Chapter 187 Champions League Draw

All the Champions League Round of 16 matches have concluded.

Yang Muge's Schalke 04 lost 1:3 to Real Madrid away from home, and was eliminated with a total score of 2:9. He is also the only Chinese player eliminated so far—not counting Guo Nu, who didn't participate in the Champions League at all with Inter Milan.

He Ying's Paris Saint-Germain defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 at home in the second leg, and also successfully entered the quarterfinals.

The top eight have all been decided, and they are Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Real Madrid.

UEFA will hold another draw to determine the quarterfinal and semi-final matchups of the Champions League.

When the Champions League reaches the quarterfinals, there are basically no weak teams left. Each of these eight teams is extremely strong, and any two teams facing each other can be considered a "clash of the titans."

And what Chinese fans are most concerned about is the performance of Chinese players in the Champions League.

If possible, they hope that the remaining four Chinese players in the three teams will not meet each other until the semi-finals. At that time, if the three teams with Chinese players can enter the semi-finals, at least it can be guaranteed that one team with Chinese players will definitely appear in the final.

It would be even better if a "Chinese Derby" could be staged on the stage of the Champions League final.

Of course, these are all beautiful wishes of Chinese fans, and it is difficult to realize them.

Because the teams without Chinese players are very strong, and it is not easy to eliminate them.

When the quarterfinal draw was held, many Chinese fans stayed in front of the TV or on the Internet, waiting for the final result.

Manchester United and Bayern Munich were drawn together, followed by a match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

So far, none of the four teams have Chinese players, which means that the remaining two matches will definitely have a "Chinese Derby," depending on who meets whom.

Before the draw, reporters interviewed several Chinese players, asking them which team they would most like to meet.

Sun Pan said that as long as it wasn't Atletico Madrid, anything else was fine.

He Ying gave the answer as Barcelona, wanting to meet Barcelona the most. But now it seems that his wish cannot be realized.

Zhou Yi jokingly said that he didn't want to meet Sun Pan, because "it was him in the Champions League last season, and it was him in the Super Cup. There's no novelty at all, I'm almost sick of playing against him!"

But from the looks of it, he really might meet Sun Pan…

Yan Min wanted to meet Real Madrid.

What was the result?

Real Madrid was drawn against Chelsea.

Sun Pan ran into Real Madrid.

Then He Ying's Paris Saint-Germain met Zhou Yi and Yan Min's Borussia Dortmund…

The Chinese Derby.

At the same time, after the quarterfinals, the winner between Manchester United and Bayern Munich will meet the winner between Real Madrid and Chelsea in the semi-finals. The other semi-final opponents are the winner between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and the winner between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund.

If luck is good enough, maybe the "Chinese Derby" can be staged again in the Champions League final…

※※※

After the draw results came out, Chinese fans were discussing the results online, and the Five Little Dragons were also discussing the draw in the "Excluding Old Guo" group.

"Damn, Real Madrid!" Sun Pan was a little dissatisfied with the result.

Zhou Yi ridiculed him: "Panpan, you said it yourself, anyone is fine except Atletico Madrid. Why are you so unhappy now?"

"Isn't it the same as you? Aesthetic fatigue. When I was at Atletico Madrid, I played against Real Madrid all the time, and I was hoping for something new this time…"

"Then you can only find a little novelty if you meet Bayern Munich. Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid are all no good. We and He Ying's Paris are also no good," Zhou Yi said. "Manchester United, you guys also meet often in the Premier League, just Bayern Munich. It's an eighth of a chance, how is that possible?"

Sun Pan changed the topic and @ed He Ying.

"Old He, your chance is here!"

He Ying was very strange: "What chance?"

"The chance to advance to the semi-finals!"

"Why?" He Ying didn't understand.

"Think about it, Borussia Dortmund is in such a terrible state this season, meeting them at this time is basically a free pass to the semi-finals!"

Zhou Yi: "Hehe."

"What are you laughing at!" Sun Pan retorted. "Am I wrong? You are now fighting Bayern Munich to the death in the league, and you have to be distracted by the Champions League. How long can your current incomplete lineup last? If you ask me, you should decisively give up the Champions League and focus on the league. Win the league title and make Guardiola suffer…"

"What if we win another double crown?" Zhou Yi said in the group.

Seeing this sentence, Sun Pan first typed "…", and then said: "Let's talk about world peace!"

Then Guo Nu also appeared in the group, sending a surprised expression.

"Yo, Old Guo is still here?" Zhou Yi said. "Speaking of which, our group is really going to live up to its name. Every time we play in the Champions League, it's a live 'Excluding Old Guo' event…"

"Pfft, that's true." Sun Pan echoed. "Old Guo, can your Inter Milan get into the top six in Serie A this season?"

The topic was naturally shifted to mocking Guo Nu, because Zhou Yi's "double crown" topic was too shocking. After Zhou Yi said it, no one could follow up.

