Chapter 560: Returning to the Summit of Europe
The situation of the Champions League semi-finals is Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich, Barcelona vs Chelsea.
History always has its coincidences. Two years ago, the Galacticos also met a Bundesliga powerhouse in the Champions League semi-finals. They fought and won, eventually lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy.
Now, it's uncertain who will emerge victorious. "Honestly, we don't have any assurance," Dong Fangzhuo said with a bitter smile over the phone.
Wang Feng understood their predicament. In the past two seasons, under Klopp's leadership, Borussia Dortmund had stirred up a youthful storm, not only causing Bayern to miss out on the league title last season but also putting them in a precarious position this season.
So the Champions League was their only redemption. The "Southern Kings" of the Bundesliga would rather face Barcelona or Chelsea than confront the Galacticos.
"Our head coach, Heynckes, is very aware of your strength and that of Real Madrid. He says everything can be calculated except for Wang Feng," Dong Fangzhuo said.
The veteran coach had spent 33 years in coaching, gaining rich experience at clubs like Monchengladbach, Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid, and had even taken charge of Bayern three times.
In his memory, there had never been a player who could dominate the football field like Wang Feng, downplaying all tactics against him. That's why he felt Wang Feng was "unpredictable".
"Anyway, we will do our best next. We'll try to avoid a repeat of last time's tragedy."
The conversation then turned to Huang Hu, who joined Werder Bremen this year. "He's a very energetic and positive young man," Dong Fangzhuo said.
Dong Fangzhuo had faced him in Bundesliga matches. At that time, Huang Hu had already become a stable substitute for the team, often getting thirty to forty minutes of playing time.
"Seeing him easily reminds me of my younger self," Dong Fangzhuo said. "And he's luckier than me; he can receive systematic European training from a young age, with greater potential for future development."
"Yes, I hope he can become a new leader of Chinese football in the future. After all, we are no longer young," Wang Feng expressed his hope.
As for the Europa League, Athletic Bilbao drew 2-2 against Schalke 04 at home and advanced with a total score of 6-4.
Valencia swept Alkmaar 4-0 at the Mestalla Stadium, overturning the score from losing in the first leg to winning 5-2 overall.
Atletico Madrid maintained their strong performance from the first leg, defeating Hannover 96 2-1 again, with an aggregate score of 4-2.
All three Spanish teams advanced to the Europa League semi-finals! Unprecedented! Among the remaining eight teams in European competitions, La Liga unexpectedly occupies five spots!
Dubbed as "El Super," Real Madrid and Barcelona are unparalleled in strength, being the two strongest clubs in today's football world. This season, they remain unbeaten in the Champions League and are positioned in different halves, guaranteeing the possibility of at least one team making it to the final.
With the other three Spanish powerhouses converging in the Europa League, the Madrid derby and a Basque derby are possible matchups, making it highly likely for Spanish teams to sweep both titles.
In the UEFA coefficient rankings, points are calculated based on the performances of the clubs in the two major European competitions over the past five seasons.
Each win earns two points, a draw earns one point, and qualification for the Champions League group stage and round of 16 earns three points and one point respectively.
Qualification for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals earns an additional point each. The total points are then divided by the number of participating teams to get the season's total score.
This score, along with the scores from the previous four seasons, determines the total score for the country. Since the allocation of European competition slots to each country's leagues is decided before the start of the season, the current season's points will determine the situation for the following season.
Although Real Madrid and Barcelona have brought in many points for La Liga in recent years, the strong performances of several Premier League teams have barely pushed them ahead of La Liga by 0.675 points over the past five years.
But after this season ends, the situation could completely reverse. Even if Chelsea ultimately wins the Champions League, La Liga will surpass the Premier League. Spain will once again reclaim the top spot in Europe!
After this year, there will be significant changes in the landscape of other European leagues. The Bundesliga's performance in European competitions will surpass Serie A, rising to the third position.
This means that the Bundesliga will have four Champions League slots in the following season, while Serie A will only have three.
What's even more lamentable is that due to the failures of teams like Marseille and Lyon, and the negligence of other Ligue 1 teams towards the Europa League, their points have been caught up by the Portuguese Primeira Liga, leading to a complete collapse to the sixth position.
This means that the third-place team in Ligue 1 will have to start from the Champions League qualifiers, a situation that has not occurred in 22 years.
On April 9th, in the 31st round of La Liga, Real Madrid faced Valencia away.
The recently qualified Galacticos were in high spirits. Less than a minute into the game, Wang Feng threatened the Bat Legion's goal with a long shot from outside the penalty area.
In the 9th minute, Real Madrid organized an attack. Modric slanted the ball to Di Maria, who directly volleyed it into the penalty area.
Wang Feng held off the defending team and headed the ball to an open space. Iglesias followed up with an easy shot, making it 1-0!
With five minutes left in the first half, Di Maria cut inside from the flank and passed the ball. Iglesias flicked it with his heel, catching everyone off guard near the penalty spot.
Just when everyone thought it was a mistake, the Chinese superstar appeared like a ghost and volleyed the ball into the net, increasing the Galacticos' lead.
After scoring, the Real Madrid players hugged each other in celebration. Alonso laughed and said, "Gonzalo, I didn't expect you to have such a mysterious passing technique!"
Iglesias rubbed his head shyly. "Actually, I ran a bit deep, and the ball just happened to hit my heel."
"Haha!" Everyone laughed, "But Wang Feng's ability to snatch the ball is amazing, he even managed to make a mistake!"
Little did they know, in the future, countless fans would carefully study and analyze this passing combination through videos, considering it one of the greatest in history.
In the end, Real Madrid defeated Valencia 2-0.
On April 12th, in the 32nd round of La Liga, the Galacticos welcomed the Madrid derby at home.
Since Simeone took over as head coach, Atletico Madrid's results have seen a strong rebound, rising from near the relegation zone to the Europa League zone, now just one step away from European competition.
"The players must understand the team's history and the significance of playing for Atletico!" said Simeone, who had won two league titles before taking office, emphasizing responsibility and a sense of mission, which had always been his style.
During the period of former coach Manzano, Atletico Madrid pursued ball possession but lacked efficiency in attack. After Simeone took over, he drastically strengthened the defense, transforming the team's tactics into a counter-attacking style.
Juanfran, the right winger, was moved to right-back, to contain opponent's wing attacks while actively contributing to the offense.
Miranda and Godin were fixed in the center-back positions, while Felipe Luis, who was also good at assisting, was deployed as the left-back. Gabi and Tiago, the two defensive midfielders, also dropped back to protect the penalty area.
On the offensive side, the core front line was established, with Falcao leading the line, Turan breaking through on the wings, and Adrian supporting from behind.
Adrian, who won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot in the European Under-21 Championship, surprisingly did not gain the trust of the former head coach, but Simeone completely revitalized him. Not only could he support Falcao on the wings, but he could also play as a forward.
So despite Atletico Madrid's deteriorating financial situation, their results were their last line of defense.
"Returning to the Champions League can greatly solve our debt problem. I believe Simeone can do it," said Hill, one of the club's top executives, in an interview.
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