The perfect midfield: It starts with never passing the ball to Ronaldo.

Chapter 75 Champions League Quarter-Final Draw: A Player's Favorite Match – A Hat-Trick in His Debut

Spring had arrived in Nyon, Switzerland in mid-March. A breeze swept across Lake Geneva, reflecting countless tiny spots of sunlight onto the glass curtain wall of the UEFA headquarters building.

By 3 p.m. local time, the media hall was already packed.

Reporters from across Europe were adjusting their cameras, while staff in the control room were conducting final signal tests.

The gleaming silver trophy stood quietly on one side of the stage, like a silent witness to the smoke and glory of the football extravaganza.

The live broadcast camera slowly zoomed in, and the first person to come into view was UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino. Although his head was very shiny, everyone's attention was focused on the person who followed him.

Steve McManaman.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid winger, dressed in a dark grey suit, waved to the camera.

He was the 2000 Champions League winner, and that year he scored a classic volley for Real Madrid in the final.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the draw for the quarter-finals of the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League."

"This draw followed a completely open principle. There were no seeded teams, no avoidance of teams from the same country, and no restrictions on meeting teams in the group stage."

"Any of the eight teams could potentially face any of the other seven. The first team drawn will play their home game first, and the second team will play their away game first and their home game second."

In the live stream room, the chat started flooded with comments.

—【Without avoiding it, the quarterfinals will feature a national derby!】

—【Hehe, Bayern Munich could also beat Dortmund, that would be a great topic of conversation~】

—【Guys, I want to see Ronaldo or Messi teach that big-mouthed Mario a lesson!!】

—【No way! We guys all want to get Porto, and besides them and Galatasaray, the others are hard to come by!】

—【Where's the Premier League? I don't see any Premier League teams.】

—【Your village has internet access? The Premier League is completely wiped out, bro!!】

—【Thinking back to the days of Zhou Yu, three of the four semi-finalists were English Premier League teams, and the final was an all-Chinese affair~】

—[Juventus is the only Italian team in Serie A left; the Milanese giants need to revive quickly!!]

The big screen began playing highlights from the group stage and knockout stage matches of the eight teams.

Messi's breakthrough, Ronaldo's header, Mario's long-range shot, Ibrahimovic's bicycle kick, Robben's cut inside, Pirlo's through ball, Drogba's roar.

Finally, the image freezes on an aerial silhouette of Wembley Stadium, with its iconic twin towers gleaming white in the setting sun.

UEFA Competitions Director Marchetti pushed a glass bowl in front of the guests, and McManaman reached his hand into the bowl.

The entire room fell silent. Only the clicking of camera shutters filled the air.

He fiddled with a few small balls, picked one up at random, and there was no embarrassing situation like not being able to unscrew it.

The camera zooms in rapidly the moment the note unfolds.

Paris Saint-Germain

Reach out again, and there's the second ball.

Borussia Dortmund

The names of the two teams were put together on the screen: Paris Saint-Germain would play against Borussia Dortmund, first at home and then away.

—【Dortmund's youthful storm versus Paris's extravagant spending, interesting~】

— [Both teams have returned to the quarterfinals after many years: Paris Saint-Germain in 18 years, Dortmund in 15 years...]

—【Ancelotti vs. Klopp: Who will have the last laugh?】

The camera panned across the seats of the two teams' delegations, and both sides seemed quite satisfied with the matchup.

This is an acceptable result compared to facing Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

Soon, the second matchup will be decided.

"real Madrid"

Infantino raised his voice a few decibels; this was the Galacticos, who had won nine Champions League titles.

Mario, who was watching the live stream at home, was a little worried. He wanted to try to go further in the Champions League and try to get points for the semi-finals!

It's a pity Manchester City isn't in the quarterfinals, otherwise we wouldn't be worried.

After all, there are three certainties in life.

The death tax and Real Madrid vs. Manchester City!

Fortunately, the second ball appeared very quickly.

Galatasaray

—【Real Madrid's draw is great!!】

—【Hahahaha, congratulations to the Galactic Battleships for reaching the final four!!】

— [Mourinho: Drogba, Sneijder, we meet again]

—[Although Mourinho said before the tournament that there were no weak teams in the Champions League quarterfinals, Galatasaray and Porto are really not in the same league as teams like Bayern Munich and Barcelona. They had a very good draw!]

— [Sneijder returns to the Bernabéu; the Dutch contingent was driven out of Real Madrid back then~]

There are now four balls left in the glass bowl.

One La Liga team, one Bundesliga team, one Serie A team, and one Portuguese Primeira Liga team.

Without a doubt, Porto is the one everyone wants to draw.

McManaman reached in, paused for a second, and slowly pulled out a new one.

Barcelona

The entire audience held their breath.

I'll smoke one more.

Bayern Munich

The air freezes.

Without a doubt, this is the most significant matchup among the quarterfinals.

Iron will versus artistic football!

A clash between four-time Champions League winners!

The discipline of German football versus the agility of Spanish football!

The live stream completely spiraled out of control.

—【Holy crap!!! ...

—【Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich!!!】

—【The Cosmic Team vs. the German Machine!】

—【Think about their journeys here: one defeated Arsenal to advance, the other came back from behind to defeat Milan—this is practically a final played out ahead of time!!】

—【Guys, we're in for a treat to watch two of these high-quality matches!!】

—【Porto has given Juventus a huge gift!!!】

—【It should be quite interesting to see two teams with no pressure in the league meet!】

—【Here's a corny joke: the young man who scored a hat-trick in his Champions League debut loves Juventus the most, haha. I'm rooting for Mario to advance!~】

—【Mario with the big mouth, get ready to be shut out by Buffon this time!!!】

There was no need for a draw; everyone knew the remaining two teams were Juventus and Porto.

The last two balls in the bowl will determine who plays at home and who plays away.

McManaman didn't delay, and began to reveal the schedule with one in each hand.

Juventus were the first to open the draw, thus concluding the Champions League quarter-final draw.

Porto had a favorable draw, playing Juventus away first and then at home.

Facing a rebuilding Serie A powerhouse, the Dragons are not without a chance to break through.

On camera, McManaman waved goodbye after completing his task.

The match results are still being displayed on the big screen:

Mario quickly checked the team's schedule, hoping to unlock a new template during the quarterfinals and go from having one trick up his sleeve to having two!

Its balanced attacking attributes are indeed very effective against mid-to-lower-tier teams, but they are not so useful against teams of Juventus' caliber in the Champions League!

There are still eight games left in the Portuguese league, we must improve our fighting spirit as soon as possible!!

Three days later, good news arrived.

Benfica, having secured a draw in their last match, were probably not in high spirits for the league, as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Guimarães in the 23rd round of the league.

After this game, the point difference between the two sides reached 16 points!

With seven rounds remaining, the chances of a Lisbon Eagles comeback are slim, and they have already pulled far ahead of their rivals, securing a comfortable top-two finish.

If Jesus is sensible, he should decisively focus on the Europa League quarter-finals.

Mario, having finished his math problem, shook his head. Hmm, while waiting for his opponent to make a mistake, he should focus on improving himself first!

After reaching a fitness level of 7, he focused on muscle gain and strength training.

The passive ability that grants half-court range is currently only visible but not usable. We need to see if we can unlock it by increasing our Strength stat through training!

Take it one step at a time, and the future is promising!

Under the supervision of specialized coaches and high-precision equipment, Mario began to focus wholeheartedly on specialized training.