The draw for the knockout round of the European League, Lin Sen took time out to watch it in the conference room of the training base, and after training, he talked to Tang Hua and Dina.

Two days earlier, at the Manchester City Stadium, the Basques had almost managed to snatch the top spot from Manchester City, but Wright's late goal shattered Athletic Bilbao's hopes of revenge and made City the seeded team in the round of 32.

The round of 32 includes the top two teams from the 12 groups in the group stage, as well as eight unlucky people who fell from the Champions League. Being seeded means that in the first stage of the knockout stage, you will not meet the other group winners, and you will not meet the four unlucky ones who have fallen from the Champions League, and of course, the most tangible advantage is that in the first stage of the knockout stage, you have the advantage of the away team and the home team.

As for the rest of the rules, the Europa League is much the same as the Champions League, clubs from the same country cannot be drawn together, and teams from the same group cannot be drawn together, which also means that Manchester City, who are seeded, have temporarily avoided the unlucky Liverpool, who are unfortunately unseeded teams, and of course, this in turn means that there will definitely be a more unlucky seeded team that will meet the Reds.

Unlike the restrictions of the first stage, the draw for the round of 16 will have no rules, no seeded teams, and no avoidance from the same country.

Manchester City will face Dutch side FC Twente in the round of 32, while the winner between Manchester City and FC Twente will face the winner between Hertha Berlin and Benfica in the round of 16.

At first glance, this can be considered a signing for Manchester City. The opponent in the first stage is FC Twente, who did not qualify until the final round of the group stage, and in terms of strength, Manchester City have an overwhelming advantage. And because there is no circumvention of the rules that could theoretically run into any of the teams that qualify for the round of 16 draw, Manchester City did not face some strong opponents, such as the aforementioned Liverpool, Juventus and Roma from Serie A. Although the knockout round has always been a blessing or a curse, it can't be avoided, but after all, if you can meet it late, you can touch it a little later, and maybe any strong team will be upset if you are not careful, which will save trouble for both sides.

"The draw result is good, I can't see it, that bitter gourd face is still a lucky general." As soon as the results of the draw came out, Dina said. Bitter melon face is the nickname that Dina gave to Manchester City's football director Marwood, to describe Marwood's stern expression.

"It's interesting." At this time. Tang Hua, who was usually quiet, smiled unexpectedly.

"How?" Lin Sen turned his head to look at Tang Hua and asked, he knew that after Tang Hua qualified for the Europa League group, he had already started to prepare the materials for the European arena.

"Three opponents, all first." Tang Hua said, "It's just that two are the first in the league, and one is the bottom one in the league." ”

"Well, that's what you say." At this point, Dina opened her notebook and just looked it up. Immediately, his eyes widened.

Linsen leaned over and sure enough, FC Twente from the Eredivisie and Benfica from the Portuguese Super League are currently top of their respective leagues. And the record is outstanding, with FC Twente unbeaten in the Eredivisie so far, while Benfica have lost just one, with both teams leading the league by a wide margin. However, Hertha Berlin, the fourth place in the Bundesliga last season, has played so far this season, and has actually become the deputy squad leader of the Bundesliga. Sixteen league games have been lost twelve and three have been drawn. I've only won one game so far, and if it continues like this, I'm afraid it's going to be a relegation rhythm. In this case, they can still qualify for the Europa League, which is really a glory for the Bundesliga.

"In this way, this sign is not much better." Seeing that it was clear that Manchester City was going to meet the first of the two leagues, Dina pursed her lips and immediately turned her face and didn't recognize anyone, "Sure enough, the bitter gourd face is not suitable for being a lucky general." ”

Lin Sen couldn't cry or laugh, and was about to speak, when Tang Hua next to him suddenly asked.

"Is there a circumvention clause in Falcao's loan contract?"

"Nope." Lin Sen shook his head, and couldn't help but smile a little bitterly in his heart.

In fact, when he saw the results of the draw, the first thing he thought of was Falcao. Because of the loan from Manchester City, Falcao, playing for Benfica, half a month ago when Linson led the team to Portugal to play the Europa League group stage with the Nationals, Falcao scored seven goals in eight games, and now, this goal record has been updated, ten goals in ten games, an average of exactly one goal per game.

In the summer, for the transfer of David Luiz and Di Maria, Linson almost shoehorned Falcao to Benfica, and used coercion and inducement, he knew that Falcao would inevitably explode in the Portuguese Super League, but he didn't expect that one day it would explode on himself and shoot himself in the foot, probably that's it. However, there was no way to do this, and Benfica at the time would definitely not have accepted the addition of a circumvention clause to Falcao's loan contract.

