremony for the 1/8 finals of the 05-06 UEFA Champions League that night.

At seven o'clock in the evening of the same day, the 1/8 finals of the 05-06 UEFA Champions League knockout round in the exhibition hall of the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, officially began.

The draw was presided over by UEFA CEO Olsson, and the venue began with two short films, a clip from the final of the first Champions Cup 50 years ago and a brief recap of the group stage.

After that, the director of the UEFA club competition department announced the rules of the draw:

Teams belonging to the same FA cannot meet (except Liverpool); The teams in the same group in the group stage cannot meet again; Teams with the same ranking in the group stage cannot meet; The second-placed team in the group stage plays home first.

After the announcement, UEFA CEO Olsson began to draw lots, and the first to be drawn was Chelsea.

Immediately, there was an uproar at the scene, and everyone subconsciously looked at Barcelona's president Laporta and coach Rijkaard, and what people expected was that Facchetti, who was the guest of the draw, had a weird smile when he drew the green ball.

Followed by...... The green ball with the English alphabet of Barcelona was unveiled.

Wow -

The scene is boiling!

Interestingly, coach Rijkaard and captain Puyol high-fived and celebrated after learning the draw, as if it was not a draw for the Champions League quarter-finals, but a match.

The next draw was Real Madrid, and the opponent was Premier League giants Arsenal.

Bremen drew Juventus

Seeing this, countless Chinese fans began to regret it.

Next up is Bayern Munich, and their opponents are AC Milan.

"Ai, you say...... Who will be our opponents? ”

The draw on TV has already decided four games, and with four more games remaining, David Villa asked a little nervously.

"Hey, I want to play against a strong team!"

At this moment, the third world-class giant that Valencia could meet was drawn on the TV - Manchester United.

"Won't it?" David Villa was surprised and said, "You don't want to touch Manchester United, do you?" ”

Iroh didn't speak, just nodded.

"! Put away your crow's beak!! ”

At this time, the boss Marchena hurriedly covered Iro's mouth, and at the same time did not forget to say the Chinese proverb he learned from Navarro, "Tong Yan Wu Ji Tong Yan Wu Ji!" ”

"The last big big Manchester United has been drawn, so ...... Who will they be against next? Facchetti, the guest of the draw, pulled out one of the only four remaining red balls from the red box.

Valencia!

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