Chapter 72: The Champions League

Arsene Wenger was also disappointed with his team's defence after the game: "Olympiacos was more risk-taking than us, which made our backline nervous. We conceded too many goals at the back, which was not common in the past. ”

If it weren't for the injuries of Sagna and Jenkinson, the lack of availability at right-back, the Gunners' small number of defenders and Squeeraki's lack of interest in the transfer market, I am afraid that Djolu and Squeerage would have left the Emirates Stadium long ago.

One might argue that the duo have played too few games this season, which has greatly affected their performance.

But this is not the first time they have contributed to a disastrous performance, for them, contributing low-level mistakes is really a high probability event, look at the recent comeback of Vermaelen and the new joining Mertesacker, how can such a performance.

In the early morning of December 8, Beijing time, the dust settled on the group stage of the 2011/12 Champions League, and all 16 teams that entered the knockout stage have been produced. All three Serie A teams advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League, while two teams each from La Liga, the Premier League and the Bundesliga qualified. Manchester United and Manchester City are both out of the tournament and have become the biggest upsets.

A match in the final round of Group A of the 2011/12 Champions League group stage was played at the Etihad Stadium, with Manchester City hosting Bayern Munich, who had already secured top spot in the group.

As a result, Dzeko cleverly assisted Silva and Yaya Toure to score in the game, and Manchester City won 2-0.

In the other game, Napoli won 2-0 away at Villarreal to join Bayern Munich in qualifying, with Manchester City finishing third in the Europa League

Group C of the Champions League group stage was played in the final round of the competition, with Manchester United taking on Basel at the Parc Saint-Jacobs in Switzerland.

Manchester United lost 1-2 to Basel and were eliminated only to go to the Europa League, Basel's two strikers Streller and A. Frei scored a goal each, Manchester United did not pull a goal back until the 89th minute by Phil Jones, Basel entered the Champions League round of 16 for the first time in nine years, and Manchester United was eliminated in the group stage again after six years in 2005, when Benfica also included in the group.

Since the 96-97 season, United have played in 16 consecutive UEFA Champions Leagues and successfully qualified for the knockout stages 15 times.

The only time they went out of the group was in the 05-06 season - it was an experience that all Manchester United players and fans could not look back on, with 1 win, 3 draws and 2 defeats at the bottom of the group, and they did not even have to play in the UEFA Cup, and the last time United lost away in the Champions League group stage was against Celtic five years ago.

Despite the Europa League still to be played, the irony is that United were runners-up in the Champions League last season, and looking back at the history of the Champions League, Ferguson will find that his record continues to be inadvertently made.

This time, Manchester United rewrote the Champions League record, they were the first team in the history of the Champions League to compete in the final last season, but the second season was so embarrassing that they did not qualify from the group.

In 192 days, Manchester United went from being runners-up in the Champions League to being out of the group stage.

The Champions League group competition has ended, and 16 teams have been selected. Some people rejoice, some people are sad. There were two big upsets in the group stage of the Champions League this season, that is, Manchester United and Manchester City, the top two in the Premier League, but they did not qualify from the group, and the exit of La Liga powerhouse Valencia also made the group winners smile.

At present, in addition to AC Milan's relative fame and strength, although the German, French and Russian league teams such as Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund, Lyon, CSKA Moscow, and Zenit are not bad, compared with the giants who are the first in the group, the grassroots teams are far from being the opponents of the giants.

Under the home-and-away elimination system, most of the teams in the second group belong to the knockout stage is the biggest victory, and it is difficult for them to have the strength to go further, and they have always been the role of accompanying the prince to study.

As for Basel and Napoli, the former has set a record after 10 years, while the latter is hampered by a thin squad and a two-front battle, with the knockout stages of the Champions League being their biggest test.

However, Dortmund's Champions League 1/8 finals will be held on February 23, so the current Dortmund only needs to play well in the domestic league with peace of mind, and the 1/8 finals will start after the winter break, which is good news for Dortmund, who is short of major generals.

On Sunday night, Beijing time, the 16th round of the Bundesliga continued, and in a contest, Dortmund, which had just qualified for the Champions League, hosted Kaiserslautern team.

Borussia Dortmund had previously lost the top spot to a draw with Borussia Mönchenchen, and were in second and third place with their opponents.

Gotze opened the scoring in the first half, Shahan equalised with a beautiful volley in the second half, Hummels hit the post with a header, Lewandowski and Gotze hit the crossbar in both halves, and Dortmund drew 1-1 with Kaiserslautern to draw two consecutive league games.

In this game, both teams lined up in a 4231 formation, Dortmund, Santana continued to partner with Hummels in the central defender, Gundogan and Da Silva formed a double back, Kuba, Kagawa Shinji and Grosskreutz formed an attacking midfield, and Polish striker Grosskreutz played as a single arrow.

For Kaiserslautern, Trapp was in goal, Abel and Rodney were in central defence, and Kumaha was on the front of the crowd.

In this game, Dortmund Klopp in order to protect Guan Peng, after all, Guan Peng has been almost full attendance recently, and Dortmund has participated in almost all games, so Klopp let Guan Peng rest this game, just sit on the bench with the team and watch his teammates play.

In the 27th minute, Dortmund took the lead in scoring, Gundogan made a direct pass in front of the arc, Grosskreutz rubbed sideways under the pressure of Rodney, and the unguarded Gotze won the ball, and hit the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal with a right-footed volley on the penalty line, 1-0.

In the 60th minute, Kaiserslautern equalized, Thifet hoisted a high ball near the midfield into the penalty area, Piszczek cleared the header and did not top out of the penalty area, and Shahan half-turned and scored with a left-footed volley from 14 meters away from the goal, 1-1.

Before leaving Stuttgart, "Mr. 30 million" Gomez has failed to score in three consecutive rounds of the Bundesliga, which is the first time this season, for this reason, his lead in the scorer list has also disappeared, and Huntelaar, who played in advance, has surpassed him by one goal, but in the 89th "Southern Derby", Gomez broke out in time, scored twice to help Bayern reverse his old club, and led the scorer list again with 15 goals.

Throughout the game, Gomez had six shots on goal, accounting for a third of the team, including three on target. In addition to that, he also made two crucial passes, and in the 25th minute, his cross allowed Muller to shoot from distance.

In the 78th minute, he crossed for Robben on the counter-attack, whose long-range shot went just over the crossbar. After the match, Sportal praised: "This match is like a solo dance by Gomez! ”

Veteran coach Heynckes also applauded his apprentice: "Gomes didn't just score two goals, he did a good job in the confrontation as well, for him the game against Stuttgart was a bit special, but luckily he scored the two goals we needed.