Xu Zhu's Successor's Football Journey

Chapter 312 League Cup Champions Cup Draw!
English League Cup.

This event is a tasteless game for many Premier League teams, but after double-beating Fulham in the League Cup and the league, Chelsea also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup. At this time, the remaining teams are Manchester United , Chelsea, Liverpool and League One team Watford.

On December 12, the League Cup semi-final draw ceremony was held at the FA headquarters in London.

Chelsea's coach Mourinho and assistant coach Clark participated in the ceremony. Although in the previous draw ceremony, many teams only sent one staff member, but this time it was the semi-finals related to the championship. The coach Coming in person can also show respect for the FA.

"Of course I hope that the team will meet Watford. To be honest, I have only heard the name of this team." In an interview, a Blues fan joked.

In fact, it is also true. For the other three top Premier League teams, Watford as a League One team is really inconspicuous. Almost every team wants to meet it in the semi-finals. , then the other two teams will have to fight in the semi-finals. This kind of thing is definitely something that these competitors are happy to see happen.

Obviously, Mourinho thought the same way, but when he unfolded the small piece of paper that he drew, his face turned black——
Manchester United! !
Undoubtedly, Manchester United is the last opponent Mourinho wants to meet in the League Cup semi-finals.

In this season's Premier League, Manchester United has almost no hope of competing for the league title, and even so, next year's European Champions Cup places can be firmly obtained.And it is not easy to want to win the European Champions Cup for several years. This requires not only strength, but also a lot of luck. Even if Manchester United abandons the league and devotes all their energy to the championship, they are likely to be eliminated halfway. At this time, the League Cup, which is usually not optimistic, becomes a kind of consolation, better than nothing.

Therefore, Mourinho is sure that in the confrontation between the two teams, Manchester United will definitely devote the most energy to win. Even if Chelsea can win, it will be a miserable victory. The Portuguese secretly cursed the FA in his heart. There is likely to be something inside this draw.

Whether it is FIFA, UEFA or the English Football Association, in order to develop their own football careers, it is well known that some insiders appeared in the draw confrontation. Even if everyone knew that there was an insider, no one really Speaking out, this is reality, and Mourinho is a little helpless about it.

Of course Sir Alex Ferguson was also on the scene. At this time, the old coach was already sitting on a chair and fell asleep. When he heard the on-site commentary read out the game table, he stood up excitedly from wide-eyed eyes. .

It's not just Mourinho who doesn't want to meet Manchester United, Ferguson doesn't want to meet Chelsea! !
Decades of coaching experience have allowed Sir Alex Ferguson to be very accurate in his evaluation of a team. Although Manchester United and Chelsea played 2:3 at Old Trafford last time, this score does not show that the two sides The actual gap between the two teams, but looking at the whole game and the records of the two teams, player allocation, etc., the old Jazz knew very well that with the current Manchester United lineup short of major generals, it is really difficult to win against Chelsea.

You know, there are many injuries in the backcourt of Manchester United now, and the performance of Gary Neville and Phil Neville is really unsatisfactory, and they have even been reduced to substitutes. He is still recuperating in the Netherlands. Under such circumstances, what can Manchester United do to compete with Chelsea! ?

At this point, Sir Alex Ferguson probably can only hope that Chelsea's 'quadruple crown' declaration is just a smoke bomb, otherwise, Manchester United may really become a poor commander this season.

Regarding this result, in addition to Liverpool coach Benitez being very satisfied, even the League One team Watford is also very dissatisfied, and the reason why this team is dissatisfied is a bit funny in the eyes of the other three teams. But it's true for them.

Watford, who drew Liverpool, can't be happy, which has something to do with the club's expected income.

Manchester United's Old Trafford can hold far more spectators than Liverpool's Anfield and Chelsea's Stamford Bridge, so if United end up as Watford's opponents in the semi-finals, Watford will have about The ticket revenue of 100 million pounds comes in, and if the opponent is replaced by Chelsea or Liverpool, they can only earn 70 pounds. This 30 pounds is very critical for Watford, whose financial situation is very tight.

After the draw ceremony, facing reporters, Watford club chairman Simpson said: "For a club in our position, being able to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup is like a beautiful fairy tale, considering we are stretched. It’s a miracle that our finances are in. Even with this income, our finances are still a big problem.”

.........

No matter how much dissatisfaction Chelsea, Manchester United or Watford have, it has no effect on the result. Chelsea still have to play home and away against Manchester United, and Watford still has to lose 30 outside the plan. GBP.

However, for the four major teams of the Premier League, the draw ceremony of the League Cup is just an appetizer. The next day, that is, on December 12, the high-level figures of each team rushed to Switzerland by plane. To attend the draw for the Champions League knockout rounds held there.

The UEFA Champions League! !
This event is very attractive to all European football clubs, not only because the trophy means the highest honor of European football clubs, but also means that the club can have higher income, almost every extra game The Champions League finals can provide a club with at least 500 million euros in funds.

