Chapter 48: Europa League group stage (1)

　　 After the Chinese New Year, there are fewer relatives and classmates gatherings, and finally I don’t have to drink every day to be unconscious... The update will also be normal twice from tomorrow, and then the word count will be restored to 3000 words per chapter! )
　　 Ed Wocart’s worry finally became a reality!
　　 The result of the draw came out, and Zenit was assigned to Group A where all teams have certain strength!
　　 Although Zenit can dominate the Russian Super League, there is a gap between the Russian Super League's football level and the European mainstream leagues. This is a fact that cannot be concealed!
　　 After two rounds of the Europa League qualifiers, Zenit, who broke into the main race smoothly, is finally going to face the test in the Europa League main race!
　　 Zenit's grouping is not difficulty, but the strength of the four opponents should not be underestimated. It is not an easy team to win!
　　 The UEFA Cup in the 07-08 season is still different from the subsequent competition system!
　　 In the group stage, there are 8 groups, each with 5 teams, in a single round-robin match, rather than a double round-robin group match. The host and guest of each game are determined by a lottery, ensuring that each team will complete 4 games with both hosts and guests!
There are 5 teams in the group. After 4 games, the top three in the group enter the knockout stage. After the UEFA Champions League group stage, the third place in 8 groups, a total of 32 teams, will be drawn to catch and fight, and the home and guest rounds will be played out. !
　　 Zenit’s signing has avoided some traditional European giants such as Bayern Atletico Leverkusen this year, but it still encountered other powerful teams in the top five leagues and second-class leagues!
　　 The Eredivisie team Alkmaar! Bundesliga club Nuremberg! And Everton, the traditional second block of the Premier League! The only weak opponent may be Larissa from Greece!
　　 But Zenit's game against Larissa was played away. Everyone knows that the home court of the Greek team has always been a place willing to break out miracles! In the European arena, Greece’s fanatical devil’s home arena, I don’t know how many strong teams are in the Aegean Sea!
　　 In fact, in terms of team strength alone, although Zenit cannot be said to occupy an absolute crushing strength advantage, he must still firmly grasp the initiative against the second-tier teams in these leagues!
　　 But Zenit’s defense general Yang Feng was injured! Yang Feng's injury was missing for 2 months, resulting in Zenit's most threatening and best tempered tactics, missing the most important part of the defense!
　　 Now Zenit has fallen into a difficult decision situation in the early stages of the Russian Super League!
　　 will continue to maintain his offensive suppressing power, and will surely mobilize his full-backs and midfielders to participate in offensive tactics!
　　 If the opponent defends and fights back with peace of mind, it is a question whether Zenit's defense can hold up!
If you do a good job of defense first, you must contain most of your offensive players and let them participate in the defense. This will not only lead to the failure of your own mature offensive system, but also because of most midfield players. , Because the defensive attributes are not high, it is unknown whether the defensive task can be completed in the end!
　　 Unfortunately, because of the national match day, the Russian Super League has to be suspended for 2 weeks, and the players have to fly to various national teams to report. Ed Wocart can't test which tactics are better in the game or in training!
　　 On October 25th, Zenit will play at home against Eredivisie team Alkmaar!
　　 The latest round of the Russian Super League is against Kahimeki at home on the 21st! Zenit, who has won the championship, will naturally not force the tired internationals to play a double match for a week for a Russian Super League game!
　　 A bunch of players promoted from the bench and youth team, representing their big brothers, lost cleanly to visiting Kashimeki at home. Although the score of 1 to 3 is not beautiful, but this is professional football. We must always know how to choose. No team can win all the championships, and no team can win all the games. Only if there is sacrifice, there is gain. This is in football. The world is also the most famous saying!
　　Europe is the match that Zenit cares about most next!
　　 On October 25th, the Europa League Cup group stage for the new season kicked off!
　　 Zenit sits at home, facing the visiting Eredivisie team Alkmaar!
　　 Although Alkmaar's state is not good in the new season, especially in the past 8 games, he only won one Europa League qualifying match and barely advanced to the main match!
　　 But the eliminated opponent is after all the higher-ranked Portuguese Super League team Ferreira, which proves that although Alkmaar's state has ups and downs, the strength of the team is still there!
　　 After all, Alkmaar is now in the Netherlands, with the traditional Dutch top three, Ajax, Feyenoord, Eindhoven, and the existence of the big four!
　　 was only 3 points behind last season and won the third place in the Eredivisie! Almost ended the Dutch traditional three-finals of the league championship for more than 20 years! (In fact, in the 08-09 season, the Alkmaar team led by Van Gaal finally broke the 28-game hegemony of the Dutch top three against the Dutch champions!)
　　 Its head coach Van Gaal has a glorious resume as coaching La Liga giants Barcelona!
　　 Although the performance at the beginning of the season was terrible, as far as the team is concerned, the current Alkmaar can definitely be compared with the three giants in the UEFA Champions League!
　　 "The Europa League group stage of the 07-08 season is about to start!"
　　 "In Group A, Zenit, who sits at home, will face the challenge of Eredivisie upstart Alkmaar!"
　　 "One is the Russian Super League champion in the new season!"
　　 "The other is the Dutch emerging power who kept the Dutch title suspense to the final round last season and finished third place by 3 points!"
　　 "The confrontation between the two sides is definitely not an ordinary Europa League match. In terms of strength, both teams have the strength of the Champions League!"
　　 "But on the other hand, the home team was injured and lacked the most important defender Yang Feng, and the defensive stability was greatly reduced. However, after the visiting team sold the team's striker Avilas at the beginning of the season, the offensive ability was greatly reduced compared to last season!"
　　 "Today's two teams can be said to have strength and heritage, but the recent team situation is not very good!"
　　 "I still look forward to the first match of the European war between the two sides this season~EbookFREE.me~ can show their strength and present a wonderful game to all the audience!"
　　 "The players have already done the final preparations on the field!"
　　 "Let's take a look at the lineup of our home team Zenit for this game! The starting staff of the team has changed compared with the regular starters!"
　　 "It goes without saying that Eric Hagen replaced Yang Feng's injury! Domingos, one of the core of the offense, was not included in the squad due to physical discomfort!"
　　 "Ed Wo Carter simply changed his formation and put out three midfielders to strengthen defense!"
　　 "Tymoschuk, Zilyanov, and Fernando Rickson partnered in midfield to consolidate their midfield defense!"
　　 "Arshavin and Denisov are separated from each other, and the of wave is at the forefront!"
　　 "From left to right, the defenders are Kim Dongjin, Hagen, Skrtel, and Russian international Anyukov!"
　　 "Goalkeeper Malafeyev guards the gate!"
　　 "Perhaps it was because of Domingos' discomfort that strengthened Ed Wocart's determination to defend and wait for the attack in the first game!"
"Although Zenit's four-man team in the frontcourt has been reduced to a three-man gang, the threat level may have declined, but the three midfielders have excellent defensive capabilities and can effectively protect their own central defenders and less threats from opponents! "
　　 "Only the top three in the group match can qualify for the goal of qualifying for the group!"
　　 "I just hope that Zenit can play his offensive strength as much as possible while doing his own defense!"
　　 "After all, there are only two home court opportunities. Taking advantage of the home court to grab three points, can we ensure that I am in an absolutely safe position to qualify!"