Chapter 287: Strong teams are upset, and the Champions League is in chaos The score remained at 2:2 until the final whistle. Bayern players and fans were filled with disappointment. They were expecting a victory, but they did not expect such a result. In this game, Bayern took the lead twice, but was equalized by the opponent in the end. The resilience shown by Inter Milan on the field really impressed Bayern. They had heard that Inter Milan was able to come back from a four-goal deficit in the Super Cup, and they didn’t believe it at first, but now it seems to be true. It's Bayern's bad luck to meet such an opponent! Now they can only hope that they will have better luck in the knockout draw and draw a relatively weaker opponent, instead of facing opponents of the level of Chelsea, Manchester United or AC Milan. Bayern, which had just faced off against another top team in the group stage, really doesn't want to face an opponent of this level again. Let's leave this blessing to other teams! Bayern is worried about the result of the next knockout draw, and Inter Milan is actually quite worried as well. There were many upsets in the group stage of the Champions League this year, resulting in many surprises in the final group rankings.
For example, neither of the two La Liga giants won first place in their respective groups, and both qualified as runners-up. Last season's runner-up Arsenal also performed poorly in the group stage and failed to compete with Porto of the Portuguese Super League. In the end, they advanced as the second in the group. If we include the top team Bayern Munich, four of the eight group runners-up are very strong. Even if the group leaders meet them, they cannot guarantee a win. So relatively speaking, this year's group ranking is not that important. Everyone is competing for first place in the group simply to avoid the top teams in the upcoming quarter-finals. But when the top teams fell to second place, they could not be avoided by taking first place in the group. Whether or not you can successfully advance will depend on the upcoming draw ceremony. ………… In Group A, Barcelona finally advanced. Before Werder Bremen visited Camp Nou in the last round, they were two points ahead of their opponents and could qualify as long as they drew. But unfortunately, the defending champion who was forced into a desperate situation burst out with terrifying fighting power. After the game started, Barcelona, fighting a desperate battle, immediately launched a fierce offensive. In the 11th minute, Barcelona got a free kick in the frontcourt. Ronaldinho took the shot himself and scored directly, helping Barcelona open the situation. After conceding the goal, Werder Bremen became a little impatient and tried to force an attack to equalize the score. But the experienced Barcelona quickly took advantage of the opponent's massive pressure and the empty backcourt to launch a fatal counterattack. In the 19th minute, Xavi made a long pass behind him, Giuly successfully made an offside and made a low pass, Gudjohnson came in and easily scored, expanding the score to 2-0! After scoring this goal, Barcelona has basically secured victory. With their morale boosted, Barcelona played better and better as the game went on, creating countless chances in the first half. At this moment, they no longer looked as embarrassed as before when they were forced into a corner by Chelsea and Bremen.
Their performance made Barcelona fans exclaim that last year's invincible Barcelona is back! Perhaps because the lead in the first half was too big, Rijkaard chose to play it safe in the second half and actively asked the team to tighten its defense. At this time, it was the visiting team that had to fight to the death. Although Werder Bremen is not as strong as Barcelona, they were the offensive kings of the Bundesliga last season! Their number of goals in the league even exceeds that of the Southern Kings Bayern Munich! With no other way out, Bremen decided to give it a try. In the 54th minute, Chen Tao got rid of the defense in the midfield and made a straight pass. Klose took the ball and broke into the penalty area, but unfortunately K's final shot missed the target and the ball slipped past the goal. In the 62nd minute, Barcelona committed a foul in the backcourt, and Chen Tao's free kick hit the crossbar, and Werder Bremen missed another good opportunity. In the 67th minute, Worm's cross from the left slipped past the goal, but Klose was a little slow in making his interception in front of the goal. In the 71st minute, Fritz made a cross from the flank, Klose headed the ball, and Borowski's low shot from 15 yards on the left side of the penalty area lacked power and was caught by Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes on the goal line. Werder Bremen actually created a lot of scoring opportunities during this period, but the players on the field did not seize these opportunities, resulting in the gap between the two teams not narrowing at all, while the game time was getting less and