Chapter 21: Good luck

The draw is so wonderful, which means that if Arsenal really qualify for the first place in the group, then the draw order will be more beneficial to themselves, because in the knockout round, the team that is away first and then the host team often has a certain advantage, and in fact, Wenger is now very confident that Arsenal can replicate last season's semi-final feat or even make a breakthrough, before the draw results were announced, Wenger had said that the outside world thought that Arsenal's semi-finals last season were shit luck This statement is not objective.

Wenger was very dissatisfied with this, saying: "Although we reached the last four last season, we are still not favored by the outside world, and there are two reasons for this: first, by current standards, it is not unusual for there should be at least two Premier League teams in the top four; Secondly, in the most high-profile game, we did not play well against Manchester United, so our previous results were selectively ignored. ”

Now when the opportunity to win all six games in the group stage is now from the sky, for Arsenal, for Wenger, for all Arsenal people, for all Arsenal people, for all Arsenal people, for all Arsenal people, playing at the best level to shock the whole of Europe is a prescribed action that must be completed.

The Arsenal form in the new season is outrageous, and their luck seems to be exceptional, so this season's Arsenal really deserves more to look forward to; Because although there is no real group of death, compared to other opponents, Arsenal has a lot less effort in the group stage.

Take a look at the teams that are considered to have the Group of Death. Let's start with Group A. Bayern, who spent more than €50 million this summer and brought in former Ajax, Barcelona and Dutch national team coach Louis van Gaal. If the Bundesliga giants only qualify as second in the group. This will certainly make the club's hierarchy a little embarrassed and worried, because once they finish second in the group stage and meet the top giants, the situation of home and away in the rematch will be quite a headache for Bayern.

Bayern need to worry about much more than that, because now the Bianconeri, who can beat Real Madrid twice after last season's Champions League wash, now do have the strength to compete for the title, and more importantly, Juve has not lost the elite this summer. On the contrary, it also signed well-known players such as Melo, Cannavaro and Diego, and the latter is Bayern's nemesis in the Bundesliga.

As for the other two teams in this group, Bordeaux, who are the new champions of Ligue 1, is very strong, and Maccabi Haifa, who is basically half of the Israeli national team, and most of the players in the team also have considerable European experience. Therefore, the death of this group cannot be underestimated.

Next, let's look at Group C, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, Zurich. The fact that the three former Champions Cup winners stand side by side is already a strong visual impact, and it is worth mentioning that all three teams have a number of super-class stars. And many of them have some intertwined relationships with the opponents they are about to meet. Morientes and Heinze will represent Marseille against Real Madrid; Kaka will bear the main responsibility for defeating AC Milan; The fact that Huntelaar had to score at the San Siro or the Bernabeu in a red and black striped shirt is a testament to how foolish Florentino's decision to sell him this summer was. Other than that. For example, the former Barcelona top Ronaldo against Real Madrid, the former Juventus superstar Didier Deschamps ushered in the 1997 Champions League final defeat, Pato needs to prove that he is already the star of Milan in front of Kaka, and other very interesting events will also be presented to the world one by one.

However, for the three former Champions Cup winners, winning the qualification spot is obviously the most important thing; Therefore, as far as the situation of this group is concerned, under the premise that the Zurich team can only accompany the prince to study, Real Madrid, Milan, and Marseille will definitely be in the dark in the group stage, and as for the final two winners, I believe they will also be out of breath at that time.

Zuihou will talk about Barcelona and Inter in Group F. The first thing to stress here is that if you look at the Champions League schedule and La Liga together, the prospects for Barcelona and Inter Milan are quite sinister. However, the other two teams in this group must not be selectively ignored, but to be honest, even if Kazan Ruby and Dynamo Kyiv play at 200%, they can only compete for third place in the group at best, and whether they can play the dark horse may require a little luck, of course, provided that the two giants take a nap.

