Chapter 333 The results of the Champions League draw are out, and Manchester City has the highest odds of winning the championship!
After chatting with Royce for a while, the award ceremony began immediately.
After the award for the best female player of the previous season was presented, it was soon the turn of the best male player to be presented.
The focus of the whole audience was on Lin Quan, Ronaldo and Neuer.
These three players were the best performers in the Champions League last season.
Among them, Lin Quan not only led the team to win the Champions League, but also achieved the miracle of 20 Champions League goals in a single season.
As for Ronaldo, although his team fell in the semi-finals, his 17 goals in a single season were enough to break the Champions League single-season goal record.
It's a pity that he encountered an even more perverted existence, so not many people remembered this feat he created.
Although Neuer's performance at Bayern last season was also very good, the gap compared with the first two was obvious, so his selection was basically just to runner-up.
After the shortlist was announced, the camera on the scene found these three people.
Lin Quan looked very calm, while Ronaldo's expression was very serious.
As for Neuer, who had the least hope of winning the award, he had an indifferent expression on his face. It seemed that he himself knew that it was unlikely for him to win the award.
"Haha, it looks like Lin Quan is very confident that he will win the award!"
In the CCTV live broadcast room, the two hosts couldn't help laughing after seeing the three people in the same frame.
"Yes, I won the championship and broke the single-season goal record in the Champions League.
There is a very high probability of winning the prize if you complete one of these two tasks, let alone if you complete both tasks.
I really don’t know under what circumstances UEFA would not give the award to Lin Quan! ”
In fact, there is also such a possibility, that is, UEFA blatantly falsified and used black box operations to black out Lin Quan's best player award.
Just like last year's controversial Golden Globe Award! Of course, unlike last time, Lin Quan's lead this time is too big.
Even if UEFA favors someone, it would not dare to do it so obviously.
The answer was soon revealed. Almost all of the 12 voters on the scene cast their votes for Lin Quan, with only one person giving a consolation vote to Ronaldo.
Lin Quan was elected the best player of the 2013-2014 UEFA Champions League with an overwhelming advantage.
After the award ceremony, the most anticipated part came - the 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony! FIFA Secretary General Giannis Infantino delivered a series of lengthy speeches before the draw ceremony.
It involves the reform of FIFA and the promotion of the development of European leagues and national teams of various countries.
At the club level, Infantino stressed that in order for European leagues to develop healthily and sustainably, UEFA needs to improve and implement the "Financial Fair Play Act" as soon as possible to promote small European countries and small clubs to obtain sufficient financial support.
The implication of this sentence is that teams from small countries' leagues should be given consideration when it comes to the Champions League quotas.
His speech did contain a lot of substantive content, but unfortunately, the audience was not very interested in it. They were more concerned about the draw for the Champions League group stage.
So, when Infantino was giving a speech, the audience was drowsy, and some people even fell asleep while sitting, making inappropriate snoring sounds.
Infantino looked very unhappy and had to hastily end his speech and announce the official start of the Champions League draw ceremony.
The guest responsible for the draw today is Lin Quan’s teammate in the national team, Spanish goalkeeper Casillas.
As usual, the 32 teams that advanced to the Champions League group stage were divided into four tiers, with eight teams in each tier, so a total of eight groups.
It is worth mentioning that thanks to last year’s impressive performance, Manchester City has transformed from a third-tier team to a first-tier seeded team.
The eight teams in the first tier are: Real Madrid (La Liga), Barcelona (La Liga), Bayern Munich (Bundesliga), Chelsea (Premier League), Manchester City (Premier League), Atletico Madrid (La Liga), Arsenal (Premier League), Porto (Portuguese Super League) . La Liga and the Premier League each have three teams selected as seeded teams, Serie A and Ligue 1 were completely eliminated, and the Portuguese Super League had a poor record in the Champions League last year, so there is only one spot left.
At Infantino's signal, Casillas was the first to draw Bayern Munich.
What is different from usual is that after the teams are drawn, they will not be immediately assigned to the corresponding groups, but another round of group draw will be carried out.
After Casillas drew the name of the team, another guest drew the letter E from the ball representing the group, which means that the number one seed Bayern Munich was placed in Group E.
