On the afternoon of August 27, Morocco, the smallest and richest country on the southwest coast of the Mediterranean, will be star-studded, with Europe's most famous stars gathering here for the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage at the Grimaldi Convention Centre in Monte Carlo, and the major awards of last season's Champions League will be announced this evening.

This is the second time Li Huan has come to the scene of the draw ceremony, and the difference from the last time is that this time he came here as a candidate for the two awards of the Champions League, although the candidates were set up, in fact, many people understand that there is no suspense in the awards of defenders and best players, and Li Huan will definitely be elected without a doubt.

Unlike last time, Li Huan came in a very hurry this time, and after the lottery ceremony, he will fly back to London again to prepare for the game against Manchester United, and there is no time to walk around this beautiful small country like last time, and of course it is impossible to meet the beautiful French diva Ellijie again. Li Huan admires Ellie Jie very much, and he understands how difficult it is for a girl to maintain a pure and shy temperament after being famous for so many years.

Probably due to the weekend league fixture, Manchester United and Arsenal were the two last clubs to arrive, although there was a brutal battle two days later, and when they met, Ferguson, Van der Sar and Li Huan and Wenger still said hello and then walked side by side towards the hall together.

Although the scene was full of European football heavyweights, the arrival of Ferguson, Wenger and Li Huan still caused a lot of sensation, and many stars and football celebrities stood up to greet them or nodded their heads.

Li Huan's eyes roamed the hall, and soon he spotted Hoffenheim's head coach Rangnick, chairman Rothouse and goalkeeper Hildebrand. Rangnick had already noticed Li Huan, and when Li Huan's gaze swept down him, the eyes of the two people converged at once, Rangnick and Li Huan both nodded to each other, and Rothouse and Hildebrand also waved their hands to Li Huan in greeting.

Arsenal happened to sit on the side of the Barcelona club, and Li Huan was not far from Messi, the two most talented young people in the world glanced at each other, did not speak, and then naturally turned their gaze elsewhere. At the end of today's ceremony, it will be up to them to compete for the award of the club's best player, and their rivalry will obviously continue for a long time.

Li Huan had just sat down for less than five minutes, and the two hosts who presided over the lottery ceremony came out from behind the stage, the male host was Pinto, the American cable TV host, and the female host was Veroni, a famous Swiss model.

The slim and generous Veroni announced the process of this evening's draw ceremony to the audience, reviewed the scene of last season's Champions League final, and then invited former Portuguese goalkeeper Baia to present the award to the best goalkeeper.

The three candidates for this position are Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar, Chelsea's Petr Cech and Hoffenheim's Hildbrand, voting for the coach who reached the last 16 of the Champions League, which is very authoritative, and the final election is Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar, then UEFA Secretary General Taylor and the representative of the Bernabeu in this season's Champions League final Vulture Butragno took to the podium and, with the help of the best goalkeeper Van der Sar, began the first process of the draw ceremony: the seeding teams were divided into eight groups.

According to UEFA's club points rankings, the 32 teams are divided into four brackets. The teams in the first tier are Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, Arsenal, Sevilla and Bayern Munich; The teams in the second tier are Lyon, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, Porto, Hoffenheim, Juventus and Glasgow Rangers; The teams in the third pot are Olympiacos, Marseille, Dynamo Kyiv, AZ Alkmaar, Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Bordeaux and Besiktas; The teams in Pot 4 are VfL Wolfsburg, Standard Lieju, Maccabi Haifa, Zurich, Rubin Kazan, Unilia, Appel and Debresin.

The first round of seeding was just a formality, and everyone didn't really care, still talking to the nearest club or their friends in a whisper.

Edwin van der Sar drew Liverpool first and they were drawn in Group E by Taylor. Bayern Munich, who were then drawn, were drawn in Group A. Manchester United have been drawn in Group B. Arsenal were the fourth to be drawn, with Milan in Group C. Chelsea have been drawn in Group D. Barcelona are in Group F, while the last team, Sevilla, have been drawn in Group G.

Next up was UEFA President Sepp Blatter presenting the award to the winner of the Champions League Special Award, which was won by Paul. Maldini, who played for AC Milan for 25 years, won five Champions Leagues and played until he retired at the age of 41, is a role model among defenders, an evergreen who does not age.

