Chapter 68: The group stage is over

The league game is temporarily over, and Arsenal need to move their target to a match in the Champions League group stage; For Arsenal, which has won four and drawn one and scored 13 points, the first place in the group has been achieved, so the first round of the group stage is naturally just a passing scene.

Olympiacos has all but secured a second place in Group H of the Champions League group stage, but Standard Liege still has a chance in the same group, while Olympiacos' Zuihou opponents in the group stage are in the most unlucky moment.

Arsene Wenger admits that in his thirteen years in charge of Arsenal, the team has never been more unlucky, with the team doctor and recovery coach busier than ever. Arsenal beat underdogs Stoke City last week with a barely patchwork squad, but there are several more names on the team's lengthy injury list: Rosicky, Eboue, Galla and Traore.

Arsene Wenger has admitted that he will send his reserves and youth team to cope with this Champions League game, and they are now under no pressure and the group stage is not related to the result. Of course, it is also to be able to ensure that the team can still ensure a certain combat effectiveness as much as possible when it is attacked by injuries, and Arsenal can no longer be affected by injuries.

Because it is an away game, Xiao Qing and other Arsenal main players basically did not even enter the squad, they all stayed in London to prepare for the next league, and they also paid considerable attention to the draw for the upcoming knockout round.

Arsenal have already finished top of the group ahead of schedule, with Arsene Wenger fielding a large number of young players on the bench, with reserve captain Bartley and left-back Tom Cruise making their first first-team appearances, while Gilbert also made his first appearance in the Champions League this year. Theo Walcott returns from injury; Arsenal are completely training. It's about developing young players and finding form for injuries. Naturally, they don't care about the outcome of this game. It will be a good chance for Olympiacos to qualify from the group.

While it was difficult to hold on to the young substitutes in this game, it didn't matter if Arsenal lost the game. In the first half of the game, Arsenal's young defender Bartley tackled Olympiacos striker Gonzalez near the midfield, and the ball fell to Olympiacos Leonardo, who dribbled past Gilbert at high speed and drove straight into the box, and in the face of the attacking Fabianski, he calmly pushed his left foot into the far post.

Although Arsenal lost the game 1-0, it was not related to the result of the group stage. Arsenal won the group stage first with 13 points with four wins, one draw and one loss, while Olympiacos, who won 10 points with three wins, one draw and two losses, also qualified second in the group; Standard Liege won one win, two draws, three losses and five points, and finished third in the group and got a chance in the League Cup. Defending Eredivisie champions AZ Alkmaar finished bottom of the group with zero wins, four draws and two defeats.

For Arsenal, this result is very good, and winning the group in such a group with basically no big competition is naturally what Arsenal should achieve; What is more important for them is to finish first in the group and avoid facing strong opponents too early in the next knockout rounds. Arsenal are not afraid of tough opponents, but they clearly don't want to put too much burden on their side in the Champions League because of too many tough games.

With the end of the sixth round of the Champions League group stage, the group competition is also officially over, the top 16 of the 2009-10 season are all produced, the five major league teams occupy thirteen seats, the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A three major leagues have three teams shortlisted, the Bundesliga, the French Ligue 1 each has two teams to advance, and Portugal, Russia, Greece three mid-league each have a team alive, a total of eight national teams into the Zuihou competition.

Although UEFA President Michel Platini's original intention to restructure the Champions League was to allow more countries to participate in the Zuihou competition. But ironclad facts prove that minor league teams are guaranteed to enter the main tournament even if they are guaranteed. It will also be difficult to survive the group stage of the Champions League, and before this round, the little-known teams like Kazan Ruby (Russian Premier League champions) and Yurinha (Romanian champions) performed well and looked like there was still a glimmer of hope, but the final result was not spared, while the Hungarian champions, the Champions League champions, New Din Brezen, who have lost six in a row, are more aware of the tradition of this competition.

It can be said that in this Champions League group stage, basically the major giants have qualified from the group, of course, there are some surprises; For example, Liverpool and Juventus were a little unlucky, they had no choice but to participate in the League Cup, and their Champions League journey this time was bitter.

Bordeaux in Group A had some unexpected five wins and one draw, and won 16 points, and Bayern Munich, the second in the group, won three wins, one draw and two losses, accumulating 10 points; Juventus's two wins, two draws and two losses with eight points can only participate in the League Cup, and Maccabi Haifa, who plays soy sauce, simply lost six games in a row and went out with zero points.

Bordeaux's results were somewhat surprising, as they were not considered to be able to finish first in the group before the start of the group stage, and even it was difficult to qualify from the group; Because Bayern Munich is good enough, Juventus, who finally returned to the Champions League, is now constantly recovering. However, the result of Group A was somewhat surprising, Juventus had to go to the UEFA Cup bitterly, and Bayern Munich's second qualification from the group also made it very likely that there will be some variables in the knockout rounds of the next round of 16.

