Chapter 654: Group of Death

"Hi, Miss Lahri!"

When Charlene Lahiri and The Sun's chief reporter Stephen Howard walked into the Grimaldi Forum Monaco together, someone immediately called out to them.

Charlene Lahri, who was wearing a black and white professional suit, turned around and found that the people who called her were two black-haired, yellow-skinned oriental men, one of whom was about 40 years old, and the other was less than 30 years old.

The person who called out to them was a young man in his twenties, slightly plump, with short hair, and wearing a neat suit.

When Charlene Lahri saw this person for the first time, she felt that he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember who he was, so she frowned slightly.

"Excuse me, who are you..."

The slightly plump young man seemed a little embarrassed when he was not recognized. He scratched his head and said, "Ms. Lahiri, have you forgotten? We just met in Southampton not long ago and we are going to cooperate. Remember?"

When he said that, Charlene Lahiri remembered immediately.

"Oh, you are Mr. Qiu, the football expert!"

Qiu Zaifei felt even more embarrassed now. Are all European and American girls so direct?

"Yes, Miss Lahiri, I didn't expect to see you here!"

Charlene Lahiri and Stephen Howard looked at each other and smiled secretly.

They are all journalists invited by UEFA to vote for the European Player of the Season tonight. How could they not be here?

But out of politeness, they would definitely not say these things.

"Ms. Lahri, let me introduce you. This is the editor-in-chief of our country's most authoritative sports newspaper, Mr. Luo Mingluo. Their newspaper and magazine are cooperating with us!"

"Hello, Mr. Luo!"

"Hello, Miss Lahri!" The middle-aged man Luo Ming hurriedly and politely shook hands with Charlene Lahri.

Others may not know this, but he knows it better than anyone else. Charlene Lahiri is one of the most sought-after top journalists in the UK and even Europe, and the person walking with her is also of no ordinary background.

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be Mr. Howard from The Sun!"

Stephen Howard was a little surprised. He didn't expect to be recognized. He nodded with a smile and then was polite again.

"By the way, Mr. Qiu, aren't you planning to work with some famous columnists recently and translate their articles into your application software?" Charlene Lahri suddenly thought of it.

"Yes, that's right!" Qiu Zaifei nodded.

"Then, Stephen is the most famous columnist in the UK. He is much more famous than Martin Samuel and others who are often translated in your country. Moreover, his articles are very sharp and insightful!"

Luo Ming was shocked when he heard this. Stephen Howard was the chief reporter of The Sun and his column articles were indeed quite famous. Their newspaper had considered reprinting his articles before, but the other party simply ignored them.

Will it now authorize the newly launched application Dongqiudi?

But what happened next almost made Luo Ming drop his jaw in shock.

"Charlene, is this the new project invested by Young Master Huan that you mentioned before?" Stephen Howard asked with a smile.

"Yes, I have given them the exclusive license for my column. In addition, I have also helped them contact several famous European writers, such as Cruyff, Alfredo Relanio, and José Ramón de la Morena."

Luo Ming was stunned after hearing this!

There is no need to explain who Cruyff is. His column articles are reprinted and translated by all domestic media.

As for Alfredo Relanio, he is not very famous and is even completely unfamiliar, but he is the editor-in-chief of AS. He has worked for many newspapers and media such as Marca, Mundo Deportivo, El País and SER Radio, and has been engaged in the football field for more than 30 years.

The column he writes every day in AS is listed on the front page, with an astonishing audience in Spain, and is often accompanied by explosive news and exclusive inside information.

As for José Ramón de la Morena, a famous host of SER Radio and known as the No. 1 figure in Spanish media, there is no need to say more about his influence. He is the kind of authoritative whistleblower who will never be wrong once he opens his mouth.

Luo knew that with Yang Huan’s investment, Dongqiudi had caused a huge response among domestic football fans as soon as it was launched, but he didn’t know that their ambitions were so big that they had contacted so many European celebrities.

"You have contacted so many people, I shouldn't be a big difference, right?" Stephen Howard said with a smile.

Charlene Lahiri curled her lips. "He specifically asked for your column authorization!"

Stephen Howard was stunned when he heard this, then he smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Well, since Young Master Huan has chosen you, I agree!"

Luo Ming was shocked again. He really didn't expect that Young Master Yang Huan had such influence in the European media industry.

Just at this moment, there was a noise coming from the gate and everyone turned to look.

I saw the smiling Yang Huan walking into the venue side by side with UEFA President Platini. Along the way, I could hear the shouts of "Young Master Huan". It seemed that Young Master Huan was much more favored than Platini.

"Young Master Huan!" Qiu Zaifei immediately shouted excitedly as he saw Yang Huan approaching.

Yang Huan nodded and smiled at them as a greeting, then hurried past them.

Finally, under the attention of everyone in the audience, Yang Huan sat with Platini in the front row. The two seemed to have a very close relationship. After sitting down, they whispered to each other from time to time.

