August 25, 2022.
The lottery ceremony for UEFA Champions League and the award ceremony for UEFA were held at Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Guardiola and Li Mingyu attended this event on behalf of Manchester City.
Li Mingyu, who was wearing a suit and leather shoes, participated in this lottery ceremony for the first time.
Outside Grimaldi Forum, Li Mingyu received a large number of cheers from fans.
Along the way, Li Mingyu kept taking photos and signing autographs with everyone. Finally, the staff had to interrupt Li Mingyu's signing and asked him to enter quickly.
Li Mingyu said sorry to the fans who had not yet signed, and could only follow the staff into the venue.
At the entrance of the venue, a beautiful reporter with two huge headlights looked at Li Mingyu with a wide smile.
"Hey! Hello, Li! This is your first time participating in the lottery ceremony. Is there anything you want to say to everyone?"
Emma Jones is a female reporter from Leeds United. This time she will be the peripheral interview reporter.
Li Mingyu's eyes were very honest and did not fall on Emma Jones' pair of dazzling car lights. He said, "Well, I am very happy to participate in such a grand event. I hope Manchester City can draw a good lottery today. That way, our competition will be much easier!"
Emma Jones was a little depressed. Every player she interviewed, no matter how they felt, would always pay attention to their proud figure intentionally or unintentionally. However, her invincible figure was so ignored by Li Mingyu. While she was discouraged, she also developed a huge curiosity about Li Mingyu.
You know, the best couple in the entire football world right now is Li Mingyu.
Today, the 20-year-old Li Mingyu does not even have a girlfriend. For players in the football world, this is even rarer than the wild South China tiger.
Since Li Mingyu was sold to England, countless girls in Spain are heartbroken.
The beauties of England have begun to take action. If they can capture Li Mingyu, then even one step to reach the sky is not enough.
Emma Jones gently clamped her car lights with her arms, and even the camera lens of the cameraman beside her couldn't help but swing downwards.
But Li Mingyu still turned a blind eye.
Emma Jones said with a smile, "Li, I wonder which team you least expect to encounter?"
Isn't this asking knowingly?
Li Mingyu's eyes froze slightly, he smiled bitterly, and said, "If possible, I never want to meet FC Barcelona!"
After saying that, Li Mingyu nodded towards Emma Jones and walked into the venue.
The moment he walked into the venue, Li Mingyu heard huge cheers coming from behind him.
Li Mingyu turned around and saw that it was Messi.
Standing next to him was his wife Antonela. The two held hands and walked towards the door of the venue.
Messi also saw Li Mingyu standing there, and waved his hand towards him, indicating.
Li Mingyu nodded, turned around and continued walking into the venue.
Arriving at the venue, Li Mingyu came to his seat.
After a while, Messi came in with Antonela, and they came directly to Li Mingyu.
Li Mingyu stood up and hugged Messi tightly. This moment was also recorded by the infield camera and spread to thousands of households.
This shot made Barcelona fans burst into tears.
Everyone knows that Li Mingyu was forced to leave Barcelona, so the fans of Barcelona have never blamed him.
But Li Mingyu could never get over the hurdle in his heart, so Li Mingyu declined even the farewell ceremony FC Barcelona prepared for him.
Today, in front of the whole world, Li Mingyu and Messi's affectionate embrace melted everyone's hearts.
Before the ceremony started, Li Mingyu and Messi sat together and talked for a long time.
Until the ceremony was about to begin, Messi reluctantly stood up and returned to his seat.
Before the lottery ceremony, as usual, it is still necessary to summarize the Champions League competition of last season and award various awards.
Since Bayern Munich had the last laugh in last season's Champions League finals, Bayern Munich became the big winner in this Champions League awards ceremony.
Lewandowski was named UEFA Player of the Year.
The terrifying Lewandowski scored two goals in that final, helping the team defeat Manchester City and win the Champions League championship.
UEFA's Coach of the Year was awarded to Bayern Munich's head coach Hans Dieter-Flick.
Li Mingyu didn't just come to watch the excitement. Although he failed to participate in the semi-finals and finals, with 19 goals in the previous 10 games, Li Mingyu still won the Golden Boot from Champions League last season.
