The matchups for the top 32 of the UEFA Europa League were drawn at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. According to the competition format, the third-placed teams of the eight groups in the UEFA Champions League group stage would directly enter the top 32 of the UEFA Europa League.
In the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, the top three teams in each group would advance to the knockout stage. The strangest thing was that the group ranking had no effect on the drawing of lots for the knockout stage. Therefore, this meant that although Sporting XI had won the first place in the group, it did not help their luck in the knockout stage.
Li Ang's attention was first on the eight teams that were "relegated" to the UEFA Europa League as the third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage. These teams were either powerhouses in the major leagues or old foxes in the Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. They were the most difficult to deal with.
These eight teams were the two powerhouses of Greece, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. The two powerhouses of Ukraine, Kyiv Dynamo and Shakhtar Donetsk. There were also the powerhouses of the Dutch Eredivisie, CSKA Moscow, the powerhouse of the Russian Super League, Fenerbahce, and the powerhouse of La Liga, Valencia.
As the defending champion of the La Liga, Valencia did not make it out of the Champions League group, which caused the Spanish media to criticize Valencia.
Now, in the top 32 of the UEFA Europa League, including the "relegated" Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Sporting de Gijón, and Athletic Bilbao, there were a total of five teams in La Liga. All the teams that participated in the UEFA Europa League survived and advanced to the knockout stage. It could be said that the lineup was huge.
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In the English Premier League, only Newcastle and Middlesbrough advanced to the knockout stage.
In the Serie A, there was only one team, Parma. The other teams were eliminated in the UEFA Europa League. In Group C, where Sporting Gihon was in, the seeded team, the Serie A powerhouse, Lazio, was only ranked fourth and was eliminated in the end, even though three out of the five teams had advanced. Li Ang had only heard that the Serie A teams did not care about the UEFA Europa League and that the UEFA Europa League was always half-hearted. Now, he finally saw it for himself.
Everyone knew that the 1990s was the era of the Serie A Mini World Cup. Calculating in terms of a football era of 10 years, Serie A might still be the winner in the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, with a certain advantage. However, Li Ang was clear that Serie A would be surpassed by the Bundesliga in the future. The most important point was that the Serie A teams did not care about the UEFA Europa League. There was a huge difference between the UEFA Europa League and the Champions League. However, the club's results in the UEFA Europa League could affect the national league's participation in the UEFA Europa League. This method of accumulating points was devastating to Serie A. Europa League Europa League Europa League League, Bundesliga, Europa League Europa League.
With Lazio's strength, even if they were to play with a semi-substitute lineup, as long as they were willing to take it seriously, it would not be a problem for them to advance out of the group of five. However, Lazio did not advance out of the group. This was a direct manifestation of the Serie A teams' disregard for the UEFA Europa League. They only had the Champions League in their eyes.
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In the Bundesliga, FC Schalke 04, VfB Stuttgart, and FC Aachen entered the top 32 of the UEFA Europa League.
In the French Ligue 1, only Auxerre, Sochaux, and Lille survived.
In that case, out of the top 32 teams in the UEFA Europa League, there were five teams in La Liga, one team in Serie A, two teams in the English Premier League, three teams in Bundesliga, and three teams in France Ligue 1. The five major leagues took up 14 spots.
In Li Ang's wishful thinking, Sporting de Gijón was a team in La Liga that needed to be avoided. Therefore, it would be best if the team could avoid teams in Serie A, the English Premier League, the French Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga. It would be best if they could encounter teams like Steaua Bucharest, AK Graz, Heerenveen, and Basel.
In the end, after the results of the draw for the UEFA Europa League round of 16 came out, Sporting de Gijón successfully avoided the other teams in the five major leagues. However, they drew an opponent that Li Ang did not want to meet the most: the powerhouse of the Turkish Super League, Fenerbahçe!
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Fenerbahçe was a team that was "relegated" from the Champions League. This team was very strong, and Li Ang had to be vigilant. Although they only got third place in the Champions League group stage, Fenerbahçe had once defeated the powerhouse of the English Premier League, Manchester United, by a score of 3-0 at home in the group stage. Their strength was evident.
It could be said that even if Sporting de Gijón were to encounter Middlesbrough or Newcastle in the English Premier League, or a few teams in France Ligue 1, or even a few teams in the Bundesliga, it would be much better than meeting Fenerbahçe.
"Sporting de Gijón's luck is terrible." Spain's El Pais said. Obviously, they were not optimistic about Sporting de Gijón's prospects in the UEFA Europa League after drawing Fenerbahçe. After all, with Sporting de Gijón's current player configuration, they were not strong enough to fight on three fronts.
The strength of Fenerbahçe's team could not be said to be very strong, but the terror of the Turkish team's home ground made many powerhouses suffer. There was a joke in European football. In the European competition, the teams that were the most difficult to deal with and the most unwilling to face were the Russian team and the Turkish team. One was so cold that you could not pee, and the other was so scared that you could not hold your pee …
Li Ang was also a little depressed. The team had drawn Fenerbahçe, one of the most difficult teams to deal with. Their luck was really not good.
However, the UEFA Europa League round of 16 would not start until February. Li Ang was too lazy to think about this game now. All his attention was now on the 17th round of the La Liga next week. This was his first game after his three-game suspension ended. Li Ang could no longer hold back.
He was hungry.
His big axe was hungry and thirsty.
Their opponent in this round of the league was Racing Santander. Sporting de Gijón was facing their opponent at home. After playing the game against Racing Santander, the La Liga would enter the two-week winter break. Li Ang and the team could finally take a breather.
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On December 22nd, the last round of the La Liga before the winter break, Sporting de Gijón welcomed Racing Santander at home.
The media was very interested in Li Ang's return. Many reporters came for this game. Many reporters waited at the door of the locker room with their cameras aimed inside. This was specially allowed by the Sporting de Gijón club. The general manager of the team, Venita Arango, wanted to do everything possible to enhance the influence and fame of the team. After obtaining the conditional consent of Li Ang and the players, they could open the locker room for a few minutes before some important games. However, the media was still not allowed to enter. They could only shoot at the door what the team and players wanted them to see …
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