Chapter 133 The New European Order

Chapter 133 The New European Order

Probably no one thought that in the 2007/2008 season the five major European leagues, the first league champion born would be Fiorentina. Among the other four leagues, Lyon's dominance in the French league is unshakable, Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, and Bayern Munich in the Premier League. Manchester United and Real Madrid in La Liga have accumulated a lot of advantages, but the first one to climb to the top of the championship is actually unknown. In the past, Fiorentina could only be the strongest in Italy.

People suddenly felt that European football was really about to change.

In the UEFA Champions League, which symbolizes the top competition in European football, the gradual decline of traditional giants and the strong rise of emerging nobles have become the main theme of this season. In the past, the countries that almost monopolized the UEFA Champions League performed sluggishly this season. On the contrary, they did not attract much attention. The league took the opportunity to emerge suddenly.

The Bundesliga has inevitably reached a trough. Although the Champions League has not yet ended, for the Bundesliga teams, their Champions League journey this season has ended early with the exit of Schalke 04. But even so, Schalke's success in reaching the quarter-finals is still worthy of the Germans' pride.

It's just a pity that there are too few surprises like this this season. Bremen and Stuttgart both failed in the group stage and it is lamentable. Moreover, Bayern is missing from this year's Champions League. This is the first time in 10 years that the Bundesliga has won Without their standard-bearers, Stuttgart, Werder Bremen and Schalke had to shoulder the load.

But what is disappointing is that Stuttgart, who was the league champion last season, lost 5 losses and 1 win in the group stage, leaving the bottom of the group stage. This is another big shame for the Bundesliga team after Hamburg last season. Although Stuttgart is not as strong as Barcelona and Lyon, the result of both home and away defeats is still a bit unacceptable. In the end, they couldn't even compete with Glasgow Rangers in Scotland, and could only watch their opponents take away their qualifications for the UEFA Cup. Stuttgart's Champions League trip this season can be described as a complete failure.

Bremen's performance is also unsatisfactory. In a group with Real Madrid, Lazio and Olympiacos, it should be said that Bremen is still capable of competing for a knockout spot. But it is regrettable that although Werder Bremen have beaten strong teams like Lazio and Real Madrid at home, they have suffered two consecutive losses against a weak team like Olympiacos. In the end, they only got third place in the group and could only participate in the UEFA Cup for the second consecutive year. ??cup. Such a result is unavoidable, and it also left Schalke 04 alone in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

The only surprise in the Bundesliga came from Schalke 04, the Bundesliga team that was the least optimistic in the Champions League before the season, but they created a miracle. They successfully broke through the group stage with a record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. Entering the top 16 of the Champions League as the second in the group is impressive. And in the knockout round, they also continued to write miracles. In the quarter-finals against Porto, Schalke finally eliminated Porto through a penalty shootout with Kuranyi's goal and Neuer's miraculous performance, helping the club. For the first time in history, it reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and also avoided the embarrassment of the Bundesliga team saying goodbye to the European war prematurely.

Although it was a pity to lose to Liverpool in the end, their performance undoubtedly won people's respect.

Judging from the overall performance of the Bundesliga teams in the Champions League this season, the progress of Schalke 04 is certainly gratifying. But Bremen is still standing still, while Stuttgart has continued the embarrassing "tradition" that a Bundesliga team must lose face in the Champions League every year.

Therefore, it can be said that the "answer sheets" handed over by the Bundesliga teams in this season's Champions League are still not satisfactory. Even Schalke 04 has exposed the shortcomings of insufficient attack power and lack of experience in the Champions League. Therefore, the level of the Bundesliga teams in the Champions League still needs to be improved.

Now that the Bundesliga is coming to an end, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 have secured two places to participate in the Champions League in advance. I believe that after the experience and lessons of the previous seasons, they will become more mature next season, and people have reason to look forward to it They give a better record.

What is even more worth looking forward to is the Bundesliga overlord Bayern Munich who will return to the Champions League next season. With the most luxurious lineup in the Bundesliga, they will also march towards new honor and glory under the leadership of Klinsmann.

It is no exaggeration to say that with Bayern's current lineup, coupled with this summer's transfer and signings, they are fully capable of competing with any opponent next season. May and Schalke 04 bring about the revival of the Bundesliga side in the Champions League.

Compared with the sinking of the Bundesliga, the performance of the La Liga teams in the Champions League this season can only be described as weak.

Once in the summer of 2000, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia joined the Champions League semi-finals. The final turned into a civil war in La Liga. The Galacticos finally beat the Bats 3-0 to reach the top for the eighth time.