Li Mingyu already has two Golden Boots from La Liga at home. With this one, Li Mingyu has already won three Golden Boots in two years.
After the award ceremony, there was an exciting draw ceremony for the Champions League group stage.
In this summer, UEFA not only temporarily eliminated the threat of European Super League, but also passed the restructuring of Champions League, which will start in the 2024-2025 season.
Champions League will continue to expand from the current 32 teams to 36. This is good news for the Ligue 1 League, because one of the four extra places will be given to them, allowing them to have some balance in their minds.
Otherwise, the top four leagues all have 4 places, and they, like Russian Premier League, only have 2 places, which is not consistent with their status as one of Top Five Leagues.
Of course, the competition system will also undergo earth-shaking changes by then.
However, now, Champions League still has 32 teams.
Because last season's UEFA Cup championship was won by Chelsea, and Chelsea did not enter the top four of the league in the end.
Therefore, among Champions League this season, there are still five Premier League teams.
The spot for Bundesliga's champion Bayern Munich was deferred to Ligue 1's third runner-up Lyon.
The first-tier team, UEFA Europa League champion Chelsea, La Liga champion Real Madrid, Premier League champion Manchester City, Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich, Serie A champion Juventus, Ligue 1 champion Paris Saint-Germain, Russian Premier League champion St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg, Primeira Liga champion Sporting CP.
Teams in the second tier, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Lille.
Teams in the third tier, Sevilla, Liverpool, Lyon, RB Leipzig, Salzburg (Austria), AC Milan, Spartak Moscow, AEK Athens.
The teams in the fourth tier, Dinamo Zagreb(Croatia), Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli, Galatasaray( Turkey), Viktoria Plzen(Czech Republic), Kolubara(Serbia), Club Brugge(Belgium).
This season, there are many new faces in the Champions League 32 team roster, which is also what UEFA wants to see the most.
After the principle of avoidance was announced, the drawing ceremony began.
First, the first team grouping was drawn.
Group A, St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Group B, Juventus.
Group C, Real Madrid.
Group D, Bayern Munich.
Group E, Manchester City.
Group F, Paris Saint-Germain.
Group G, Chelsea.
Group H, Sporting CP.
The drawing of lots in the first round is of little significance. The main thing is to see whether the subsequent drawing of lots will result in one or two death groups.
This year's teams in the second, third and fourth tiers all have very strong teams. If these teams form a group, they will really become a group of death.
Atletico Madrid was drawn to Group A, and was assigned to a group with Russian Premier League champion St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg. This is a good draw.
Seeing the relaxed smile on Simeone's face, you can tell that he is satisfied in his heart.
The runner-up Ligue 1, Lille, was assigned to Group B, forming a group with Juventus.
Group C's Real Madrid ushered in Premier League's runner-up Manchester United.
Group D's Bayern Munich faced the challenge from Ukraine's powerful team Shakhtar Donetsk.
At this time, Li Mingyu couldn't help but sit up straight and looked at the lottery guests on the stage.
Because the next draw is to draw an opponent to Manchester City from Group E. If you can draw PSV Eindhoven, of course it would be the best.
But the reality is so cruel.
The lottery guest took out a small ball from the transparent glass basin, opened it, and read the name on it.
Barcelona.
Sure enough, UEFA will never miss this love-hate showdown.
If UEFA didn't do anything here, even Li Mingyu wouldn't believe it.
Just after leaving Barcelona, we are about to face the encounter in the group stage of Champions League.
Li Mingyu and Messi who were not far away looked at each other, and both saw the helplessness in the other's eyes.
Paris Saint-Germain of Group F ushered in Bundesliga's powerful enemy Dortmund.
Group G's Chelsea is grouped together with PSV Eindhoven.
Group H's Sporting CP encountered a roadblock like Inter Milan.
Group A, St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg, Atletico Madrid.
Group B, Juventus, Lille.
Group C, Real Madrid, Manchester United.
Group D, Bayern Munich, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Group E, Manchester City, Barcelona.
Group F, Paris Saint-Germain, Dortmund.
Group G, Chelsea, PSV Eindhoven.
