On December 11, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, at nearly 19:00 local time in the afternoon, the draw ceremony for the quarter-finals of the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League, which has attracted the attention of fans around the world, is about to begin.
Manchester, Chu Zheng also appeared in the living room on time, turned on the BBC channel, and waited for the lottery ceremony to begin.
According to the Champions League quarter-final draw rules, the first place in the group must be the second place in the group. Teams in the same group will not meet each other in the group stage, and teams in the same league will not compete against each other.
At 19:00 Swiss time and 20:00 London time, the lottery ceremony officially began.
As soon as the live broadcast screen appeared, 16 teams from major European leagues were divided into two groups and listed.
Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Porto, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Sevilla.
Seeing these teams, Chu Zheng frowned.
According to the same league avoidance rules, Manchester City can avoid Arsenal and Leicester City.
Since Barcelona is also in Group C, they also have to be eliminated.
Therefore, Manchester City actually has only a few opponents to choose from, and they are all difficult to crack.
Some people may think that drawing Monaco is a lucky draw.
But Chu Zheng doesn’t think so. He knows this year’s Monaco team very well.
What's more, there is a magical turtle there who is about to defy the heavens and shock the world.
In fact, from a personal level, Chu Zheng is very eager to play against these strong teams.
But from a team perspective, Chu Zheng doesn't want to compete against these strong teams at this stage. He hopes they can go further.
But thinking about his poor defense, Chu Zheng suddenly felt that even if the second-rate European teams in the top 16 such as Benfica, Porto, Leverkusen and Sevilla went to the opposite group A, they would play these second-rate footballs.
The team is also at risk.
To be honest, Chu Zheng is really scared by Kolarov, Stones and others now.
Every time they attack the frontcourt and create a good situation, these guys can ruin all these advantages for you in the blink of an eye.
Even cheating is not enough to create the ups and downs of Stones and others.
Just like yesterday, before Leicester City scored the fourth goal, Chu Zheng didn't dare to say the lead, but he still had some confidence in the equalizer.
As a result, Stones made a move for them in the blink of an eye, ruining the good situation.
Not to mention other players, Chu Zheng had some self-doubt at that time and his self-confidence also collapsed.
After UEFA's spokesman Pedro Pinto made his opening remarks, he quickly invited the person in charge of the draw, George Marchetti.
As soon as he saw George Marchetti, Chu Zheng became happy. He raised his butt and leaned over to pick up his mobile phone from the coffee table and directly sent a text message.
Leicester and Ranieri also watched the draw ceremony at home.
But compared with Manchester City, Leicester City in Group A has more options.
If teams like Benfica, Sevilla, and Leverkusen are drawn, and taking into account the advantage of being first in the group, first away, then home, Ranieri is confident that he can win them.
Just as Ranieri was frowning and thinking, the mobile phone on the sofa beside his lap rang.
Ranieri picked it up and took a look.
[Sir, remember to draw a good lottery for us! I’ll treat you to pizza for a year! (*^▽^*)]
After seeing Chu Zheng's text message, Ranieri looked up at Giorgio Marchetti on the TV screen and immediately couldn't laugh or cry.
【Get out!】
Ranieri typed up a random word and phrase and sent it.
Then the smile on his face never faded.
He also wished that he was George Marchetti, the person in charge of the lottery, so that he could draw whoever he wanted.
It's a pity that although he and George Marchetti seem to be twins carved from the same mold, they really have no blood relationship.
After Chu Zheng received the reply, he slapped his thigh with joy.
Zhao Dudu, who was lying sideways on Chu Zheng's lap and playing with his mobile phone, saw Chu Zheng's actions and text messages, and complained helplessly: "Childish devil!"
Not long after, George Marchetti invited the guest of the draw, the legendary Dutch star Gullit.
Then another UEFA official came up and began to explain the draw rules in front of the camera.
After the explanation of the rules, the much-anticipated drawing of lots officially began.
Giorgio Marchetti reached out and turned the lottery board several times before drawing the first Group B team.
Opening the paper sign with the Champions League logo printed on it, Marchetti looked down, then looked up, raised the paper sign in his hand in front of him, and read: "Manchester City!"
Seeing that Manchester City was the first to be drawn out, Chu Zheng was stunned for a moment and suddenly had an ominous premonition.
"It must not be Monaco and Juventus!"
"No!" Chu Zheng muttered, his eyes fixed on the TV.
In the live broadcast, Gullit has put his hand into the lottery, and Manchester City's opponent in the Champions League quarter-finals is about to be born.
At the same time, Guardiola, De Bruyne, Aguero, Sterling and others were all watching Gullit on TV at home.
Under the spotlight, Gullit twisted the ball for a long time without being able to unscrew it, which made Chu Zheng wish he could go up and help him.
Soon, Gullit, who was looking down at the lottery, straightened up and showed the drawn team to the camera.
"AS Monaco FC!"
Hearing Gullit pronounce the name of Monaco, Chu Zheng immediately covered his face. He was really afraid of something.
Seeing Chu Zheng's depressed look, Zhao Dudu, who didn't know much about Ligue 1, sat up and asked with a smile: "What's wrong? Is this team very strong?"
Chu Zheng released his hands that were rubbing his face vigorously, looked at Zhao Dudu, and said with a smile: "Please remove the word "?"
Monaco and Juventus are two teams, one is strong offensively and the other is strong defensively.
But if he could choose, Chu Zheng would choose Juventus.
Chu Zheng would rather play Juventus than Monaco.
Because Monaco's attack power is very deadly.
Monaco now has a large number of future stars such as Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Lemar, etc. who have not yet become famous. Their real combat power cannot be underestimated.
Especially now, if Manchester City competes with Monaco in the Champions League with the defense of Chelsea and Leicester City, Chu Zheng thinks that their scumbag defense will probably die miserably and may be bombarded.
into slag.
At Guardiola's home, when he saw that Monaco was drawn, his expression also changed severely.
Compared with Monaco, his thoughts are exactly the same as Chu Zheng's, and he would rather be drawn to an established giant like Serie A Juventus.
Since the top 16 of the Champions League, Manchester City has started to collect intelligence based on the opponents they may draw in the knockout rounds.
Last season, Juventus midfielder Pogba, striker Morata and other players left one after another.
Although Juventus' Serie A performance this season is still very good, it still cannot hide the fact that the offensive line has been damaged and the offensive strength is not as good as before.
Although the Monaco team is mediocre in Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
But this season is different. Guardiola has seen the Monaco game videos and intelligence, and the speed of the attack is simply terrifying.
Especially the counterattack speed. The speed of the French forward who was under 20 in the video left a deep impression on Guardiola.
There are also other Monaco players. Judging from Guardiola's experience and vision, the upper limits of these young players are very high.
Therefore, this is a true youth guard. This kind of young team that has successfully created a youth storm is the most terrifying. They are often the dark horses in the Champions League.
After half an hour, all teams were drawn.
Manchester City VS Monaco
Real Madrid vs Napoli
Benfica vs Dortmund
Bayern VS Arsenal
Porto VS Juventus
Bayer Leverkusen VS Atletico Madrid
Paris Saint-Germain VS Barcelona
Sevilla vs Leicester City
Facing this lottery result, some people were smiling, while others were full of frustration.
It is worth mentioning that Paris Saint-Germain were drawn against Barcelona again, and they are probably doomed again and will end up in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Manchester City drew Monaco. In the eyes of the outside world, this was a top draw, not a bottom draw as Chu Zheng thought.
