Chapter 168: Champions League round of 16 draw

The Bundesliga is over halfway, but the team hasn't had a holiday yet, because there will be a German Cup semi-final match right away in the middle of the week.
After playing this game, the real winter break will follow.
On December 18th, Schalke 04 played against Mainz at home, which was Schalke 04's top 16 opponent in the German Cup.
Mainz is currently in a very good state. They have won three of the last four league games. They are the team with the most points in the Bundesliga. Bayern can't match them because Bayern has tied two games.
In the main scene against Mainz, who was in very good form, Schalke 04 was not easy to play.
Mainz took the lead twice and Schalke tied the score twice. Huntelaar and Lee Chenglong scored the goals respectively. So the game was dragged into overtime, and the two sides did nothing in the overtime and finally entered Penalty kick.
Fortunately, in the penalty shootout, Schalke 04, who had the home court advantage, made no mistakes. The first four players who took the penalty shot all hits, but Mainz missed one. So Jackie Lee made the fifth home game and hit the point. The ball helped the team eliminate the opponent at home.
On the home scene against the mid-range team's Mainz, Schalke 04 is also not easy to win. One is that everyone is thinking about the rest of the winter break, and the other is the importance of coach Stevens to the game. Not enough, just arranged it casually.
Stevens is probably thinking that if you can win, you can win. If you can't win, you can abandon the German Cup. The second half of the season will just focus on the league and the Champions League.
But in any case, Schalke 04 still won Mainz at home and successfully entered the quarter-finals of the German Cup this season. Lee Chenglong also harvested his first goal in the German Cup.
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After the German Cup is over, the next is the real winter break.
Because Germany is located in the interior of Europe, the winter is relatively cold. The Bundesliga has only 34 rounds and the schedule is relatively small. Therefore, the Bundesliga's winter break is as long as one month.
Of course, there is a one-month winter break. It doesn't mean that everyone can go to play for a month. Everyone has only two weeks of vacation and will be back in two weeks to prepare for the second half of the schedule.
However, before the holiday, Schalke 04 has another team event, which is to watch the draw of the Champions League Final 16.
At noon on December 20th, the Schalke 04 team gathered at the club to watch this year's Champions League round of 16 draw.
"Bruce, who do you think we will get?" Hewedes, the team captain, asked first.
"I don't think we need to be afraid of anyone except Real Madrid."
"But I think it would be more uncomfortable if I get AC Milan."
In the Champions League this season, there are three giants Real Madrid, AC Milan and Arsenal in the second group of the Champions League, but Schalke 04 and Arsenal have the principle of avoidance, so I am afraid of Real Madrid and Milan.
However, Li Chenglong feels that even if you get Milan, you don't have to be afraid. Milan has been going downhill in recent years, and only Real Madrid is the second real hard-bone in the group.
Of course, while Schalke 04 is thinking this way, others are also considering Schalke 04 as the first soft persimmon in the group and want to draw them.
Schalke 04 and Málaga, these are almost the best two soft persimmons in the recognized group first.
Soon, with the support of UEFA Secretary-General Infantino and Head of Competition Marchetti, England star McManaman completed the draw as a guest of the draw.
Schalke 04 was drawn out in the first group, the opponent is the Celtics of the Soviet Super League.
As soon as this result came out, the Schalke team immediately fell into cheers.
The Celtics are considered to be the weakest among the top 16 in the Champions League this season. Schalke's 04 draws the opponent, which is of course worth celebrating.
The draw continues next:
Juventus drew Galatasaray;
Bayern Munich drew Arsenal;
Dortmund drew Shakhtar Donetsk;
Barcelona drew AC Milan;
Manchester United drew Real Madrid;
Paris Saint-Germain drew Valencia;
Malaga drew Porto.
The result of the draw is naturally joyful and sad.
Schalke 04 is of course very satisfied with the result of his draw. In addition, Juventus, Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and others should all be satisfied with the result.
Málaga vs. Porto, this is a draw result that both sides are satisfied with.
The remaining Bayern vs. Arsenal, Real Madrid vs. Manchester United, Barcelona vs. Milan, this should be the result of the match that both sides are not satisfied with.
Of course, this is also the most interesting matchup in the Champions League round of 16.
The result of the draw came out, and the next step is to deal with the lot.
Among the three Bundesliga teams, Schalke 04 and Dortmund have both drawn ideal opponents, and there is no big problem in promotion. This is the German media that is more happy.
But Bayern drew Arsenal, this is a matchup that is difficult to predict. Although Arsenal's strength is definitely not better than Bayern, no one can guarantee that Bayern will be able to eliminate Arsenal.
Moreover, Bayern is the most competitive team in the Bundesliga in the Champions League. If they blow out in the top sixteen, most of the Bundesliga teams will miss the Champions League this year.
But in general, the result of this draw is pretty good for the Bundesliga, because the three Bundesliga teams are all on the dominant side and have a great chance of entering the quarterfinals.
The Bundesliga is satisfied with the result of this draw, and La Liga and the Premier League are probably not satisfied with the result.
In La Liga, their real pillars Real Madrid and Barcelona have both drawn the giants duel. If they are almost lucky, Barcelona Real Madrid is afraid that both will be destroyed in the top 16.
As for the Premier League, they are the most dissatisfied~EbookFREE.me~ In the Champions League this year, the Premier League already had Manchester City and Chelsea out of the group stage, and now Arsenal has drawn Bayern in the round of 16 , Manchester United draws Real Madrid, the same is the sad result of accidentally losing both.
More importantly, if Arsenal and Manchester United are really out of the top 16 games, then the Premier League will be destroyed directly.
Since the restructuring of the Champions League, the Premier League has never been destroyed in the top sixteen. Now this is a chance.
In the past few days, the English media's remarks about Platini's killing of the Premier League have been on the rise again.
Last year, only Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League made it to the top sixteen. They immediately met their strongest opponents in the top sixteen. Fortunately, Chelsea survived all the way and finally won the Champions League with an upset.
And this year is the same result. As soon as the Premier League team enters the elimination, they immediately run into the strongest opponent.
This has been the case for two consecutive years. What is it for?
Now the sales of British tabloids have fallen.
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The results of the Champions League round of 16 draw are out, and the winning odds for the latest period are also out.
Barcelona of the Universe is undoubtedly the first favorite to win, followed by Real Madrid and Bayern.
Huang Saren occupies the top three, which is very reasonable.
Dortmund came out of the super-death group, and now has a good pick in the top sixteen, so he won the championship and rose to fourth place.
In other words, among the favorites to win, La Liga teams occupy first and second, and Bundesliga teams occupy third and fourth.
Next up are Juventus, Manchester United, Paris, Málaga.
As for Schalke 04, they are tied for ninth with Arsenal.
It doesn't matter if other teams are in the front, but Málaga is also in front of Schalke, which is something that Jackie Lee couldn't figure out.