In the fourth round of the La Liga, Sporting de Gijón defeated their strong opponent, RCD Espanyol, with a score of 2: 1.
This newly promoted team, which had lost two consecutive matches at the start of the La Liga, began to rebound. Including this match, they had won two consecutive matches.
RCD Espanyol was not a weak team. Although this Barcelona team was not as dazzling as their city rival, Barcelona, they were still a strong team in the La Liga. This match had been very difficult, but Sporting de Gijón had won the match. This showed that this newly promoted team was in good condition.
And for Sporting de Gijón, the 16-year-old, 275-day-old French player, Karim Benzema, who scored the winning goal, had his name appear in the Spanish media for the first time.
Although this was his first appearance and first goal in the league, so it did not make Benzema famous or attract the attention of other powerhouses, for this French boy, it did make him famous. At the very least, on the tactical board of Sporting de Gijón's future opponents, Benzema's name would attract a certain degree of attention. Their opponents' managers would not forget that Sporting de Gijón had such a threatening rookie.
The local media in Gijón was full of praise for Benzema. The media always liked to praise and flatter rookies. The emergence of young geniuses always made people look forward to and extremely excited.
"Manager Li Ang brought Karim Benzema from the Lyon team. His vision is still so accurate. 16-year-old, 275-day-old, Benzema's goal in the match against RCD Espanyol was priceless … We heard that Manager Li Ang jokingly asked Benzema if he had practiced his autograph. Here, what we want to say is, boy, you really need to practice your autograph!" The reporter of the Voice of Gijón, Mitra, used Li Ang's teasing words to encourage the French boy after the match. The title of the report was: "Hey, you need to practice your autograph, Karim!"
*****
Li Ang was now worried about the injuries of the team's two strikers, Diego Miruto and Michael Pihra. Even though Benzema had scored his first goal in his debut, Li Ang felt that even though Benzema was now more unique and could even be said to be outstanding, Benzema belonged to the future. Benzema was still unable to shoulder the burden of the current Sporting de Gijón!
Currently, Sporting de Gijón's forward combination should still be the combination of Diego Milito and Di Natale. Even in the future, it would still be the combination of these two players. Moreover, whether it was Di Natale or Diego Milito, they were the type of players that Li Ang could rest assured and trust.
As for Michael Pihra, Li Ang also valued him. Although he was getting older and his playing time would decrease in the future, Michael Pihra's header would still be an effective addition to Sporting de Gijón's goal scoring!
"How's the situation?" Li Ang asked the team doctor, Mr. Rotaro.
"The Argentine's injury is worse than expected, but it's not too bad," Rotaro said to Li Ang.
"What do you mean?" Li Ang asked.
"Originally, it was estimated that Milito would only need to rest for a few days. Now, it looks like he needs to rest for about ten days!" Rotaro said.
"So, Milito won't be able to play in the UEFA Europa League match against Olomouc and the league match against Osasuna?" Li Ang asked with a frown.
"Yes. Li, I'm sorry, "Rotaro said.
Li Ang rubbed his temples. Just as Rotalo had said, this wasn't good news, but it wasn't too bad either. Two matches of injury stoppages.
"What about Michael Pihra?" Li Ang asked.
"Michael Pihra's situation is not a big problem. He should be able to play in the next match," Rotaro said.
Li Ang nodded. This was finally good news. Otherwise, he would be stretched thin for the UEFA Europa League match against Olomouc in the middle of next week.
*****
Three days later, Sporting de Gijón went to the Czech Republic for the second leg of the 20042005 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round match against Olomouc.
For this match, Li Ang did not let Michael Pihra start because he had just recovered from his injury. Instead, he deployed Di Natale as a lone striker.
In the midfield, Marcos and Carlos were in the starting lineup together. The two of them were escorting Albertini.
This was a completely defensive counterattack tactic.
For Sporting de Gijón, who had a score of 4: 1 in the first leg at home, it was not a bad choice to be conservative in the away game.
In the end, the score of the match was 1: 1. Olomouc scored first, and Di Natale equalized for Sporting de Gijón.
In this way, Sporting de Gijón successfully eliminated the Czech Republic's powerhouse Olomouc with a score of 5: 2 in the two legs, and advanced to the top 40 of the 20042005 UEFA Europa League.
You did not read wrong, it was the top 40 of the UEFA Europa League!
In the previous third round of the UEFA Europa League, according to the competition rules, the UEFA had a large number of 80 teams go through a two-legged elimination round, and then 40 teams advanced.
The day after the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League ended, the Sporting de Gijón team returned to Gijón from the Czech Republic. Li Ang did not return with the team. He was going to Nyon, Switzerland.
The draw ceremony for the 20042005 UEFA Europa League group stage would be held the following day at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Although the lot-drawing ceremony would be held a day later, Li Ang decided to go to Nyon, Switzerland, a day earlier to avoid the fatigue of traveling back and forth.
*****
After the reform of the European competition system (the expansion of the Champions League, the merger of the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Europa League), the UEFA Europa League was not as attractive as before. The main reason was that the Champions League was changed to the Champions League, and more strong teams entered the Champions League, which made the UEFA Europa League more watered down. In order to revive the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA reformed the competition system several times, but the results were not obvious. Instead, the UEFA Europa League became more watered down.
Therefore, this summer, the UEFA held another meeting to discuss the reform of the UEFA Europa League competition system. The new competition system and rules would start from the 20042005 season.
At present, the new competition system had been announced.
Li Ang was resting in the hotel in Nyon, Switzerland. He looked at the introduction of the new competition system and could not help but complain.
After the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, Sporting de Gijón officially entered the top 40 of the UEFA Europa League!
The top 40 of the UEFA Europa League were divided into eight groups, with five teams in each group. It was the group stage. The UEFA's original intention was to increase the number of games and ticket revenue, but this made the UEFA Europa League "stinky and long." First of all, what made countless teams complain the most was that the group stage actually used a single cycle, which meant that there was no two-legged home and away game system. It was a single cycle, which obviously did not guarantee that every team would be completely fair.
Then, there were five teams in each group, with as many as three teams in each group advancing!
Also, the strangest thing was that the ranking in the group stage did not affect the drawing of lots for the top 32 knockout stage, which sharply reduced the suspense of the group stage.
Li Ang was now studying the competition system, and then he was surprised to find that after four group stage games, even if they had six points, they could advance in the group stage. Even if they had five points, they could get on the last bus. In this way, as long as they won two games, they would basically have no worries about advancing, and the remaining few games could be sloppy.
After his analysis, Li Ang complained about the system, which was a pain in the ass for countless teams. At the same time, he was also making his own calculations. He hoped to be assigned to a relatively weak group and win two games first. Then, there would be no worries about qualifying for the next round. The team could also focus more on the La Liga Championship.
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