Strong but not strong, after leading for eight years, La Liga finally handed over the "pennant" to the Premier League, and the end of the battle has become the best adjective for the Iberian heroes.

The most glorious moment of La Liga is the alternation of the old and new centuries. Since the start of the 99/00 season, three La Liga teams have appeared in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for four consecutive years. Since the 99/00 season, the La Liga team has won two Champions League trophies and won two runner-ups in three years. The gorgeous style of attack, attack, and attack has fascinated fans all over the world.

However, prosperity must decline. Since the 2003/04 season, there have been no three La Liga teams in the Champions League quarter-finals in a single season, and there has been no La Liga team in the 04/05 Champions League quarter-finals. Although Barcelona reached the semi-finals in the 2005/06 season, Degan's appearance made it a fantasy for the second dream team to reach the top of Europe, and the rapid collapse of Barcelona was far more shocking than exciting.

Valencia is the first La Liga team to bid farewell to the European battlefield this season. The Bat Army defeated Schalke 04 in the first round of the group stage, but then bid farewell to the Champions League with a record of 3 draws and 2 losses. Rencia didn't even manage to score a single goal! Action has become the key word of Valencia this season. The players teamed up to kill Flores, and Koeman's purge ended with him leaving. In addition to internal factors, the complete failure of the transfer is also one of the keys to Varen's sharp decline this season. Key signings such as Zikic and Fernandez failed to come in handy.

Real Madrid and Sevilla stopped in the quarter-finals one after another. As a newcomer to the UEFA Champions League for the first time, Sevilla's performance was enough to win respect, and the Andalusian's sexy offensive football was eye-catching Bright. But the lack of experience has become a fatal injury to Sevilla, and the death and departure of Puerta and Ramos have also seriously damaged the team's vitality. Facing the underdog Fenerbahce in the round of 16, Sevilla suffered a comeback with a big lead at home. How to achieve a balance of offense and defense has become a difficult problem that Andalusians will never be able to solve. Now that Seville has become a star supermarket, this new army that has risen rapidly in the past three years is likely to fall rapidly.

If what Sevilla left behind is a pity, then Real Madrid can only blame themselves for their inferior skills. This is the fourth consecutive season that Real Madrid have stopped outside the quarter-finals of the Champions League, creating the worst record in club history. Calderon calls the Triple Crown every year, but in terms of the composition of this Real Madrid team, it has not yet reached the level of three lines. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robben were injured in the second round of the battle with Rome, Ramos was suspended, and Higuain and Drenthe were not up to the level of their brothers. In order to truly achieve a breakthrough in the European arena next season, Real Madrid must do their homework in the transfer market this summer.

Although Barcelona easily qualified in the group, they met Fiorentina, the most popular player in Europe, in the first round of the knockout round. The Red and Blues were really unlucky. Fighting pays attention to the right time, place and people, and Barcelona is at a disadvantage in all three aspects. Against Fiorentina, Barcelona has basically missed the La Liga championship. The hope and despair of the whole season were condensed in the Nou Camp. The heavy pressure caused the players to play seriously out of order. Barcelona's gangs are full of contradictions, Camp Nou has become accustomed to entertaining players with boos and white handkerchiefs, and the location is obviously out of the question. Renhe? Just look at Ronaldinho. Barcelona will officially rebuild this summer, and the painful period is inevitable. It will be difficult for the Red and Blues to maintain their strong competitiveness in the Champions League for the past three years next season.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have their own hard-to-read scriptures, and upstarts Villarreal and Atletico Madrid are also hard to hope for. Villarreal relies on a group of giants who have been eliminated by the giants. The thickness of the lineup of the yellow submarine is difficult to cope with the two-line battle. Atletico Madrid has always played second-rate football with the mentality of a wealthy family, and the impetuousness of the club's executives and fans is also among the best in Europe. If nothing else, the decline of La Liga has just begun.

Following the La Liga and Serie A civil wars in the 2000 and 2003 Champions League finals, the third civil war "All England Open" appeared in this season's Champions League semi-finals. Relying on its strong performance in the European competition, England once again surpassed La Liga in the UEFA league coefficient rankings to take the top spot after a lapse of 22 years.

Both economically and competitively, Premier League teams have reached their peak this season. And what's even more frightening is that, apart from Manchester United, the other three Premier League teams also maintained strong combat effectiveness in the knockout rounds.

There has long been a folk saying that there is a "food chain" in European football, that is, the Premier League defeats Serie A, Serie A defeats La Liga, and La Liga defeats the Premier League. As a result, this law has been fulfilled again this season.

