Young Football Player

The half of the Bundesliga is over, but the team has not yet had a holiday, because there will be a round of 16 in the German Cup in the middle of the week.

After this game, the real winter break will follow.

On December 18th, Schalke 04 played against Mainz at home. This is Schalke 04's opponent in the round of 16 of the German Cup.

The current state of Mainz is very good. 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.

Facing Mainz in good form at home, Schalke 04 did not play easily.

Mainz took the lead twice, Schalke tied the score twice, and the goals were scored by Huntelaar and Jackie Lee, so the game was dragged into overtime. There was a penalty shootout.

Fortunately, in the penalty shootout, Schalke 04, which has home court advantage, did not make a mistake. The first four players who took the penalty hit all of them, but Mainz missed one penalty. So Lee Chenglong hit the spot for the fifth home game. The ball helped the team eliminate the opponent at home.

It was not easy for Schalke 04 to win against Mainz, a mid-range team at home. One is that everyone is thinking about the winter break, and the other is that the head coach Stevens also attaches great importance to the game. Not enough, just arranged it casually.

Stevens probably thought that if he could win, he would win, and if he couldn't win, he could give up the German Cup. In the second half of the season, he just focused 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 scored his first goal in the German Cup.

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After the German Cup, 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, so the winter break of the Bundesliga lasts for a month.

Of course, having a one-month winter break does not mean that everyone can play for a month. Everyone only has two weeks of vacation, and after two weeks, they will come back 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 ceremony of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 together.

At noon on December 20th, the entire Schalke 04 team gathered at the club to watch this year's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw.

"Bruce, who do you think we will draw?" Hewedes, the captain of the team, was the first to ask.

"I don't think we need to be afraid of anyone except Real Madrid."

"But I think it will be more uncomfortable if you draw AC Milan."

In the top 16 of this season's Champions League, there are Real Madrid, AC Milan and Arsenal in the second place in the group. However, Schalke 04 and Arsenal have the principle of avoidance, so they are only afraid of Real Madrid and Milan.

However, Li Chenglong feels that even if Milan is drawn, there is no need to be afraid. Milan has been going downhill in recent years, and only Real Madrid is the real hard bone in the second place in the group.

Of course, while Schalke 04 is thinking this way, others are also considering Schalke 04 as the soft persimmon among the first in the group, and they also want to draw them.

Schalke 04 and Malaga, these are almost recognized as the best two soft persimmons in the first group.

Soon, with the support of UEFA Secretary-General Infantino and Competition Director Marchetti, England star McManaman completed the draw ceremony as a guest of the draw.

Schalke 04 was drawn out of the first group, and the opponent was the Celtics of the Scottish Premier League.

As soon as this result came out, the entire Schalke team immediately fell into cheers.

The Celtics are considered to be the weakest among the top 16 of the UEFA Champions League this season. Schalke 04 has drawn the opponent, which is of course worthy of congratulations.

The lottery is still going on:

Juventus drew Galatasaray;

Arsenal drawn to Bayern Munich;

Dortmund drew Shakhtar Donetsk;

Barcelona drew AC Milan;

Manchester United drawn to Real Madrid;

Paris Saint-Germain drew Valencia;

Malaga drew Porto.

When the lottery results came out, it was natural for some families to be happy and others to be sad.

Of course Schalke 04 is very satisfied with the result of their draw. In addition, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, etc. should all be more satisfied with the result.

Malaga against Porto, this is a draw 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 matchup that both sides are not satisfied with.

Of course, this is also the most interesting matchup in the top 16 of the Champions League, a strong battle.

The result of the lottery came out, and the next step was to unravel the lottery.

Among the three Bundesliga teams, Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund have drawn ideal opponents, and the promotion is not a big problem. This is what the German media is more happy about.

But Bayern got Arsenal. This is a matchup that is difficult to predict. Although Arsenal's current strength is definitely not as good as 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 are upset in the round of 16, then most of the Bundesliga teams will miss the Champions League this year.

But in general, the result of this draw is not bad for the Bundesliga, because the three Bundesliga teams are all on the dominant side and have a great chance to enter the quarterfinals.

The Bundesliga is satisfied with the result of the draw, but La Liga and the Premier League may not be satisfied with the result.

On the La Liga side, Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​their real pillars, have both won the big matchup. If they are unlucky, both Barcelona and Real Madrid will be wiped out in the top 16.

As for the Premier League, they are the most dissatisfied.

Originally, in this year's Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea had already been eliminated in the group stage of the Premier League. Now in the round of 16, Arsenal draws Bayern and Manchester United draws Real Madrid. It is also a sad reminder that both of them will be out if they are not careful. result.

More importantly, if Arsenal and Manchester United are both eliminated in the round of 16, then the Premier League will be wiped out directly.

Since the restructuring of the Champions League, the Premier League has never been eliminated in the top 16. Now this is a chance.

In recent days, the English media's remarks about Platini's plans to kill the Premier League have become rampant again.

Last year, only Arsenal and Chelsea made it to the round of 16 in the Premier League, and they immediately met their strongest opponent in the round of 16. Fortunately, Chelsea survived all the way, and finally won the Champions League in an upset.

And this year is the same result. As soon as the Premier League team enters the elimination, it will immediately encounter the strongest opponent.

It has been like this for two consecutive years, isn't it aimed at what?

Sales of British tabloids have now fallen.

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The results of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw came out, as did the latest winning odds.

Cosmic team's Barcelona 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 they have drawn a good lottery in the top sixteen, so they won the championship and rose to fourth place.

In other words, among the favorites to win the championship, La Liga teams occupy first and second, and Bundesliga teams occupy third and fourth.

Next are Juventus, Manchester United, Paris, and Malaga.

As for Schalke 04, they are tied for ninth with Arsenal.

It doesn't matter if the other teams are ranked ahead, but Malaga is also ranked ahead of Schalke. This is something that Lee Chenglong can't figure out.