Chapter 89 The Champions League Quarterfinals Draw

With Bayern Munich's elimination by Inter Milan, the Champions League's final eight were all decided.

Because of Bayern Munich's exit, the Bundesliga's representatives this season became Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, both of which had also made it to the quarterfinals.

In addition to the two Bundesliga teams, La Liga also had two teams in the quarterfinals: Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The other four teams included two from the English Premier League: Chelsea and Manchester United; one from Serie A: Inter Milan; and one from Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk.

These eight teams would be drawn against each other in a knockout format.

Once the quarterfinals were reached, the rule that teams from the same country couldn't face each other was lifted.

So, a civil war was possible.

There was also no more talk of group winners facing runners-up; a clash of titans was highly likely.

Of these eight teams, Shakhtar Donetsk was the weakest, and the team everyone else wanted to face.

Anyone who drew them would practically be guaranteed a spot in the semifinals.

Dortmund fans couldn't help but dream of being paired with Shakhtar Donetsk.

The draw ceremony would take place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon over the weekend.

To the disappointment of Dortmund fans, Shakhtar Donetsk was not drawn against Dortmund. The Ukrainian team's opponent was Barcelona...

As soon as this result came out, conspiracy theories began to surface again. Many people believed that UEFA was trying to guarantee Barcelona's advancement.

Because of the Champions League match between Barcelona and Chelsea the year before, some people had always believed that UEFA favored Barcelona, as UEFA President Platini had repeatedly expressed his admiration for Barcelona. Some jokingly called Platini Barcelona's "godfather."

This year's draw result seemed to confirm UEFA's favoritism towards Barcelona once again...

However, for Dortmund, they didn't care whether UEFA was Barcelona's godfather or not, because they wouldn't be facing Barcelona anyway.

Their opponent in the quarterfinals was another La Liga team... Real Madrid.

A very strong and difficult opponent.

Actually, if you were to look at the historical record of the past few years, Real Madrid shouldn't be a stumbling block for Dortmund, because in the past six years, Real Madrid had been eliminated in the first knockout round of the Champions League every year. They were also known by Chinese fans as the "Champions League Sixteen," a satirical reference to the fact that although Real Madrid invested so much money in signing star players, calling themselves the Galácticos, they couldn't even make it to the Champions League quarterfinals and could only be in the final sixteen every year.

Real Madrid's dark history seemed to have started after their round of sixteen loss to Juventus in the 2004-2005 season. At that time, Real Madrid, with seven superstars, including Zidane, Figo, Raúl, Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, and Casillas, lost 0-2 to Juventus away from home and were eliminated with a score of 1-2. Figo also missed a crucial penalty.

For the next five years, Real Madrid faced Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Roma, Liverpool, and Lyon in the Champions League round of sixteen, and were eliminated each time.

From this data, Real Madrid also had six years without any Champions League quarterfinal experience.

But football matches aren't such simple data analyses. It's not like I can definitely win just because the combined ability of my eleven players on the field is greater than yours.

This season's Real Madrid felt completely different from before, because they had a very powerful coach this season.

José Mourinho, a legendary coach who had led Porto and Inter Milan to Champions League titles.

After leading Inter Milan to a treble, he was poached by Real Madrid to the Bernabéu. His arrival brought a fighting spirit to this aristocratic team. The most obvious change was that Real Madrid got rid of the shameful nickname "Champions League Sixteen." They eliminated their old nemesis Lyon in the round of sixteen, entered the quarterfinals, and became Dortmund's opponent.

Real Madrid and Dortmund being drawn together was sure to bring complicated feelings for one person.

That person was Real Madrid's young midfielder, Nuri Şahin.

When he transferred from Dortmund to Real Madrid at the beginning of the season, he certainly didn't expect to see his old club so soon...

And he was seeing his old club in this situation—after coming to Real Madrid, he hadn't played much for Real Madrid. Mourinho didn't trust him, especially dissatisfied with his defensive attitude in the game.

So, Şahin was either a substitute now, or he couldn't even get on the bench.

This was certainly something he hadn't expected when he resolutely left Dortmund.

At the time, he thought that Real Madrid's pursuit of him was so enthusiastic, and with his performance in Dortmund, it wouldn't be a problem for him to play as a starter in Real Madrid, right?

As a result…

Looking back at Dortmund after his departure, and at Zhou Yi, his former midfield competitor and partner in Dortmund.

His departure prompted Klopp to make up his mind to completely establish Zhou Yi as Dortmund's core, and the only core.

Zhou Yi, without Şahin, actually played better and better in Dortmund. This season, Dortmund was ranked first in the league, and at one point had a lead of as much as ten points over their opponents. This was inseparable from Zhou Yi. In the Champions League, Zhou Yi's importance was even more significant. If it weren't for Zhou Yi, it wouldn't have been so easy and simple for Dortmund to qualify from the group, let alone reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

Zhou Yi was doing very well in Dortmund, getting better and better.

