After being rejected, I became Shi Yijiao

Chapter 244 The Mysterious British Visitor

On December 12th, Hamburg ushered in Augsburg at home.

Hamburg easily won this game.

Hamburg, who played most of the main players, quickly took over the game and scored early.

In the 5th minute, Vardy took advantage of an indirect free kick with a header to open the scoring for the team.

Before the end of the first half, Kanter made another victory, 2:0.

After changing sides to fight again in the second half, Salah and Wu Lei, who came off the bench, also scored goals one after another.

In the end, Hamburg beat Augsburg 4-0 at home.

And this score is not the biggest disparity in this round of the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen played against Bayern Munich at home, and they scored 0:7!
Bayern is completely crazy, Muller, Gotze, Robben, Mandzukic, Ribery and almost all attackers have scored goals.

This score also seems like Bayern is demonstrating to Hamburg.

Because in the next round of the Bundesliga, which is the 16th round, they will face Hamburg head-on!

Due to a strong dialogue in this round, Dortmund lost 0:1 to Leverkusen at home, which made the gap between the three or four and the top two even bigger.

It can be said that the match between Bayern and Hamburg will definitely be a game that can determine the trend of the Bundesliga champion this season!
……

Before this game, Hamburg and Bayern will go to the European arena respectively to usher in the final round of the Champions League group stage.

In the first five games, Bayern's record was even better than that of Hamburg. They achieved a record of five victories!

But they did not lock the first place in the group like Hamburg.

That's because, in their group D, there is another team still competing with them!

That is the newly promoted Premier League team, Manchester City.

Although Manchester City lost to Bayern 1:3 in the first round, they also achieved a complete victory in the contest with the other two teams.

Therefore, in the last round of the game, if Bayern overturns at home and loses to Manchester City by more than 2 goals, they will still give up the first position in the group!
This is the biggest advantage for Hamburg before the decisive battle with Bayern.

That is, Hamburg can play a "friendly match" with Barcelona, ​​and then play against Bayern with ease.

And Bayern can't relax like Hamburg. After all, Manchester City's strength should not be underestimated now.

For Bayern, playing at home may be the best news for them.

……

On December 12, the last round of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Hamburg played away against Barcelona.

Since the top two teams in the group were determined one round ahead of schedule, this game is of little significance to both sides.

In addition to the Spanish La Liga side, the championship competition between Barcelona and Madrid has also reached a fierce stage, and they naturally do not want to be distracted by this kind of competition.

As a result, both sides tacitly sent a substitute lineup, but they also played a wonderful game.

After all, substitute players are sometimes more eager to perform than the main players, and playing without pressure, the players can give full play to their imagination and play more relaxedly.

This is why the third and fourth finals of the World Cup are often better than the finals.

The two sides finally played 2:2.

Among these four goals, one was Paulinho's long-range world wave from 35 meters away, while Barcelona had a delicate team goal after a dozen passes, which also made the Camp Nou The fans were hooked.

So, after six rounds, Hamburg officially qualified as the top of the group with four wins, two draws and 14 points!
Barcelona, ​​with two wins, two draws and two losses, accumulated 8 points and qualified second in the group.

In another match of Group H, AC Milan drew 0:0 with Ajax at home, and finally got out of the group with only 4 points.

Ajax ranked third with 5 points and qualified for the Europa League.

Other groups have also determined the final rankings one after another, and this season's Champions League round of [-] was born.

Group A first Manchester United, second Leverkusen.

Group B first Real Madrid, second Galatasaray.The Turkish giants smothered Juventus to third place in the group and proudly qualified.

In Group C, Paris is the first and Olympiacos is the second.

Group D first Bayern, second Manchester City.

Group E first Chelsea, second Basel.

Group F first Dortmund, second Arsenal.This group is the tragedy that Naples was eliminated with 12 points as mentioned before.Correspondingly, Marseille was repeatedly tortured and ravaged by the other three teams, losing all 6 games and finishing at the bottom.

Group G first Atletico Madrid, second Zenit St. Petersburg.Zenit can laugh at Naples upstairs: I only qualify with 6 points, are you convinced?
Group H first Hamburg, second Barcelona.

It can also be seen from this arrangement that in the highest level of competition such as the Champions League, strength does still dominate.

Those who can rank first in the group are either traditional giants, or recent cutting-edge, or local tyrants.

The names ranked second are much inferior to those ranked first.

That is to say, Barcelona encountered Hamburg and was squeezed to second place, which led to a particularly conspicuous one in the second list...

