Europa League Group Draw

The industrial town of Wolfsburg gradually quieted down.

The home fans left the stadium satisfied.

Li Luo gave an interview to Bundesliga media in the mixed zone.

A tall blonde female reporter said, "Li, you broke through the Wolfsburg fans' information bubble. They've finally seen your talent. Do you dare go shopping at the outlet village? A lot of fans might surround you."

Information bubble.

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Many young talents who were famous in their own countries or youth academies found that fans in a new environment were initially unimpressed by them.

For example, Morata had attracted enormous attention at Real Madrid and in Spain, but when he had first arrived at Juventus, Serie A fans had been very indifferent: What kind of talent haven't we seen? What delicacy haven't we eaten?

Bojan was the same. He had been praised to the skies in Catalonia and at Barcelona, called "Lionel Messi's successor," "Barcelona's true crown prince," and "the future helmsman of the Invincible Armada," but once he went to Roma, the local fans did not think much of him either.

Li Luo realized that his mentality had changed without him noticing.

Back in Manchester, when he was interviewed by blonde, blue-eyed female reporters with hot figures and faces that matched Eastern beauty standards, he would blush and feel embarrassed.

Now, he did not.

Perhaps too much had happened recently.

He said calmly, "Then I'll have a colleague help me buy things at the outlet village."

Everyone burst into laughter.

That was not the kind of answer the Bundesliga media had wanted.

Yet it gave them a good initial impression of Li Luo: the kid even affectionately referred to the logistics staff and his personal assistant as colleagues.

Without lingering with the media for long, Li Luo quickly returned home.

The first thing he did when he got home was open his laptop and start writing in his diary.

He no longer needed to write reports for Manchester United, nor did he need to write reports for Wolfsburg.

The diary was for himself.

"Experiences and reflections from the first round of the Bundesliga."

"First, there is a problem with how I distribute my stamina. I made too many bursts of running during positional recovery and settled defensive phases. Many times, my defender teammates could have handled the situation. Even if my covering movement was correct, it could sometimes become pointless running."

"Being reasonable does not mean being right."

"Second, against a team like Frankfurt, which is currently at a historical low point, the tempo was somewhat fast, but the physical intensity was not particularly high. I would not be disrupted too much."

"Third, with a midfield passing outlet like De Bruyne, my one-touch passing works very well. Compared with the other teammates, he always understands my intentions first."

"Fourth, the head coach's tactics are very simple. We spend most of the time defending deep. In the next match, I can try to see if I can do a little more. Or perhaps doing nothing is the right choice?"

"Fifth, Bendtner said he would give me half of his goal bonus, but he still hasn't transferred it."

"Sixth, it's eleven at night. I should train for another hour. Heaven rewards diligence... Forget it, I'm too tired after the match. I should just sleep."

Fatigue and drowsiness washed over him.

The Chinese boy rose from his chair, fell onto the bed, and sank into a deep sleep.

The next morning.

A fine drizzle fell.

Wolfsburg was wrapped in a thin veil.

"Why has there been so much rain this year?"

"Oh! A wonderful day has begun, my Li."

The club manager, Allofs, enthusiastically hugged Li Luo, who had put on a suit.

Wolfsburg was going to attend UEFA's group-stage draw today.

Li Luo smiled and was about to say something... when Allofs cut him off:

"Yesterday... Frankfurt's head coach, Schaaf—I know him well."

"Your performance was outstanding. You played roughly the same position I did when I was young. We should exchange experiences sometime."

"Come on, come on, it's time to go. The Europa League draw ceremony starts rather early."

Braunschweig Airport.

Allofs received quite a warm welcome: a group of excited elderly Germans surrounded him, asking for autographs.

A moment later.

The plane took off.

Assistant Tom looked at the clouds and mountains outside the window and said, "Sometimes I think the plane isn't moving in the sky at all. It's only because the Earth rotates that, once we get close to our destination, the plane comes down."

Li Luo thought for a moment and said, "You're right."

Tom took out a document from his folder:

"Li, let's get down to business. I watched all the footage from the first two Bundesliga rounds and divided the teams' strength this season into several tiers."

"Tier One: Bayern Munich when they aren't experimenting tactically."

"Tier Two: Wolfsburg, Mönchengladbach, Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Augsburg, and Dortmund."

"Tier Three: Bayern Munich when they are experimenting tactically..."

"Last night against Schalke 04, Bayern's head coach ran another experiment and put out a very strange formation."

Li Luo took the tablet Tom handed him.

On the screen, match footage of Schalke 04 versus Bayern was playing.

Gradually, he realized that many of Bayern's tactical and formation changes ran contrary to the theories in the textbooks.

He was deeply shaken.

He felt that he still had a great deal to learn.

"Hopefully, we'll face that kind of Bayern when the time comes. The match would be a lot easier."

"Li, you're right. That's what I think too."

The plane landed at Nice Airport.

The Wolfsburg group left the arrivals exit, boarded UEFA's business vehicles, and headed for the Grimaldi Forum.

The view outside the windows was rather ordinary.

There were not many pedestrians along the roads either.

Allofs sighed emotionally. "The media and reporters saw that we weren't a UEFA Champions League team, and their attitude immediately turned cold."

Li Luo comforted him. "It's fine. We'll definitely qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season."

"By then, you'll have returned to Manchester United."

The Wolfsburg manager smiled and shook his head, adding, "If Manchester United and Wolfsburg meet in the UEFA Champions League, and you return to Wolfsburg for an away match, what a wonderful reunion that would be..."

Tom said gravely, "Hard to say. Who knows whether Manchester United will even have UEFA Champions League qualification next season."

"..."

Grimaldi Forum.

The Europa League draw ceremony was very simple, without any unnecessary speeches.

"Something's wrong."

"Is there a problem with the ratings monitoring system?"

"The number of viewers watching the online livestream is rising too!"

The UEFA officials were utterly baffled.

Then they discovered in surprise: how was the buzz nearly catching up to the UEFA Champions League?

Everyone's gaze unconsciously shifted toward the Chinese teenager seated among the player representatives...

"Have the director give that Wolfsburg kid more close-ups."

"More close-up shots!"

"I knew the Chinese market was huge, but I never expected even the Europa League draw ceremony to become this popular because of Li Luo!"

The Europa League draw ceremony was extremely simple.

Before the audience's suspense had even begun to build, the group-stage results were already out.

Group H: Inter Milan, Wolfsburg, Everton, Dynamo Moscow.

The CCTV-5 livestream broadcast it simultaneously.

Comment section.

-[We're safe. Didn't draw the Yellow Submarine or Serbia.]

-[Why? Inter Milan and Everton are big names too.]

-[Based on my many years of experience losing money, I predict the group's biggest showdown will be: Dynamo Moscow vs. Wolfsburg.]