Chapter 517 Enemies on a Narrow Road Beat Barcelona!

In Nyon, Switzerland, Ferguson saw many old faces again.

It's just that many of these old faces have moved to new clubs... In recent years, no head coach of a giant Champions League team has stayed longer than him. The second longest one should be Wenger.

"Hey Carlo."

"Hey, Sir."

Ferguson and Ancelotti greeted each other familiarly. Ancelotti was still so polite and Ferguson was still so calm.

The two always meet here every season.

"Last season, it was a pity." Ferguson wanted to comfort Ancelotti. After all, Milan lost the championship last season and stopped in the semi-finals last season.

"Well, it's a pity for Manchester United." Ancelotti smiled. Manchester United and Milan are both half-matched. Sir Alex Ferguson is really forgetful.

"Ah, haha, but it's okay. It's expected and acceptable. How about we meet by chance this season?" Ferguson took the lead to find a seat and sit down, and Ancelotti also sat down next to him.

"An encounter? When do you hope it will be?" Ancelotti smiled, raised his eyebrows, and met Manchester United by chance. This is not an optimistic event, so let's forget it. He smiled and said, "The final?"

"Ah ha, yes, I hope so."

Both head coaches have the heart of a champion. If they were to meet, the final would be the most perfect encounter...

It's just that you have to have the ability to play until that time. Without this ability, you can only sit in front of the TV and watch the Champions League final. Every year, many ambitious giants want to reach the end, but those who can get to this point , aren’t there only two teams in the end?

"It would be a shame not to have Juventus this year."

"Well, we can't stop it, it's just something that happened objectively." Ancelotti was stunned for a moment.

The reason why Juventus did not come was because Juventus was relegated. Because of the Calciopoli incident, Juventus was directly ordered to enter Serie B and start from minus nine points.

Within two years, Juventus will have no hope of competing in the Champions League.

"With Juventus's management model, they will definitely return to the Champions League in two years' time." Ferguson said with certainty.

"I agree with this. The foundation of this club is here. Once they come back, they may rush to the top three in the league, but it is impossible to regain their strength all at once..."

The age difference between the two people is almost twenty years, but this does not prevent them from becoming close friends.

Then, the two men also got involved with Shevchenko.

"Letting Shevchenko go, I feel is a mistake, both for Milan and for Shevchenko personally. I think he will not adapt to the Premier League."

"That is his personal choice, and everyone at Milan respects him. But Sir Alex, do you want to say that he should go to Manchester United?"

"Haha, I already have Dong, and I don't need Shevchenko. I just think Shevchenko should stay in Milan. Leaving is a huge risk. He is 30 years old and the Premier League is not easy to deal with."

"..."

"Dong should be very suitable for Milan. Why not sell him to Real Madrid?"

"Unless I'm crazy..."

"Okay, the damn lottery ceremony is about to begin!"

※※※※

There is no big difference between the top 32 teams in this year's Champions League and previous years. At most, only those teams from weak European football countries will have new faces.

In the early morning of August 24th, Beijing time, the Champions League ended the third round of qualifying, and now all the top 32 players in the group stage have emerged. As Liverpool and Arsenal both advanced, and La Liga and Serie A lost Osasuna and Chievo respectively, the Premier League with four seats became the league with the most participating teams, while Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, and Portuguese Super League each had three. A team. The specific league distribution of the top 32 is as follows:

Premier League: Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal.

Serie A: AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma

La Liga: Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Valencia.

Ligue 1: Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille.

Bundesliga: Bayern, Werder Bremen, Hamburg.

Portuguese Super League: Porto, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica.

Greece: Olympiacos, AEK Athens

Russian Super League: CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow

Ukraine: Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Eredivisie: PSV.

Belgium: Anderlecht

Scottish Premiership: Celtic

Türkiye: Galatasaray

Bulgaria: Levski Sofia

Denmark: Copenhagen

Romania: Bucharest Star

The teams participating in the draw include 16 teams that directly entered the group stage, including defending champion Barcelona, ​​and 16 teams that were shortlisted through the qualifiers.

According to UEFA's club points system, the points in the last three years are used as Champions League points. Barcelona and the seven teams with the highest points are listed as seed teams (first tier), and other teams are also divided into third tiers based on points. During the draw, a team is drawn from each pot to form a group, with a total of eight groups, provided that teams from the same league are in different groups.

The first-tier teams are: Barcelona, ​​AC Milan, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Arsenal, Lyon, and Valencia.

Second tier: Manchester United, Porto, PSV, Bayern, Chelsea, Roma, Celtic, Lille.

Third tier: Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, Bordeaux, Steaua Bucharest, Werder Bremen, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow, Athens.

Fourth tier: Anderlecht, Dynamo Kiev, Levski Sofia, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Hamburg, Spartak Moscow, Copenhagen.

If the rankings were based on last year's points rules, Manchester United actually became the seeded team. However, UEFA suddenly changed the rules and Manchester United unfortunately fell into the second tier of teams. This means that Manchester United's draw cannot be Smoothly.

Ferguson didn't pay much attention, but he didn't expect that after arranging the teams in the fourth and third pots, Manchester United's name would be the first to be drawn when the second pot was drawn.

When Manchester United's name was filled in among the queues of Barcelona, ​​Werder Bremen and Levski Sofia in Group A, the draw site and the whole of England instantly boiled.

"What the hell, Barcelona!"

"It's true that enemies are on a narrow road. Here's the opportunity for revenge!"

At that moment, all Manchester United fans thought about was revenge. Last year, Barcelona stepped on Manchester United's shoulders and reached the Champions League final. Manchester United fans hate it...

Unexpectedly, this season, these two teams would actually meet in the group stage.

"Ah, I finally avoided the damn Barcelona. It's no longer Chelsea, but Manchester United..."

Chelsea fans feel that the goddess of luck has finally favored Chelsea...