Manchester United's four encounters with Roma resulted in 3 wins and 1 tie, keeping the Serie A runner-up out of the top four. The Roma team's 1:7 old revenge has not been avenged, but they can only add a few more blood debts.

In the round of 16, Liverpool double-killed the defending Serie A champion Inter Milan. Arsenal also eliminated the Champions League defending champion AC Milan in the first round of the knockout stage, and kept the Rossoneri with zero seals in two rounds. It can be said that Serie A suffered the worst comprehensive defeat in the UEFA Champions League in the past four seasons and has a direct relationship with the Premier League team.

Some fans joked that the rules mentioned above still apply in the previous seasons, and the rules of this season are: the Premier League beats Serie A, the Premier League beats La Liga, the Premier League beats Bundesliga, and the Premier League beats Ligue 1. Although the words are exaggerated, they are not without reason.

The strength of the Premier League in the UEFA Champions League is by no means a sudden outbreak this season. Since the 2004/05 season, there have been English clubs in the UEFA Champions League finals for four consecutive seasons. Seize the situation of three seats.

Although Chelsea failed to reach the semi-finals, they are the most stable team in the UEFA Champions League in the past five seasons. It is not an easy task to reach the semi-finals at least three times. Liverpool has entered the semi-finals three times in the past four seasons, two of which entered the finals and won the cup once, almost on par with AC Milan.

Kevin Keegan said at the end of this season that "the Premier League is boring", which means that the "four big families" always hold the top four in the domestic league.

Indeed, this has happened four times in the Premier League in the past five seasons, and the only exception in the 2004/05 season was because Liverpool received special care from UEFA, so that the four major families can still fight side by side in the UEFA Champions League.

Such a stable campaign in the top European leagues has enabled the "four big families" to accumulate rich experience in European wars, double-line and even multi-line combat. This is the key to the Premier League's ability to achieve stable and excellent results in the UEFA Champions League in recent years.

The Premier League turned the semi-finals of the Champions League into a civil war in the Premier League. After seizing the three seats in the Champions League semi-finals for the second consecutive year, the Premier League finally realized the domination of the highest level of European clubs. Like a dying old man, he can only be immersed in the memory of the past glory.

For the past 20 years, Serie A has been considered one of the highest-level football leagues in the world. In the 1990s, it was even called the "Little World Cup". It is their success in the European arena that created such a reputation for Serie A. .

From the 1992/93 season to the 1997/98 season, there have been Serie A teams in the Champions League finals for six consecutive times. In the past 20 years, Serie A teams have won the Champions League seven times in the same period in Europe.

In the 2002/03 season, the traditional top three of Serie A reached the semi-finals of the Champions League at the same time, and AC Milan and Juventus joined forces in the final, just like today's Premier League.

However, a dynasty must rise and fall, and after its heyday, it must fall. In the Champions League in the 2003/04 season, only one Serie A team, AC Milan, advanced to the top 8, but the Rossoneri's actions stopped there.

Constrained by the shrinking economy in Italy and the subsequent blow to Serie A by the "Phonegate" scandal, the competitiveness of Serie A teams in Europe continued to decline. They were first surpassed by La Liga in terms of league points, and then fell behind the Premier League. The former "Little World Cup" "It has been reduced to the third league in Europe.

Although AC Milan broke through the Premier League blockade for two consecutive seasons in 2005/2006 and 2006/07 and won the Champions League in one fell swoop, it is more like a flashback when the giant is dying.

This season, the traditional giants of Serie A bowed their heads at the same time in the Champions League, which is the true portrayal of the status of Serie A in Europe today.

Lazio is a clear proof of the decline in the overall strength of Serie A in the past two years. Although it is not as ridiculous as Chievo's Champions League in the 2006/07 season, the Nerazzurri also used the phone to attack a large number of Serie A teams. "Success" caught the last train leading to the Champions League, but itself does not have the strength to compete in the Champions League. Although the fighting spirit of the Blue Eagles is commendable, they still failed to break through from Group C, which is almost the weakest. It was not until the fourth game that Lazio won a victory, followed by two consecutive losses. Lazio, who was at the bottom of the group, failed to even get a place in the UEFA Cup.

Lazio's entry was a surprise, so their exit is a matter of course. Relatively stronger, the Milan duo, who were generally optimistic at the beginning of the season, disappointed all Serie A fans.

