On 7 December, Hamburg welcomed Augsburg at home.

The game Hamburg won very easily.

Hamburg, who had the majority of their main players, soon took over the game and scored early.

In the fifth minute, Vardy opened the scoring with a header from an indirect free-kick.

Before the end of the first half, N'Golo Kante scored again, 2-0.

After the rematch in the second half, Salah and substitute Wu Lei also scored one after another.

In the end, Hamburg beat Augsburg 4-0 at home.

And this score is not the biggest disparity in this round of the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen sat at home against Bayern Munich and played a score of 0:7!

Bayern were completely insane, with almost all attackers such as Muller, Gotze, Robben, Mandzukic and Ribery getting on the scoresheet.

This score also seems to be like Bayern demonstrating to Hamburg.

Because in the next round of the Bundesliga, that is, in the 16th round, they will face Hamburg head-on!

Dortmund lost 1-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen in a strong conversation in this round, which made the gap between the top three and four appear to be wider.

It can be said that the match between Bayern and Hamburg will be a match that can determine the trend of the Bundesliga championship this season!

……

Ahead of this match, Hamburg and Bayern Munich will travel to Europe for the final round of the Champions League group stage.

And in the first five games, Bayern's record is even better than Hamburg, they have won all five games!

But they didn't lock up the top spot in the group like Hamburg.

That's because there is another team in Group D that they are competing with!

That's the new Premier League powerhouse, Manchester City.

Although Manchester City lost 3-1 to Bayern Munich in the first leg, they also won all of their matches against the other two teams.

Therefore, in the final round of the game, if Bayern overturns and loses to Manchester City by more than 2 goals at home, they will still give up the first place in the group!

This is the biggest advantage for Hamburg before the showdown with Bayern.

That is, Hamburg can play a "friendly match" against Barcelona, and then play Bayern Munich at leisure.

Bayern, on the other hand, can't be as relaxed as Hamburg, after all, Manchester City's strength should not be underestimated now, and if they are accidentally snatched away from the first joke of the group, it will be too big.

For Bayern, playing at home could be the best news for them.

……

On December 11, in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Hamburg played Barcelona away.

With the top two teams in the group determined one round earlier, this match did not mean much for either side.

On the side of the Spanish Serie A, the title race between Barcelona and Madrid has also reached a white-hot stage, and they naturally do not want to be distracted in this kind of competition.

As a result, both sides tacitly sent substitute lineups, but they also played a wonderful game.

After all, the substitutes are sometimes more expressive than the main players, and playing without pressure allows the players to let their imaginations run wilder and play more relaxed.

That's why the third and fourth place finals in the World Cup tend to look better than the final.

The two sides ended up playing 2-2.

Of those four goals, one was a long-range world wave from 35 meters away, while Barcelona had a team goal after a delicate pass of more than a dozen feet, which also made the Camp Nou fans addicted.

As a result, after playing six rounds, Hamburg officially qualified as the top of the group with a record of 14 points with four wins and two draws!

Barcelona has two wins, two draws and two losses, accumulating 8 points and qualifying second in the group.

In the other Group H game, AC Milan drew 0-0 at home to Ajax and finished bottom of the group with just four points.

Ajax are third with five points and have qualified for the Europa League.

The other groups have also decided the final standings, and this season's Champions League round of 16 was born.

Group A first Manchester United, second Bayer Leverkusen.

Group B 1st Real Madrid, 2nd Galatasaray. The Turkish giants suffocated Juventus to third place in the group and proudly qualified.

Group C 1st big Paris, 2nd Olympiacos.

Group D 1st Bayern, 2nd Manchester City.

Group E 1st Chelsea, 2nd Basel.

Group F 1st Borussia Dortmund, 2nd Arsenal. This group is the tragedy of Napoli with 12 points out of the game mentioned earlier. Correspondingly, Marseille was repeatedly tormented and ravaged by three other teams, and they lost all six games and finished at the bottom.

Group G 1st Atletico Madrid, 2nd Zenit St. Petersburg. Zenit can laugh at Napoli upstairs: Lao Tzu only has 6 points to qualify, convincing or not?

Group H 1st Hamburg, 2nd Barcelona.

It can also be seen from this arrangement that in a competition at the highest level such as the Champions League, strength is indeed dominant.

The ones who can rank first in the group are either traditional giants, or recent newcomers, or local tyrants.

And the names in second place are much inferior to the first one.

