At 12 o'clock in the morning on the 18th, the draw ceremony for the quarterfinals of the Champions League kicked off in Nyon, Switzerland, and 16 teams from the group gathered together.

On the big stage of the Champions League, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United Milan are super bigwigs, Olympiacos, CSKA, and Bordeaux are all small shrimps, while Arsenal and Chelsea, which have never won the championship, are strong, but they are often very low-key in this venue, and the focus of reporters is not them.

And this year is obviously different, when Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger and chairman Hillwood appeared, a large number of reporters flocked to the scene, the flashing lights kept flashing, and the presidents and coaches of major clubs also stood up to say hello, Wenger and Hillwood also felt more face-saving, and their backs were straighter. Arsenal's performance this year is so good that everyone at Arsenal, even Arsenal fans, feels a lot more confident to speak.

However, several giants who fell to the second place in the group, such as Milan and Bayern, looked at Wenger with hostility and vigilance, because the draw principle for the semi-finals is as follows: the team that wins the group stage plays against the second team in any other group, and the team in the same group and the same football association automatically avoids it. In addition, the team that finished second in the group will play home and away in the two-legged quarterfinals. Whether in terms of rules, conspiracy, or even commercial interests, these three giants are very likely to face Arsenal at the top of the group.

At the same time, all the players of Arsenal, including the injured Van Persie and Bendtner, were in the broadcast hall of the Emirates Stadium to watch the draw ceremony, the hall was full of laughter, like a vegetable market, the professor was not there, the two assistant coaches and the executive chairman could not control the scene, in fact, now Arsenal has such a good record, the relationship between the club's management, coaching staff and players is very harmonious, and they will not prohibit the players from laughing and playing as managers.

Van Persie hugged Li Huan's shoulders affectionately and said, "Li, who do you say UEFA will send to us." ”

Assistant coach Rice, who was sitting not far from Li Huan, said: "Robin, don't talk nonsense, how can the draw be accurate." ”

Gala snorted disdainfully and said, "If you want to say that there is no cat in the middle, I don't believe it if you kill me." ”

At this time, Real Madrid's PR manager Brattgerno and UEFA competition director Marchetti walked out, and this season's Champions League final was held at Real Madrid's home Bernabeu, so Real Madrid's PR manager Brattgno was able to come to assist in the draw.

The first place in the Champions League is Bordeaux, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Barcelona, Sevilla, Arsenal; The second is Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Milan, Porto, Lyon, Inter Milan, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiacos.

The new secretary general of UEFA, Infantino, introduced the rules of the draw and the two guests who assisted him in the draw with a smile on his face, but the fans in front of the TV were not very interested in what he said, because these things are already familiar to the fans, and the draw of UEFA is not really completely open and fair, although UEFA will not hack any team, but for commercial interests, UEFA often draws some very gimmicky and eye-catching teams together, Therefore, every draw will also attract criticism from some teams and fans.

Infantino was much more humorous than his predecessor David Taylor, and his big bald head was also very funny, and he first caught a team that made all the first places red, AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands, and second, that is, AZ Alkmaar and Olympiacos were the worst. No wonder the other groups were red at first sight.

The Arsenal players in the broadcast hall of the Emirates Stadium also talked about it, and Diaby said eagerly: "Drawing them is almost equivalent to going straight to the quarterfinals." Olympiacos, we don't have a show, the best ones are AZ Alkmaar and CSKA Moscow. ”

Van Persie complained about his hometown team, saying: "Diaby, you can't look down on our country's team, their quality is not bad. At least better than Olympiacos. ”

Li Huan said slowly: "UEFA has always been unwilling to see us, and will not give us the softest persimmon." ”

At this time, Brattgno pulled out Barcelona, and the Barcelona coach on the scene, Pep Guardiola, suddenly showed a knowing smile on his face, and the head coach of AZ Alkmaar also smiled. With their strength, who will be spared?

The Arsenal players in front of the TV burst into boos.

"Damn, it's the top eight again!"

"It's good to be a strong team."

"When will we have a good life?"

Arsenal's players are talking a lot, and seeing Barcelona draw such a good signing, their psychology is a little unbalanced.

Li Huan tried his best to recall that Arsenal drew the team in the round of 16, but the time was too long, and it was only the quarterfinals, he didn't even remember it for a while.

The second team to be drawn by Infantino is another weak team, Olympiacos, this time the Arsenal players don't care, they are in the same group as the Greek team, how can they not be drawn together in the quarterfinals. In the end, Olympiacos drew the big dark horse Bordeaux, and both sides were satisfied, and both saw the hope of advancing to the quarterfinals.

The next to be drawn is Inter Milan, and now the conference hall is tense, Mourinho's team is the most difficult, even if it can eliminate Inter Milan, I am afraid that it will have to suffer heavy casualties, it can be said that no team wants to touch this group second team.

Fabregas said nervously, "You won't give them to us." ”

Assistant coach Rice was also obviously nervous, he took off his glasses and wiped them, and said, "It's hard to say." We haven't been strong in the Champions League, and we haven't had any good signings over the years. ”

Just when everyone was nervous, Inter Milan's opponent was pulled out by Brattgno, it was Chelsea.

Everyone in the hall was visibly relieved, with the exception of Chelsea and Inter Milan, Ancelotti and Mourinho's expressions were frozen, followed by a meaningful wry smile.

