Chapter 21 Group
The group stage of the 2007/2008 UEFA Champions League was announced. Thirty-two teams had very different fates. Some were full of flowers, but some smelled death early.
If Real Madrid crowned its first European champion in 1955, the UEFA Champions League has gone through a 52-year history.
Time flies, and the competition system has changed several times. The desire for the championship has become a kind of lovesickness that has remained unchanged for many years, but such a football feast does not know how many idle feelings have been entangled.
Half a century of the UEFA Champions League exudes unchanging brilliance in a kind of lovesickness and a few sorrows. The battle for the right to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 2007/2008 season still continues this history.
The end of the draw for the group stage of the Champions Cup also marks the beginning of the most exciting battle in European football in 2007. Of course, this kind of lottery, which is purely based on luck and the care of godfather, will not get satisfactory results for everyone, and this ensuing way will also lead to many side stories.
From the perspective of the league, it should be said that the draw results of Serie A are good. Milan's two heroes are divided into a group that are recognized as satisfactory. Roma and Manchester United are divided into one group, but the other two teams in the same group are Sporting Lisbon and Dynamo Kiev. In terms of strength, Manchester United is the favorite of this group, but Rome competes for the group. Another chance of qualifying is also very large. If the shame of 1:7 last season can be turned into motivation, it is not impossible to get points on Manchester United. It can be said that Rome has a great chance of qualifying. Relatively speaking, Lazio is the most unfavorable. Real Madrid in Group C is the strongest, but Lazio and Bremen compete in the second place in the group, and Florence. Because of Degan's relationship, the two clubs also fell into hostility. Florence's appearance is not serious, and they even have competition. The strength of the top group.
Among the three teams in La Liga, Seville's signing is the best. Although it is difficult to say who will win the first and who will be the second with Arsenal, in terms of overall strength, the Celtics and Slavia Prague are too far apart. Valencia's signing is the worst. It is not only suppressed by Chelsea, but also has to face the pursuit of Schalke 04 and qualifying situation. Not optimistic. Barcelona and the emperor must be careful to deal with strong enemies. As long as they play their own level normally, there should be no problem in qualifying.
There are a lot of giants in the UEFA Champions League, but it seems that Real Madrid is the real king of La Liga. No one can match the glory of winning the European championship nine times, but what makes Real Madrid embarrassed is that Real Madrid has not been able to enter the quarterfinals of the Champions League for four years. As a rich team, Real Madrid certainly wants to do a big job in Europe. Although it is a popular group, the opponent is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Any team may be cold, especially in the same group with Bundesliga champion Bremen and Serie A giant Lazio. Real Madrid is even more worried and does not dare to be careless.
In order to maintain a great enough image on European football, Real Madrid has made big deals this summer, transferring more than 100 million euros. How much return Calderon's investment can bring still needs to be tested in La Liga and the Champions League.
Although Bremen left Klose, its strength has not been affected much. Lazio, the "Blue Eagles" of Serie A, advocates offensive football and believes that no club hopes to meet Lazio in the third gear.
It can be said that Real Madrid's group has more or less the taste of the group of death because of the arrival of Lazio. Without Lazio, Real Madrid and Bremen seem to cherish each other, but now they have to face their opponents from Serie A in this group.
In fact, the fourth team Olympiacos of Greece is not weak. This season, despite Rivaldo, Real Madrid's former player Bravo, former Real Sociarch Kovacevich and Argentine Garetti are still on the team. Such an opponent familiar with Real Madrid is undoubtedly a great variable.
The luck of the Premier League team is not so good, and they probably have to continue to pay for Hassel. Over the years, the Premier League team's luck in the Champions League has not been very optimistic.
Liver's luck is good. Except for Porto, the other two teams are not strong enough to pose a threat to Liverpool. Porto may be familiar with the Premier League team. In the 03/04 season, Porto's head coach was the current Chelsea coach Mourinho. At that time, Porto also created a miracle under the leadership of Mourinho. This team that few people were optimistic about before the Champions League finally won the championship!
Although this is related to the unexpected fall of major giants in the knockout stage of the Champions League, Porto has also shown people their strong strength.
In the top 16 of the UEFA Champions League that season, Porto eliminated the Premier League Manchester United team. They scored the winning goal with the low-level mistake of the Manchester United goalkeeper in the last second at Old Trafford.
Since then, Porto and Chelsea were in the same group in the 04/05 season, when Chelsea and Porto won at their respective home games.
In the 06/07 season, the two teams met again in the top 16 of the Champions League. Although Chelsea was finally promoted, Porto, a technical flow, also caused a lot of trouble for Chelsea. Chelsea conceded the ball first in the two rounds, and then equalized or overtwined.
Although Porto has transferred to Chelsea, and all the famous stars in the team such as Deko have left the team, their strength cannot be underestimated, which can be seen from the team's three promotions to the Champions League knockout in the past four seasons.
In this group, Porto is undoubtedly the biggest threat to Liverpool's top team.
In addition, Marseille is also a noteworthy team. Although the current Ligue 1 has already fallen and only Lyon has stood for them in the Champions League, last season's Lille told people with their practical actions that the Ligue 1 team is definitely not a man** fish team.
Liver's encounter with Marseille in this group match should not be taken lightly. However, for Liverpool, one advantage is that Liverpool eliminated Toulouse in the qualifying match before entering the Champions League this time, and the total score of 5:0 in the two rounds also reflects Liverpool's great advantage over the Ligue 1. In addition, there was also a Ligue 1 team Bordeaux in the same group with Liverpool in the group stage of the Champions League last season. As a result, Liverpool also defeated this Ligue 1 team.