Casillas then pulled out the team he plays for, Real Madrid.
Another guest drew B from the remaining 7 letters, so Real Madrid was placed in Group B.
The third team drawn was Manchester City, and they were placed in Group C.
Arsenal were drawn fourth and were placed in Group D.
The fifth team to be drawn was Barcelona, who were placed in Group F.
The sixth team drawn was Porto, who were placed in Group H.
The seventh team drawn was Atletico Madrid, and they were placed in Group A.
In the end, only Chelsea was left, and they were automatically placed in Group E.
When the first-tier teams were drawing lots, the audience was in a relatively relaxed mood.
The most discussed issue is probably which of the eight seeded teams is the strongest and which is the weakest.
The more recognized strong teams are Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and last season's champions Manchester City. If the second and third tier teams meet these four teams, they will basically lose the chance to win the first place in the group.
Among these four teams, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea are also very strong, and it will be difficult to play against them.
It is generally recognized that the weakest team in the first tier is Porto of the Portuguese Super League.
In last season's Champions League, both Portuguese teams failed to qualify. Porto even lost to Zenit St. Petersburg, allowing the opponent to advance to the knockout stage with a record-low score of 6 points...
If they are lucky enough to be drawn into Group H where Porto is, then they may be able to look forward to winning the group.
As for Arsenal, Arsenal's current lineup is really not strong, and its record in the Champions League is not ideal, which leads to fewer and fewer people fearing Arsenal.
After drawing the first-tier teams, Casillas was substituted by another Spanish star, Hierro.
He will be responsible for drawing out the eight teams from the second tier, and the eight teams from the second tier are:
Among the eight teams , Schalke 04 (Bundesliga), Dortmund (Bundesliga), Juventus (Serie A), Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukrainian Premier League), Basel (Swiss Premier League), Zenit St. Petersburg (Russian Premier League), and Benfica (Portuguese Premier League) , several are very strong, such as Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Dortmund, etc.
If they were drawn into the group that includes Real Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and Manchester City, then the subsequent teams entering these groups would probably become cannon fodder.
Therefore, this draw was crucial for many teams, and the atmosphere on the scene began to become tense.
After Hierro came on stage, he gave a speech and the second round of draw began soon.
He drew Zenit St. Petersburg first, and just like the first round of draws, another guest also drew the group that Zenit would enter.
Group C! They were assigned to the same group as the defending champions Manchester City!
After seeing this result, the director on the scene immediately gave a shot of Zenit and Manchester City coach in the same frame.
The two people's reactions were completely different, and Zenit's head coach couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile on his face.
The Manchester City coach smiled and seemed very satisfied with the result.
Of course they are satisfied. Zenit can be said to be the weakest among the second-tier teams. When facing them, Manchester City can be said to have secured 6 points.
Hierro then pulled out Paris Saint-Germain, the strongest team in the second tier.
The audience at the scene couldn't help but become curious. What group would they be assigned to?
The answer was soon revealed: Barcelona was in Group F! Seeing this result, the coaches of both teams couldn't help but change their expressions.
Barcelona is a traditional strong team, and this season it spent a huge amount of money to introduce Suarez to form the MSN combination.
Paris Saint-Germain has been the team that spends the most money in the transfer market for several consecutive years. They are the dominant force in Ligue 1, and their performance in the Champions League should not be underestimated.
When these two teams are put together, it will definitely be a battle of the titans.
Read the error-free version on 6Ⅹ9Ⅹ bookⅩ bar! 6Ⅹ9 book bar first publishes a novel.
And for the teams that enter this group later, this can definitely be said to be the group of death! Hierro's actions were very fast, and he kept pulling out the following teams.
Among them, Shakhtar Donetsk was drawn into Group H, Benfica into Group E, Dortmund into Group D, Basel into Group B, Juventus into Group A, and Schalke 04 into Group G.
Among them, Dortmund and Group D seeded team Arsenal are old acquaintances.
The two teams met in the Champions League group stage last year, with both teams winning and losing, and the game ended in a draw.
However, Dortmund took advantage of goal difference and beat Arsenal to win first place in the group, while Arsenal had to finish second to advance.
