Originally, the big victory was a happy thing, but everyone in Metz was worried.

Even those first-team players who had married families returned to the team and watched the Europa League draw ceremony with their teammates.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the Europa League draw ceremony began at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

At this time, the UEFA Cup has not merged with the Intertoto Cup to reorganize the UEFA Europa League. A total of 40 teams have entered the UEFA Cup knockout stage through league rankings, domestic cups, Intertoto Cup and fair play awards.

These 40 teams will be divided into 8 groups to compete, with 5 teams in each group.

Because there are so many teams, there will not be two rounds of matches, but a single match where they fight against each other. After 4 rounds, the top two will enter the knockout stage. Although it is cruel to choose two from five, there is currently no third place in the Champions League group.

In the Europa League, at least you don't have to face those giants that didn't perform well in the Champions League. Otherwise, it will be a huge test to encounter the giants that didn't perform well in the Champions League just after they finally qualified.

This season's Europa League final will be played in Manchester, not at Old Trafford, but at the Manchester City Stadium, which is also the home of Manchester City.

There are more teams participating in the main draw of the UEFA Cup than in the Champions League, but the gap between them is not as big as the Champions League, so the competition is often more brutal. The small prize money of the Europa League is full of temptations for many small leagues, especially Eastern European teams.

, they will always show a desperate attitude.

In the UEFA Cup this season, Bayern Munich is unparalleled in strength, as are Bayer Leverkusen, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Fiorentina, Hamburg and other strong teams.

They are all strong contenders for the championship.

However, Wang Hao clearly remembered that none of these teams could win the championship, and the final winner should be a team from outside the five major leagues.

"Alai, I'm so nervous."

When Pjanic saw the draw started, he couldn't help but grabbed Wang Hao's arm and said.

Wang Ke knocked his hand away: "According to the European War points, we are in the last bracket. No matter what, the result will not be too good."

"But there are always strong and weak teams in the first few brackets. I still hope to encounter a weaker team."

"Alai, who do you want us to meet?" The speaker was Li Weifeng. In order to practice French, he even called Wang Hao by his French name, which also made it easier for his teammates to participate in the conversation.

"Um?"

The eight first-seeded teams are Everton, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Getafe, and Florence.

Maybe the best one to bully here is Getafe?

Now Moyes is still very high-spirited at Everton, and they often put on great performances. Although this team no longer has any super talents after Rooney moved to Manchester United, their players are still good in ability and are famous.

With small but powerful players, and Moyes' own years of training, Everton is by no means an easy opponent to deal with.

After Torres left Anfield, Atletico Madrid signed the South American super genius Aguero. Although they have not yet become the third pole of La Liga at this time, they are not weak in strength. In addition, Aguero is such a capable person.

Players who change the direction of the game are also not easy to deal with.

As for the "King of the North" Hamburg, their captain Van der Vaart is an out-and-out talented player. The offensive line composed of him and Berisha and others is very powerful. It is precisely because of Van der Vaart's outstanding performance in Hamburg that the game will be better this season.

Real Madrid didn't take notice.

There is nothing good to say about Leverkusen. They have always been a strong team in the Bundesliga. After a few years, Sanya King lost their original spirit, but their strength should not be underestimated.

Not to mention Bayern, they failed to qualify for the Champions League at the end of last season, but as long as they are clear-minded, they will not find it easy to deal with them. They are the favorites to win the Europa League this season.

Florence has stars such as Mutu and Montolivo. Compared with ordinary Italian teams, the midfield organization is more delicate. Coupled with the standard Italian defensive model, they are definitely capable of competing for the championship.

Although Getafe has always been the "receiver" of Real Madrid's youth training players, they may be the best to bully.

Wang Ke thought about it and gave his own answer: "I think Getafe, Basel, Aek and Legia Warsaw should be given the best grouping."

Other Metz players agreed.

Metz was drawn into Group B, which is a veritable group of death.

In the same group were Atletico Madrid, Malaga, AZ Alkmaar, and Red Star Belgrade. None of these teams were easy to deal with. After a while, all eight groups in the Europa League were drawn out.

Group A: Everton (England), Nuremberg (Germany), Borisov (Belarus), Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia), Panathinaiko (Greece).

Group B: Atletico Madrid (Spain), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Metz (France).

Group C: Villarreal (Spain), Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia), Aberdeen (Scotland), Elfsburg (Greece), Elfsborg (Sweden).

Group D: Hamburg (Germany), Basel (Switzerland), Rosenborg (Norway), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Rennes (France).

Group E: Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Zurich (Switzerland), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Toulouse (France).

Group F: Bayern Munich (Germany), Malaga (Spain), Bolton Wanderers (England), Thessaloniki Ares (Greece), Levski Sofia (Bulgaria).

Group G: Getafe (Spain), Anderlecht (Belgium), Aalborg (Denmark), Workmen Tel Aviv (Israel), Legia Warsaw (Poland).

