Chapter 137 The Group of Death

"Zhou Yi assists Reus to score! From this assist, we can see that Zhou Yi is in good shape. He is running actively in the game, and his body also looks strong... We can hardly see the impact of the Olympics on him anymore!" When Reus scored, He Ping focused on introducing Zhou Yi.

Chinese fans are also most concerned about Zhou Yi's situation.

This assist showed everyone a normal Zhou Yi.

Dortmund, who took the lead in eleven minutes, continued to attack Werder Bremen's goal.

In the forty-first minute, after thirty minutes, Dortmund scored another goal. This time, it was Götze who scored, and Lewandowski assisted him.

Dortmund took a 2-0 lead in the first half, and there was no suspense about the outcome of this game.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Dortmund slowed down the pace and speed. Zhou Yi was replaced in the sixty-sixth minute and received a standing ovation from the fans.

However, being replaced so early also made some people speculate that Zhou Yi's physical fitness may not have fully recovered to his best condition. This is also normal. After just finishing the Olympics, he directly devoted himself to training without rest. It would be hell if his physical fitness was still good.

After Zhou Yi was off the field, Dortmund did not score another goal. In the end, they defeated Werder Bremen 2-0 at home. It was not a big victory, but it was an easy victory.

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Two days later, the major European leagues were in full swing. In the first round of the Bundesliga, in addition to Zhou Yi, another Chinese player appeared. Yang Muge started for Schalke 04 in the game against Hannover 96, but unfortunately he was not able to help the team win. Schalke 04, while trailing on the road, ultimately tied the opponent 2-2. Yang Muge played the entire game.

At the same time, La Liga also conducted the second round.

Sun Pan was still unable to play for Atletico Madrid due to injury. Atletico Madrid won 4-0 against Athletic Bilbao at home.

But He Ying received more attention.

In the second round of the league, Barcelona challenged Osasuna away. He Ying was still unable to enter the roster for this game.

In the end, Barcelona chased two goals in a row after falling behind 0-1 in the first half and reversed the victory 2-1.

The Serie A league also started at the same time. Guo Nu's Siena drew 0-0 with Torino at home. As the main central defender on the defense line, Guo Nu's performance was naturally very outstanding, helping the team shut out their opponents.

After this round of European leagues, it was the highly anticipated Champions League group stage draw.

The Champions League has always been one of the most watched events by Chinese fans, because it is the highest level competition in football today.

But this time, Chinese fans and the media paid special attention, because this season's Champions League will historically have as many as four Chinese players, which is the first time in history.

In the past, there had never been two Chinese players in the Champions League at the same time. Sun Xiang and Sun Hai had both represented their respective teams in the Champions League, but they did not appear in the same season at the same time.

And this time? Not to mention Zhou Yi, this is his third consecutive time participating in the Champions League.

Due to his outstanding performance last season, Schalke 04 also qualified for the Champions League this season, so Yang Muge, as a member of Schalke 04, can also participate in the Champions League.

Sun Pan's Atletico Madrid not only won the UEFA Cup last season, but also won the league third, and directly entered the Champions League group stage.

He Ying in Barcelona was also signed up by Vilanova to join the Champions League registration list.

With four Chinese players able to participate in the Champions League at the same time, Chinese fans are so happy for the first time. The Champions League is no longer a high and unattainable stage for superstars for them, and there are more reasons for them to care about...

The first Chinese player to be drawn was Yang Muge. His Schalke 04 was assigned to Group B, in the same group as Arsenal, Olympiacos, and Montpellier. The strength of this group is not very strong. If Schalke 04 performs well, they can still break through from this group and take the second place in the group.

Sun Pan's Atletico Madrid was assigned to Group F, in the same group as Bayern Munich, Lille, and BATE Borisov. Similarly, only Bayern Munich is the strongest in this group, so Atletico Madrid has a high chance of qualifying from the group.

Barcelona's group results are even better. They are in Group G with Spartak Moscow, Celtic, and Benfica. The result of this group is the least suspenseful. With Barcelona's strength, if they don't qualify for the group in the end, it will definitely be an earthquake...

The worst result among the four was Zhou Yi. His Dortmund was in the same group as Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Ajax, Group D.

The last team to be drawn in this group was Dortmund, who was in the third tier. When the draw guest announced that Dortmund was assigned to Group D, there was a commotion of unclear meaning at the scene. Some people were laughing, some were exclaiming, and some were shaking their heads and sighing—Ajax coach Frank de Boer.

Because in this group, Ajax is of course the weakest team, and is the object of competition for the other three teams to score points... This feeling of being a fish on the chopping board is very bad...

"The group of death!" He Ping, the commentator for the live draw ceremony, exclaimed. "Dortmund has been assigned to the group of death! Four league champions appear in the same group at the same time! There is no more terrifying 'group of death' than this!"

He was right, this group is a truly meaningful "group of death" worthy of the name.