And Guo Nu could only send a face-covering and bitter smile expression, and didn't know what to say.

At this time, Zhou Yi's QQ suddenly beeped. Zhou Yi took a look and saw that it was Yang Muge who was looking for him privately.

"Zhou Yi, are you really going to win the double crown?"

"Of course, am I going to fake it?" Zhou Yi followed with a very lewd expression with his eyes narrowed and smiling.

"Uh…" Yang Muge seemed to not know what to say.

"What? Do you think it's too difficult?"

"If you didn't have so many injuries this season, I would really believe you could do it, but now…"

"Hey, don't be scared by the media's public opinion. Actually, our injuries are not that serious. If you think about it carefully, the seriously injured are just Gundogan and Subotic, and the injuries of the others are not so serious that they definitely can't play in the later games."

"But your rotation can't be carried out normally most of the time, and it does consume a lot of physical energy. In the sprint stage at the end of the season, both the league and the Champions League need a lot of physical energy to support them. This is an objective difficulty." Yang Muge still felt it was incredible.

"Of course, it's more difficult than before." Zhou Yi did not avoid this reality. "But does that mean we won't do it because it's difficult? Speaking of which, it's just a little more difficult, it's not like it's definitely impossible. We always have to try."

"Okay…" Yang Muge didn't know what to say. "Then I can only wish you good luck. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me…"

"Speaking of which, Schalke 04 is also in good shape now. You're ranked third without making a sound. You must strive to participate in the Champions League next season. Being able to participate in the Champions League every season is helpful not only to the team, but also to yourself." Zhou Yi also encouraged Yang Muge, who had been eliminated from the Champions League.

"Yeah, yeah."

"By the way, let me gossip. Have you considered transferring away from Schalke 04?"

"I haven't considered it yet. I don't think I've played three seasons at Schalke 04 yet, and I haven't accumulated enough experience. I can still learn and improve. It's not good for me to consider leaving now. I'll talk about it later."

Zhou Yi always respects the ideas of people who have their own ideas, because he is also such a person. He hopes that others will respect his opinions, and he will naturally respect the opinions of others.

"Not bad, then you should follow your own ideas, it's good."

Yang Muge first sent a grinning expression, and then asked: "Let me also ask some gossip—will you leave Borussia Dortmund this summer?"

After seeing this question, Zhou Yi was stunned in front of the computer.

Kortana, who was reading a book next to him, could always hear the crackling sound of Zhou Yi typing on the keyboard. Suddenly, for a few seconds, the room became very quiet, which caught her attention.

She looked up at her boyfriend and found that Zhou Yi was sitting in front of the computer, his hands on the keyboard, but his fingers were all suspended in the air, not typing, as if he was in a daze.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Zhou Yi did not answer her, but started typing on the computer.

"...This may be a yes or no. It's hard to say now, and no other teams have come to me."

Soon, Yang Muge's reply sounded: "I think you can leave. You've won everything you can win at Borussia Dortmund, what's the point of staying? You should go to a bigger stage, a better team, otherwise you'll be wasting your talent and ability. Most importantly, after you leave, we Schalke 04 should win the Revierderby!"

Zhou Yi sent a squinting expression.

Yang Muge replied with a laughing emoticon.

The two people's chat ended here.

Zhou Yi turned around and looked at Kortana.

"What?" Kortana asked.

"Just now Old Yang asked me if I would leave Borussia Dortmund this summer."

Kortana asked: "How did you answer him?"

"I said maybe, maybe not. Hard to say."

"If there's a suitable invitation, then leave." Seeming to see the melancholy in Zhou Yi's tone, Kortana said.

Zhou Yi was a little surprised: "I thought you would persuade me to stay…"

Now it was Kortana's turn to be surprised: "Why would I persuade you to stay?"

"I thought you were a Dortmund person, and a Dortmund team doctor…"

"I'm not a Dortmund fan, nor am I a member of the Dortmund club's management." Kortana spread her hands. "Whether you leave or stay, what impact it will have on Dortmund is not something I need to consider."

Zhou Yi then remembered that the Wagner couple had once gotten Kortana a Dortmund season ticket. Kortana has nominally been a Dortmund season ticket holder, and has a seat in the South Stand. But Kortana has not gone to the South Stand to watch a game, and she has never regarded herself as a Dortmund fan. So it's normal to have this idea…

"Okay, then…if I transfer and leave, wouldn't we have to live in two places?"

"Why would you think that?"

"You're a Dortmund team doctor, and if I go to another team, you…"

"I can resign." Kortana's words blocked all of Zhou Yi's other words.

Zhou Yi stared blankly at Kortana.

The woman smiled and said to him: "When your agent is talking to the other club, don't forget to add a clause in the contract that 'reserves a team doctor position'."

Zhou Yi came back to his senses and directly hugged Kortana: "Let's get married this summer!"

"You haven't proposed yet…umm…"

Kortana couldn't protest, because Zhou Yi's tongue was already reaching into her mouth…