That is, Barcelona touched Hamburg and was squeezed into second place, resulting in a particularly conspicuous ...... in the second list

And Manchester City is also relatively strong in the second place in the group, but he has only just risen in the past two years, and it is not a shame to be pressed by Bayern, the champion of the Champions League last season.

Including Arsenal, they are level on points with Borussia Dortmund, but they are second on goal difference.

Two days after the group stage, the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Due to the preparation for the crucial battle with Bayern, Pan Yi did not go to the scene this time.

In fact, even if he was free, he didn't bother to go.

This kind of lottery ceremony, the process is almost the same every time, just observe once to satisfy your little wishes, and you can't go every time.

For the European media, the draw for the top 16 this time is actually mainly to see which lucky ones will be drawn away from the second "gift package" of the group.

It seems that in order to create suspense for everyone, the crystal balls containing the names of these "gift package" teams were not taken out until the end.

One by one, the battles began to appear in front of the TV screen.

Galatasaray vs Atletico.

Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Dortmund.

Olympiacos v Manchester United.

Basel v Real Madrid.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Chelsea ......

By the time this is drawn, you can already predict what will happen in the end.

Because the remaining group winners are Bayern, Grand Paris and Hamburg.

The second team in the group is considered to be the strongest, Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City.

For Hamburg, due to the principle of avoiding the same group, in fact, their opponents at this time are already Arsenal and Manchester City.

As a result, Arsenal were drawn out first, and their opponents were none other than their old friends Bayern Munich!

"Don't kill Bayern, thank you Barcelona......" The Champions League theme song is honest and does not deceive me.

And the last two pairs don't even have to be drawn, because Barcelona can't touch Hamburg again.

And so it is:

Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain.

Manchester City v Hamburg.

It's all a powerful dialogue like Mars hitting the Earth!

In addition, there is another highlight of this round of 16 matchup, that is, the comprehensive dialogue between the Premier League and the Bundesliga.

In addition to Manchester United and Dortmund are the first in the group and cannot be drawn together, Bayer Leverkusen vs. Chelsea, Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich, Manchester City vs. Hamburg, it's exactly three catch-and-match!

And after the results of this draw came out, the German media mainly expressed disoptimism about the prospects of Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg.

The four teams in the best form in the Premier League this season are Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Although Arsenal is now at the top of the Premier League standings, the German media still believes that Bayern can still handle Arsene Wenger's team and don't worry too much.

But this year Chelsea are back in contention under new boss Jose Mourinho, and with Bayer Leverkusen's current form, it may be difficult to get through this hurdle.

Manchester City are also very strong, and Chilean engineer Manuel Pellegrini's team also beat Bayern Munich in the final round of the group stage, and finally finished second with 15 points with the Southern King.

The team that can beat Bayern away from home is certainly not to be underestimated.

Therefore, even if Hamburg is in good form at the moment, the German media still expressed concern that Manchester City is likely to be the biggest dark horse in this Champions League, and Hamburg should be careful.

The German media have seen it this way, and the guests of Sky Sports are naturally more optimistic about the Premier League team's overall victory.

Especially in the focus of Manchester City's battle against Hamburg, Gary Neville believes that Manchester United really don't need to take action personally, as long as the "noisy neighbor" can help them teach Hamburg a lesson.

……

According to the usual practice, after the draw results came out, as the head coach of the team, Pan Yi still had to be interviewed by media reporters to express his views.

And Pan Yi still firmly expressed his confidence that he could advance.

"We drew Manchester City, and it could be a signing."

"After all, everyone knows that among all the teams that are second in the group, perhaps Manchester City is the strongest, and no one wants to meet such an opponent early."

"But as I said before, Hamburg's goal is not to qualify, not to qualify, not to reach the quarterfinals or anything, but to win the title, to win the Champions League this season!"

'So, it doesn't matter who we draw against, whether it's Manchester City, Arsenal or whatever, we're going to do the same and play every game and then knock them out until we get to the end of the game.

A reporter said that Hamburg may lack experience in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, and Pan Yi smiled:

"That's what you said when we drew Milan and Barcelona in the Champions League group stage, that a Champions League newcomer like us would be in the group of death. But what happened in the end, everybody saw it, and we qualified two rounds early. ”

"And to say that we are a new army is actually not rigorous. After all, there is a real Champions League trophy in our honor room! And Manchester City, do they have it? That's why they're new here, and they need to give us enough respect......"

Finally, Pan Yi said:

"Didn't someone say before that we couldn't play against a Premier League team? So, let's start by playing Manchester City to prove this point of view wrong! ”

Pan Yi is full of confidence, and the burgers are naturally full of confidence.