Bendtner applauded, "Okay, it's going to look good now, dog-eat-dog." ”

Van Persie couldn't help sneering and said: "Everyone knows the relationship between these two teams, Mourinho is the coach of the original Chelsea, and the current coach of Chelsea, Ancelotti is the coach of the original A Milan, this arrangement is more eye-catching." I just don't know which team to arrange for us, Bayern or A Milan. ”

The next teams to be drawn are Bayern Munich and Fiorentina, which makes Arsenal breathe a sigh of relief, as long as they don't draw A Milan, they like CSKA Moscow, Porto, and Lyon.

CSKA Moscow and Sevilla, Lyon and Real Madrid were also drawn out, leaving four teams left, with Arsenal and Manchester United topping the group and Milan and Porto second.

Arsenal's players are even more nervous this time around, with a 50 per cent hope of meeting the more difficult seven-time Champions League winners A Milan, which makes Arsenal not nervous.

Van Persie muttered to himself: "There is no doubt, it must be A Milan, and it is the theme of revenge, the same as Real Madrid playing Lyon." ”

Many of Arsenal's players have similar opinions, but Li Huan completely remembers that it was Porto, but he didn't say it, he didn't want to spoil the surprise behind his teammates.

Then Arsenal was really drawn to Porto's group, the hall of the Emirates Stadium suddenly cheered, this is not the best signing, but it must not be considered bad, in 50% of the case met Porto, not A Milan, this is luck, not that Arsenal is afraid of A Milan, but in the early stage of the knockout round, they don't want to play scarred, and when they wait for the knockout round, they will play seriously attrition, and they can't get together a complete lineup, This can be avoided by encountering a weaker opponent, especially for a team like Arsenal that does not have enough depth on the bench, and the danger of encountering a strong team in the early stage is even greater, and it may even be possible to make a wedding dress for others. ‘

After the draw results were announced, Ladbrokes and BIN both offered the latest Champions League winning odds, Arsenal continued to rank first, Barcelona rose to second, while Chelsea and Manchester United ranked third and fourth, while Milan's odds to win the championship were raised, and AZ Alkmaar and Olympiacos tied for the bottom.

The next day's various media also commented on the results of the draw, the Italian media believes that UEFA is deliberately suppressing Serie A, "Milan Sports News" said: Inter Milan drew Chelsea, Manchester United drew the sworn enemy A Milan, and last season, the Champions League round of 16 matchup is the British and Italian team confrontation, the difference is that Fiorentina drew the bloodbath of Juventus Bayern Munich, but the three Serie A teams are drawn to the traditional European giants. Last season, three Serie A teams were beaten by three Premier League teams, all of which were eliminated. Now that a nightmare signing has been drawn again, it would be a fool to believe that UEFA is not making things difficult for Serie A. “

The British media is also dissatisfied, although A Milan drew a strong Manchester United, but it does not mean that it will be caught, because in the history of the Champions League for more than 50 years, A Milan has never been eliminated by Manchester United, four times in the knockout round, A Milan achieved 5 wins and 3 losses, four times all Manchester United was eliminated, the success rate is as high as 100, and Inter Milan and Chelsea have not played each other in the European competition, it can be described as an encounter, Mourinho knows Chelsea well, the outcome is really difficult to predict, How could the Premier League media be happy, if it weren't for Arsenal's good signing, the British media would have scolded them a long time ago.

Only the Spanish team is satisfied, the top three of La Liga have good luck, if Real Madrid can only be regarded as winning the lottery if they draw Lyon, then Barcelona and Sevilla are undoubtedly on the lottery this time. And this is not the first time that a Spanish team has won a good signing, last season, when the Premier League Serie A teams were in a one-on-one battle, Barcelona, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid faced Lyon, Panathinaikos and Porto respectively. However, the Spanish media did not understand the reason for making a fortune, and made a big fuss after the game, saying that the Champions League final was held at the Bernabeu this time. It is a good opportunity for La Liga, hoping that the three La Liga teams will reach the quarterfinals and turn the final into a civil war for La Liga teams.

After the draw, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spoke to reporters about his views on the opponent Porto, and the professor said, "Porto is weak? They've been Champions League winners, they're a little bit worse than Bayern, Inter Milan and A Milan, but they're much better than Olympiacos and AZ Alkmaar, so I think it's a 50-on-50 game, Porto have been playing at a very high level and it's always hard to beat. One of the advantages we have is probably that we can go back to our home stadium in the second leg. But we have to play the first leg first first and try to get away goals. ”

Arsene Wenger's rhetoric is certainly the product of modesty and prudence, and Arsenal's overall record against Porto has given Arsenal plenty of confidence, but the two century-old clubs had never faced each other before 2006, but since that year the fate of the north London giants and the Portuguese giants has been entangled on several occasions. In both 2006/07 and 2008/09, Arsenal met Porto in the group stage of the Champions League, and apart from last season's 2-0 defeat at the Stade d'Oro, the Gunners are unbeaten in three meetings and, more importantly, Arsene Wenger's side have yet to concede a goal.

And Porto coach Ferreira doesn't seem to have much idea, but Porto has been out of the group for four consecutive years, and it is certainly impossible to say that there is no idea of taking a step forward, after the draw, coach Ferreira said, "Arsenal is the strongest team in Europe right now, 16 consecutive wins in the Premier League is remarkable, if the Champions League is played now, we may lose 0:5, but who knows what will happen in two months, maybe they are in better shape, maybe worse, I think now we still think about the league and the league is just as important to us. ”

As a member of the last Champions League champion, although Hoffenheim was eliminated, but Li Huan is still alive, in an interview, Li Huan expressed confidence in advancing to the top 8, Li Huan told reporters very easily, "It doesn't matter who the opponent is, we will definitely advance, Arsenal's honor room is the only missing championship trophy, I came to Arsenal to win this trophy for the fans, the Champions League may not have a defending champion team, I hope to be a defending champion player."

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