less. This made the Bremen players on the field more impatient. In the 77th minute, Worm elbowed Zambrotta while defending, but the referee did not notice the foul and the former escaped. Realizing that the team was in a somewhat passive situation, Ronaldinho stepped forward in time. In the 79th minute, Ronaldinho made a straight pass and Gudjohnsen successfully made an offside, but his one-on-one shot from 8 yards on the left side of the penalty area was bravely saved by Wiese, and he missed the opportunity to score twice and completely end the game. Bremen was becoming increasingly anxious and it was difficult for them to patiently organize ground attacks. After getting the ball, the players always wanted to make a long pass to the forward, hoping that the forward could explode from a single point! But Barcelona is not a weak team. Facing such a weak punch, their defense was as solid as a rock and they blocked the opponent's attack time and time again. In the 82nd minute of the second half, Barcelona completed the substitution. Chinese teenager Feng Xiaoting came on to replace Motta who had a yellow card. This was not a positional substitution. Feng Xiaoting played as a central defender, while Motta played as a defensive midfielder. So when seeing this substitution, Chinese fans were excited to see the Chinese derby in the Champions League again, but at the same time they were curious about what position Feng Xiaoting would play after he came on the field. Of course Feng Xiaoting still played the central defender position he was familiar with. He had never practiced the position of defensive midfielder and didn't dare to play it! After he came on, Max Alvarez, who originally played as a central defender, was promoted to the midfield position to fill the vacancy left by Motta. In fact, there is a top defender like Thuram sitting on Barcelona's bench. In terms of strength, fame and experience as a defender, Feng Xiaoting is far inferior to Thuram. But Rijkaard did not choose the Frenchman, but arranged for Feng Xiaoting to play, which shows his preference for Feng Xiaoting, although the game was almost over when Feng Xiaoting came on the court. But in such an important occasion, excluding strong veterans and choosing to promote newcomers is an obvious attitude. After seeing the coach's substitution arrangement, Thuram on the bench looked gloomy. After he joined Barcelona, his playing time has not been guaranteed. So far this season, he has only played 15 games for Barcelona, including 9 league games, 3 cup games and 3 Champions League games, and many of them were as a substitute, with less than half of them being starts. After all, he is the main defender of the French national team. In this year's World Cup, he played all seven games for the French team and performed quite well. In addition to his brilliant resume in other giants, as well as his fame and reputation in the football world, he was not as good as an unknown young man. Of course, Thuram would feel dissatisfied. Although I will be 35 years old in another month, age does not mean that my condition or strength are not good. But why is the coach unwilling to give me a chance? Thinking of this, Thuram suddenly became discouraged, his confidence in staying in Barcelona was shaken, and he even thought about transferring away during the winter break. If he continues to stay in Barcelona, he will neither get stable playing time nor make any money. It would be better to learn from some predecessors and go to overseas leagues to make money, so that at least he can earn some pension.
At the end of the game, Werder Bremen still did not give up the attack, and Barcelona also launched several counterattacks from time to time. Both sides attacked and defended, the scene was very exciting but neither side was able to score, and the score of 2-0 was maintained until the end of the game. Barcelona finally relied on this victory to overtake Werder Bremen in points and advanced as the second in the group. Werder Bremen unfortunately stopped in the group stage and missed the next round. When the game ended, Chen Tao and many of his teammates cried. They really tried their best in this game, but they just couldn't defeat their opponents. This is not only because the opponents are strong, but also because they were anxious and failed to seize the opportunity. All the beautiful visions turned into nothing as the whistle sounded. The greater the hope before the game, the greater the disappointment now. Considering that the team's top scorer will be transferred away next season, it is still unknown when Werder Bremen will be able to advance to the Champions League knockout stage next time. They may not even have the chance to continue participating in the Champions League. After losing Klose, Bremen no longer has any stars. With their current civilian lineup, how can they make it into the top three in the league and secure a spot in the Champions League? Chinese fans were heartbroken when they saw Chen Tao crying. "Alas, Bremen still failed to