Lin Sen scratched his head a little.

Don't get me wrong, theoretically, Lineker's luck from England should be said to be good, because after Sneijder drew the ball representing Manchester City, Lineker on the other side soon also drew the ball representing the group, and the note he unfolded was not an E from Bayern and Roma, nor a G from Real Madrid and AC Milan, but an A.

Defending champions Inter Milan are in a group.

What makes Linson scratch his head is not all that they will meet Inter Milan in three days' time, but more about their new manager, Rafa Benitez.

Benitez should actually thank Mourinho, although if there is a manager in the world who he hates the most, this person must be Mourinho, but if it weren't for Mourinho leaving Inter Milan for Real Madrid, then the way he left Liverpool is not glamorous, and he can't get a new job so quickly anyway, and he is the defending champion of the Champions League.

If nothing else, this means that in the new season, Benitez, who is known as a cup expert, does not need to do anything to get the chance to compete for three titles, the Italian Super Cup, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, although these trophies are not important honors, but no one will rule out the opportunity to add a few good numbers to their files.

After Manchester City, who claimed to be the strongest in the third pot, were drawn into Group A, both Inter Milan president Moratti, who enjoyed the moment of success on the spot, and the best Inter Milan players who had just won all the best players, were all smiling. This is not Inter Milan's contempt for Manchester City, although Group A is squeezed into Manchester City, but because the team in the second pot is Werder Bremen from Germany, compared with Group E and Group G, Group A is not a group of death in any way, no matter how you look at the defending champions, you don't need to worry about your qualification, and the other group qualifiers. Apparently most of the time it is Manchester City and Bremen who are going to die or die, and as for the fourth pot, the last member of Group A is Manchester City's "acquaintance": Twente from the Eredivisie.

Serie A champions and reigning Champions League champions Inter Milan, Bundesliga third-place Werder Bremen, Premier League champions Manchester City, and Eredivisie champions Anthony Twente.

It's not a group of death, but it's not an easy group either.

"It's a good group." On the TV screen, the hosts and guests of Sky TV were still discussing the outlining of each group in terms of the grouping, but at this time, Tang Hua's gaze was withdrawn from the screen and said. "If there are no accidents, Inter Milan should occupy a qualifying place, and the remaining place is a competition between Bremen and us in terms of strength, but Bremen lost their core Ozil this summer, and the strength should be reduced, but Twente should not be underestimated."

Lin Sen nodded.

In fact, as long as they can avoid the two groups of EG, no matter which group Manchester City are drawn into, Linsen has reason to be optimistic about the group qualification. It's not that he despises other teams, as the champion of the Premier League, he avoids those seeded teams in Pot 1 and several strong teams in Pot 2. If in this case, the out-of-line shì still needs to be described as "severe", then this is not modesty, but self-indulgence.

Although in Lin Sen's memory. Manchester City always seem to be missing that breath in the Champions League, but that's memory, last season's Europa League. It's a huge encouragement for him and for Manchester City. Moreover, except for Werder Bremen, he has played against the managers of the other two teams, and although he does not have much advantage in terms of record, he is not far behind.

"It's unbelievable that UEFA didn't hack us." Dina was a little surprised, she had thought that Manchester City must be trying to create a group of death.

"Hack us?" Kidd smiled, then shook his head and said, "You think too highly of us. ”

Lin Sen also smiled, he could understand Dina's words, because he had also been worried before. He can also understand what Kidd means, because the draw results are in front of him, and Manchester City's signing is not good or bad, and it looks a lot like Manchester City's current status in the eyes of UEFA. Manchester City is the Premier League champion, Manchester City is a big player in the transfer market in the first two years, Manchester City is a local tycoon...... City have a lot of names on their heads, but in UEFA's eyes, apart from the Financial Fair Play Act, they don't really stand out, at least, it doesn't seem to be enough to make it difficult for UEFA to do so.

In the training on the second day, Lin Sen deliberately observed the reactions of the players, and the results made him a little relieved and a little worried.

Thankfully, for many of the City's players, this will be their first Champions League appearance, but the excitement that emanates from the top of their heads is not a fear of the top competition that symbolizes European clubs. Perhaps, this is the so-called newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. However, what worries him a little is that the newborn calf is not afraid of the tiger, although the courage is commendable, but the cow is still a cow after all, and the tiger is still a tiger after all-

On August 28, the Stade Louis II of Monaco, UEFA Super Cup, last season's Europa League winner Manchester City, last season's Champions League winner Inter Milan.