And Manchester City is relatively strong in the No.2 group of the group, but he has only just risen in the past two years, and it is not shameful to be suppressed by last season's Champions League champion Bayern.

Including Arsenal, they have the same points as Dortmund, but they only rank second because of the goal difference.

Two days after the end of the group stage, the draw ceremony for the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Due to preparing for the key battle with Bayern, Pan Yi did not go to the scene this time.

In fact, even if he was free, he didn't bother to go.

This kind of lottery ceremony, the process is the same every time, just watch it once to satisfy your little wish, there is no need to go every time.

As far as the European media are concerned, the draw for the top 16 this time is actually mainly to see which lucky winners will get the second "big gift bag" of those groups.

It seems that to create suspense for everyone, the crystal balls containing the names of these "big gift packages" teams were not taken out until the end.

Matches began to appear in front of the TV screen one by one.

Galatasaray vs Atletico Madrid.

Zenit St Petersburg v Borussia Dortmund.

Olympiacos v Manchester United.

Basel vs Real Madrid.

Leverkusen v Chelsea...

When you draw here, in fact, everyone can already predict what will happen in the end.

Because only Bayern, Paris and Hamburg are left in the first place in the remaining group.

The second group is recognized as the strongest, Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City.

For Hamburg, due to the principle of avoidance in the same group, in fact, their opponents at this time are Arsenal and Manchester City.

As a result, Arsenal was drawn out first, and their opponent was old friend Bayern Munich!

"Don't kill Bayern, thank you Barcelona..." The theme song of the Champions League does not deceive me.

And the last two pairs don't even need to be drawn, because Barcelona can't touch Hamburg again.

So it is:

Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain.

Manchester City vs Hamburg.

It's all powerful dialogues like sparks hitting the earth!
In addition, there is another aspect to watch in this top 16 match, that is, the comprehensive dialogue between the Premier League and the Bundesliga.

Except that Manchester United and Dortmund are the first in the group and cannot be drawn together, Leverkusen vs. Chelsea, Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich, Manchester City vs. Hamburg, it happens to be three matchups!

After the result of the draw came out, the German media mainly expressed their pessimism about the prospects of Leverkusen and Hamburg.

In the Premier League this season, the top four teams are Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Although Arsenal now ranks first in the Premier League standings, the German media still believe that Bayern can still handle Wenger's team, so don't worry too much.

But this year, under the leadership of the new coach Mourinho, Chelsea has returned to the ranks of the championship. With the current state of Leverkusen, I am afraid it will be very difficult.

And Manchester City also has a strong momentum. Chilean engineer Manuel Pellegrini's team also beat Bayern in the last round of the group stage, and finally ranked second with 15 points with Nan Dawang.

The strength of a team that can beat Bayern in an away game is of course not to be underestimated.

Therefore, even though Hamburg is currently in a good state, the German media still expressed concerns, thinking that Manchester City is likely to be the biggest dark horse in this Champions League, and Hamburg should be careful.

The German media saw it this way, and the guests on Sky Sports were naturally more optimistic about the overall victory of the Premier League team.

Especially in this focus battle between Manchester City and Hamburg, Gary Neville believes that Manchester United really does not need to take action in person, as long as the "noisy neighbor" can help them teach Hamburg a lesson.

……

According to the usual practice, after the lottery results come out, as the head coach of the team, Pan Yi still has to accept interviews with media reporters and express his views.

And Pan Yi still firmly expressed his confidence that he can advance.

"We drew Manchester City, it may indeed be a draw."

"After all, everyone knows that among all the second-ranked teams in the group, Manchester City may be the strongest. No one wants to meet such an opponent early."

"But as I said before, the goal of Hamburg is not to qualify, nor to the quarter-finals, but to win the championship, the champion of this season's Champions League!"

"So, no matter who we draw against, whether it's Manchester City, Arsenal, or any other team, we will put in the same effort, play every game well, and then eliminate them until we reach our final goal."

A reporter said that Hamburg may lack experience in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. Pan Yi laughed and said:
"When we drew Milan and Barcelona in the Champions League group stage, you also said the same, saying that the new Champions League players like us would suffer in the death group. But everyone saw what happened in the end. It's two rounds away."

"And it is not rigorous to say that we are newcomers. After all, we have a genuine Champions League trophy in our honor room! And Manchester City, do they have it? Therefore, they are the newcomers, and they need to give We have enough respect for..."

Finally Pan Yi said:
"Didn't someone say before that we couldn't play against a Premier League team? Then, let's start by playing Manchester City to prove that this view is wrong!"

