“This is a fantastic group!”

After the lottery ceremony, Gao Shen was interviewed by on-site media reporters. He expressed his high affirmation of this group with confidence and calmness.

"In the group we are in, we have four very good teams, the champions of the Portuguese Super League, the Premier League and the Bundesliga. Needless to say, Real Madrid are the greatest club in the history of the Champions League, and these four teams have won

Been to the Champions League."

When Gao Shen said this, he showed a confident smile, "Yes, our competition will be very fierce. I really believe that the four teams have the strength to qualify from the group, but the cruel thing is that only

Two teams can come out on top."

"There is no doubt that Manchester City will be one of them!"

What’s even more interesting is that according to the schedule that UEFA has arranged early, in the two games of the first round of the Group D group stage, the first-tier team will challenge the fourth-tier team away from home, that is, Porto will play Dortmund away from home.

The third-tier team will play at home against the second-tier team, that is, Manchester City will face Real Madrid at home.

This is simply a replica of last season's Champions League group stage, almost exactly the same.

In subsequent interviews with the media, Valdano also felt helpless about the draw.

"It is indeed very complicated to encounter such strong opponents for two consecutive seasons."

If there were still people who were lucky last season and thought that Manchester City was bluffing and looked strong but actually weak, then now, almost no one has the same illusion anymore.

Although Manchester City did not make any signings this past summer, it did renew the contracts of several core players. As a result, Manchester City's overall strength has not been weakened. As the players age, Manchester City's overall level is definitely stronger than last season.

This will become a nightmare for all Champions League teams.

The first to bear the brunt is Mourinho's Real Madrid.

…

After the draw ceremony, there was another event on site. The chairman of the UEFA Referees Committee, the famous Italian bald referee Collina, announced an important decision.

Starting from this season, in future games, players who block referees will be severely punished, and may even be directly shown a red card or sentenced to death.

This shows UEFA's determination to maintain the authority of the referee.

The one who has been most affected is, of course, Guardiola’s Barcelona.

The whole world knows that this team loves to surround referees.

But from now on, this problem must be changed.

Gao Shen also made a special trip to meet with Collina, an old friend.

As early as when he was coaching Naples in Italy, he had many dealings with Collina. He even secretly "helped" Naples back then, and what Gao Shen is talking to him now is about what happened after UEFA's changes.

Will there be any adjustments to law enforcement standards?

After all, Manchester City is a Premier League team, and the whole world knows that the enforcement standards of the Premier League are different from those of the Champions League.

Regarding this point, it is actually really difficult to change, because there are too many physical confrontations in the Premier League.

"Adjustments are certain. Eduardo da Silva's broken leg incident shocked the whole world. Since then, we have been studying how to eliminate this risk. We don't want this to happen on the football field.

Something that seriously hurts an opponent happens, whether intentionally or unintentionally.”

Gao Shen strongly agrees with Collina's point of view.

This kind of thing is even quite detrimental to the development and promotion of professional football as a whole.

To describe it as shocking is not an exaggeration.

"But we must also be careful not to overdo it," Gao Shen said jokingly.

Collina understood what Gao Shen meant.

If it is really overcorrected, it will be extremely detrimental to the Premier League team.

"Don't worry, we always remain neutral." Collina said with a smile.

Gao Shen thought about it, and immediately smiled and thanked him for his explanation, "If you have a chance to come to Manchester, I'll treat you to Chinese food."

"Okay." Corina agreed readily.

This is not illegal.

…

Su Qing actually didn't know much about what Gao Shen and Collina said.

But Gao Shen explained it to her in detail. He even said that if the referee wanted to be partial, in a game of this level in the Champions League, the inferior side would not be able to win.

Seems outrageous, right?

Football matches are full of physical contact. As long as the referee deliberately wants to punish someone, there are plenty of opportunities, and it doesn't even require any obvious misjudgment. Ordinary people can't notice it.

Sound the whistle when your offensive is getting started, blow the whistle when you want to launch a quick counterattack, blow the whistle when you...

This will make you play very, very awkwardly, and your rhythm will be completely disrupted.

"Maybe we don't need the referee's favoritism, but it is very necessary to take good care of the referee and have a good relationship with the referees." Gao Shen reminded Su Qing.

If you don't punish others, it doesn't mean you want to be punished, right?

Su Qing was from a ministry background, so she immediately understood what Gao Shen said.

"I understand. I will strengthen the reception in this area in the future. The referee's lounge at Elland Road can be reconsidered, and the reception on match days will also be strengthened."

Gao Shen smiled and nodded.

Talking to smart people saves you trouble and worry.

In fact, Fernando Lucas also knows how to do these things and is even doing them already.

Relying on Lucas's good relationship with the mainstream media in mainland Europe, Leeds United's reputation in the media field is quite good. Otherwise, the media would not have exploded as soon as Leeds United released a piece of news.

Running a football club, especially one that wants to be successful, is really not that simple.

…

On the evening of August 26, the Louis II Stadium in Monaco.

European Super Cup, Manchester City vs. Porto.

Unlike most teams, the exit of the player tunnel of Stade Louis II is in the corner. The organizers arranged a long queue on both sides of the exit, holding high the team flags of the two teams, and paved the grass with

Red carpet.

The captains of the two teams, Kompany and Helton, held the Champions League and Europa League trophies respectively, and were at the forefront of the team, leading the team on the field.

There were only 18,000 people at the venue for this game, mainly because the capacity of the Louis II Stadium was only that much.

The number of fans was not large, but the stands were still full, and the noise came one after another.

After Villas-Boas moved to Chelsea, Porto promoted Victor Ferreira, Villas' assistant coach, and became Porto's new coach. The entire tactical style still continued the system of Villas-era.

Goalkeeper: Helton.

Defence: Fusile, Otamendi, Rolando and Sepunaru.

Midfielder: Belluschi, Sosa and Guarin.

Forwards: Christian Rodriguez, Kleber and Hulk.

In this starting list, the few people Gao Shen is most familiar with are Otamendi and Guarin. Needless to say, the Hulk is also very familiar to him, but this player is currently playing as a right winger.

This will be a big test for Manchester City's left wing.

Hulk's physical fitness is very good. Gao Shen did not dare to arrange Leighton Baines today, but let Felipe start.

In addition, Porto's bench also includes Fernando, who will join Manchester City in his previous life, and Belgian midfielder Defour.

By the way, Defoe also moved to Porto from Standard Liege this season. He was worth 11 million euros, but he was sold for only 5 million euros.

Back then, Defour, Witsel and Fellaini, these three Belgian midfielders formed Standard Liege's midfield and helped the team win the Belgian League championship and became famous in one battle.

But Defoe, who has just arrived, obviously cannot gain the trust of head coach Ferreira and is sitting on the bench.

Gao Shen also formed a four-three-three formation tonight.

Goalkeeper: Neuer.

Defence: Felipe, David Luiz, Kompany and Lichtsteiner.

Midfielder: David Silva, Javi Martinez and Rakitic.

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Suarez and Robben.

After missing out on the Community Shield and the first three rounds of the Premier League, Robben was cleared by the team doctor when the team set off for Monaco, and was brought to Monaco by Gao Shen.

For a player like Robben, Gao Shen didn't need to let him get used to it, he just started playing.

Their existence itself is the biggest threat to their opponents.

It is worth mentioning that last season, Porto's top scorer, Colombian center Falcao, moved to Atletico Madrid.

Without this center with extremely high scoring efficiency, the pressure on Manchester City's defense will be greatly reduced.

…

Gao Shen did not launch his trademark attack at the beginning, but started with a relatively safe start to deal with Porto.
To be continued...