Marcel Reif, a commentator for German TV who also broadcasted the draw ceremony, even believed that this was a group of death in the Champions League that could be compared to the 1998-1999 season.

The most terrifying group of death in the history of the Champions League that everyone recognizes was born in the 1998-1999 season. Coincidentally, that group of death was also Group D.

At that time, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Barcelona, the champions of their respective leagues, were in the same group, as well as Brøndby, a league champion from Denmark. How similar is this configuration to today's three league champions from La Liga, the Premier League, and the Bundesliga, plus Ajax, the champion of the Eredivisie last season? Moreover, to be honest, Ajax is stronger than Brøndby in terms of historical achievements and strength. It can even be said that the "degree of death" of today's Group D is even worse.

In the 1998-1999 season of the Champions League Group D, Bayern Munich ultimately won eleven points in six games and qualified as the first in the group. Manchester United was second with ten points. And Barcelona got three points, but was eliminated, which was really tragic. Even Brøndby, who everyone recognized as accompanying the prince to study in this group, won a victory.

It can be seen from this the intensity of the competition in this group.

In the end, the Champions League final of that season was also staged between the two qualifying teams in this group. Manchester United killed Bayern Munich at the last moment and won the Champions League, achieving their first triple crown in history, and made that final famous in history and became a classic for everyone to recall.

In fact, there were also many classic battles in the Champions League Group D that season. Manchester United and Barcelona's 3-3, goals from Scholes, Giggs, and Beckham's golden generation; Manchester United and Bayern Munich also drew 2-2, and Sheringham's own goal at the last moment made people feel as if there was a hand in the dark... At the Camp Nou, Barcelona and Manchester United once again dedicated a 3-3 goal feast...

With so many classic games and the final two teams coming from this group, Group D of that season was famous.

After that, there were also some group assignments in the Champions League that were called "groups of death", but no group result in any season could be compared with Group D in 1998-1999.

Until this season, the D group composed of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Dortmund and Ajax finally had a group of death that can be compared with the D group of the 1998-1999 season, regardless of the team's reputation, strength and configuration.

In the last season, Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, and Napoli from the four major leagues appeared in the same group at the same time, which was also a group of death. The season before last, defending champion Inter Milan, Dortmund, Valencia, and Twente were considered a group of death. But compared with this season's Group D, these groups of death are a bit dwarfed...

In this group, Real Madrid, led by Mourinho last season, snatched the league title from Barcelona, and Mourinho's team has passed the adaptation period and entered its best state. Moreover, they have won the Champions League nine times, the most times of any team, and have very rich experience in the Champions League.

Although Ajax is not as terrifying as it was ten years ago, it also has four Champions League titles. Last season, they also had a wave of fourteen consecutive victories in the league, which should not be underestimated.

Dortmund has won the Bundesliga title for two consecutive years, surpassing Bayern Munich, and has performed better and better in the Champions League year by year. Last season, they even reached the Champions League semi-finals and lost to the eventual Champions League winner Chelsea.

Manchester City, under the influence of money, has many fierce generals in the team and is strong enough. Last season in the Premier League, they slaughtered their city rivals Manchester United, defeated Chelsea and Liverpool, broke the situation of the traditional four in the Premier League, and of course they will put more energy into the Champions League after winning the league championship.

Every team in this group is not easy to deal with, every game will be extremely difficult, and every point and every goal may be crucial.

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"Damn, Zhou Yi, what bad things have you been doing recently? You have such bad luck!" Sun Pan exclaimed in the QQ group.

None of the five friends went to the Champions League draw ceremony. They watched the live broadcast on TV at their respective homes while chatting and communicating in the group.

When someone was drawn, everyone would discuss a few words and analyze the situation of this group, which team is the most important to pay attention to...

Whether it was Yang Muge's or Sun Pan's or He Ying's, there was nothing to say. The situation was very clear when the draw results came out. Unless there was a big upset, there was no suspense.

Only when Zhou Yi's group results came out, there was an uproar in the group.

"Mourinho's Real Madrid is in good shape, Mancini's Manchester City also has so many stars, and Ajax, which looks the weakest, but if you underestimate them, I'm afraid you will capsize in the gutter... This group is indeed very difficult to play..." Yang Muge also worried about Zhou Yi's fate.

But Zhou Yi didn't seem to care: "What's the matter? Have you forgotten how we won the Olympic gold medal? Don't be cowardly, just do it, face it head-on!"

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ps, I want to tell you something, starting today, I'm going out to be someone's driver for a period of time, helping him drive his car from the far northeast back to his hometown. I also have to meet a few friends along the way. I guess I'll be driving and having dinner with friends every day, so I probably won't have time to code these days.

And now there are thirteen chapters of manuscripts, so if there are two updates every day, the manuscripts should not be enough to support in the next few days, so these days I can only update one chapter a day first, and then try to write something in between.

I hope everyone can understand, thank you!

In addition, there are still two updates today, and from tomorrow there will be one update~