create a miracle after all!" "There is no way. The gap in strength between the two sides is too big. Judging from the market value alone, Barcelona is worth more than 4 million euros, while Bremen is worth just over million euros, a difference of four times!" "Yes, although the market value cannot represent everything, any player on the Barcelona bench would be considered a big player in Bremen. You can imagine how big the gap is between the two teams' main lineups!" "Honestly, Bremen can hold on until the last round and force Barcelona into such a desperate situation. Even if they don't qualify in the end, they can still leave Camp Nou with their heads held high!" "Don't cry, Xiao Chen, you have done a great job. We are proud of you!" In addition to comforting the defeated Chen Tao, many fans also congratulated Feng Xiaoting and Barcelona! "Congratulations to Xiao Feng for advancing to the next round. I hope Barcelona will draw Inter Milan in the next round and give us another Chinese derby!" “Haha, I support it!” "Support is bullshit! If Barcelona and Inter Milan meet in the next round, one of the two Chinese players will definitely be eliminated. Doesn't that mean we will have fewer games to watch in the following games?" Although due to the influence of the trend of Chinese players studying abroad, more and more Chinese fans have begun to watch the Champions League. But the competitions that people follow the most are those involving Chinese players. When Lin Feng, Chen Tao and Feng Xiaoting were all there, everyone had several games to watch almost every week. Now that Bremen where Chen Tao is located has been eliminated, the only ones left to watch are Inter Milan where Lin Feng is located and Barcelona where Feng Xiaoting is located. If these two teams were to meet in advance, the next round would certainly be exciting, but what about the quarterfinals, semifinals or even the finals? "If you ask me, it's better to pray that they don't meet in advance. It would be best if they staggered each other and both made it to the finals. Then we wouldn't have to take sides to support anyone. We could just enjoy the finals with the same attitude as we enjoyed the game!" "Well said, but judging from the current situation, Inter Milan may really be drawn against Barcelona in the next round. I just hope UEFA doesn't deliberately arrange such a plot!" "UEFA is an old actor. They will definitely make all arrangements for you when the time comes, so don't have any illusions about them!" "I think that with such a chaotic group stage this year, there will definitely be some strong matches in the quarter-finals. Given UEFA's dislike for Inter Milan, it is almost certain that they will be given a strong opponent. The only suspense now is, will this opponent be Arsenal, Barcelona or Real Madrid?"
"How about arranging a match against Real Madrid? Inter Milan played against Arsenal last season, and Arsenal was not easy to beat. Everyone has seen Barcelona's strength in the game just now. Although Barcelona lost its chain in the group stage, its outbreak in the last game was really terrifying. Their strength is still there, but it is not as stable as last season!" "On the other hand, Real Madrid has had a lot of personnel changes this season, and their form has been up and down. Judging from the two games against Lyon, Real Madrid's strength is just so-so. I feel that facing them will be a little easier than playing against other teams." The reason why Real Madrid left such an impression on the outside world this season is mainly related to Capello's coaching style. Perhaps because he came from Serie A, the football philosophy he pursues has nothing to do with the beautiful football that La Liga fans, especially Real Madrid fans, expect to see. Capello, who is all about victory, is very dissatisfied with the top-heavy situation caused by the Galacticos' pursuit of splendor. To this end, Capello even went so far as to clean out Ronaldo, hide Beckham, promote newcomers and suppress veterans such as Carlos, seemingly wanting to speed up the team's cleansing and reconstruction. This series of actions naturally caused turmoil in the locker room. Coupled with the fact that Real Madrid was in the middle of a tactical transformation, their form fluctuated greatly. When facing Lyon in the group stage, Real Madrid was beaten badly in both rounds, which laid hidden dangers for Capello, who urgently needed the support of fans and club executives for drastic reforms. In this state, Real Madrid's combat effectiveness is questionable. They can be very strong, for example, in the La Liga national derby, they beat Barcelona 2-0. It may also be very weak. When meeting Lyon, Real Madrid was defeated cleanly by the opponent 0:2. This is a Schrödinger's Real Madrid. Before you meet them, you don't know how strong they are! UEFA did not make the audience wait too long. Shortly after the end of the group stage, the draw ceremony for the Champions League knockout stage was held in Nyon, Switzerland. (End of this chapter)