I just wanted to play football, but I became a Hollywood god

Chapter 592 The Europa League group stage begins! Southampton's first match against Atletico Madrid!

In the end, the second leg of the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League ended. Southampton defeated the Danish powerhouse Midtjylland 4:1 away from home.

In the 80th minute of the second half, Gu Ran and Lallana Chamberlain were replaced, and Midtjylland scored a face-saving goal.

Southampton scored a total of 10 goals in the two rounds. This is also the first time in Southampton's history that it has entered the Europa League group stage with such a disparity in total score.

After winning this game, Southampton received a bonus share of 21600 pounds in the fourth round of the Europa League qualifying rounds.

It's really a bit shabby for the whole team to share this little money.

However, as the competition upgrades, the amount of prize money will become higher and higher.

On August 8, the Europa League group stage draw ceremony began.

The Southampton team was listed as a seed team and assigned to Group G.

Group G is the 7th group, followed by Group H and the 8th group.

Each group has 4 European teams that have gone through the qualifying rounds, including traditional strong teams such as Roma, Tottenham, Arsenal, Benfica, and Porto.

The grouping situation in Group G is pretty good. Except for Southampton, the remaining three teams are France's Lille, Spain's Atletico Madrid, and Poland's Poznan Lech.

The format of the Europa League group stage is a double round-robin, that is to say, each team in the group will meet twice, once at home and once away. A total of 6 games are required. The winner gets 3 points, and the tie is tied. Each gets one point.

Finally, the first place in each group will directly advance to the Europa League round of 16 qualifying rounds, while the second place in the Europa League group will compete with the third place in the Champions League group stage for the remaining top 16 spots.

This cross-competition elimination combination is also unique to the Europa League and Champions League.

Therefore, it is often seen that a certain team that is clearly in the Champions League wins the Europa League title after just kicking - such as Sevilla.

This competition system has also made the small teams who have worked hard to play in the Europa League complain endlessly. However, on the other hand, it can also be regarded as enhancing the viewing experience of the Europa League.

In the Europa League, small teams may also encounter world-leading teams like AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Barcelona.

Fortunately, there are no strong teams in Group G. The only team worthy of Southampton's challenge is Atletico Madrid's Shelters. This season's Sheets have just set things right. The legendary star Simeone has become the coach of Atletico Madrid. Aguero, who has just become Maradona's son-in-law, is also Atletico Madrid's top scorer.

Of course, Lille and Poznań Leš are also very strong and should not be underestimated.

Southampton must finish first in the group and secure a place in the Europa League top 16 as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be trapped in a multi-front battle, and it will be a battle with the strong teams in the Champions League.

On August 8, the Europa League competition list registration will begin.

To qualify for the Europa League, there must be three players who have been trained by the club and have played for more than three years, and there must be more than three players of their own nationality.

This request is not a big deal for Southampton.

Southampton successfully submitted its 25-man roster and successfully registered.

At 8:30 pm on Tuesday, August 7, Southampton will face Watford at home in the English Championship.

This is also Southampton's third British Championship game this month, and it is three consecutive home games. Southampton fans feel like they are celebrating Christmas.

In this game, coach Adkins boldly sent in young players, such as Salah, Mane, Sturridge, Ward-Prowse, etc., all started and trained boldly. In the end, these young players lived up to their expectations and defeated Watford at home with a score of 2:1.

Southampton are in the top three of the Championship table with a game in hand.

At 9 noon on Saturday, September 10th, Southampton’s away game against Queens Park Rangers in the British Championship begins.

Adkins sent most of the main players on the field to prepare for the first round of the Europa League group stage.

Queens Park Rangers played very tenaciously. In the first half, they took a 2:1 lead with an own goal and a penalty kick from the Southampton defense.

Southampton was sent off one man for a foul in the penalty area, and 1 men responded in the second half.

However, with Gu Ran, the 10-man Southampton quickly defeated Queens Park Rangers.

At the end of the game, Gu Ran completed the first four goals in his British Championship career, helping Southampton win 6:2.

After the game, Southampton's main players entered closed training.

On September 9, the Southampton team took a charter flight to Madrid, Spain, and checked into a five-star hotel in Madrid one day in advance.

At 9:15 pm on Thursday, September 7th, the first round of the Europa League Group G group stage, the British Championship Southampton's away game against the powerful La Liga team Atletico Madrid began.

This game attracted more than 54,000 European fans to the Calderon Stadium to watch the game.

Scouts from major European clubs, especially those from Barcelona and Real Madrid, were also present - everyone came to see Gu Ran's performance.

Atletico Madrid's coach is the legendary Argentinian Diego Simeone who has just taken office.

It can be said that Simeone is the mainstay of the new generation of Argentina who grew up under the aura of Maradona. When he was a player, Simeone was a versatile defensive midfielder. He fought fiercely on the court and had strong interception ability. , and at the same time, he also has the ability to penetrate the back row and attack forward. He can be regarded as an extremely rare midfielder in that era.

He has a powerful long-range shot, a very beautiful free kick, and can score with a header.

And as a South American player, he has extremely good physical fitness, strong confrontation, and excellent physical fitness. In intensive and high-intensity competitions, he is prone to injuries.

Simeone's image is somewhat slovenly, and he has a desperate and iron-blooded temperament on the court, so he also has the nickname "Bandit".

However, in fact, Simeone did not win by being arrogant. He had a high football IQ and was an all-around midfielder of that era.

After retiring, Simeone began coaching, and his understanding of football quickly made him stand out. His nicknames also became complimentary titles such as Godfather and Bandit Coach.

Simeone's coaching style is cautious and unique, focusing on integrity and focusing on defensive counterattacks.

Simeone's tactics are very varied and he never relies on a certain player, but Simeone prefers the 442-- formation in his heart.

Simeone believes that there are only outdated coaches in this world, not outdated formations.

And the 442 formation he understood also led to a wave of 442 revival.

……

(End of this chapter)