Chapter 333: Champions League Draw Results Announced, Manchester City Tops the Odds!
After a casual conversation with Royce, the award ceremony was about to start. Following the presentation of the Best Female Player award for last season, it quickly transitioned to the Best Male Player award. The entire venue's focus was on Lin Quan, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neuer, who were the standout performers in last season's Champions League.
Lin Quan not only led his team to the Champions League title but also achieved the remarkable feat of scoring 20 goals in a single season. Ronaldo, although his team fell in the semi-finals, broke the record for most goals in a Champions League season with 17 goals. Unfortunately, his extraordinary achievement was overshadowed by Lin Quan's even more exceptional performance.
Neuer had a great season with Bayern, but his accomplishments paled in comparison to the other two, making him more or less a runner-up in this race.
After the nominees were announced, cameras focused on the trio. Lin Quan appeared calm, Ronaldo looked serious, and Neuer, having the slimmest chances, wore an indifferent expression, seemingly acknowledging his unlikely win.
"Looks like Lin Quan is very confident about winning!" chuckled the hosts in CCTV's live broadcast room. "Leading his team to victory and breaking the single-season goal record are both award-worthy achievements on their own. I can't imagine under what circumstances UEFA wouldn't give the award to Lin Quan."
There was a possibility that UEFA could manipulate the results as they did with last year's controversial Ballon d'Or. However, Lin Quan's lead this time was too significant to ignore without causing uproar.
The answer was quickly revealed as nearly all the 12 voters cast their votes for Lin Quan, with only one consolation vote going to Ronaldo. Lin Quan won the 2013-2014 UEFA Best Player by a landslide.
After the award ceremony, the highly anticipated 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League group stage draw began. FIFA Secretary-General Gianni Infantino gave a lengthy speech about FIFA's reforms and efforts to promote the development of European leagues and national teams.
Infantino emphasized the need for UEFA to implement the "Financial Fair Play" regulations promptly to ensure sustainable development and support for smaller clubs and countries within Europe. His speech hinted at giving more Champions League spots to teams from smaller national leagues.
However, the audience seemed more interested in the draw than in Infantino's speech, with some even dozing off during his address. Infantino, noticing the lack of interest, ended his speech abruptly and announced the start of the draw.
Iker Casillas, Lin Quan's teammate from the national team and Spain's star goalkeeper, was in charge of the draw. The 32 teams qualifying for the group stage were divided into four pots, creating eight groups.
Thanks to last year's impressive performance, Manchester City moved from the third pot to the top seed pot. The top seed teams included Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, and Porto, with La Liga and the Premier League each having three teams.
During the draw, each team was assigned a group, but unlike usual, they weren't placed immediately. Instead, a secondary draw determined their group assignments. For instance, after Bayern Munich was drawn, another guest drew an 'E', placing Bayern in Group E.
The process continued with Casillas drawing his own club, Real Madrid, and assigning it to Group B. Manchester City was drawn third and placed in Group C. The other top seed teams were allocated as follows: Arsenal to Group D, Barcelona to Group F, Porto to Group H, Atlético Madrid to Group A, and Chelsea, the last to be drawn, also to Group E.
The audience was relatively relaxed during the top seed draw, speculating on which was the strongest and weakest teams. Powerhouses like Manchester City and last season's other top teams were considered tough opponents for any group.
The least formidable top seed, by common consensus, was Porto, which had underperformed in the previous season's Champions League. If drawn into Porto's Group H, teams might hope for a top spot.
After the first pot was drawn, Casillas stepped down, and Spanish legend Fernando Hierro took over to draw the second pot teams, which included Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, Basel, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Benfica. This pot contained several strong teams that could pose significant challenges, especially in groups with the top-seeded powerhouses.
The anticipation and discussions around the draw highlighted the intense competition and strategic considerations that define the Champions League group stages.
This draw was crucial for many teams, and the atmosphere at the venue became tense. After Hierro delivered a brief speech, he quickly started the second round of the draw. He first drew Zenit St. Petersburg, and as in the first round, another guest drew the group Zenit would enter: Group C! They were placed in the defending champion Manchester City's group. The director immediately cut to a split screen of the coaches from Zenit and Manchester City, showing very different reactions; Zenit's coach couldn't hide his wry smile, while Manchester City's coach seemed quite pleased, apparently very satisfied with the draw. No wonder, as Zenit is considered one of the weaker teams in the second pot, and Manchester City could likely secure an easy 6 points against them.
Hierro then drew Paris Saint-Germain, the strongest team from the second pot. The audience grew curious about which group they would end up in. The answer came quickly: Group F, with Barcelona. Both coaches grimaced at the result. Barcelona, a traditional powerhouse, had heavily invested this season, forming the formidable MSN trio with Suarez. Paris Saint-Germain, having spent heavily in the transfer market for several years, dominates Ligue 1 and is formidable in the Champions League. The pairing of these two teams in one group promised a blockbuster clash, turning Group F into a potential "group of death" for any subsequent teams drawn into it.
Hierro worked quickly, drawing several more teams. Shakhtar Donetsk went to Group H, Benfica to Group E, Borussia Dortmund to Group D, Basel to Group B, Juventus to Group A, and Schalke 04 to Group G. Dortmund and Arsenal, drawn together again in Group D, had faced each other in last year's group stage, ending with an equal win-loss record but Dortmund topping the group on goal difference, pushing Arsenal to second place. It was uncertain whether Arsenal could turn the tables this year.
After the second pot was complete, the third and fourth pot draws proceeded swiftly. These pots contained fewer strong teams, but one notable inclusion was Liverpool, a multiple-time Champions League winner that had been absent from the competition long enough to fall to the third pot. Liverpool was drawn into Group B with Real Madrid. Although facing the formidable Real Madrid, Liverpool only needed to best Basel to likely secure a spot in the knockout stage, though competing with Real Madrid for the top spot in the group seemed unlikely.
The group stages appeared relatively balanced this year without any overwhelming "group of death" scenarios like last year. However, if one group could be called a "group of death," it would be Group E with Bayern Munich, largely because of Bayern's dominance; their main challenge would likely come from Benfica, Roma, and CSKA Moscow, who were all relatively evenly matched, with CSKA enjoying a strong home-field advantage.
For Manchester City, the draw seemed ideal. Group C's opponents, Monaco from Ligue 1, Bayer Leverkusen from the Bundesliga, and Zenit from the Russian Premier League, didn't pose significant threats, with only Zenit's away games potentially proving difficult.
After the draw, Manchester City fans began speculating about their knockout stage opponents, confident of advancing past the group stage without much trouble. However, much would depend on the luck of the draw in the quarterfinals, especially if they faced heavyweights like Real Madrid or Barcelona, who were considered even stronger this season.
The debate among fans and the cautious optimism highlighted the challenges of defending a title in a tournament as competitive as the Champions League. Despite the favorable draw, many fans felt reaching the quarterfinals would be an achievement, with progress beyond that depending on form and fortune.
Bookmakers, however, seemed more confident in Manchester City's chances, placing them as the favorites to win the Champions League this season, even above stalwarts like Real Madrid and Barcelona.