As for Besiktas, the fourth team of this group, they should be the weakest of the four teams and a mysterious division. They have not participated in the Champions League many times, which also makes the Premier League team know less about them. But people should always remember this sentence: Europe has no weak brigade.
This is true for both national and club teams. In the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 03/04 season, Chelsea was in the same group with Besiktas, and Besiktas actually defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge Stadium!
Of course, Chelsea's strength at that time could not be compared with that of Chelsea now. However, this game also reminds Liverpool who is about to encounter the team. Although Besiktas is weak, he must not despise them.
For Liverpool, the opponent in this group is weak except for Porto, and the probability of qualifying is very high. The only suspense will be whether Liverpool will be the first or second in the group.
Arsenal's grouping situation is also relatively optimistic, but the prospect of competing for the first place in the group is not optimistic. In addition to the two consecutive UEFA Cup winner and the strong strength of La Liga upstart Seville, the other opponents are from Czech Republic, Scotland and other minor leagues. It is difficult for their two teams to build against Arsenal and Seville. It becomes a threat.
Chelsea is still the strongest in his group, but this is a very energy-consuming group. Compared with Liverpool's previous signing, Chelsea undoubtedly drew a dangerous draw.
Chelsea's group is also widely regarded by major football media as one of the three dead groups drawn in the Champions League group stage this season.
Chelsea's excellent performance in the last four seasons in the Champions League has promoted itself from the second-tier team to the first-class team, but this did not give Chelsea a better signing.
This time, although Chelsea avoided a strong dialogue with Barcelona, it encountered another strong enemy in La Liga, and was also Valencia, the old enemy in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League last season.
In last season's Champions League knockout match, Chelsea also conceded the ball first and then equalized or overtwined. Among them, Chelsea was eliminated by Essien's final goal at the last second. And Valencia did not fall behind in the two games. A La Liga team like Valencia is also the most feared team for Chelsea. There is no doubt that Chelsea's biggest opponent in this group is Valencia.
The third team Schalke 04 is also a team from five major leagues. Although Bundesliga teams have generally performed poorly in the Champions League in recent seasons, the league team is more than enough to play the role of spoilers in the group stage of the Champions League.
Manchester United is in the same group as Rome, Sporting Lisbon and Dynamo Kiev. Combined with the current situation of Manchester United, it is not so safe to qualify.
The grouping situation of this Champions League group stage also continues the past practice. In short, there are many stories. Every draw, there will be a lot of old accounts. When Maldini pulled out of Rome and then out of Group F, he laughed, and the people on the venue also laughed. Roma and Manchester United were the enemies of last season. I have encountered it again.
For Roma and Manchester United fans, unless football disappears from this planet, such a story is destined to become their eternal knot, as Shakespeare said, "There is only tragedy that can last forever!"
Old Trafford's 7:1 was a spectacle of the last Champions Cup. It was also this game that made the Roma realize the importance of the depth of the bench and introduced many new aids this summer. Rome's strength has improved, its experience has increased, and its mentality has become more mature. This time it is against Manchester United again, a truly strong pair. The words are expected.
After summer adjustment and trading, Rome's current lineup and strength are not below the two Milan. Come out and fool around, you always have to pay it back!" Face to face in this Champions League, I'm afraid only God knows who will die between the Red Devils and the Roman Deer.
Bundesliga is less Bayern, less dominant, Stuttgart, Schalke 04 in the third gear, and Bremen in the second gear, but its strength has declined too much, and it is not impossible for the whole army to be destroyed.
Is this kind of draw really fair?
At least looking at the small notes that have been taken out of the ball, it seems really fair. The quality of the grouping situation only depends on luck, but the road in it is obviously not so simple.
In the final analysis, football is an ornamental competitive sport. What people want to see is not just a group of muscular men blowing their beards and staring for a small ball on the field. What they want to watch is the same as the Korean kimchi drama. It is better to have the ups and downs, including resentment.
In fact, Platini did a very good job in the first Champions League after taking the stage, and the audience was very satisfied. At least they all saw what they should see.
In particular, AC Milan and Fiorentina were divided into the same group, which can stimulate people** in an instant, making it unprecedented**.
People still remember the last game of last season's Serie A. At that time, although AC Milan had won the Champions League, they still had to fight for a ticket to the Champions League.
According to the popular plot, Fiorentina should take it for granted to complete AC Milan. Even in that game, the referee also committed crimes against the wind and favored AC Milan on the penalty scale. As a result, AC itself was disappointing, occupying the right time, location, people, and finally lost the game. How can it be? Who is to blame?
Now the two sides have met again. This time, it is more direct. In the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, AC Milan certainly hopes that the two sides can join hands to qualify in accordance with the principle of friendship and peace, but Galliani is very clear that Florence is no longer the purple lily full of humanistic care. After having Degan, this Zhi's former Serie A giant can definitely be called the Legion of Mad Dogs.
"I'm very satisfied with the grouping situation, especially when I can meet AC Milan. I like the feeling of competing with Ricado on the court. That must be great."
Looking at Degan'sxingful appearance, you will know that this mad dog has polished his minions and is waiting to hurt people. On the court, this guy is definitely the owner who six relatives don't recognize. When he should hurt people, this guy will never be soft.
In this regard, the card that has just won three trophies said: "That's right! I also like to compete with Rod, and that feeling always makes people's blood boil.
Before the UEFA Champions League starts, the two brothers are ready to go. It can be predicted what kind of fierce scene will burst out when the two teams meet.