After the Champions League special award was awarded, it was Maldini who presented the award to the best defender, Li Huan undoubtedly won the best position, in the applause of the guests, Maldini sent the small golden ball to Li Huan's arms, and said with a smile: "You are the most goal-scoring defender I have ever seen, in fact, I think the award for the best striker should also be given to you." ”

Li Huan said sincerely: "I'm a little out of business, you are a model for defenders and an example for us to learn." ”

Maldini said: "I can't say that, the players are becoming more and more versatile, and defenders can not only defend, but also assist and score goals. I'm just going to play longer, and if you want, you can play until you're over 35. ”

The two best defenders in the world exchanged a little, and the host Veroni said to Li Huan: "Won the best defender, do you have a shot feeling?" ”

Li Huan thought about it and said with a smile: "My dream is: sleep until I wake up naturally, get hand cramps when I get a prize, and become a professional player, the first one is difficult to achieve, I hope to be able to achieve the second one." ”

Veroni and Pinto laughed when they heard this, but few of the guests in the audience laughed, they knew that even if the team couldn't win all the championships, Li Huan would be able to win a lot of individual awards every year, and it was not impossible to get hand cramps when he won the award.

The first round of the draw is a cutscene, and the second round of the draw is more important to what kind of team can be divided, which is very important to whether to enter the group of death later, and everyone's eyes are on Li Huan and Taylor at this moment.

Li Huan was drawn first by Porto, who was placed in Group D, the same group as Chelsea. Although Porto are also difficult to deal with, causing a lot of problems for Manchester United last season, they are limited in quality, and in the last four meetings, Chelsea have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1 against Porto. Chelsea managers Carlo Ancelotti and Kenyon both breathed a sigh of relief as they clapped softly. However, Porto's coach Ferreira had no expression on his face, and for them, the most important thing was the third round draw.

Li Huan was the second to draw Real Madrid, and they were placed in Group C where AC Milan is located. The two teams that have won the most championships have met together, and Kaka's transfer is also involved in the middle, which can be said to be Mars hitting the earth, which will definitely attract the attention of countless fans at that time.

Li Huan's third draw was Lyon and was placed in Group E where Liverpool was. Liverpool's head coach Benitez has an indifferent expression, not sad or happy, Lyon is not too famous, but the strength is not weaker than other giants, it can only be bad or bad for Liverpool, and it can be accepted.

Li Huan was then drawn from Inter Milan, and then Taylor was drawn from Group F where Barcelona was located. After seeing Taylor's results, Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola's faces have changed, their strength is within the top five in Europe, and they are divided together, as long as there is a stronger one in the third round, the group of death will be formed immediately. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho are both secretly jealous.

However, when I saw this, all the guests suddenly had a very strange feeling, and they all felt that Arsenal was likely to draw a group with Hoffenheim. Because among the teams drawn by Li Huan before, Porto's coach Mourinho once transferred to Chelsea, AC Milan's Kaka transferred to Real Madrid, Barcelona's Eto'o transferred to Inter Milan, and Ibrahimovic came to Barcelona. According to this logic, it is normal for Arsenal to meet Hoffenheim, although the draw is random, but many times, people still believe in fate, that is, philosophical accident. Of course, it is also what conspiracy theorists think is shady, as CSKA Moscow is drawn to be in Group B with Manchester United. At the moment, there are only three second-tier teams left, Glasgow Rangers, Hoffenheim and Juventus, these three teams are not easy to mess with, Hoffenheim was the treble winner last season, swept the Bundesliga and the Champions League, although the core and spiritual leader Li Huan left, but the strength is not trivial, no one dares to underestimate it. Juventus is a century-old brand, needless to say, the Soviet Super League giants Glasgow Rangers have become the weakest one at this time.

The sixth to be drawn by Li Huan is Glasgow Rangers, who are with Sevilla in Group G. Sevilla are a notch above Real Madrid thanks to their results in the UEFA Cup, and they are also the weakest seeded team, and Glasgow Rangers were naturally overjoyed to be drawn from this group, with manager Smith and club officials high-fived each other. However, this angered Sevilla manager Simenez, who also applauded the club's president Del Nido in response, and in fact, Glasgow Rangers are indeed the best option for Sevilla. Both teams applauded and expressed their satisfaction, but they didn't know who would have the last laugh.