Not only the players and coaches, but also the club's president, Yahoff, said in an interview that the team will definitely be able to advance.

"I believe in Pan Yi, he is a miracle worker!"

"His performance in the Bundesliga and the Champions League group stage has proven his quality, and he said that if he can qualify, he will definitely qualify!"

"Oh no, he said he could win. Yes, I believe that Hamburg is now the most competitive team in European football, and we have the quality to win the championship! ”

……

That night, Pan Yi received a phone call at home, but it was Fan Zhiyi!

said that he had come to Hamburg City to play in the past two days, and he wanted to have a meal and chat with Pan Yi.

For the captain who once led the national football team to the World Cup finals and the Asian Footballer of the Year, Pan Yi still has respect.

Including after he retired, he also dared to shoot at some bad phenomena in domestic football, just like the scolding after the national football team lost to Thailand not long ago, it has simply become the Bible of Dragon Country football, and it will often be used to repeatedly "read" for more than ten years in the future.

Pan Yi also appreciates Fan Zhiyi's upright character and attitude of daring to love and hate.

So he gladly went to the appointment.

Then Pan Yi found that he seemed to be tricked.

Because Fan Zhiyi didn't come alone.

The one who appeared in the hotel with Fan Zhiyi was not another Dragon Countryman, but an Englishman who looked a little mysterious.

This Englishman's name is Steve Parish, and he has a neat three-seven hairstyle, and the whole person looks very lean.

And his identity is now the president of the Premier League Crystal Palace club!

After hearing Fan Zhiyi's introduction to this Parish, Pan Yi immediately understood the purpose of the other party's trip.

Obviously, this is specially to invite Pan Yi to be the head coach!

And Pan Yi in today's world football, how can it be Qin Shi Huang's fart - there is a win.

I don't know how many teams are staring at this new star in coaching!

So Parrish knew that if he came rashly alone, he would probably have a closed door, so he asked Fan Zhiyi to help introduce him.

The accident of human relations in the Dragon Country, this Englishman understands.

Who is General Fan?

In addition to his high reputation in domestic football, his experience in Europe is also very good, especially with Crystal Palace, which is a real celebrity.

He and Sun Jihai moved to Crystal Palace, who were still in League One (now the Championship), and immediately established themselves, winning the title of Player of the Year in their first season at Crystal Palace.

Fan Zhiyi also served as captain during his time with the team and is regarded as one of the most successful foreign players in the team's history.

In 2001, Fan Zhiyi helped his Crystal Palace team beat Liverpool in the League Cup, and then Liverpool and Newcastle Football Club both made offers to Fan Zhiyi, but the premise was to limit Fan Zhiyi's time in the national team, and Fan Zhiyi finally chose to refuse.

This incident shows that Fan Zhiyi's performance at Crystal Palace at that time did reach a very high level, otherwise it would not have been possible to attract the attention of the Premier League giants.

After retiring, Fan Zhiyi also gladly accepted the invitation of Crystal Palace and became the club's image ambassador.

Now that the chairman of the club wants to dig Pan Yi in person, Fan Zhiyi will naturally pat his chest and go on it!

And before the halfway point of the season, Parrish was in a hurry to find Pan Yi, because the current situation of Crystal Palace is too bad.

They had a long history in the Championship before finishing fifth in the Championship last season, in 2012/13, and returning to the Premier League after eight years with a 1-0 extra-time win over Watford in the qualifying final.

But the Premier League is just too hard to mix up these days.

The BIG6 group composed of Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United, and Manchester City has been initially formed, while Everton, Newcastle, Aston Villa, including Southampton, West Ham United and other established teams are also difficult to mess with.

There are even those "mysterious teams in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League" that can often overturn strong teams!

After 15 rounds of Premier League games this season, Crystal Palace have only a poor record of 4 wins, 1 draw and 10 defeats, ranking 19th and second from last among all 20 teams.

If this continues, Crystal Palace will soon be back in the Championship!

As the club's president, Parish certainly doesn't want to see that happen.

He's ambitious too!

He hopes that Crystal Palace can be permanent in the Premier League, and he also hopes that Crystal Palace can become a real strong team!

It is precisely because of Parish's ideals that since he took over Crystal Palace from his former boss Simon Jordan in 2010, he has increased his investment year by year, so that Crystal Palace no longer sinks in the Championship and has the ability to fight in the Premier League today.