In modern football, money is always so attractive.

For English football, this year is really a bumper year, because Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, four teams participating in the UEFA Champions League, all qualified in the group stage, that is to say, among the top 16 of the UEFA Champions League, 4 teams are It's a Premier League team.

This really made the English team, which has always had poor performance, a big hit. Many English media even began to claim that the European Champions Cup final will be a civil war between the Premier League teams. For English football, this is definitely something that makes fans happy. ! !

The teams that qualified for this year's European group stage are:
Serie A: AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Premier League: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen

La Liga: Real Madrid, Barcelona

Ligue [-]: Monaco, Lyon

Portuguese Super League: Porto
Eredivisie: PSV Eindhoven

From this list of clubs, it can be seen that there are very few dark horses in the UEFA Champions League until the knockout stage. Basically all the top teams in the major leagues have reached this point. Of course, there are still underdogs and teams. The points of the strong team.

Teams like Eindhoven, Porto, Monaco, Werder Bremen, Leverkusen and other teams are relatively weaker, while other teams are traditional strong teams, of course, some of them do not meet the general requirements. The team that rules, that is Chelsea.

Chelsea has not always been a traditional strong team in the Champions League, but it has to be said that European bookmakers now offer the lowest odds for Chelsea to win the championship. This has a lot to do with Chelsea's unbeaten record this season.

However, although these bookmakers are optimistic about Chelsea, they don’t want Chelsea to win the championship, because before the start of the Champions League, Chelsea’s odds were very high. At that time, many fans bet on Chelsea. If Chelsea really wins, Many gaming companies will suffer losses.

It is worth mentioning that among the 16 teams that entered the finals, eight of the draw teams have never won the championship.

The Champions League has been held for 1955 sessions since the 1956-49 season, of which 31 Champions League trophies were won by the top sixteen teams.

Real Madrid has won the most titles with 9 titles, including their first Champions League title, AC Milan has won 6 titles, followed by Bayern Munich and Liverpool with 4 titles each. There are four teams that have won two championships in history, they are Inter Milan, Porto, Juventus and Manchester United, while the other eight teams participating in the draw are teams that have never won the championship- ——
Of course it also includes Chelsea.

.........

In recent days, Fulham's local media have been talking about this matter.

A loyal Chelsea fan couldn't hide his excitement when he was interviewed live by BBC TV: "We can't wait to know the result of the draw. I hope Chelsea will meet an underdog in the first round, preferably Egypt. Teams like Indhoven and Monaco, oh yes, Porto too."

"This season, I feel like I am dreaming. Although the team also reached the knockout round last season, I was not so excited at the time."

"We want Chelsea to go to the end in the Champions League and I'm very excited to think about that."

"We will let the whole of Europe know that as long as they meet Chelsea, it means that their journey in the Champions League has ended early." Wang Li said domineeringly when he was interviewed by Sky TV before the draw ceremony.

Before the live broadcast of the draw ceremony, Sky TV also made a special program to introduce the new Chelsea team to the whole of Europe. Many Chelsea players spoke on the spot to declare Chelsea's "dominant Europe".

In fact, that's what they do.

"I can't wait to know the news of the opponent, because then we can play the game the day after tomorrow with peace of mind. Arsenal is not an easy opponent to beat. We must work hard for this." Captain John Terry's words are very Sincerely, it can be seen that this big man from England really cares about the game the day after tomorrow.

"No matter who the opponent is, prepare to lose." Chelsea's new source Paul Ferreira, who has never liked to appear publicly in the media, said that the Portuguese defender is in a good mood recently. After half a season of hard work, he Finally stabilized his main position in Chelsea's defense.

This time, Joe Cole, who always likes to show off in front of the media, really said it happily. Facing the camera of Sky TV, he stretched out four fingers and proposed: "No matter who the opponent is, they will lose at Stamford Bridge." Four goals, that's my prediction."

Undoubtedly, this "four-to-zero prediction" is just a joke, but the conscientious staff of Sky TV still kept this paragraph. Maybe such a crazy speech can attract the attention of fans more.

.........

After the day's training ended, Wang Li greeted everyone, trotted back to the residence, turned on the TV, and sat on the sofa to watch the live broadcast of the lottery ceremony.

Although Wang Li appeared calm in front of the media, in fact he was still very concerned about the result of the lottery.

In the live TV broadcast, he saw coach Mourinho and the club CEO Peter Kenyon, because the live TV broadcast specially gave a close-up shot of these two people.

Chelsea's record this season is so brilliant that even the on-site commentator couldn't help but comment: "We should be more concerned with Chelsea's draw situation. No one in the Premier League can stop their victory. I hope that the rich teams can find opportunities."

Hearing that the host praised Chelsea so much, Wang Li felt a little happy. Anyway, Chelsea's results now have his indelible credit, which is almost the same as praising him.