There are only two teams left in the third tier, and the group is only Arsenal's Group H and Bayern Munich's Group A.

Even Li Huan himself has this premonition, but in Li Huan's opinion, if the two teams are destined to meet, he hopes that the two teams can meet in the group stage, and he does not want the two teams to meet in the knockout round and be forced to fight for life and death. Of course, he will not be merciful if he does meet him, but after so many years at Hoffenheim, he does not want to eliminate his old club with his own hands.

Li Huan stretched out his hand and took out a ball, it was Hoffenheim, and then Taylor also took out a ball, everyone's eyes were on his hand, after Taylor opened it, a smile and a hint of surprise appeared on his face, and announced: "Group H." ”

There was an uproar in the hall.

"It's Arsenal!"

"Sure enough, it's Arsenal!"

"I know it's Arsenal, how to make money without gimmicks."

Others talked a lot, and the faces of the parties were also very exciting. Arsene Wenger looked at Fryer with a strange expression, and then the two men looked in the direction of Hoffenheim, but neither spoke.

Rangnick smiled bitterly and said to Rothouse, "What the hell. ”

Rothouse snorted and said, "It's not a ghost, it's definitely a ghost." ”

Rangnick shook his head and said, "Let's take a look at the third round draw." ”

After Hoffenheim and Arsenal are in the same group, Juventus can only be in Group A with Bayern Munich, and the two giants can only wait to see what kind of team they will give him in the third tier.

There are a few more difficult teams in the third tier, such as Atletico Madrid, French champion Bordeaux, and Fiorentina in Italy. Most teams want to be able to avoid them.

After Figo awarded Xavi the Little Golden Goal for Best Midfielder, Xavi began to be in charge of drawing teams in the third bracket. AZ Alkmaar were drawn first and they were placed in Group G.

The second draw was Bordeaux in Ligue 1, they were drawn into Group A, Bayern and Juventus saw that it was Bordeaux, their faces became a little ugly, and there were gloating laughter around them. Bordeaux was able to pull down six-time champions Lyon, and they were certainly not weak, and they could be sure of the group of death without looking at the draw in the fourth tier.

Besiktas then moved on to Group B where Manchester United and CSKA Moscow were played. Ferguson narrowed his eyes with a smile when he saw this, and his heart was so good that he couldn't wait to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. A relaxed group stage is very important for the big teams that play on the number of lines.

Fiorentina were drawn to Group E where Liverpool and Lyon were located. Liverpool are the strongest and don't really care, but Lyon are feeling uneasy, they have not been in good form this season, finishing third in Ligue 1 last season, and facing Fiorentina, who have just returned to the Champions League, the game will certainly not be too easy.

Dynamo Kyiv entered Group F where Inter Milan and Barcelona were sitting, Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were relieved, but Dynamo Kyiv was almost dead, and the coach couldn't stop sighing that he was unlucky, and he actually got to the group where the Serie A champion and the La Liga champion were located, and even a little hope was almost gone.

Chelsea and Porto in Group D are not very comfortable, because their third opponent is Atletico Madrid, in terms of strength, Atletico Madrid is not weak, and the performance is very inconsistent, no one knows what level he can play when he plays, and unpredictability is a danger in itself.

Arsenal and Hoffenheim were relieved to see that Xavi had drawn Olympiacos, and the Greek champions hoped that they would not be weak, but they were still not likely to pose much of a threat to them, and it would be best to qualify together.

Ligue 1 runners-up Marseille are in a group with Real Madrid and Milan, and it is almost impossible for them to shake the two giants who have won the Champions League 16 times combined, and for them, the best result is to finish third and play in the UEFA Cup, which is called the Europa League this year.

Li Huan, the top scorer in the Champions League last season, who scored 20 goals, became the best defender, and Messi became the best striker as a matter of course. The teams of this grade are basically fish belly, but there is one team that all teams do not want to meet, that is, the second place in the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg, they have few appearances in the European arena and do not have many points, so they are in the fourth pot, but they can threaten Hoffenheim's championship seat when Hoffenheim is so strong, and they can beat Bayern to become the runner-up, so that other teams are full of vigilance, which group they draw into, which group will be difficult to play.

