Unlike the German media, the Chinese media isn't just focused on the Champions League performances of Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04; they're also paying attention to Atletico Madrid.
After qualifying for the Champions League this season, Atletico Madrid has performed well, holding its own in competition with Bayern Munich. The two teams ended up with the same number of points, but Atletico Madrid finished second due to their head-to-head record.
However, this result is already very good for the Chinese media.
Why is the Chinese media paying attention to Atletico Madrid?
Because Atletico Madrid has a Chinese player.
Sun Pan, on loan from Chelsea to Atletico Madrid, is in his last season with the Spanish club. If all goes well, with his strong performance, he will definitely be recalled by Chelsea when his loan expires.
Although he's a player who will leave Atletico Madrid in the future, Sun Pan's performance in matches is very dedicated. He gives his all in every game to help the team win.
In the Champions League group stage, Atletico Madrid only lost one game, a 1-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the first match. In the six group stage matches, they scored twelve goals, only fewer than Bayern Munich, and conceded only two, the fewest in the group.
Out of all thirty-two teams participating in the group stage, their number of goals conceded was the second-lowest, only behind Paris Saint-Germain, who conceded just one goal.
This low number of goals conceded is not only due to Atletico Madrid's excellent overall performance, but also to Sun Pan's great performance in front of the goal.
Qualifying for the Champions League knockout stage as the second-place team in their group means that the three Chinese players will go further in the Champions League, giving Chinese fans thousands of miles away more to look forward to for next year's Champions League matches. Staying up late to watch the games isn't just to cheer for the clubs they support; they will also pay more attention to the Chinese players, even if they play for teams they don't particularly like. They will definitely be in front of the television.
Actually, there was another Chinese player participating in the Champions League, He Ying, who was included in Tito Vilanova's Barcelona Champions League squad at the beginning of the season.
But unfortunately, after six group stage matches, He Ying didn't get a chance to play in the Champions League, so the Champions League really has nothing to do with him.
Not to mention the Champions League, he hasn't had a chance to play in the league either. His only appearance for Barcelona came in the Copa del Rey, as a substitute for five minutes, with no impact whatsoever. But those five minutes really didn't give him any chance to make an impact.
So much so that He Ying's appearance in the Copa del Rey didn't cause much of a stir in China, because there was really nothing to boast about in those five minutes of doing nothing...
Compared to Sun Pan, Yang Muge, and Sun Pan, He Ying seems very unsuccessful.
Guo Nu is at Cesena, so he doesn't even have a chance to play in the Europa League, let alone the Champions League. But he's a regular starter at Cesena, never missing a game unless he's suspended for a foul.
There are rumors that Inter Milan regrets seeing his performance at Cesena and is considering negotiating with Cesena to buy back half of Guo Nu's ownership.
If that's the case, then Guo Nu will have the opportunity to participate in the Champions League. Cesena is, after all, a Serie B team with limited strength, so it's completely impossible for them to participate in the Champions League.
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After the Champions League group stage ended, UEFA held a draw for the round of sixteen. This draw was highly anticipated, as it was the knockout stage draw, with stronger confrontations and a higher chance of strong teams facing each other. For the participating teams, a single draw could determine their fate for the season.
For example, if a team like Shakhtar Donetsk were to face Barcelona, their Champions League journey would definitely end there.
There are also some rules for the round of sixteen draw, such as group winners being drawn against group runners-up, teams from the same group cannot meet, and teams from the same domestic league cannot meet.
Therefore, in the round of sixteen, Borussia Dortmund will definitely not face Group A winner Paris Saint-Germain, Group B winner Schalke 04, Group C winner Malaga, Group D winner Juventus, Group F winner Bayern Munich, Group G winner Barcelona, or Group H winner Manchester United.
Moreover, these eight teams include Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich from the same domestic league, plus the group runner-up Real Madrid from the same group won't meet.
So, in fact, there are only seven teams that can meet Borussia Dortmund. But this time, because several group winners were surprisingly not seeded teams, even if Borussia Dortmund were to face a group runner-up, they wouldn't necessarily be an easy opponent.
The Group A runner-up is the Portuguese team Porto, the Group B runner-up is the seeded team Arsenal, the Group C runner-up is the seeded team AC Milan, the Group E runner-up is Shakhtar Donetsk – defending champion Chelsea was surprisingly eliminated from the group stage, finishing third in the group with the same points as Shakhtar Donetsk because they didn't have a better head-to-head record and were squeezed out of the round of sixteen, only able to participate in the Europa League knockout stage – the Group F runner-up is Atletico Madrid, the Group G runner-up is Celtic, and the Group H runner-up is Galatasaray.