And the current Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway clearly can't satisfy Parrish's ambitions.

He's just a very ordinary coach with no advanced tactical concepts, and his poor record this season has made Parrish lose patience with him.

Parish is looking for a replacement, a leader who can lead Crystal Palace out of the doldrums and into true glory!

And Pan Yi is obviously the most suitable person.

His magic on the pitch, his dressing room management skills, and his calling in the transfer market need nothing to say.

Before coming to Pan Yi today, Parrish had also done his homework, and he knew what Pan Yi wanted.

So Parrish soon had a showdown: whatever you dare to ask for, I will dare to satisfy you!

"We all know that in the last two years, you have had a lot of success in the Bundesliga."

Parrish says:

"However, your retribution and ideals are likely to be constrained by the 50+1 policy in German football. You're getting better and better, your salaries are going up, and Hamburg will soon be out of their way and they're leaving. ”

"Do you want to watch your hard-earned team fall apart this summer? If there is such a fear, the team will never reach a whole new level. ”

'But the Premier League is different. As you may have learned, as long as the team stays in the Premier League, we could have more than £100 million a year to invest in the team. And on behalf of the team's holding group, I also promise that we will continue to invest more to meet all your funding requirements as much as possible. ”

"We aim to be a top team! We can provide you with the best platform and you will have all kinds of team matters at Crystal Palace – including transfer decisions of course, anything Ferguson can do at Manchester United, you can do at Crystal Palace! ……”

Pan Yi could indeed feel Parrish's sincerity.

Putting aside his appreciation and commitment to Pan Yi, what he said is also the truth.

Under the guidance of Pan Yi, the players of Hamburg are growing into world-class stars one by one, and world-class stars need to be matched by world-class treatment.

Now the team's maximum salary is Son Xingmin's 80,000 weekly salary, and can you imagine that after these players win various championships, the salary will be far below this level?

De Bruyne, Kante, Salah...... Is it possible for these players to be on "child labor contracts" for the rest of their lives?

To be honest, it is not too much for players of this level to take 200,000 or even 300,000 each.

They are all going to become the top players in world football!

But in this case, a player's salary will exceed 10 million euros a year, and 10 will cost hundreds of millions......

This is simply unaffordable for a Bundesliga team, because the prize money from winning the championship alone can no longer cover the expenses here.

And the Premier League teams can.

First of all, the income of their club itself is very good.

It is not an exaggeration to say that as long as the team stays in the Premier League, they will earn more than £100 million a year.

Thanks to the Premier League's excellent commercial operations, their television rights are sold as a package, which is then split in different proportions according to the clubs' achievements.

Doing so means that even the teams with poor results can get a piece of the overall prosperity.

That's why we can often see Premier League relegation teams also able to complete tens of millions, if not tens of millions of pounds, in the buying power of the Premier League's middle and lower reaches of the Premier League, which exceeds that of many European giants.

Take the summer transfer window of 2022 as an example, when Comrade Maldini of Serie A champion AC Milan was haggling for 12 million yuan, Nottingham Forest, who had just been promoted to the Premier League next door, had already thrown nearly 200 million euros to buy an entire team......

And with such investment, it is barely in the top five on the summer spending list of Premier League teams.

But such a lavish investment is naturally rewarding, not only for the team itself, but also for the entire league.

Stars are increasingly congregating in the Premier League, and excellent competition brings a steady stream of sponsors, and the money from sponsors increases the capital for Premier League teams to buy players, and with great players, the excitement of the game is guaranteed.

Match - money - player - game, this form a perfect closed loop, the ring is tightly linked, the ring is crucial.

As the most watched and competitive league in the world today, the Premier League is full of gold.

The right to broadcast live TV, the advertising on the chest, the billboards on the sidelines, the various endorsements of the team......

Again, taking the recent data as an example, the 20 teams in the Premier League have a total of £280 million in advertising sponsorships on their chests!

It's all money!

In such an environment, not only the best players in the world, but also the best coaches will be slowly attracted to it.

In Pan Yi's previous life, it can be said that most of the awesome coaches have come to the Premier League to compete!

Not to mention those "Premier League veterans" like Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, but also Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelotti, Conte, Tuchel...... It's also a battleground for good coaches to compete tactically!

Seeing Pan Yi bowing his head and pondering silently, Parrish asked with a smile:

"Let me ask you an interesting question. Do you know which one of the most profitable sports games in the world is? ”

———

PS: After the start of the World Cup in the evening, in order to celebrate, a new chapter will be added.

(End of chapter)