Group H: Florence (Italy), Galatasaray (Turkey), Helsingborg (Sweden), Rapid Vienna (Austria), Braga (Portugal).

This result made the Metz team cry. Group G is the weakest group. Although they did not meet the powerful Bayern Munich, there is no one in the same group who is easy to bully. Atletico Madrid is not weak, and Tottenham Hotspur

It is one of the best in the second group. As for Red Star Belgrade, they have been a super giant since the Yugoslavia period. Even though the former Yugoslavia has disintegrated, the Serbian players are still strong enough. Alkmaar may be the easiest to deal with in this group.

one.

Even Pierre, who didn't have much hope for the UEFA Cup, was scolded after seeing this grouping. Although he had never thought about making a difference in the UEFA Cup, losing all four games was an unbearable pain!

The atmosphere in the tactical room was so bad that Wang Ke couldn't help but frown.

"Hey guys!"

As the captain of the team, he must stand up at this time: "Our luck is really bad. Every team in this group has strong strength. They all come from big football countries, but is this a problem?"

"Can Tottenham or Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid? I don't think so, but Lyon can beat Real Madrid, and we beat Lyon. Who can tell me, through this simple winning-losing relationship, it can be converted

What happened?"

Wang Ke stood in front with his hands behind his back, looking like an old scholar.

"So we are better than Real Madrid?"

Pjanic asked, rubbing his bald head.

"Bingo, but there is no reward. Through a simple calculation of the relationship between victory and defeat, we are stronger than Real Madrid, so we should be afraid of other opponents, not us."

"But we were just bloodbathed by Leon not long ago..."

Pjanic's muttering made the atmosphere in the tactical room, which had just improved, become cold again. If the whole team hadn't been there, Wang Hao would have definitely fixed this idiot.

However, since his teammates were all here, he didn't want to go too far. He could only hold his nose and recognize it, and silently made a note to Pjanic in his mind, just be quick to talk.

"Think about the French Cup last season. Bordeaux has enough European points. If they enter the Europa League, their points will even rank higher in the first tier. But where are they now?

I don’t know, but I can be sure that they are definitely not in the mood to watch the Europa League draw ceremony."

Wang Ke encouraged his teammates from another angle: "This grouping is also very good. If we are lucky enough, we will not encounter strong teams all the way to the finals. Since we can win the French Cup, we will also win the Europa League."

Nothing is impossible."

Win the Europa League?

Most of the Metz players felt that Wang Hao was talking nonsense, but they also understood what Wang Hao meant, so they did not criticize him.

However, Li Weifeng, who understood Wang Hao's words with the help of a translator, didn't think so. Just as Wang Hao said, if you are lucky and the teams you encounter after qualifying from the group are not strong, then you can go all the way to the finals or even win.

The Europa League is not impossible either.

He knows that qualifying for the group itself is a problem. Even if he does qualify, he will probably be second in the group, and the team he will encounter will definitely be the first team in other groups. The possibility of those teams from small countries winning the first place in the group is very small, even if

To qualify, they should also face a wealthy team.

But he couldn't help but fantasize that Metz could win the Coupe de France in Serie B, and it seemed possible to win the Europa League after being promoted to Serie A. Originally, he hoped to win a Coupe de France or France Cup this time during his trip to Europe.

The League Cup was good, but Wang Ke's words gave him the illusion that if he could win the Europa League, then those French domestic cup competitions would be nothing.

Many fans look down on the Europa League when they talk about it, but many first-class players have not been able to win a European championship in their entire careers. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored many goals in the Champions League, Ballack, the runner-up collector, etc., they are all

They were one of the best stars in the world at that time, but they failed to win a European championship. Even if they had a Europa League, their careers would have fewer regrets.

Li Weifeng thinks the same way. If he can really win the Europa League, he can even retire directly. In that case, he will become the first European champion in Chinese history.

Li Weifeng looked at Wang Xie standing in front.

Well, tied for first place...

…

Those who can stay up until midnight are basically die-hard fans.

As soon as the Europa League groupings came out, there was also a cry in the forum.

"Holy crap, what kind of bullshit grouping is this? Are UEFA planning to get rid of Metz?"

"Metz is at the bottom of the group. AZ Alkmaar and Red Star Belgrade are not easy to deal with. Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur are in the middle and upper reaches of the five major leagues."

"This grouping is really difficult. Except for Tottenham, the other teams have good skills. Metz likes to play high and press, which may not be effective against a team with good passing."

"We can only place our hopes on Wang He."

"There is definitely no problem. As long as Wang Ke is here, Metz is not afraid of anyone. They met so many Ligue 1 teams in the French Cup last season, but they didn't even win the championship. The Ligue 1 teams are not bad in skills and they don't have high positions.

Pressing doesn't work, so stop being alarmist."

"Yes, my husband never disappoints anyone."

"I found a beautiful woman who stayed up late. Beautiful woman, can I add her on QQ?"

"You said she's a beauty, she's a beauty, and you started doing it before you even saw the photo."
To be continued...