With the momentum of defending champions, AC Milan is naturally the favorite to win the championship, but the group stage was very difficult and dangerous. They lost to Fiorentina twice. If it were not for the outstanding performance of Kaka in the last game, perhaps after the end of the group stage, the Rossoneri would be able to advance. It took a break, but AC Milan finally broke through the group, which also made AC Milan, which was sluggish in the league, once again bet on the Champions League. However, although AC Milan, whose average age is too old, won the championship last season, it is already at the end of its battle. The overall strength of the Rossoneri, which has not strengthened its strength in the summer, has no advantage in Europe, and Kaka also lost the vigor of a year ago due to injuries and fatigue, so that in the 1/8 finals, he met Assen, who was in the limelight at the time. Na, AC Milan was beaten to pieces. "Experience" failed to overcome "physical strength" in the end, and AC Milan lost without excuse. It can only be said that the blind arrogance of the Rossoneri management ruined their entire season.

There are still reasons for AC Milan's defeat, and Inter Milan's resentment can only make people angry. This season ushered in the centenary, and Moratti made it clear that the goal is to make a breakthrough in the Champions League.

In the summer arms race, Inter Milan completed the lineup upgrade, with the most dazzling starting lineup and the most solid bench depth in Europe. They also played at a very high level in the group stage, advancing to 16 with the best record after Manchester United powerful.

At this time, Italy was full of praise, and many celebrities were optimistic that the Nerazzurri would go all the way to the top. Unexpectedly, Inter Milan lost humiliatingly to Liverpool in the 1/8 finals, suspending the Champions League journey like lightning.

Injuries are an excuse for Inter Milan, but not the root cause. The imbalance of the team's mentality before the key battle and the misconduct of the head coach's on-the-spot command are the problems that the Nerazzurri can't go further. It is not an accident that Inter Milan has fought in the Champions League for years, but has never made a breakthrough.

While the Milan duo suffered setbacks, Roma gave Italian football a surprise. The team that was swept by Manchester United 7:1 last season played steadily this time. Eliminated La Liga overlord Real Madrid and advanced to the top 8, bringing a little joy to the Apennine Peninsula, which was frustrated because the Milan duo withered in the 1/8 finals. Especially the defeat of Real Madrid at the Bernabéu Stadium made the world realize the combat effectiveness of the Roman youth army. Although in the subsequent quarter-finals, Roma fell to the feet of Manchester United again, but this can only be said to be really inferior. Judging from the style of play, the skilled Roma has always been afraid of the English team, and it is not surprising to lose when they meet the thriving Manchester United. The elimination of European giants such as Lyon and Real Madrid for two consecutive seasons proves that Roma has the strength to make a comeback next season.

Of course, the biggest surprise still came from Fiorentina. They won all six games in the group stage. In the quarter-finals, they slaughtered Barcelona away. In the quarter-finals, they swept Chelsea at home and entered the semi-finals, becoming the only non-English team in the semi-finals. The team has avoided the top four of the Premier League monopolizing the Champions League.

However, the rise of Fiorentina cannot represent the overall strength of Italian football, especially in the league. Winning the championship five rounds ahead of schedule proves the fact that the overall competitiveness of Serie A is declining. The original scene of a group of heroes competing for the throne may never be realized in Italian football.

Although there were surprises brought by Florence and Rome, in any case, this season's Champions League is still a disappointing journey for the Serie A powerhouses, and the root cause is the decline in the overall strength of Serie A.

In the era of the Seven Sisters, no one would pin the honor of Serie A on a certain team, but now there is only one team in Italy, Fiorentina, which really has enough strength to compete for hegemony in Europe.

In fact, the fact that Serie A is ruled by an upstart like Fiorentina with insufficient background may itself be a manifestation of Serie A's regression.

Next season, the prospect of Serie A in the Champions League is still bleak. Although Juventus is very likely to return to the Champions League, the Bianconeri is still in the process of rebuilding, and the most experienced AC Milan is still making a list for the Champions League Struggling, it is very likely that they will be relegated to play in the UEFA Cup. The only hope in Serie A is Fiorentina.

Leaving aside the matter of next season, among the top four of the Champions League, what Fiorentina has to face is being surrounded by the top three of the Premier League. , For the Florence Youth Guard, it is not a small challenge.

After finishing the celebration of winning the championship, Fiorentina will face the challenge of Arsenal immediately. The Gunners led by Professor Arsene Wenger, although their performance in the league this season is not satisfactory, but in the Champions League, it is the first time. Showed dominance, especially in the two rounds against AC Milan, the Gunners made the defending champion lose face.

On the day he arrived in Florence, Wenger accepted an interview with the Italian media: "For Arsenal, Italy is a blessed land. We rarely lose here. Inter Milan, AC Milan, and now Fiorentina. After 90 minutes of the game, we can get a satisfying result!"