The draw for the top 32 of the UEFA Cup was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. According to the format, the third place in the 8 groups of the UEFA Champions League will directly enter the top 32 of the UEFA Cup, and then proceed to the two rounds of the knockout rounds.
Double duel.
In the UEFA Cup group stage, the top three in each group advance to the knockout rounds. The strangest thing is that the group ranking has no impact on the draw of the knockout rounds. Therefore, this means that although Sporting Gijon won the first place in the group,
, which did not help their good luck in the knockout rounds.
Li Ang first focused on the eight teams that were 'relegated' to the UEFA Cup as third place in the Champions League group stage. These teams were either the top teams in major leagues, or some of the Champions League and UEFA Cup teams.
The veteran team is the most difficult to deal with.
These eight teams are Greece's two giants Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, Ukraine's two giants Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as the Eredivisie giant Ajax, and the Russian Super League giant Moscow
CSKA, Turkish Super League giant Fenerbahce, and La Liga giant Valencia.
As the defending champion of La Liga, Valencia failed to qualify from the Champions League group. This made the Spanish media very critical of Valencia.
Now, among the top 32 of the UEFA Cup, including La Liga's 'relegated' Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Sporting Gijon and Athletic Bilbao, there are a total of
Five teams, all teams participating in the UEFA Cup survived and reached the knockout rounds. It can be said that the lineup is huge.
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In the Premier League, only Newcastle and Middlesbrough have entered the knockout rounds.
In Serie A, there is only one team, Parma, and the other teams have been eliminated in the UEFA Cup. In Group C, where Sporting Gijon is located, the Serie A giant Lazio, as the seed team, has three out of five teams.
Even though a team advanced, it ended up ranking fourth and was eliminated. Li Ang had only heard before that Serie A teams looked down on the UEFA Cup, and that the UEFA Cup competition was always perfunctory, but now he finally saw it.
As we all know, the 1990s was the era of Serie A's mini-World Cup. Calculating 10 years as a football era, Serie A may still be the winner in the 1990s and the early 21st century, and still has certain advantages. However, Li Ang is clear that in the future Serie A
It will be surpassed by the Bundesliga. The most important point is that Serie A teams do not pay attention to the UEFA Cup. There is a huge difference between the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. However, the performance of the national club in the UEFA Cup can affect the performance of the country.
The National League gets a place in the UEFA Champions League. This points method is devastating to Serie A. The long-term lack of attention to the UEFA Cup ultimately resulted in their points being surpassed by the Bundesliga.
With Lazio's strength, even if they play with a semi-substitute lineup, as long as they are willing to take it seriously, there will be almost no problem in qualifying in the five-to-three group. However, Lazio failed to qualify in the group. This is the Serie A team vs. the league.
A direct manifestation of their indifference to the Cup. They only have the Champions League in their eyes.
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Three Bundesliga teams, Schalke 04, Stuttgart and Aachen, have entered the top 32 of the UEFA Cup.
In the French Ligue 1, three teams survive: Auxerre, Sochaux and Lille.
In this case, among the top 32 teams in the UEFA Cup, there are five teams in La Liga, one team in Serie A, two teams in the Premier League, three teams in the Bundesliga, and three teams in Ligue 1. The five major teams
The league alone occupies fourteen places.
In Li Ang's wishful thinking, first of all, Sporting Gijon, a team in La Liga, needs to be avoided and there is no need to worry. Then, it is best for the team to avoid teams in Serie A, the Premier League, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
, it would be best to meet teams like Steaua Bucharest, AK Graz, Heerenveen or Basel.
In the end, after the draw results for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals came out, Sporting Gijon successfully avoided other teams in the five major leagues, but they got an opponent that Li Ang least wanted to encounter: the giants of the Turkish Super League.
Fenerbahce!
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Fenerbahce is a team that was 'relegated' from the Champions League. This team is very strong. Leon must stay vigilant. You know, although Fenerbahce only finished third in the Champions League group stage, Fenerbahce
Che once defeated Premier League giants Manchester United 3-0 at home in the group, which shows their strength.
It can be said that even if Sporting Gijon encounters Middlesbrough or Newcastle in the Premier League, or a few teams in Ligue 1, or even a few teams in the Bundesliga, it will be better than meeting Fenerba.
Cut is much better.
"Sporting Gijon's luck is so bad." Spain's "El Pais" said this. Obviously, they were drawn to Fenerbahce and they are not very optimistic about Sporting Gijon's prospects in the UEFA Cup. After all, with the current players of Sporting Gijon
Configuration, in the case of three-line combat, it is really inadequate.
Fenerbahce's team cannot be said to be very strong, but the horror of the Turkish team's home court has made many giants miserable. There is a joke in European football that in the European war, the most difficult to deal with and the most difficult to deal with
The teams that I am willing to face are a Russian team and a Turkish team: one is so cold that you can’t pee, and the other is so scared that you can’t hold your pee...
Li Ang was also a little depressed. The team drew Fenerbahce, one of the most difficult teams to deal with. This was really bad luck.
However, the UEFA Cup quarter-finals will not start until February. Li Ang is too lazy to think about this game now. All his attention is now on the seventeenth round of La Liga next week.
, this was his first game after his three-game suspension, and Li Ang couldn't hold it anymore.
He is hungry.
His great ax was thirsty.
Their opponent in this round of the league is Racing Santander, and Sporting Gijon is playing against their opponent at home. After playing the game against Racing Santander, La Liga will enter the two-week winter break, and Li Ang and the team will also
I can finally take a breath.
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On December 22, the last round of La Liga before the winter break, Sporting Gijon welcomed Racing Santander at home.
The media is very interested in Li Ang's return. Many reporters came to this game. Many reporters guarded the door of the locker room, with cameras pointed inside. This was specially allowed by Sporting Gijon. The team's general manager Bei
Nita Arango tried every means to enhance the team's influence and reputation. After obtaining the conditional consent of Leon and the players, they can open the locker room for a few minutes before some important games, but
, the media is still not allowed to enter, and can only film what the team and players want them to see at the door...