Chapter 150: In the Same Group as Real Madrid

Chapter 150: In the Same Group as Real Madrid

Since mid-August, European media had been abuzz with speculation about Bruno's imminent transfer to Real Madrid, but the official announcement fans were eagerly awaiting never came. Instead, Bruno continued to compete with Udinese.

After defeating Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup on the evening of August 12, Udinese faced Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League qualifiers on August 19 and 27. They triumphed 4:1 at home and lost 1:3 away, progressing with a total score of 5:4. This marked Udinese's second entry into the Champions League group stage, the first being in the 2005-2006 season where they had last qualified through a playoff, finishing fourth in Serie A. However, they were eliminated at the group stage on goal difference despite tying on points with Werder Bremen, who finished second.

In the last three years, Udinese had been eliminated during the qualifiers and hadn't made it past that stage again until this year.

With this, all 32 teams for this season's Champions League were set, just waiting for the upcoming group stage draw.

… UEFA continued to use the club coefficient rankings to seed teams in the group stage. The top eight teams formed the first pot, and the next eight, the second pot, and so on. Due to the absence of traditional powerhouses like Manchester United, AC Milan, and Inter Milan from this season's Champions League, Porto moved up to the first pot, with Manchester City and Zenit stepping up to the second.

The first pot included Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, and Porto. The second pot featured Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, Basel, Zenit, and Manchester City.

Despite winning last season's Europa League, Udinese's poor historical record relegated them to the third pot, alongside teams like Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow, Ajax, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, and Galatasaray. The remaining eight teams, including Anderlecht, Roma, PAOK, BATE Borisov, Ludogorets, Maribor, Monaco, and Malmo, were placed in the fourth pot.

… The UEFA group stage draw took place at noon on August 28, followed by the awards ceremony for the best male and female players of the previous season.

According to UEFA's seeding principles and the policy of avoiding same-league matchups, along with political reasons for avoiding Russian and Ukrainian teams being drawn together, Udinese was placed in Group B with Real Madrid, Basel, and Ludogorets from Bulgaria. This was a relatively favorable draw for Udinese, as aside from Real Madrid, the other two teams were considered weaker, giving Udinese a strong chance to compete for second place.

Media interest was piqued by the prospect of Bruno visiting Bernabeu to face Real Madrid. This would pit him against Cristiano Ronaldo in a Champions League battle of Portuguese stars. However, if Bruno transferred to Real Madrid in the final days of the summer transfer window, he would return to face Udinese at the Friuli Stadium.

Given current developments, this seemed increasingly likely. Just a day before the draw, Real Madrid had sold Angel Di Maria to Manchester United for €75 million and was finalizing a deal for Xabi Alonso with Bayern Munich. These moves were seen as preparations for a last-minute deal to sign Bruno, making funds available and clearing a squad spot for him.

… Following the Champions League draw, the ceremony awarded the best male and female players of the 2013-2014 season. The best female player went to Nadine Kessler of VfL Wolfsburg, who edged out her teammates Müller and Fischer. Cristiano Ronaldo clinched the best male player award over Bayern's Neuer and Robben. Ronaldo's contributions had led Real Madrid to a significant improvement last season, culminating in a Champions League and Copa del Rey double, securing their tenth European Cup. Ronaldo, with 17 goals, also set a new record for most goals in a single Champions League season.

The remarkable era of Messi and Ronaldo had seen Messi equal the record of 14 goals in 2012, which Ronaldo now surpassed by three goals, achieving this feat in just 11 matches—an average of 1.55 goals per game.

His phenomenal performance made Ronaldo the frontrunner for the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or, even in a World Cup year. The lack of a standout superstar from the World Cup-winning German team, with goalkeeper Neuer being the biggest name, certainly helped his case.

… The last weekend of August saw the start of Serie A. Defending champions Juventus secured a 1:0 victory over Chievo in the opener. Roma, playing at home, beat Fiorentina in a tough matchup. AC Milan defeated Lazio 3:1 at home, while last season's surprise package Verona drew with Atalanta away. The rest of the games kicked off on Sunday evening, with Udinese facing newly promoted Empoli.

Udinese struggled to break down the resilient Empoli in the first half, with the deadlock only being broken in the 57th minute through a quick counterattack initiated by Bruno, leading to a goal by captain Di Natale. Once the first goal was scored, Udinese quickly added a second, sealing a 2:0 victory and placing third on the league table based on goal difference behind AC Milan and Roma.

… The international break brought the announcement of the Portuguese national team squad on September 1, with Bruno and his Udinese teammate, Cancelo, both included. Clearly, the new Portuguese coach Fernando Santos had been evaluating Bruno, having attended Udinese's

recent matches, including the UEFA Super Cup and the Champions League qualifiers against Athletic Bilbao.

Bruno's performances were outstanding, notably scoring a hat-trick and assisting another goal against Real Madrid in the Super Cup, and dominating the Champions League qualifiers, scoring twice and assisting once in the first leg against Bilbao, making the second leg a formality. Even as deputy captain, Bruno led Udinese in Di Natale's absence, scoring key goals to secure qualification for the group stages.

In Serie A's first round, while Bruno recorded only one assist, his overall play earned him the man of the match over Di Natale, who scored twice. Bruno's midfield dominance, alongside Kanté and Allan, ensured Empoli posed no threat to Udinese's goal.

With the first round of Serie A concluded, the season's first international break arrived. Portugal's national team roster included Bruno and Cancelo, demonstrating Santos' confidence in their abilities after observing their recent form.

(End of Chapter)