Pan Yi is full of confidence, and Hamburg is naturally full of confidence.

Not only players and coaches, just like the club chairman Yakhov said in an interview that the team will definitely be able to advance.

"I believe in Pan Yi, he is a miracle worker!"

"His performance in the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League group stage has proven his strength. He said that if he can advance, he will definitely advance!"

"Oh no, he said that we can win the championship. Yes, I believe that our Hamburg team is the most competitive team in European football now, and we have the strength to win the championship!"

……

That night, Pan Yi received a call at home, but it was from Fan Zhiyi!

He said that he came to Hamburg for the past two days and wanted to have a meal and chat with Pan Yi.

Pan Yi still has respect for the captain who once led the national football team to the World Cup finals and the Asian Footballer of the year.

Including after he retired, he also dared to shoot at some bad phenomena in the domestic football world, just like the scolding after the national football team lost to Thailand not long ago, it has become the bible of Dragon Kingdom football. They are often used to "recite" repeatedly.

Pan Yi also appreciates Fan Zhiyi's upright character and attitude of daring to love and hate.

So he gladly went to the appointment.

Then Pan Yi realized that he seemed to have been tricked.

Because Fan Zhiyi did not come alone.

The person who appeared at the hotel with Fan Zhiyi was not other Long Kingdom people, but a British man who looked a bit mysterious.

The Englishman's name is Steve Parrish, with a neat three-seven haircut, and the whole person looks very refined.

And his identity is now the chairman of the Premier League Crystal Palace club!
After hearing Fan Zhiyi's introduction of Parrish, Pan Yi immediately understood the intention of the other party's trip.

Obviously, this is to invite Pan Yi to be the head coach!
And Pan Yi is in today's world football, no matter how he is Qin Shihuang farting - there is a sound of winning.

I don't know how many teams are staring at this new coaching star!

So Parrish knew that if he came rashly, he might be rejected, so he asked Fan Zhiyi to help introduce him.

This Englishman understands the human accident in Longguo.

Who is General Fan?

In addition to his high reputation in domestic football, his experience in Europe is also very good, especially the relationship with Crystal Palace is very good, he is a genuine celebrity.

At the beginning, he and Sun Jihai jointly transferred to the Crystal Palace team, which was still in the League One (now the British Championship), and then immediately gained a firm foothold, and won the title of best player in the first season of the Crystal Palace.

Fan Zhiyi also served as the captain during the team and is regarded as one of the most successful foreign players in the team's history.

In 2001, Fan Zhiyi helped his Crystal Palace team defeat Liverpool in the League Cup, and then both Liverpool and Newcastle Football Club offered Fan Zhiyi, but the premise was to limit Fan Zhiyi's time in the national team, and Fan Zhiyi finally chose to refuse.

This incident shows that Fan Zhiyi's performance in the Crystal Palace did reach a very high level at that time, otherwise it would be impossible to attract the attention of the Premier League giants.

After retiring, Fan Zhiyi also readily accepted the invitation of Crystal Palace and became the club's image ambassador.

Now that the chairman of the club wants to dig out Pan Yi himself, Fan Zhiyi naturally goes for it!
Before halfway through the season, Parish came to Pan Yi in a hurry, because the current situation of Crystal Palace was too bad.

They have been in the British Championship for a long time, and finally won No.2012 in the British Championship last season, that is, the 13-5 season, and defeated Watford 1:0 in the final of the qualifying round. Returned to the Premier League in eight years.

But today's Premier League is too difficult to mix.

The BIG6 group composed of Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United, and Manchester City has been initially formed, while Everton, Newcastle, Aston Villa, including Southampton, West Ham and other veteran teams are also All of them are not easy to mess with.

There are even those "mysterious Premier League mid-lower teams" who can often overturn strong teams!
在本赛季英超战罢15轮后，水晶宫只取得了4胜1平10负的糟糕战绩，排在所有20支球队的第19位，也就是倒数第二位。

If this continues, Crystal Palace will soon return to the British Championship!
As the chairman of the club, Parish certainly does not want to see this happen.

He is also ambitious!
He hopes that Crystal Palace can be a resident in the Premier League, and he also hopes that Crystal Palace can become a real strong team!

It is precisely because Parish has such an ideal. Since he took over the Crystal Palace from the former boss Simon Jordan in 2010, he has increased his investment year by year, so that the Crystal Palace no longer sinks in the British Championship, and only then has the team in the Premier League. Fight today.

The current Crystal Palace coach Ian Holloway obviously cannot satisfy Parish's ambitions.