I don’t know if Arsenal can succeed in revenge when the two teams meet again this year?
After the second tier draw was completed, the third and fourth tier draws were conducted soon.
There are not many strong teams among the 16 teams in these two tiers, but there is a team that has won the Champions League many times and was placed in the third tier because it has been away from the Champions League for too long.
This team is the Red Army Liverpool! Liverpool's luck was neither good nor bad, and they were drawn into Group B where Real Madrid was.
Real Madrid is certainly very strong, but Basel, which is in the second tier, is average.
As long as Liverpool can beat Basel, they will basically be able to secure a place in the group stage.
But with their strength, it is difficult to compete with Real Madrid for the first place in the group.
If they fail to qualify as the first in the group, how far Liverpool can go in the knockout stage will depend entirely on luck.
The grouping of the Champions League this year is relatively balanced, and there is no situation like the death group like last year.
If we have to say which group is the group of death, then Group E where Bayern Munich is located is probably one of them.
Of course, this death is for the other three teams. As long as Bayern does not let down, it will be easy for them to get first place in the group.
In this group, apart from Bayern, the remaining three teams are Benfica from the Portuguese Super League, Roma from Serie A and CSKA Moscow from the Russian Premier League.
Their strengths are relatively even. CSKA Moscow is slightly weaker, but they have a devilish home field.
The other two teams are not very strong, so who will have the last laugh depends entirely on their on-the-spot performance.
For Manchester City, the result of this draw is very ideal.
Their three opponents in Group C are Monaco from Ligue 1, Leverkusen from the Bundesliga and Zenit St. Petersburg from the Russian Premier League.
These three teams are not very strong. Except for Zenit which may be a little more difficult to play away, it is difficult for other teams to pose a threat to Manchester City.
So, after the draw results came out, Manchester City fans began to discuss their opponents in the knockout rounds.
"I've seen that the second-place teams in several groups are not very strong. As long as we don't let down, it won't be a problem for us to make it to the quarterfinals!"
"Too conservative, too conservative. How can we get into the top eight? We should guarantee the top four!"
"It all depends on luck. If we were to draw Real Madrid or Barcelona in the quarter-finals, it would be hard to say for sure!"
"Were we not the ones who defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona? What do they have to be afraid of?"
"This season, Real Madrid's lineup is better integrated and stronger. We really can't underestimate them!"
“Yeah, we were lucky to win in the semi-finals last season.
If it weren't for Lin Huang's explosiveness, and the fact that we made it to the finals with an away goal, we would have been eliminated!"
Recalling the battle at the Bernabeu, many Manchester City fans still have lingering fears.
In the 80th minute of the regular season, Real Madrid was leading Manchester City 3:1 and was about to be eliminated.
If Lin Quan hadn't scored a crucial goal and dragged the game into overtime, they would never have won the Champions League! "Barcelona is also terrible this year. We have seen the strength of Messi and Neymar in the Champions League and La Liga. Now there is Suarez. I can't imagine how strong the attacking power of their front three will be!"
Others might just focus on Suarez's series of scandals.
But for Manchester City fans, they are more afraid of Suarez's strength.
Last season, Manchester City drew with Liverpool and won once, and the win was also very tense.
This season, they have defeated Liverpool three times in just one month.
Liverpool with Suarez and without Suarez feel like two different teams.
"Moreover, we are the defending champions. Other teams will definitely study us specifically and play more conservatively when facing us, which will make it more difficult for us to beat them."
People are afraid of becoming famous just like pigs are afraid of becoming fat. When Barcelona was strong, other teams would use the bus and iron bucket formation to deal with them when they met Barcelona.
Although Manchester City has not yet reached the level of a cosmic team, it is bound to be studied and targeted.
Therefore, for many fans, they feel that the team has achieved its goal if they can make it to the quarterfinals.
It would be even better if we could make it to the semi-finals or even the finals.
Manchester City fans are more cautious and feel that it will be very difficult for the team to defend the title.
But the bookmakers disagree! After the Champions League draw results came out, the bookmakers immediately announced the odds for winning the Champions League this season.
Manchester City ranks first, ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona!
(End of this chapter)