The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 162 Europa League vs. Atletico Madrid, De Bruyne's revenge

Monaco.

Monte Carlo Grimaldi Congress Center.

The draw ceremony for the 2012/13 Europa League group stage is underway.

Chatham attended the meeting as a representative of Bastia.

And in Bastia.

Many players are also paying attention to the draw ceremony.

Europa League!

Many of them never thought that one day they would be able to play in European competitions.

Even if it's just the Europa League.

"Liverpool, England."

In Group A, the top-tier team was directly drawn to Liverpool.

Liverpool representative Edwards smiled and nodded.

Then the second pot team of Group A was drawn, "Anzhi, Russia."

When he drew Anzhi, known as the Russian Manchester City, Edwards smiled awkwardly.

Third tier team.

"Udinese, Italy."

Serie A powerhouse Udinese.

The smile on Edwards' face froze. This is the damn group of death.

Fortunately, the fourth-tier team did not come to Bastia, which is recognized as the strongest fourth-tier team.

Otherwise Edwards would vomit blood.

The fourth pot was drawn to Young Boys Bern from Switzerland.

But Edwards is also in a very unhappy mood now. Liverpool is in a veritable group of death.

Next is Group B.

In the first tier, we were drawn to La Liga and Atletico Madrid.

In the second tier, we drew the Israeli Super League team, Tel Aviv Workers.

Pot 3, Czech Republic, Plzen wins.

Atletico Madrid representative Cerezo looked pretty good at this time. They were confident in defeating both teams.

Atletico Madrid won the Europa League last season, but unfortunately they did not qualify for the Champions League in the league and could only participate in the Europa League.

Cerezo particularly hopes that UEFA's reform of the system that allows the Europa League champion to directly enter the Champions League next season will start last season.

unfortunately,

This reform will not begin until the 2014/15 season.

"Bastia, France."

When the fourth-pot teams were announced, Cerezo's face froze.

This means that Atletico Madrid is the strongest team in the fourth tier.

at the same time.

Bastia, Gaio watched the live broadcast with De Bruyne, Lukaku and others.

When Bastia was drawn into the same group as Atletico Madrid.

Everyone looked a little embarrassed.

Courtois is now playing for Atletico Madrid. Madrid is a sad place for De Bruyne.

Gaio said, "Atletico Madrid was the Europa League champion last season."

"Yeah." De Bruyne responded, but his voice was very low.

Gaio continued, "If we beat Atletico, wouldn't that be equivalent to defeating last season's Europa League champion? Doesn't that mean we have what it takes to win the Europa League?! So, we must beat Atletico!"

"We must win!" Lukaku also echoed.

Kanter was obedient and didn't say anything, but he would do whatever the team needed him to do.

Whoever the coach tells him to keep a close eye on, he will keep a close eye on.

On TV, the draw for other groups was still going on. De Bruyne did not speak or look away.

Just stare at the screen.

Soon, the draws for Group A to Group L were completed, and all 48 teams were placed.

Among the highly anticipated teams, Liverpool fell into the group of death, while Inter Milan drew a good lot, with all three opponents being teams from outside the top five leagues.

Teams like Tottenham, Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, etc. are considered to be average in the eyes of the media.

According to the schedule, the first round of the new season's Europa League group stage will be held on September 22.

Until the end of the six group matches.

The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage, with a total of 24 teams. They will form the 32 teams of the Europa League knockout stage together with the eight third-placed teams eliminated from the Champions League group stage.

The winner will be decided in two rounds, home and away.

The Europa League final will be held on May 13, 2013, at the Amsterdam Arena in the Netherlands.

Hajibegic saw such a draw.

He has set a goal with Chatham - to maintain second place and fight for first place.

of course.

He didn't have any extra time to think about these things.

The day after the Europa League draw, the entire Bastia team set off for Rennes, the capital of Brittany, a region in western France.

Here they will challenge Rennes, their opponent in the third round of Ligue 1.

Last season, they eliminated Rennes in the French Cup quarter-finals, and the two sides have a small feud.

The entire Bastia team arrived in Rennes that afternoon.

As Gaio was on the bus heading to the hotel, he saw Rennes, a city known as one of the "most livable cities in France."

Brittany is jokingly called an "isolated corner" by the French, and the locals declare that "we are not ordinary French people."

When the Bastia bus drove through the streets of Rennes.

I can already feel the enthusiasm of the local fans – “Welcome to Ligue 1, rookie!”

"The French Ligue 2 champion? It's not that easy here!"

"The French Cup was just an accident. The league is where the real test is, dwarfs! Don't go back to your island crying tomorrow!"

"Do you remember the feeling of 4-0 here in 2004?"

There were also some less friendly gestures.

The players of Bastia were indifferent. For professional players, it is normal to encounter such provocations when traveling to away games.

Gaio silently admired Rennes, a city where modern and classical architecture blend together.

The bus passed by the outskirts of the ancient city of Rennes.

The Bretons' love of wine has taken its toll on this historic city.

Three hundred years ago.

The drunken carpenter quarreled with his wife, knocked over a candle, ignited sawdust, and the city of Rennes was completely destroyed in the fire.

The ancient city of Rennes that we see today, except for a very small number of buildings that were preserved in the fire, most of them were rebuilt later.

That night.

After the entire Bastia team checked into the hotel.

Hagibegic was about to attend the pre-match press conference. He simply called out to Gaio, "Do you want to attend?"

But he had no expectations.

After all, Gaio never liked dealing with the media.

This time.

Gaio still refused to participate.

Hajibegic brings in Rothen.

Faced with reporters' "interrogation", Hajibegic simply said, "Although we are now in ninth place, this is not our true level. I said that our goal is just to avoid relegation and stay in Ligue 1."

"It was a fantastic night to beat Rennes last season, but we won't use the experience from that game in this one. We will approach this game very cautiously."

When the reporter mentioned that Rennes had not won in two rounds.

Hagibegic said, "This does not mean that Rennes is weak, but it shows that they have reasons to win this game, and our game will be more difficult."

On the other side, at Rennes' pre-match press conference.

Antonetti did exactly what Hagibegic said, saying, "We have no way out, we must win this game. Last season we lost to Bastia away from home, and this time we must win it back at home!"

"Gaio will be our key defensive player!"

(End of this chapter)