Chapter 190 Champions League Draw

After the game against Stuttgart, the whole team returned to Dortmund. Then all the national team players with national team assignments left the team one after another. Zhou Yi was no exception. He boarded a flight back to China to participate in two warm-up matches against Iran and Paraguay.

Klopp, the head coach of the club, and Zorc, the general manager, also had to leave Dortmund to attend the Champions League group stage draw ceremony.

This was of special significance to the Dortmund team.

The last time they appeared in the Champions League was in the 2003-2004 season, but that was the qualifying round. They finished third in the Bundesliga in the 2002-2003 season and qualified for the Champions League qualifying round the following season. However, Dortmund made their debut in the third round of qualifying, and drew 3:3 with Bruges in the two-legged match, with the same number of away goals, one each.

The two sides could only go to a penalty shootout. In the end, Dortmund lost 2:4 in the penalty shootout and were eliminated, failing to even participate in the Champions League main competition.

The last time Dortmund participated in the Champions League main competition was in the 2002-2003 season, because they won the Bundesliga title the previous season, so they did not have to play in the qualifying round and entered the main competition directly.

The Champions League format that season was different from the format that everyone is familiar with now. There were two group stages. The thirty-two teams that entered the main competition were divided into eight groups, and the top two in each group qualified, determining the top sixteen.

The top sixteen teams did not directly play two-legged knockout matches, but were divided into four groups for the second round of group matches.

The top two in each group entered the final knockout stage.

In the first round of group matches, Dortmund were drawn into a group with Arsenal, Auxerre, and PSV Eindhoven. In the group stage, Dortmund won three, drew one, and lost two of their six matches, eventually finishing second in the group and qualifying with Arsenal.

In the second round of group matches, Dortmund were placed in Group C with AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Lokomotiv Moscow. This group could be regarded as a group of death. Real Madrid at the time were the defending Champions League champions, while AC Milan were the champions of the Champions League that season.

Dortmund were only better than Lokomotiv Moscow in this group, winning three, drawing one, and losing two of their six matches, finishing third and being eliminated.

This was Dortmund's result in their last participation in the Champions League main competition.

Since then, due to the deteriorating financial situation, Dortmund's strength has plummeted, and their ranking in the German domestic league has declined year by year. They were no longer qualified to participate in the Champions League.

After seven seasons, Dortmund returned to the Champions League main competition.

What strong enemies awaited them?

Everything would be revealed in the Champions League draw ceremony.

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After Zhou Yi arrived in China, the Champions League draw ceremony was also being held in Monaco.

The Champions League group stage draw first had to determine the four tiers of teams, dividing the thirty-two teams into different tiers according to their European competition points.

The eight teams with the highest points were the seeded teams, also the first-tier teams.

Because Dortmund had not participated in the Champions League main competition for a full seven years, and had only participated in the Europa League in the 2008-2009 season, where they were eliminated by Udinese in the first round.

Therefore, their European competition points were pitifully low, almost non-existent.

They were naturally assigned to the fourth-tier team.

As a result, they were very likely to be drawn into a group with many strong enemies.

In fact, Dortmund's luck this time was indeed not good...

As a fourth-tier team, they were drawn into Group A, and the seeded team in Group A was the defending champion Inter Milan, the second-tier team was the Spanish powerhouse Valencia, and the third-tier team was the defending champion of the Eredivisie, Twente.

Although the level of death was not comparable to Group G, which had AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, and Auxerre, it was still very difficult for Dortmund to qualify from the group.

Barcelona were placed in a group with Copenhagen, Panathinaikos, and Rubin Kazan, which was basically equivalent to being sent straight to the top sixteen. This group also seemed to give many people fodder for gossip about "Barcelona having a godfather in UEFA."

As soon as the draw results came out, the German media were the first to report it.

This season, three Bundesliga teams participated in the main competition, namely the champion Bayern Munich, the runner-up Dortmund, and the third-place Schalke 04.

These three teams represented the face of German football, and they also shouldered an extremely important mission—their performance in the Champions League would affect the number of Champions League slots that Bundesliga teams would have each season.

Bayern Munich, as the runner-up of the Champions League last season, also drew a good draw. They were placed in Group E with Roma, Basel, and Cluj. As expected, Bayern Munich and Roma would qualify, and Bayern Munich would definitely be the first in the group.

