August 28th.
The day before the second round of the Bundesliga match.
Hecking announced the starting lineup for the second-round match against Frankfurt in the team's tactics room.
The goalkeeper is the captain, Benaglio, who has recovered from a cold;
The four defenders are Jüng, De Vrij, Naldo, and R. Rodriguez;
The two defensive midfielders are Gustavo and Arnold;
The left and right wingers are Mark and Caligiuri, with De Bruyne centrally controlling the play;
Dost replaces Olić as the starting center-forward.
De Vrij earned a starting opportunity based on his performance after coming on as a substitute in the previous match.
In addition, Hecking was also experimenting with various attacking combinations.
Compared to Bayern, the opponent for the second round, Frankfurt, is only a mid-to-lower-table team.
Since they are playing at home, they will definitely prioritize attacking.
Therefore, he also made changes to the defensive midfield and winger positions.
For Wolfsburg, if they truly want to contend for the League title, they must secure all three points against teams like Frankfurt.
Fortunately, the team is now strong and healthy, and the squad depth is much better than last season.
Since tomorrow is match day, today's training focused mainly on tactics.
However, after the team training session ended, Mark stayed in the gym for an hour of extra endurance training before showering and heading home.
Back home, he first reported his extra training session to his physical trainer, and then began enjoying the supplements and nutritious meal prepared by his nutritionist brother.
In the evening, Mark's apartment welcomed two guests:
The Belgium duo, De Bruyne and Malanda!
They weren't coming over to play games, but had arranged to watch the Champions League draw ceremony together!
The two, who hadn't eaten dinner yet, specifically bought two boxes of pizza, planning to eat together.
However, upon seeing the pizza Malanda handed him, Mark waved his hand, "I can't eat pizza today."
Malanda looked bewildered: "Why? Didn't you say you liked the pizza from this place?"
"It's different now. My nutritionist told me I can't consume junk food casually."
"I can only have one cheat meal a week at most."
Hearing this, Malanda was bewildered again: "What nutritionist?"
Mark then told them about hiring a physical trainer and a nutritionist.
Hearing this news, De Bruyne's heart couldn't help but stir:
He is too disciplined!
He is clearly only eighteen years old, so why has he already started hiring a private physical trainer and nutritionist?!
That's unbelievable!
Malanda's focus, however, was on the cost of hiring two people: "Then hiring two people must be very expensive!"
"It's alright."
"How much..."
Malanda wanted to keep asking, but De Bruyne, beside him, nudged him with his elbow and interrupted, "Stop talking, the draw is about to start!"
Hearing this, Malanda immediately turned his attention to the television.
The draw ceremony for the 2014-2015 Champions League group stage was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Thirty-two teams were divided into four pots based on their Champions League coefficient rankings, forming eight groups.
The Pot 1 teams, led by defending champion Real Madrid, included Barça, Bayern, Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Arsenal, and Porto;
Pot 2 and Pot 3 teams were also powerhouses from major Leagues, such as Dortmund, Juve, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit, Liverpool, Ajax, and others;
Even Pot 4 featured strong teams like Wolfsburg, Anderlecht, Roma, and Monaco;
Wolfsburg, returning to the Champions League after several years, was placed in Pot 4.
This was expected.
After all, Wolfsburg had not participated in European competition for several years, and their UEFA ranking was relatively low among all participating Champions League teams!
The final draw result made Mark look immediately at De Bruyne next to him.
Because, as a Pot 4 team, Wolfsburg was eventually placed in Group G.
They were grouped with Premier League powerhouse Chelsea, Eredivisie powerhouse Ajax, and Primeira Liga powerhouse Sporting CP!
They actually drew Chelsea?!
The very Chelsea that discarded De Bruyne for Oscar!
Instantly, Mark mentally conjured up a dramatic narrative of grudges and emotional turmoil.
De Bruyne, abandoned by Chelsea, returning to Stamford Bridge!
Then scoring a goal, or perhaps a last-minute winner, and celebrating with a knee slide at Stamford Bridge after defeating Chelsea!
Using an excellent performance to deliver a resounding slap in Mourinho's face!
However, De Bruyne's expression was normal, showing no major change.
It was Malanda next to him who exclaimed with a bit of fuss: "We actually drew Chelsea! Kevin, that's the team you used to be with!"
"I know."
De Bruyne nodded, then pursed his lips, "This group is going to be tough..."
Purely based on luck of the draw, this was definitely a bad outcome!
Aside from Chelsea, the other two opponents in the group are basically the strongest teams in their respective pots.
Ajax is an Eredivisie powerhouse, and Sporting CP is also a Primeira Liga powerhouse.
And there is "The Blues Chelsea," Chelsea, who spent over 70 million pounds in the summer window to acquire strong reinforcements like Diego Costa and Fàbregas!
In this group, there is no overly obvious gap in strength; it could absolutely be called a "Group of Death."
Especially for Wolfsburg, returning to the Champions League after several years, let alone Chelsea, just Ajax and Sporting CP will be very difficult to play against.
Although they just defeated Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in the opening match, no one at Wolfsburg believes that the current Wolfsburg team is stronger than Bayern.
Ajax and Sporting CP are both Champions League regulars, and have much more experience playing in the Champions League than they do.
However, in Mark's view, although Ajax and Sporting CP are dominant teams in their respective Leagues, their overall strength still cannot compare to the current Wolfsburg squad.
If they play with their full main squad, they still have confidence in defeating these two teams.
The key lies in whether they can balance their League title aspirations and arrange the lineup reasonably.
Of course, that is the coach's job...
After the Champions League draw results were announced, some teams rejoiced while others worried.
Bayern and Manchester City were grouped together for the second consecutive season, and Atlético Madrid drew Juve.
Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and Wolfsburg will also stage Premier League versus Bundesliga showdowns, both featuring opponents from last season's group stage.
Defending champions Real Madrid drew Liverpool, while Barcelona encountered Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.
In short, there are many highlights.
Of course, for Wolfsburg and Chelsea, De Bruyne's return to Stamford Bridge is also newsworthy material.
The Belgium genius, sold by Chelsea to Wolfsburg in January, has been reborn in the Bundesliga.
When he returns to the Bridge of Sighs where he once failed, what kind of sparks will fly between him and his former club and Mourinho?
Will he ultimately be defeated by Chelsea, proving he wasn't good enough, or will he turn the tables and strike back, humiliating his former club?
Everything will be revealed in the upcoming Champions League matches!
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