Charlene Lahiri and Stephen Howard sat in the media area, while Qiu Zaifei and Luo Ming could only sit in the back row.

"I didn't expect that Young Master Huan has such a wide network of contacts in Europe!" Luo Ming was a little amazed.

Qiu Zaifei also felt proud of it, and nodded with his head held high, saying, "Of course, our Young Master Huan is a big shot in the European football world, and he can cause an earthquake with just one stomp of his foot. Who would be rude to him?"

If it were before, Luo Ming would definitely be very opposed, but now, he really believes it a little.

The European football circle is said to be closed, and it is indeed very closed, filled with a host of traditional rules such as seniority.

Therefore, if you want to go from an outsider to the top of the pyramid, it is as difficult as climbing to the sky.

Otherwise, why, with the connections, resources and financial resources of Abramovich and others, have not been able to get into the core circle after so many years, and are still the nouveau riche looked down upon by Platini, Florentino, Rosell and others?

Therefore, it seems that it is not easy for Young Master Huan to have the status and influence he has today!

As for some people in China saying that he is a wasteful rich second generation, that is even more ridiculous!

If a second-generation rich man who only knows how to spend money can get close to UEFA President Platini, then UEFA is too worthless.

But what surprised Luo Ming even more was the drawing ceremony that followed.

Although Southampton won the Europa League and defeated Manchester United to win the Premier League as a newly promoted team, the team's top star Ibrahimovic lost to Cristiano Ronaldo in the European Player of the Season award without any surprise.

This is not surprising at all, because Real Madrid won the Champions League last season, so it is natural for Cristiano Ronaldo to win the European Player of the Season.

But in the subsequent draw ceremony, Southampton took advantage.

As a newcomer to the UEFA Champions League, the Saints have won the Europa League for two consecutive seasons and have accumulated more than 60 points in European competitions, which puts Southampton in the third tier in the Champions League group stage.

As a result, the other European giants were all scared to death!

There is no need to say much about the strength of the teams in the first tier. The second tier also includes some extremely strong teams including Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, AC Milan and others.

But in the third tier, there are still tough teams like Manchester City, Leverkusen, Southampton and Dortmund. Do you think the teams in the first two tiers can be not afraid?

As for the fourth tier, Real Sociedad and Napoli are also extremely strong teams, which is scary to think about.

If we are not careful, it might become a death group!

But the final draw result was indeed scary, and there was indeed a group of death, but it was not Southampton or Atletico Madrid.

Southampton is a team in the third tier. The first tier team they drew was Porto of the Portuguese Super League, the second tier team was Zenit St. Petersburg, and the fourth tier team was Austria Vienna.

The result of this draw is quite satisfactory, especially for Southampton, a third-tier team. They were able to avoid the top teams in the first two tiers and draw Porto and Zenit St. Petersburg consecutively. Their luck in the draw can be said to be quite good.

But Atletico Madrid's draw luck was clearly better.

As a team in the first tier, Atletico Madrid drew Schalke 04, Basel and Steaua Bucharest, which is the luckiest result among all the teams.

Relatively speaking, Arsenal's luck is terrible. As a first-tier team, the Gunners drew opponents including Marseille, Dortmund and Napoli, all of which are strong teams in the other three tiers, which can be called the group of death.

Manchester United's luck was not ideal either, as they drew Shakhtar Donetsk, Leverkusen and Real Sociedad, and their situation was quite unfavorable.

As for Manchester City, as a third-tier team, Manchester City had decent luck, having met Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen.

Judging from their strength, as long as Manchester City performs normally, there is a great possibility that they will qualify from the group stage.

As soon as the draw results came out, the entire Grimaldi Forum was in an uproar.

Everyone exclaimed in surprise, and everyone's expression was completely different.

Some were secretly delighted with their team's good luck in the draw, while others were beating their chests and stamping their feet, feeling depressed about their bad luck in the draw, and some were just here to join in the fun, but they gloated over the misfortune of some others.

In short, you can find all kinds of people and all kinds of expressions in the Grimaldi Forum.

Atletico Madrid drew the best draw of the game. Soriano breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stood up with his head held high and his chest puffed out, obviously showing confidence that the Colchoneros can stand out from the group stage.

And this often means a constant flow of money and benefits!

As for Southampton, their luck was quite good. Peter Kenyon was in a good mood. Yang Huan glanced at Platini meaningfully, and the latter smiled knowingly and said nothing more.

After the drawing ceremony, Yang Huan did not stay in the Grimaldi Forum Center for long. He couldn't just take advantage of others and act like a good kid, right?

However, he can fully foresee that tomorrow, after the whole world knows the results of the draw, conspiracy theories will surely emerge again. By that time, who knows how many people will be envious and jealous of Southampton!

In fact, everything was as Yang Huan expected.

The next day, almost all the media in the world were hyping the results of the Champions League group stage draw.

But there was one thing that Yang Huan did not expect!