"That's a shame. Falcao is now Benfica's top scorer and our chances would have been better if he hadn't been available. Tang Hua said with a little regret.

"It's not just Falcao. So is Di Maria. Lin Sen said with a wry smile.

I didn't want to hear Lin Sen's words, but Dina and Tang Hua next to him were at the same time: Di Maria?

Seeing the expressions of the two, Lin Sen remembered that the transaction between Manchester City and Benfica on Di Maria was a secret agreement and was not announced to the public, and he didn't seem to have told the two, so the two didn't know that Di Maria was actually half of Manchester City's player in a sense. And when Lin Sen said the matter, not only Tang Hua, but even Dina opened their eyes wide, but the focus of the two was different.

"Three million buy priority? Why can't I see that you spend other people's money so ruthlessly? Not like that when you were in Spain. That was Dina's reaction.

"......" This is Tang Hua's reaction.

Of course, Tang Hua didn't have nothing to say, he just didn't know what to say, unlike Dina, he just instantly felt that the person in front of him seemed to be a little too godly.

The signing of Falcao for five million and then on loan was widely considered a "loser" at the beginning of the season, but now, the transfer market has estimated Falcao in the eight figures, and three million is scheduled for Di Maria? As a top student majoring in statistics, Tang Hua does not have much research on what the so-called potential is, but he believes that the number jù, five goals and nine assists in thirteen games, such a number jù is completely a standard template for a future superstar for a 21-year-old midfielder, of course, what makes Tang Hua more concerned is the chemistry between Di Maria and Falcao, Falcao's ten goals, six from Di Maria's direct assists, what does this mean? To put it simply, these two are a golden pair.

And such a pair, Lin Sen has quietly pocketed the two before they become "golden", just like the pair of German brothers who have excelled in Birmingham in recent rounds.

Tang Hua didn't speak, and the gloating Dina added another sentence at this time.

"Congratulations, now you can inspect the goods on the spot." ――

The Europa League knockout rounds after the draw will not immediately add chaos to the already crowded Premier League, and Linsen's on-the-spot inspection will be in February. Therefore, the most important thing for Lin Sen at the moment is to play well in the current league. With three games left in December, the next home game against Sunderland will be the last league game before Christmas.

While gnawing on the hard bones and choking on the water, the eyes rolled at the water, and Manchester City has made such a fuss more than once this season. Sunderland is not hard bones, it is not water, it is just a piece of bread, but it is such a piece of bread that Manchester City, who are rolling their eyes, have to be cautious. Coupled with Manchester City, which has been winless for three consecutive games against Bilbao, it is impossible for both manager Linsen and tens of thousands of fans at home to continue to choke on this piece of bread.

Due to the Europa League game, Manchester City postponed the league game by a day compared to the other big clubs, which allowed Manchester City to get good news before the game.

The good news is that it is another round of bad luck for the giants.

Liverpool fell 2-0 to Portsmouth, Fulham beat Manchester United 3-0 and West Ham held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw.

It's another great opportunity to chase down points.

Before the game, I knew the opponent's score, the home game, and all the main forces hidden in the midweek, the time and place were favorable, and the advantage that Manchester City could take advantage of, in Linsen's pre-match press conference, that is, if Manchester City can't win this game, then there will be no game Manchester City can win.

In this game, Manchester City's start was unusually smooth, Suarez helped Manchester City open the situation early, but then the game changed dramatically, using a corner kick and a free kick, before the end of the first half, Sunderland unexpectedly overtook the score, at halftime, the broadcast camera of the game noticed a detail, during the fifteen-minute break, Linsen only went to the dressing room for less than ten minutes and returned to the coach's box on the sidelines, and then, after the start of the second half, the whole team of Manchester City was like being fed an aphrodisiac, It was Bale's long-range run that was successful, then Vidal took the lead again with a long-range shot, and Sunderland, who were behind again, tried to counter-attack, but Zabaleta cut in from the back to seal the win.

The score was four to two. Manchester City are closing in on the gap on points with Chelsea once again and leapfrogging losing Manchester United back into second place in the league.

After the game, a reporter asked Lin Sen what he said at halftime, and Lin Sen, who won the game, did not sell it, he half-jokingly and half-seriously said that he just said a word to his own players.

If you lose this game, then continue training on Christmas Day. (To be continued......)