Messi was the first to draw Belgium's standard column, and he was sent to Arsenal's Group H, much to the delight of Arsene Wenger and Flair. Neither the third nor fourth pot have drawn strong teams, they have not seen such good signings for many years, and this time they are almost guaranteed to enter the round of 16, but they just need to compete with Hoffenheim for the top spot in the group.

The most difficult Wolfsburg was finally divided into Group B of Manchester United, CSKA Moscow and Besiktas (Turkey), this result made Wolfsburg very satisfied, this is almost the best group they can think of, they don't want to shake Manchester United's group first, but it is still possible to snatch another place from CSKA Moscow, not only Wolfsburg thinks so, but the third-tier Turkish powerhouse Besiktas also thinks that they have a chance to qualify. Only CSKA Moscow secretly complained, lamenting bad luck that the fourth gear even drew a strong team.

The draw ended with the Israeli champion Maccabi Haifa being sent to Group A by Messi, and the eight groups were:

Group A: Bayern Munich (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Bordeaux (France), Maccabi Haifa (Israel) Group B: Manchester United (England), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Besiktas (Turkey), Wolfsburg (Germany) Group C: AC Milan (Italy), Real Madrid (Spain), Marseille (France), Zurich (Switzerland) Group D: Chelsea (England), Porto (Portugal), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Appel (Cyprus) Group E: Liverpool (England), Lyon (France), Fiorentina (Italy), Debresin (Hungary) Group F: Barcelona (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Rubin Kazan (Russia) Group G: Sevilla (Spain), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland), AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Unilia (Romania) Group H: Arsenal (England), Hoffenheim (Germany), Olympiacos (Greece) and Standard Column (Belgium) are happy and sad, some people laugh and some scold in the hall, some sigh and some complain, all kinds of noise arise, and at the end of the moment, the hall is even lively like a farmer's market. Soon they stopped, though, because there was still an important award to be awarded, and that was the Champions League Player of the Year award.

The candidates are Ronaldo, Messi and Li Huan, and the last winner of this award is the last Champions League winner, the best defender Li Huan, UEFA President Platini personally took the stage to present Li Huan. The audience applauded, and in the applause, the Champions League group stage draw ceremony and award ceremony were all over, and then the reporter began to interview the head coach of the top 32 teams.

Teams like Hoffenheim, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United naturally attract the most journalists, while clubs in other small countries also have journalists, but the number of journalists is unlikely to be comparable to these giants.

Arsene Wenger was very pleased with today's draw, but in an interview with reporters, Wenger said very tactfully: "You may think that this will be a very easy group stage, and Arsenal will almost qualify automatically. But we don't think so, it's definitely going to be very competitive, it's a very direct group and we have to concentrate our attention. The shorter journey is very helpful for the team, which is very satisfying. We want to get off to a good start in the group stage and it's our goal to qualify for the knockout rounds as quickly as possible."

The Champions League group stage will play against his old club, which is an important topic in this group stage, and Li Huan's return to Hoffenheim is one of the most eye-catching, and reporters will naturally not let go of a good opportunity to hype this topic. Both German and British reporters interviewed Li Huan about the matter. Li Huan also candidly talked about his views on returning to Hoffenheim, Li Huan first talked about the situation of the team in the group, he said: "Our signing is very good, we will not be hypocritical, this is a fact, but this is the Champions League, you can't think too easily, such as three games to qualify and the like, we will not be so arrogant, we will try to get out of the first place early." ”

Then Li Huancai talked about Hoffenheim, "It's a good sign for us, and it's the same for Hoffenheim, although I left Hoffenheim, they are still very strong, and I believe they can qualify with us." I left Hoffenheim for personal reasons, but I miss it, the village is small, but it's a nice environment, the fans are very welcoming and simple, and I would love to go back and see it, and now it looks like God is giving us opportunities. As for the win, I don't think it's the most important thing, it's the qualification. ”

However, Hoffenheim was not as humble as Wenger and Li Huan when talking about Arsenal, maybe last season was too smooth, Rangnick said something hidden in the needle, "This is a good signing, we will try our best to fight for the first place in the group, the first is very important, although Li Huan is very familiar with Hoffenheim, but we are also familiar with him, we beat Arsenal last season, I think we have the ability to achieve this goal." ”

(To be continued)