In Group B, Manchester United easily won 13 points with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, while CSKA Moscow won 10 points with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, and naturally qualified second in the group; These two teams are widely considered to be the most likely to qualify, and they have largely got the results expected. And Shaw Wolfsburg has two wins, one draw and three losses to accumulate seven points, and Wolfsburg, who missed a face in the Champions League, once again went to the League Cup, while Besiktas finished at the bottom of the group with four points with one win, one draw and three losses.

In Group C, Real Madrid has four wins, one draw and one loss, accumulating 13 points and qualifying for the first place in the group, which is acceptable for Real Madrid, who started the second phase of the Galaxy Battleship, but what Real Madrid needs now is to perform well in the knockout round, you must know that they have been out of the round of 16 in the previous seasons; AC Milan, on the other hand, began to decline in competitiveness after losing Kaka, and AC Milan, with two wins, three draws and one loss, finished second in the group with nine points.

In Group D, Chelsea won four and drew two to win 14 points, while Porto won four and lost two to finish second in the group with 12 points. As for Atletico Madrid, they can only finish third in the group with three draws and three defeats, because Atletico Greeks under them have only drawn two games.

Fiorentina in Group E are top of the group with 15 points from five wins and one loss, and the Purple Lilies are somewhat surprising, they seem to have helped Juventus save face in Serie A, and they are also the only team in Serie A to top the group. Lyon, on the other hand, are second in the group with 13 points from four wins, one draw and one loss, and they are also the team with the highest points among the second-placed teams in this group stage.

As for Liverpool, they have two wins, one draw and three losses, only seven points, and the third place in the group is somewhat unexpected, because although it may be difficult for Liverpool to fight for the title now, it is also unacceptable to be out of the group stage. And Debrezen in this group also simply swallowed six bullets in a row and went straight out.

In Group F, Barcelona has three wins, two draws and one loss, and Inter Milan has two wins, three draws and one loss, and is second in the group with nine points; Kazan Ruby has one win, three draws and two losses, accumulating six points, third in the group, participating in the League Cup, and Dynamo Kyiv can only finish at the bottom of the group.

In Group G, Sevilla won four wins, one draw and one loss, accumulating 13 points and topping the group. And in the league some defeats of the defending Bundesliga champion Hoffenheim two wins, three draws and one loss with nine points to qualify for the second group is a bit of a surprise, the current Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga can not even squeeze into the top six, but the opponents in the group stage are not strong, which also gives them the opportunity to continue to see the world in the Champions League. Look at the teams behind them, Uniria with two wins, two draws and two defeats, and Rangers with two draws and four defeats, these are all minor roles in the secondary league.

After the Champions League group stage match, Cristiano Ronaldo's six goals were also temporarily at the top of the scorer list, and the terrifying winger continued his terrifying goals. And closely behind Ronaldo is Xiao Qing, who has scored five Champions League goals, is now in great shape, as the top scorer of last season's European Golden Boot and the Premier League scorer list so far, Xiao Qing is very confident of scoring more goals in the next knockout rounds. Next up are Dzeko and Owen with four goals, and they are also very good goals, and they are also players who are likely to go further. As for last season's Champions League top scorer, Lionel Messi has scored just one goal so far.

However, for those players who want to fight for the Golden Boot in the Champions League, the first thing they need is to ensure their own form and strength, but the overall strength of the team also needs to be recognized; The more games you play in the Champions League, the more likely you are to score more goals. So now Xiao Qing is very confident that he can score more goals, his form is very good, and Arsenal's overall strength is also very good, so he believes that he can help Arsenal go to Zuihou.

The group stage has all ended, and the much-anticipated knockout draw is about to begin, which is also a key draw that is likely to affect the trend of this Champions League, which is also the existence that many teams are looking forward to and attaches great importance to.

UEFA will soon hold a draw for the round of 16 of the Champions League, with the winners of each group facing off against the eight group runners. All six teams in the Premier League and La Liga are top of their group, and the quarter-finals will not spark for the time being. However, due to the fact that traditional giants such as Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich are only ranked second in the group, there will definitely be a peak showdown like Mars hitting the earth in the 1/8 finals. As for whether the Champions League draw is shady, it is a matter of opinion, but UEFA, which has always liked to create gimmicks, will of course deliberately create the so-called "watch showdown" in order to increase ratings.

Xiao Qing was studying carefully with Anna, and he hoped to be able to draw some relatively weak opponents at this time; Xiao Qing hopes to win the Champions League, so it is obviously disadvantageous to meet a strong team too early at this time, of course he is not afraid of the dialogue with a strong team, but now it is obviously the best choice to save a certain strength. (To be continued......)