Group H, Sporting CP, Inter Milan.
As soon as the first two rounds came out, everyone's eyes lit up.
Group C and Group E, these two groups are really at odds with each other.
These two groups are also the groups most likely to produce death groups.
Li Mingyu feels that his luck is really bad. Last season, he encountered the group of death. This season, he changed a team. It seems that he still cannot escape the bad luck of the group of death!
What people didn't expect was that the first draw of the third round was Liverpool.
Group A, St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool.
Unexpectedly, the first death group was born so quickly.
There was no trace of smile on Simeone's face. He didn't expect that Liverpool was the one who had signed up, but suddenly the appearance of Liverpool made the group become dire.
The first draw really heated up the atmosphere.
Group B, Juventus, Lille, AEK Athens.
Group C, Real Madrid, Manchester United, RB Leipzig.
In the past few seasons, RB Leipzig has gained momentum very rapidly and is a force that cannot be underestimated.
Group C can be considered a semi-dead group.
Group D, Bayern Munich, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla.
For Bayern Munich, this group is okay, but for Shakhtar Donetsk and Sevilla, this is a death group.
It's an exciting moment again, Group E.
Li Mingyu's heart was raised again. The other four teams, Lyon, Salzburg, AC Milan, Spartak Moscow, as long as they don't encounter AC Milan and Lyon, the other two teams are still good.
But the lottery guest directly drew AC Milan to Group E.
The group of death appears.
Group E, Manchester City, Barcelona, AC Milan.
For Li Mingyu, these two teams have a lot of connections with him.
When the lot was drawn, the whole place was in an uproar.
This death group is exactly the same as last year's Group D.
Group F, Paris Saint-Germain, Dortmund, Salzburg.
Group G, Chelsea, PSV Eindhoven, Lyon.
Group H, Sporting CP, Inter Milan, Spartak Moscow.
After three rounds, two groups of death appeared.
But among the fourth-tier teams this season, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli are also absolute powerhouses. The draw in the fourth round will become even more terrifying and lively.
If these three teams are drawn into the previous group of death, then that group will not become the group of death, but will become the group of hell.
Group A, St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Dinamo Zagreb.
This lottery made all the other three teams of Group A breathe a big sigh of relief. Fortunately, they did not encounter those three teams.
Group B, Juventus, Lille, AEK Athens, Arsenal.
Group C, Real Madrid, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, Viktoria Plzen.
Group D, Bayern Munich, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, Club Brugge.
Group E, as soon as this lot was drawn, the whole audience burst into exclamation, and all eyes were on Li Mingyu and Guardiola.
Guardiola's shining head was also covered with beads of sweat, and the smile on his face could no longer hold on.
Li Mingyu also looked dull. What kind of operation is this?
Bayer Leverkusen.
The fourth place of Bundesliga.
Although Bayer Leverkusen's Champions League results in previous years were not impressive, this former Champions League runner-up often became a team that was difficult to predict.
Last season, although Bayern Munich won the championship again, when facing Bayer Leverkusen, they were tied at home and defeated by Bayer Leverkusen in the away game. This shows that Bayer Leverkusen's strength is not weak.
All final groups are born.
Group A, St. Petersburg Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russian), Atletico Madrid (Western), Liverpool (English), Dinamo Zagreb (G).
Group B, Juventus (Italian), Lille (French), AEK Athens (Greek), Arsenal (English).
Group C, Real Madrid (Western), Manchester United (English), RB Leipzig (Germany), Viktoria Plzen (Czech).
Group D, Bayern Munich (Germany), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukrainian), Sevilla (Western), Club Brugge (British).
Group E, Manchester City (English), Barcelona (Western), AC Milan (Italian), Bayer Leverkusen (German).
Group F, Paris Saint-Germain (France), Dortmund (Germany), Salzburg (Austria), Galatasaray (Turkish).
Group G, Chelsea (English), PSV Eindhoven (Dutch), Lyon (French), Napoli (Italian).
Group H, Sporting CP (Portuguese), Inter Milan (Italian), Spartak Moscow (Russian), Kolubara (Serbia).
Group E has become a very rare Europe league where the top four teams all have groups, a veritable group from hell.