The television is showing exciting footage from the group stage matches.
Li Shiguang and the other two leaned comfortably on the sofa, waiting for the lottery ceremony to begin. Simone, while playing on his phone, casually asked, "Boss, who do you want to draw?"
"Is this something I can decide?" Li Shiguang chuckled and retorted. "But if I absolutely had to choose, I'd pick Olympiacos. Among all the second-place teams, they're probably the weakest."
Amidst the casual conversation of the three, the draw for the top 16 finally began.
The first team drawn is Porto, the Portuguese giants who topped Group A ahead of Manchester United. Their opponent is Schalke 04 from the Bundesliga.
Next, Inter Milan, who were in first place in Group G, faced Manchester United, who had been pushed down to second place in the group by Porto.
When Li Shiguang saw that Inter Milan had drawn Manchester United, he was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter for a long time.
In his memory, Manchester United should have drawn Lyon in the Champions League Round of 16 this season. After defeating Lyon, they should have then eliminated Roma and Barcelona, and finally defeated Chelsea on penalties in the rainy night in Moscow to lift the final trophy.
However, it was precisely because of Li Shiguang's appearance.
From the group stage draw onwards, history began to shift slightly. Leeds United, who defeated Liverpool to secure a Champions League spot, were not drawn into Group A, but Manchester United were instead placed in Group A.
As a result, they have now taken the place that should have belonged to Liverpool and are now facing Inter Milan.
What Li Shiguang found most amusing was that he had used a single league match to get rid of Mourinho, and then he had pushed Mourinho to Inter Milan ahead of time, and even Sneijder was sold to him ahead of schedule.
Ferguson probably never expected this.
He led Manchester United to the Champions League Round of 16, where they faced an Italian team, and the manager was none other than his old rival, Mourinho!
Aside from Li Shiguang looking completely bewildered.
Simeone and Rivaldo were visibly taken aback when they saw Inter Milan draw Manchester United, knowing that Mourinho was about to become Inter Milan's head coach!
Simeone, clearly gloating, said, "Boss, hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! Ferguson's luck is really bad; he still managed to run into Mourinho!"
"This is a good thing for us." After laughing, Li Shiguang's mind raced and he suddenly thought of Ronaldo. "If Mourinho can lead Inter Milan to knock Manchester United out of the round of 16, then when we make an offer to Cristiano, at least in terms of his attitude, there will be fewer obstacles."
“That’s right.” Rivaldo agreed with Li Shiguang’s statement. “Last year we were at least runners-up. If we’re eliminated in the round of 16 this year, given Ronaldo’s personality, it will probably be hard for him to accept! As long as we do better than Manchester United, our appeal to him should increase exponentially!”
"Hehehe... Let's hope Mourinho goes all out and doesn't disappoint us!"
The three of them chatted for a while.
The next two matches were also drawn.
Real Madrid, the winner of Group C, was drawn into Group F, the group containing Leeds United, and the runner-up of that group, Roma.
Chelsea, the group leader, drew away Olympiacos, the team Li Shiguang had been longing for, and got a very favorable draw.
Then.
Leeds United drew Lyon from Ligue 1, defending champions AC Milan drew Arsenal, Barcelona drew Celtic from the Scottish Premiership, and Sevilla's opponent was Fenerbahce from Turkey.
After the draw ceremony, Simone couldn't help but sigh, "Not bad, we were lucky. Although we didn't draw Olympiacos, Lyon is still an acceptable opponent."
"Don't let your guard down." Seeing that Li Shiguang didn't speak, Rivaldo quickly reminded him, "Lyon is in great form this season, they are the leaders of Ligue 1! Perrin is also a strong opponent."
"Tch, what is Perrin compared to the boss? Don't you think so, boss?" Simone said dismissively, while also flattering Li Shiguang.
However, Li Shiguang didn't have time to hitch a ride with Simone, who was eager to present his treasure.
The moment Li Shiguang saw that Leeds United had drawn Lyon, a name suddenly popped into his mind: Karim Benzema, the "outlaw" who was only 20 years old at the time!
If I remember correctly.
Benzema remained Lyon's top scorer this season, ultimately achieving 30+ goals, helping Lyon lift the league title for the fourth time, and also winning both the Ligue 1 top scorer and player of the year awards.
Florentino is about to take over.
If I spent a small amount of money to bring Benzema to Leeds United in advance, and then found an opportunity to recommend him to Florentino, wouldn't I be able to make a fortune?
When Benzema went from Lyon to Real Madrid, his transfer fee was 35 million euros. If he can be brought to Leeds United and given other titles, Li Shiguang is confident that he can sell him for at least 50 million euros!
Thinking of this, Li Shiguang felt a surge of excitement.
He looked up and said to Simone, "Diego, when Allen comes back, have him secretly contact someone."
"who?"
"Lyon's agent for number 10!"
When Li Shiguang mentioned Lyon, Rivaldo, who had clearly done his research, smiled slightly: "That kid named Karim?"
“Yes! It’s him!” Li Shiguang nodded with a smile, then casually made up a lie, “I remember Ron recommended him to me two years ago when he was still playing for Lyon B, but at that time the team already had Dimitar and Lamedar, and the club’s finances weren’t exactly tight, so in the end we didn’t make an offer to Lyon!”
"This kid is really good; I've been following him for a while now." Rivaldo was also quite satisfied with Benzema. "His footwork and shooting speed are both excellent, and as a center forward, his playmaking ability is also very good, but..."
Seeing that Rivaldo was holding back, an impatient Simone quickly asked, "But what?"
Rivaldo frowned, looking at Li Shiguang and Simeone, and slowly said, "However, we already have so many strikers in our team. He has already secured a starting position at Lyon, so I'm afraid he won't easily agree to come here as a substitute, especially a very low-ranked substitute."
“You don’t need to worry about that.” Li Shiguang smiled and told his two confidants about the agreement between himself and Florentino Pérez: “I’ve basically reached an agreement with Florentino. After this season, I will sell Zlatan and Xavi to Real Madrid. I believe that with our performance and squad depth, this French lad will be interested…”
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