Lin Sen, facing Benitez again.

This is the fifth meeting between the two sides, the first four times, Lin Sen's record is one win and three draws, to put it mildly, it is undefeated, but in fact, Lin Sen only occupies some advantages.

Last season, for Inter Milan fans, there was no doubt that they were happy, and they deserved it, because in the past ten years, Inter Milan can be called one of the saddest teams in European football. The two managers changed this qiē, Mancini, who was once Linson's "rival", helped Inter Milan establish the supremacy of Serie A behind the phone, and the arrival of Mourinho allowed the team to complete the transformation on the European stage.

However, neither manager is at Inter Milan at the moment.

Lin Sen doesn't know if history will change, but this summer, Inter Milan's operation in the transfer market did not surprise Lin Sen.

Mascherano, who was once very close to them, ended up going to Barcelona, Kuyt, who Benitez had always wanted, was not in place, Inter Milan only completed a few inconsequential signings, Brazilian genius Coutinho was late, Mabiabiani was redeemed on the wing, and Falahoni was given for free, and throughout the summer, Inter Milan seemed to be "younger", and the only one that was older was Castellazzi, replacing the retired Toldo. There are few signings, but Inter's purge is clear: Quaresma, Burdisso, Obina...... The only "accident" was Balotelli, who would have defected to Manchester City in memory, because Manchester City's manager was no longer Mancini and did not happen.

However, there is one thing that Inter Milan and Manchester City have in common, that is, as the most successful football club in Europe last season, although there were scandals throughout the summer with important players such as McCone and Diego Milito, in the end, Inter Milan retained their main lineup.

The army of kings should not act rashly.

This is a universally accepted principle in football.

But this principle is not universal in all cases, at least, Linson knows that Inter Milan have missed one of their best chance to rebuild, and at the cost of a period of nirvana that is close to ten years.

In this game, Linson and Benitez both lined up in a four-two-three-one formation, Linsen's start was no different from the start against Liverpool in the previous round, goalkeeper Joe Hart, Bridge and Zabaleta guarded the wing, Kompany in the middle partnered with David Luiz, Vidal and Yaya Toure in the back, Bale, David 0 Silva and Robben in front lined up, and Suarez was in excellent form at the front. And Inter's start, and their start last season, had two of the biggest changes.

One is that Stankovic replaced Pandev as the right wing, which is not difficult to guess Benitez's intentions, you only need to refer to who is in this position in the Benitez era Liverpool can understand his intentions, obviously in Benitez's view, the running active Stankovic is more in line with his role as "Kuyt" in his high pressing tactics, rather than Pandev, who has better offensive ability but is obviously not physically superior.

When Stankovic appeared in this position, the commentator called Benitez's move a "strange soldier", Lin Sen didn't know whether the "strange soldier" in the commentator's mouth was a compliment or a derogatory, but Benitez's "strange soldier" obviously failed to achieve the effect he wanted, whether it was offensive or defensive.

Throughout the first half, Bale's side became the most dangerous side for Manchester City, and if it wasn't for the opposition goalkeeper Cesar who opened the hanging, Manchester City could have taken the lead in the first half.

Benitez's second change comes from midfield, but unlike the first, this one is a passive, or rather helpless, change. Due to the injury of the team's metronome Motta, Benitez had to replace the former with veteran captain Zanetti in midfield, that is, the "two" of Inter Milan's 4231 is Zanetti's partner Cambiaso.

Zanetti has played in the midfield, and more than once, the captain of Inter Milan, who is known as the legend of immortality, is also conscientious, this game, until the end of the game, everyone's pace has been somewhat sluggish due to the consumption of physical energy, but Zanetti is still walking like a fly, running all over the field. However, this does not mean that he has completely replaced Motta's role in midfield.

No one is omnipotent, not even Zanetti.

The captain of Inter Milan made up for Motta's role in defense, and it can even be said that he exceeded Motta, but in attack, Inter Milan without Motta, in the confrontation with Manchester City in the midfield, there is not much advantage at all, one of the most obvious changes is that Sneijder, as a striker, has to often retreat to his own half to get the ball, because whether it is Zanetti or Cambiaso, under the blockade of Manchester City's Yaya Toure and Vidal, it is difficult to pass the ball to his feet.

Without Motta, Sneijder is in trouble, and Sneijder is in trouble, which means Inter Milan is in trouble. (To be continued......)