Among these seven possible opponents, three are seeded teams, so this group runner-up lineup is also very strong.
Before the draw, a reporter interviewed Zhou Yi and asked him if he wanted to avoid the seeded teams among the group runners-up. Zhou Yi said that once you enter the Champions League knockout stage, no team is easy to beat. So, he had an indifferent attitude towards which opponent he faced, saying it was all the same no matter who they met.
But the reporter insisted that he predict the result, perhaps because the "Wizard" reputation had spread far and wide before, and everyone wanted to see how accurate his prediction would be this time.
Zhou Yi couldn't resist and had to say, "It's hard to say who I hope to be drawn with, there are too many teams, but if I had to say, I wouldn't want to be drawn with Atletico Madrid."
As soon as he said this, the reporters' eyes lit up. "Why?" they quickly asked.
"Because Sun Pan is at Atletico Madrid, and I still hope that Chinese players can go further in the Champions League," Zhou Yi said seriously.
Yang Muge's Schalke 04 is the group winner, so they definitely won't meet. He Ying's Barcelona also definitely won't meet, and even if they did, he might not be able to play.
Among the teams that Borussia Dortmund might face, only Atletico Madrid has a Chinese player.
His reason was quite convincing, because Chinese reporters also don't want the teams with Chinese players to meet too early. If possible, they certainly hope that all three teams can reach the final four, and then have three teams with Chinese players in the final four, which would be a "Chinese civil war"!
With such beautiful blessings and expectations, everyone waited for the Champions League round of sixteen draw ceremony.
Compared to the Champions League group stage draw ceremony, which has an awards ceremony, the round of sixteen draw is much simpler.
Soon, the draw results were released one after another.
Borussia Dortmund was drawn against Shakhtar Donetsk, perfectly avoiding Atletico Madrid, so Chinese players didn't have to fight each other as soon as they entered the round of sixteen.
Yang Muge's Schalke 04 was drawn against Galatasaray. This team's strength is not considered very strong either, and Schalke 04 has the ability to fight them. If they perform well, reaching the quarter-finals is not out of reach.
As for Sun Pan's Atletico Madrid, they were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain.
He Ying's Barcelona's opponent is AC Milan, which is a strong matchup, but it may have nothing to do with He Ying...
The other round of sixteen matches are Juventus vs. Celtic, Manchester United vs. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal, and Malaga vs. Porto.
The German media wasn't very satisfied with Bayern Munich's draw result, but they could accept the draw results for Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. Especially Borussia Dortmund, which was called "drawing the best possible opponent" by the media.
Shakhtar Donetsk should be considered the weakest team in the round of sixteen, and everyone wants to "be friends" with them. In the end, Borussia Dortmund got their wish, and it is basically guaranteed that they will be able to enter the quarter-finals.
Some media joked that Borussia Dortmund's biggest suspense now is who their opponent will be in the quarter-finals.
However, when interviewed, Klopp said with a straight face that there are no weak teams in the round of sixteen, and any opponent must be taken seriously, and they cannot be underestimated.
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After the Champions League draw ended, each team welcomed their league matches.
In the sixteenth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund hosted Wolfsburg at home. The two sides played an open, attacking game, and Borussia Dortmund finally defeated Wolfsburg 3-2 at home.
However, because Bayern Munich defeated Augsburg 2-0 away, they had already won the mid-season championship with one round to spare, leading Borussia Dortmund by four points. This was a hot topic in German football news, and the Munich media even began to celebrate.
In German football, the mid-season championship is very meaningful, with 80% of league champions coming from the mid-season league champions.
So, being able to win the mid-season championship means that the hope of winning the league title is very high.
That's why Munich people attach so much importance to this "championship" without a trophy or medals.
Yang Muge's Schalke 04 lost to Stuttgart 1-3 away. Their strong performance in the Champions League this season has had a very big impact on the league. Since they have already entered the knockout stage, Schalke 04's coach Stevens may have to consider more how to ensure that Schalke 04 is still in the top four in the league at the end of this season to qualify for next season's Champions League.
There is one last round left in the league, and after that, the Bundesliga will enter the winter break. Players should take their vacations and rest.
However, those teams that have entered the round of sixteen of the German Cup will have to postpone their vacation a little later and play another German Cup match.
Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 are both among them.