Schalke 04's performance in the league in recent years has been relatively stable, Bundesliga runner-up in 2004-2005, fourth in the league in 2005-2006, league runner-up in 2006-2007, and third in the league in 2007-2008. They have participated in European competitions almost every year, and their experience in this area is much richer than Dortmund's.

In this season's Champions League, they were placed in Group B with the seeded team Lyon, Benfica, and Tottenham Hotspur. Media analysis believed that the teams that would qualify from this group should be Lyon and Schalke 04. Benfica was not strong enough, and Tottenham Hotspur returned to the Champions League after decades, with zero experience, and could not make any waves.

Dortmund's situation was not very good. They had not participated in the Champions League for many years, and they were placed in the same group as the defending champion. There were also strong enemies such as Valencia in the same group, so it was not easy to grab a qualifying spot, and they might even need some luck.

The German media analysis believed that the entire Dortmund team should have the right attitude. After seven seasons, they had returned to the Champions League, and they should focus on accumulating experience. Klopp's team was still young, and young people should try to learn as much Champions League experience as possible this season. Their focus should still be on the domestic league, to ensure that they could still participate in the Champions League next season.

After this team matured, they might be able to achieve better results in the Champions League, and everyone should give them more expectations.

This year, the honor of the Bundesliga still had to be maintained by Bayern Munich.

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In addition to the German media, the Chinese media and fans were also very concerned about the Champions League draw. This was of course a consistent concern, because the Champions League is a high-profile event in China, no less than the World Cup.

Every season, the major domestic media have to report on the Champions League group stage draw, and fans will pay attention.

But this season, because of Zhou Yi, everyone's focus was different.

In the past, everyone would pay more attention to the groups of those wealthy teams, such as whether Real Madrid would be in the same group with their old rival Lyon this time, or whether Barcelona would be taken care of by their godfather again...

Now, everyone is most concerned about the results of Dortmund's group stage draw.

After the results came out, the Chinese media and fans had a similar reaction to the German media, feeling that the group stage draw was not very beneficial for Dortmund, and was definitely not a "lucky draw". At best, it was a medium draw.

Some Chinese media went to the national team's training ground to interview Zhou Yi, asking not about the national team's problems, but about the Champions League group stage.

"...I didn't watch the live broadcast. The live broadcast was too late. I had to deal with jet lag and didn't watch it. But I know the result." Zhou Yi said calmly with a calm expression and tone, facing a large group of reporters on the sidelines of the training ground. "What do you want me to comment on?" he asked.

"Do you think this is not a very good result? Or not as good as you imagined..." the reporter asked.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "No, I didn't think about the question of who we would be with." Speaking of this, he couldn't help laughing, "Fourth-tier teams, what qualifications do we have to be picky?"

His words amused the reporters.

Because what Zhou Yi said was indeed very right. Fourth-tier teams are often the last teams to be drawn, and the strength of the first three tiers of teams is basically stronger than them, so it is equally difficult to draw anyone.

"And I think, no matter how strong or weak the opponent is, we have to take it seriously, so it doesn't matter who the opponent is. If you think the opponent is weak, the game will be easy, you might lose miserably. After all, this is the Champions League." Zhou Yi, who had been playing in Europe for two years, was able to remain calm when facing reporters, just like the confidence he showed.

"So what are your personal expectations for the team in the Champions League?"

"First of all, of course, is to qualify from the group stage," Zhou Yi replied.

"How confident are you?" The person who asked this question must be a rookie reporter, or the question was not thought through and blurted out.

Faced with such a stupid question, Zhou Yi laughed and said, "You wouldn't believe me if I said 100%, right?"

Everyone laughed, and the slightly awkward atmosphere was resolved.

Then Zhou Yi became serious and said: "Go all out, the rest is not up to me. Let's do our own thing first. Yeah, that's it."

There was no heroic tone, very plain, as if he was talking about a very ordinary thing.

However, these Chinese reporters who had gradually become familiar with Zhou Yi could feel the strength of this young man from his plain tone.

Dortmund waited seven seasons for this Champions League, and what about Zhou Yi? This is his first Champions League in his life!