Şahin himself was almost rotting on the Real Madrid bench. He hadn't played even a minute of a game in almost three months... His last appearance was in a Copa del Rey match on December 20 of last year.

He most likely wouldn't have a chance to play in these two Champions League quarterfinal matches, and it wasn't even certain whether he could make the squad list…

No one knew if Şahin had already regretted his decision to leave Dortmund and join Real Madrid, because Şahin had never mentioned it in any public setting.

But he certainly wasn't having a good time at Real Madrid...

It was as if he had been forgotten.

※※※

But in fact, not everyone would forget him.

After the draw results came out, Klopp talked about Şahin: "I know Nuri's situation over there is not particularly good. I'm not trying to criticize anyone, but I hope he can get more opportunities. He has the strength, but he needs games to show his strength. If he can return to Westfalenstadion with Real Madrid, I think every Dortmund fan will be very happy, and of course, so will I."

However, some people didn't miss Şahin for the same reasons.

For example, some Chinese media reporters ran to ask Zhou Yi about Şahin's initial decision to transfer to Real Madrid, which looked very glamorous, but now he was doing poorly. They asked Zhou Yi what he thought of this.

This was a kind of schadenfreude, because Şahin and Zhou Yi were considered to be competitors to some extent.

Many people feel pleasure when they see their competitors doing poorly.

But Zhou Yi didn't see it that way.

"Everyone has their own choices, there's nothing strange about that, right? Besides, when Nuri transferred to Real Madrid, how could he have thought that he would definitely be a substitute?" Zhou Yi spread his hands and shook his head. "I don't think this question is meaningful. Next."

He glossed over the question.

Although the reporters were unwilling and wanted to continue asking, they saw that Zhou Yi didn't want to answer the question, so they didn't dare to ask any further. Although Zhou Yi usually had a good relationship with the reporters, after being in contact with him for a long time, they would find that this young man was a very principled person. Don't force him to do some things that he doesn't want to do. If you force him to do it, he will turn his back on you in a matter of minutes...

However, in private, Zhou Yi still used Şahin and Sun Pan as examples in the group to advise everyone not to be superstitious about big clubs. If they found it difficult to play in the first team, they had to leave, whether by loan or transfer. At this time, playing stable and continuous games was the most important thing.

In fact, these words were said to He Ying.

As the most talented person among the five, He Ying's future was the most promising. But after he accepted the invitation from La Masia, he still couldn't play steadily even in the second team, let alone Barcelona's first team.

Not to mention Zhou Yi.

Now, Sun Pan had secured a starting goalkeeper position in the first team of Kickers Offenbach. Although it was a team in the 3. Liga (German third division), it was still a first team game, and the key was that he could be the main player. With his outstanding performance in this team, he had already attracted the attention of some teams. Even if he still couldn't get a work permit to return to Chelsea, he wouldn't have to worry about where to go.

Yang Muge was also a starter in Schalke 04's U19 team, starting every game. In the Bundesliga, although there was a reserve team, the reserve team of the Bundesliga team was very awkward. The U19 of the youth team was the one that really delivered talents to the first team. Being able to play as the main player in the U19 and perform well, there was a high probability of being transferred to the first team for training. If he could also perform well during the training period in the first team, he might be able to play in some less important games in the first team. If he also had excellent performances in these games, he could stay in the first team...

Zhou Yi basically followed this path from Dortmund's youth training camp to the first team. Yang Muge was also following the path he had taken.

Guo Nu's situation was also good. When Zhou Yi met him in Milan last time, he talked about his situation. He was also the main player in Inter Milan's U19 team.

And what about He Ying?

He was the main player in La Masia U19, but considering Barcelona's terrifying first-team lineup and some lessons from the past, Zhou Yi was not optimistic about He Ying's future in Barcelona...

In terms of his performance in La Masia, He Ying was not even as good as Bojan and Dos Santos, who were popular at the time.

With their achievements in the youth team, it was difficult for them to play in the first team, let alone He Ying.

He Ying was a striker, and the competition was not fierce in the striker position, but there was no competition at all.

Barcelona's first-team starting striker combination was very fixed, with Villa in the middle, Pedro on the left, and Messi on the right.

This lineup was Barcelona's top attacking combination. Even if other young strikers appeared in the first team, they were only substitutes and could not pose any threat to this lineup at all.

It was even more difficult for He Ying.

If he wanted to keep waiting for opportunities in Barcelona, he would be unsuccessful even when he was twenty-five years old...

Zhou Yi didn't want He Ying to become the second Şahin.