He is just a very ordinary coach, and he does not have any advanced tactical concepts. The poor record this season has also made Parish lose patience with him.

Parish is looking for a replacement, a leader who can lead Crystal Palace out of the trough and truly to glory!

And Pan Yi is obviously the most suitable candidate.

His magic on the court, his management ability in the dressing room, and his ability to control the wind and rain in the transfer market need not be said much.

Before coming to Pan Yi today, Parish had already done his homework. He knew what Pan Yi wanted.

So Parrish soon had a showdown: I will satisfy whatever you dare to ask for!
"We all know that you have had a lot of success in the Bundesliga over the past two years."

Parrish said:

"However, your goals and ideals are likely to be constrained by the 50+1 policy of German football. The level of your players is getting higher and higher, and the salary will also rise, and Hamburg will soon be unable to meet their needs. needs, and then leave.”

"Would you like to see the team you worked so hard to disintegrate in the summer of next year? If there is such a worry, the team will never reach a new height."

"But the Premier League is different. You may also know that as long as the team can stay in the Premier League, we may invest more than [-] million pounds in income every year. And I also promise on behalf of the team's holding group, We will continue to increase investment and try our best to meet all your funding requirements."

"We aim to become a top team! We can provide you with the best platform. You will have all kinds of team affairs in Crystal Palace-of course, including the right to make decisions about transfers. Anything Ferguson can do at Manchester United You can do anything in Crystal Palace!..."

Pan Yi could indeed feel Parrish's sincerity.

Regardless of his appreciation and commitment to Pan Yi, what he said is also true.

Under the guidance of Pan Yi, the Hamburg players are growing into world-class stars one by one, and world-class stars need to be matched with world-class treatment.

Now the top salary in the team is Sun Xingmin's [-] weekly salary, and can you imagine that after these players win various championships, their salary will still be far below this level?
De Bruyne, Kanter, Salah... Is it possible for these players to have "child labor contracts" for the rest of their lives?

To be honest, it is not too much for players of this level to earn 20 or even 30.

They will all become top-level figures in world football!
But in this case, the annual salary of a player will exceed 1000 million euros, and 10 will cost hundreds of millions...

This is simply unbearable for a Bundesliga team, because the bonus income from winning the championship alone cannot make up for the expenditure here.

And the Premier League can.

First of all, the income of their club itself is considerable.

Parish said that as long as the team stays in the Premier League, it will earn more than [-] million pounds a year, which is not an exaggeration at all.

Thanks to the excellent commercial operation of the Premier League, their TV rights are sold as a package, and then the difference is divided according to different proportions according to the performance of each club.

Doing so means that even the underachieving teams get a share of the overall prosperity.

This is why we can often see that the relegation teams in the Premier League can also complete tens of millions or even tens of millions of pounds in large-scale player transactions. The purchasing power of the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League exceeds that of many European giants.

Take the summer transfer window of 2022 as an example. When Maldini, the Serie A champion AC Milan, was hunting around for 100, Nottingham Forest, who had just been promoted from the Premier League next door, had already thrown nearly 200. Euros are going to buy a whole team...

And with such an investment, it can barely rank in the top five in the Premier League team's summer expenditure list.

But spending a lot of money like this will naturally pay off, not only for the team itself, but also for the entire league.

More and more stars are gathered in the Premier League. Excellent sports have brought a steady stream of sponsors, and the money from the sponsors has increased the capital for the Premier League team to buy players. With excellent players, the excitement of the game Naturally, there is a guarantee.

Competition-money-players-competition forms a perfect closed loop, closely linked and crucial.

As the most watched and most competitive league in the world today, the Premier League is full of gold.

Live TV rights, advertisements on the chest, billboards on the sidelines, various endorsements of the team...

Still taking recent data as an example, the total amount of chest advertising sponsorship of the 20 Premier League teams is 2.8 million pounds!
It's all money!

In such an environment, not only the best players in the world, but also the best coaches will gradually be attracted.

In Pan Yi's previous life, it can be said that most of the great coaches have competed in the Premier League!
Not to mention those "veteran Premier League guns" like Ferguson and Wenger, but also Mourinho, Guardiola, Klopp, Ancelotti, Conte, Tuchel... here is also The battlefield where excellent coaches compete in tactics!
Seeing Pan Yi bow his head in thought, Parish smiled and asked:

"Let me ask you an interesting question. Do you know which one is the most profitable sports game in the world?"

---

PS: After the World Cup kicks off in the evening, a new chapter will be added to celebrate.

(End of this chapter)