Chapter 567 Return to Camp Nou
In the 23rd round of the Bundesliga, Bayern faced Karlsruhe at the Allianz Arena.
Thanks to goals from Sudon, Ribery and Robben, Bayern won 3-0 at home.
In the middle of the week, the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The draw ceremony was hosted by UEFA Secretary General David Taylor, and the guest of honor was the representative from the host city of the UEFA Champions League final, former Russian legendary goalkeeper Dasayev.
The entire draw process will be broadcast live to the public, and the eight teams that enter the quarterfinals will be drawn entirely by random, and there will no longer be the same-country circumvention policy as in the round of 16.
In addition, the draw for the quarterfinals will be conducted in the upper and lower half zones, which means that after the results of the quarterfinal draw are announced, the schedule for the semifinals and even the final will be basically determined.
Because of this, all the teams that entered the quarterfinals attached great importance to this draw.
Among the eight teams, the Premier League occupies three seats, only Bayern advanced from the Bundesliga, only Barcelona from La Liga, and Serie A includes Roma, which eliminated Real Madrid, and AC Milan, and there is another team from Turkey, Fenerbahce.
The Turkish team had good luck in the round of 16, drawing Sevilla. They eventually eliminated the La Liga team in a thrilling manner and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. They are considered the weakest team among the quarterfinals.
Therefore, the other seven teams in the quarterfinals are all staring at Fenerbahce.
Everyone knows that by drawing this Turkish team, you basically have a ticket to the semi-finals.
…
The draw started on time at 1:00 p.m.
In the players' rest area at Bayern's training headquarters on Sebena Street, all the players who were taking a lunch break arrived early and watched the draw ceremony in front of the TV.
Although strength is the most important factor in advancing to the knockout stage of the Champions League, some luck is also required.
When Su Dong came back from swimming, the draw ceremony had already begun and his teammates were already seated and waiting.
Seeing him come back, Pepe and Marcelo immediately waved for him to come over and reserved a seat for him.
"How is it?" Su Dong asked with concern.
"At the beginning, David Taylor was still speaking and introducing the draw process," said Marcelo.
"Who from our team will go to the draw?" Su Dong asked again.
"It seems that Hoeness went there by himself." Toni Kroos replied.
Usually for this kind of draw, the club will arrange people to watch it on site. After all, live TV broadcasts are not omnipotent in many cases.
From the live TV footage, Su Dong saw the figure of Barcelona vice president Bartomeu.
This guy often represents Barcelona and appears on various occasions, and he seems to be trying to make his presence known.
"Su, do you really think we can beat Barcelona?" Schweinsteiger asked with concern.
This is what Su Dong said in an interview with the media, and there were also disagreements in the Bayern locker room about this.
Of course, everyone has the right to express their own opinions, and once they have expressed their opinions, they have to accept the comments of others.
Su Dong nodded, "I do think so."
"But Barcelona is now ranked first in the odds of the three major bookmakers," Schweinsteiger said worriedly.
"Yes, Barcelona's overall strength is still very strong. Although Messi is injured, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Henry, Xavi, Deco and other superstars, which one is not famous?"
"It's not a good thing to meet Barcelona too early."
"I think it's better to face Fenerbahce."
"Bullshit, all the teams want to play against Fenerbahce, but there is only one Turkish team, what should we do?"
"It's just luck."
"I think it's not bad to play against Roma, as this team was slaughtered by Manchester United last season."
"I don't really want to face Barcelona and AC Milan. Frankly speaking, we didn't have much chance of winning against AC Milan last season, and I'm afraid it won't be easy this time either."
The comments of the people around him were similar to Schweinsteiger's, and none of them had much confidence.
Schweini said that Bayern has the potential to become champions, but there are many teams with that potential.
To some extent, it would be very normal for any of the other six teams that have reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League this season to win the championship, except for Roma and Fenerbahce.
Bayern has lacked competitiveness in the Champions League in the past few seasons, with its best result being the quarterfinals. It is understandable that the players generally lack confidence.
Especially in recent years, the Bundesliga's performance in the Champions League has been somewhat embarrassing.
"Barcelona is not as strong as everyone imagines. I have played for this team for two or three years and I know that we are not as weak as everyone worries. On the contrary, I think we have a good chance whether we face Barcelona or Milan." Su Dong insisted on his opinion.
Everyone was also very confused.
Who would want to face the favorite to win the championship in the quarterfinals? But what Su Dong said seemed to make some sense.
"Okay, okay, the draw begins." Captain Kahn immediately stopped his teammates from talking.
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As soon as the drawing ceremony began, everyone's attention was immediately focused.
Because, the name of the team that appeared in the first ball that Dasayev drew was Fenerbahce.
This not only made the club representatives who were watching the draw ceremony on site exclaim in amazement, but also surprised the Bayern players far away in Munich. They did not expect that the first offer would be the most tempting one.