So really speaking, there is no real group of death in the draw of the Champions League group stage, or although Platini likes to support weak teams, in order to ensure the attractiveness of the Champions League, the major giants can almost easily enter the Champions League knockout round. However, for many teams, they now prefer to win the group.

The draw for the round of 32 of the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage has been announced. After the draw was announced, there was an uproar in the media, Kaka will play his former club AC Milan as a Real Madrid player, Ibrahimovic and Eto'o, two popular goalscorers who have swapped clubs this summer, and the Premier League semi-finals have also been drawn again as in previous years.

This may be the coincidences and gimmicks that the Champions League has always liked, but it also shows a problem, that is, the current Xiao Qing is not as attractive as he imagined, at least he came to Arsenal, but it seems unlikely that he and Hoffenheim want to meet on the pitch.

Xiao Qing is quite happy about this grouping, because the opponents in the group stage are generally weak, which also makes Arsenal have more energy to try to establish some advantages in the league.

To some extent, if Arsenal can't qualify two rounds early, it will be a relatively unsuccessful result. Regardless of the other three teams, playing well at home and scoring more goals will be key regardless of their record with Arsenal, and among the three teams, Olympiacos have won 15 games in a row at home, with their only defeat coming near the end of the season.

So, despite the quality of AZ Alkmaar and Standard Liege, if Olympiacos can play well at home and draw or lose away from home, the Greek giants who once boasted Rivaldo are the most likely to join Arsenal in the round of 16.

There will be a Premier League team in the Champions League final for five consecutive years, and the last three semi-finals have occupied three of them, although only Liverpool and Manchester United have lifted the Big Ear Holy Grail in five years, but there is no doubt that English teams have formed a group advantage in this top club competition in Europe, and after last season, the Premier League BIG4 has once again been in the first pot of the Champions League group stage in the new season to become seeded teams. After the draw, the four giants of the Premier League also found their respective positions. Avoided Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Juventus in Pot 2. As soon as the group was revealed, the British press cheered: "This is a great signing for an English team." ”

UEFA President Michel Platini is known to hate Premier League teams, and the overwhelming strong performances of English teams in recent years are completely contrary to Platini's strategic plan to pursue balance and support the weak. The French famously said, "Excessive football will be tarnished." Therefore, when Eduardo faked a fall in the qualifying round, Platini, as the president of UEFA, came out and said that "there is a possibility of a ban." ”

When Chelsea and Barcelona met in the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, Ballack and Drogba were furious because of the referee's unfair decision, and the scene of rage is still unforgettable.

According to the English media: in the group stage, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal did not meet the big teams, and first avoided Real Madrid, which has Cristiano Ronaldo. If you look at the other groups, Bayern Munich PK Juventus; AC Milan PK Real Madrid; The weight of Barcelona PK Inter Milan is much heavier than the top four of the Premier League. It seems that the top four of the Premier League have taken advantage, but if you consider the rules and depth, UEFA is actually not benevolent to England clubs.

As the rules for the first round of knockout rounds are the avoidance of the same club, as well as the avoidance of the same group in the group stage, it is highly likely that the Premier League BIG4 will face a strong resistance in the round of 16, as was the case last season. With two superpowers in Group A, Group C and Group F, it is possible to ensure that no matter whether a Premier League team finishes first in the group stage or advances as second in the group, they will have a strong opponent on the way to the quarter-finals.

Of course, according to UEFA's usual practice, it is very likely that the most championship-looking team will be "reserved" before the semi-finals, and if the Premier League BIG4 once again "ferociously" clears all the obstacles in the first round of knockouts, then what awaits them will be inevitable "internal attrition", because only in this way is the safest way to "annihilate" English clubs.

However, at this time, the English media are generally satisfied with the draw of England's four giants, and perhaps they are more worried about the team's performance in the knockout stage and those coincidental arrangements.

Now Arsenal don't have the mind to be overly silent in the group stage of the wonderful signing, now they need to concentrate all their energy, they need to take this good fortune to start the upcoming focus battle, (to be continued......