Chapter 372 The Perfect Opponent for the Top 16 of the Champions League

2:2.

"Manchester United has regained first place in the group! There are only ten minutes left. Manchester United must not make any more mistakes."

"Keep the tie!" After Lineker roared, he finally wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Although I am not a Manchester United fan, Manchester United is an English team. I always hope that Manchester United can successfully qualify first in the group.

"There are still ten minutes left. If this score continues to the end, Manchester United will be first in the group!"

"Ferguson's substitution adjustments were quite successful. After Scholes and Giggs came on board, Manchester United's offense not only improved, but the midfield and backcourt became much more stable. The goals came naturally."

"He should be very happy now. Both the young players and the old players are in better shape. He can have more choices in terms of personnel. In any case, life is much better than last year."

"However, this Sylvester must be considered carefully after all..."

Benfica's Stadium of Light is not bright at all at this moment. If this score ends, it means that they can only play in the UEFA Cup...

Zeman was furious on the sidelines and was very dissatisfied with the goal he just conceded. He was originally a head coach with a very fiery temper. He just didn't notice that the team was leading just now. Now it's even, of course he couldn't tolerate this conceding goal.

However, getting angry does not solve the problem. It still depends on the players on the field to work hard to score goals...

In the next ten minutes, Benfica launched a crazy offensive storm.

First, Nuno Gomez passed the ball from the middle to the right side of the penalty area. Perea, who had just come on the field, did not choose to pass back to Nuno Gomez, who was in a better position. Instead, he hit the goal directly. He scored 14 yards from the right side of the penalty area. The low shot hit the net in the near corner. It is still Sylvester who is keeping an eye on Perea...

In the 82nd minute, Benfica made a long pass from the backcourt, and Giovanni dribbled the ball into the penalty area. His shot from a small angle from 15 yards on the right side of the penalty area was saved by Van der Sar, taking advantage of Sylvester's back!

"Sylvester!"

"Sylvester!"

Seeing that the situation was not right, Rooney and Dong Fangzhuo also chose to recycle. Both sides worked hard, and Benfica's forward Giovanni also rushed back to the midfield for a strong ball.

Ronaldo's weird knee in midfield caused Giovanni to fall to the turf.

Deafening boos erupted again at the Stadium of Light. The cunning Ronaldo actually injured Giovanni! Had to end.

Ronaldo successfully took revenge...

And he didn’t receive a license, so the deal was really profitable.

In the 85th minute, Mantoras replaced the injured Giovanni.

At the last moment, Benfica continued to attack wildly, but Manchester United retreated across the board and locked up the two wings. Benfica's crosses from the two wingers were never able to directly threaten with the ball.

In the end, Manchester United drew 2-2 with Benfica in an away game, finishing first in the group as expected and advancing to the knockout rounds!

Dong Fangzhuo vaguely remembered that this season, Manchester United should be at the bottom of the group and missed the top 16 for the first time in 10 years.

The changes this season have been huge, far beyond his expectations.

So after the game he was happier than ever.

It doesn’t matter which team we face next, at least we can temporarily enjoy the joy of qualifying first in the group...

"Hey Cristiano, don't let me see you coming to Lisbon!"

"I'll fight you every time you see me!"

On the sidelines, the fans at the Stadium of Light were still yelling at Ronaldo. They seemed to vent their pain of the team being eliminated on Ronaldo.

"Man, aren't you scared?"

"Haha, I'm used to it..."

"Every time they yell like this, but every time they just cry."

Ronaldo is also very happy.

Everyone seems to have forgotten the sadness of Best's departure...

"I wonder who my opponent will be?" Ronaldo suddenly thought of the knockout round.

"It doesn't matter who it is, as long as our ultimate goal remains unchanged." Dong Fangzhuo also became serious.

The Champions League is so close to him that he doesn't think about it often.

In fact, this season, neither Manchester United nor Ferguson's goals have mentioned winning the Champions League because it is too unrealistic. Manchester United seems to still have such strength.

The goal this season is to enter the top 16 of the Champions League, and then strive to enter the quarter-finals. After that, the top eight is Manchester United's goal. After that, the goal is not so clear...

All I can say is, go as far as possible...

The team flew back to Manchester overnight, but Ferguson did not go with the team because he had to fly to Nyon, Switzerland.

At 12:00 local time in Switzerland, the draw for the Champions League 1/8 finals was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The draw ceremony was hosted by UEFA CEO Olsson. The venue first played two short films, a clip of the first Champions League final 50 years ago and a brief review of the current group stage. Afterwards, the Director of UEFA Club Competitions announced the rules for the draw. The Champions League ended its group stage last week. The eight teams that won the first place in the group are:

Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona, ​​Manchester United, AC Milan, Lyon, Liverpool, Inter Milan. The eight teams that qualified second in the group are: Bayern Munich, Ajax, Werder Bremen, Villarreal, PSV, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Rangers.

"God, I finally avoided those perverts." Ferguson sat on the chair and finally let out a long breath. Not Juventus, not Milan, not Barcelona, ​​not Arsenal and Liverpool.

Chelsea are not considered.

"As long as it's not damn Real Madrid and Chelsea and Bayern Munich..."

Ferguson whispered to the end, and found out that, damn, there was actually no difference between first place and second place in the group.

After all, there are teams such as Bayern and Real Madrid second in the group. Of course, neither Bayern nor Real Madrid have been very strong in recent years...

The 16 qualifying teams are drawn according to the following principles: teams belonging to the same football association cannot meet (except Liverpool); teams in the same group cannot meet again in the group stage; teams with the same ranking in the group stage cannot meet; teams ranked second in the group stage Play home first.

The first red ball drawn was Chelsea, and the green ball after that was Barcelona!

A deep exclamation of exclamation instantly erupted from the venue.

Ha ha! Ferguson laughed in his heart, the draw was so good... He made no secret of the fact that he was filled with schadenfreude.

The eyes of Chelsea coach Mourinho and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard instantly met...

The two strongest teams actually met in advance in the quarter-finals.

Then we drew Real Madrid VS Arsenal.

Werder Bremen VS Juventus

Bayern VS AC Milan

PSV VS Lyon

Ajax VS Inter Milan

Villarreal VS Liverpool

Manchester United doesn’t even need to smoke!

Fate! For the first time, the old man’s face lit up with joy. He was drawn to his hometown team...

Manchester United vs Celtic.

This fortune couldn't be better...

The first place in the group is always the first place in the group!

The first leg of the Champions League will be held on February 21/22 next year, and the second leg will be held on March 7/8 next year. The final will be held in Paris on May 17.

Paris, is there any hope for this year?

Because the opponent was the Celtics, Ferguson had a glimmer of hope in his heart...