Even when Dasayev put his hand into the basin again, Su Dong vaguely heard his teammates around him shouting "Bayern".
Yes, at this moment, who among the people from the other seven teams doesn’t want to be the next one to be drawn?
But luck only belongs to a very few.
Su Dong never thought that he was a lucky man, because he felt that all his luck came from the Road to the King of Football system.
Of course, this is the greatest luck for him.
Sure enough, the next team Dasayev drew was AC Milan.
This caused a sigh of disappointment among those around Su Dong.
How great would it be if we drew Fenerbahce? They would almost be guaranteed a place in the semi-finals, right? The next team to be drawn was Chelsea, which gave many people another headache.
Although Mourinho has been sacked, the iron army he built is still very strong. No one wants to face the Blues too early, especially a weaker team like Roma.
But it doesn’t matter, no matter which team they face next, Roma is not strong enough.
Chelsea eventually drew Liverpool from the Premier League.
The Premier League derby, the dialogue between red and blue, such a showdown is also quite interesting.
Roma was quickly drawn out, and their opponent was Manchester United.
This is also very interesting, because in the Champions League knockout round last season, Manchester United slaughtered Roma. Could it be that they will do it again this year? The remaining two small teams are the only two teams left in the quarterfinals, Bayern and Barcelona.
The Bayern players around him all turned to look at Su Dong, all with an expression of disbelief, as if Su Dong possessed some kind of mysterious oriental prophecy. Otherwise, how to explain that he wanted to draw Barcelona and really drew Barcelona?
"Su, you have to teach me the ability of prophecy later." Pepe patted Su Dong's shoulder and said with a wry smile.
It's not easy for Bayern players to face Barcelona.
Although there are only two balls left, they still have to be drawn because of the Champions League draw rules, the first one drawn will play at home first.
Among the two options, the first one drawn by Dasayev was Barcelona.
When the last small ball was opened, the name of Bayern Munich was also seen inside.
In this way, the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals has been announced, and Bayern really met Barcelona.
Su Dong was not too relaxed, but when he saw Bartomeu's expression on the live TV, he felt much better.
He knew that Bartomeu must be feeling very frustrated at this moment.
Subsequently, the draw for the upper and lower half was conducted.
Bayern and Barcelona were drawn into the upper half of the draw, together with Fenerbahce and AC Milan.
The top three Premier League teams and Roma were placed in the lower half.
That is to say, if Manchester United defeats Roma and advances to the semi-finals, it will still be a Premier League derby.
If Bayern can get past Barcelona, their most likely opponent in the semi-finals will be AC Milan.
It can be said that every game is not easy and is very difficult to play.
Of course, even if we don’t meet Barcelona and Bayern, it will be equally troublesome if we meet the top three teams in the Premier League.
There are no weak teams in the Champions League, especially in the quarterfinals, where it is basically a dialogue between strong teams and every match is very intense.
…………
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Barcelona faces Bayern, Su Dong returns to Camp Nou!
After the draw, this news quickly spread around the world, attracting the attention and heated discussions of countless media and fans.
Everyone praised UEFA's draw and believed that even if there was a shady deal, it must be a welcome one.
"We are all looking forward to seeing how Su Dong will perform as a guest at Camp Nou!"
At the scene, Bayern giant Hoeness accepted the draw result in an interview with the media, thinking that it was not a very bad result, but at the same time he also warned Bayern players that they must give 200% of their best condition against Barcelona.
Barcelona vice president Bartomeu believes that the draw result is good for Barcelona. In the first leg at Camp Nou, Barcelona will try its best to win and lay a good foundation for the second leg.
"Su Dong? Yes, he is indeed very strong, but we also have a group of outstanding players, and our defensive players are very familiar with him. Maybe in other stadiums, he can perform well, but in Camp Nou, I'm sorry, that will not be Su Dong's stage!"
But Barcelona godfather Cruyff scoffed at Bartomeu's statement, thinking it was the talk of a layman.
"Facing the Soviet Union's Bayern, Barcelona must be careful, very careful!"
The godfather of Barcelona believes that Sudong came to Camp Nou with a heart of revenge, which will make him burst out with amazing fighting power.
But surprisingly, before the draw, Su Dong, who had repeatedly claimed that he hoped to draw Barcelona, seemed very calm after the draw results came out. In an interview with a reporter from the Munich Evening News, Su Dong said that the draw was good.
"Whether it's image, reputation, or the strength of the team's lineup, Barcelona is undoubtedly above Bayern, but if you think we will definitely lose, then you are wrong. We will not let the fans down!"
"At the same time, I would like to remind my former teammates that Bayern does not only have Su Dong, but also Ribery, Robben, Klose and other world stars!"
"Finally, I can't wait for the Camp Nou battle to come soon!"
(End of this chapter)
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