Even though Wang Li practiced the Taoist mentality, which was a bit out of the world, he was still a mortal after all, and he would always have vanity.

After the ceremony was over, the first lottery arranged by UEFA was Chelsea. The team's CEO Peter Kenyon stepped forward to draw Chelsea's opponent.

At this time, Wang Li next to the TV was also a little excited. It was like a gamble. In fact, it was different from Mourinho's idea. He still hoped to play against strong teams, such as Barcelona and Real Madrid. He felt that the most enjoyable thing on the football field is to step on those opponents who won the World Footballer, the Golden Boot and so on.

Maybe this kind of thinking is a bit extreme, but if you want to become the first superstar in history and surpass the achievements of the predecessors, you must go through this process, and Wang Li now feels that his strength is too far behind the average player. The passion of confrontation, meeting football players who pose a threat to oneself, that kind of game is interesting--
It's just a threat.

Wang Li doesn't think there is anyone in this world who can play better than himself. The top Taoist martial arts he has learned are all created to play to the limits of human beings. How can anyone be better than himself! ?
Yes, he still has this bit of confidence.

At this time, Peter Kenyon on the TV had already taken out a small piece of paper from the box.

"Real Madrid! Real Madrid!!! Real Madrid!!!" Wang Li clenched his fists, widened his eyes, and prayed.

At the same time, at the scene of the draw ceremony, Mourinho also silently muttered in his heart: "The teams of the Bundesliga, Ligue [-], Eredivisie, Porto are also fine!!"

However, when the on-site host took the piece of paper in Peter Kenyon's hand and read out the name on it, Mourinho was dumbfounded. On the contrary, Wang Li, who was next to the TV, clenched his fists and shook his head hard. Waving ---
Barcelona! ! !

At this time, there was a burst of gloating laughter from the audience. It was obvious that they thought the result was interesting enough.

For Mourinho, this is really the worst result. When he was young, he also worked as an interpreter in Barcelona. The team you don't want to meet.

Ronaldinho, Puyol, Eto'o, Giuly, Deco... and even a super star Messi. In Mourinho's view, this Barcelona team is even better than the all-star Real Madrid. Even more frightening, meeting such a team in the first round of the knockout round is definitely the worst possible outcome.

The League Cup met Manchester United, and the Champions League met Barcelona. Chelsea's draw results even made many people present wonder if this is a joint effort by the European Union and the FA to suppress Chelsea's limelight.

You know, after Christmas, the FA Cup match will also start, and Chelsea will soon face a fourth-line battle, and the result of this draw will make the situation worse.

.........

After Chelsea's opponent came out, Wang Li was in no mood to care about other teams. He took out his mobile phone and called Angela to tell her the news.

These days, although Rita occasionally comes to Wang Li's place to spend the night, he is not alone.But in fact, Wang Li has always felt guilty about this matter, so he talked with Angela more frequently, and he felt that this might make up for some of his guilt.

"Your opponent is Barcelona? Spain?" Angela's tired voice came from the other end of the phone. Every time Wang Li heard this voice, he would feel numb all over his body. However, he liked this kind of voice very much. Feel.

"Well, I can go there now, I've never been to Spain before." Wang Li replied, then frowned and asked, "Annie, are you going back to London for Christmas?"

"Of course, I wish the time had passed faster."

Hearing the sweet words on the phone, Wang Li felt even more guilty. In fact, he didn't know how he should face Angela, how to explain to him the matter between himself and Rita. If he was asked to give up a woman, he would definitely give up Rita, because after having a relationship with Rita, Wang Li discovered that he actually liked this annoying little princess.

'The boat will be straight when it reaches the bridge! Wang Li couldn't help but patted his chest, thinking annoyedly.

Although Wang Li felt that it was a very embarrassing thing to hide, but in the current situation, it was natural to hide it. However, he still decided in his heart to make everything clear to Rita. If this woman chooses to leave, He will still respect her decision.

With a head full of distress, Wang Li went to a restaurant next to the villa to have dinner, and then went back to his residence to continue practicing inner strength. This kind of life has become his recent habit.

However, that night, Rita came to Wang Li's villa again.

This also made Wang Li realize that making a decision in his heart and actually doing it were completely different things. He couldn't bear to have a showdown with this desperate Ukrainian woman, and it would definitely cause her great harm.

So, the next day, Wang Li hurried to the Chelsea training match again, and after 12:[-] noon, a beautiful woman exuding femininity opened the side of the villa and walked out.

.........

Attachment: This season's Champions League knockout match table (free)
1.PSV vs Monaco

2.Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

3.Real Madrid VS Juventus
4.Liverpool vs Leverkusen
5.Werder Bremen vs Lyon
6.Porto VS Inter Milan
7.Manchester United VSAC Milan
8.Chelsea vs Barcelona
(End of this chapter)