Bayern Munich!
Schalke 04!
Chelsea!
Manchester United!
As the names of the four clubs were announced by Gary Lineker one after another, the eight Champions League group winners were seeded.
"The second team in Group A is..."
When Gary Lineker drew a ball from the multitude of white balls, the broadcast camera immediately focused on José Mourinho, who was present representing Real Madrid.
The Special One's expression was very serious, looking stern and unsmiling.
"Lyon from the French Ligue 1!"
As soon as the name was spoken, the broadcast camera immediately returned to José Mourinho's face.
Although not obvious, a careful observation would reveal that The Special One's expression had slightly relaxed.
Obviously, for him, facing Lyon in the first round of the knockout stage was a good choice.
However, Fly clearly remembered that at this time, Lyon was Real Madrid's nemesis.
Just last year, in the 2009-2010 season, Lyon defeated Real Madrid with a total score of 2:1 over two legs in the Champions League Round of 16.
This directly resulted in Real Madrid once again becoming the "Round of 16 team"!
That was also Cristiano Ronaldo's first season at Real Madrid, and it was quite a blow.
However, Lyon being Real Madrid's nemesis is a thing of the past. The White Army under José Mourinho is not the "Round of 16 team" of the past.
The Special One brought not only a recovery in results to Real Madrid but also a spirit.
It was under José Mourinho that Real Madrid officially transformed into a genuine top-tier powerhouse.
Before this, Real Madrid was a team that seemed to have a luxurious and star-studded squad but didn't achieve much in terms of results, essentially a team known more for its popularity.
Florentino Pérez appointing José Mourinho as head coach can be considered the first correct thing he did after becoming Real Madrid's president.
After all, during Florentino Pérez's first term, Real Madrid's results were very average, being completely suppressed by their arch-rivals Barcelona, which became the direct trigger for Florentino Pérez's departure.
Although Fly knew that the fundamental reason for Florentino Pérez's departure was that the forces behind him lost in a political struggle, and Florentino Pérez had to resign as Real Madrid's president, even if the results were good, he would still leave.
But this doesn't change the failure of Florentino Pérez's policies during his first term at Real Madrid.
Fortunately, Florentino Pérez, in his second term, changed his previous habit of "only focusing on superstars and not caring about squad balance." Even though he spent heavily to buy Benzema, Kaka, and others, and inherited the legacy of former president Ramón Calderón, Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, when it came to the choice of head coach, he selected José Mourinho, a pragmatic type, and this was the first step in Real Madrid's transformation.
Lyon, Real Madrid's nemesis in the Champions League in recent years, is no longer a problem for the transformed Mourinho's Real Madrid...
"Tottenham Hotspur's opponent is... Roma!"
Seeing that Tottenham's first-round opponent was Roma, Wilshere, who was nearby, spat: "Pah... Those damn Spurs have good luck, drawing a team in the bottom three."
"Hehe... UEFA knows that Tottenham's strength isn't competitive in the Champions League anyway, so they might as well arrange an easier opponent for them. This way, when people accuse them of targeting the Premier League, they can use Tottenham as an example. Clever tactics..."
Fly chuckled, clearly scoffing at UEFA's underhanded tactics.
Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, these three teams have always had poor luck in the Champions League draws. Ultimately, it's because these three Premier League clubs are competitive in the Champions League.
Although Arsenal's Champions League results have been very average in recent years, they did reach the final just four years ago, so they have a certain foundation...
Now that Arsenal has changed its stingy ways and started spending heavily, anyone at UEFA with half a brain knows that it's only a matter of time before Arsenal returns to its peak.
While Manchester United and Chelsea already have strong Champions League competitiveness, Arsenal is also stepping in, significantly increasing the overall strength of the Premier League...
For Platini, who dislikes the Premier League, he definitely wouldn't want to see this happen.
So Fly had basically anticipated that he would tamper with the draw.
And Tottenham drawing Roma is proof.
Fly had an impression of this draw in his previous life. Arsenal qualified as runners-up in Group H and immediately ran into the 'Cosmic Team' Barcelona.
Shakhtar Donetsk, who finished first in Group H, was drawn against Roma, and ultimately defeated Roma over two legs to advance to the quarterfinals.
In other words, if things had followed the original trajectory, Arsenal, who replaced Shakhtar Donetsk as Group H winners in this timeline, should have been drawn against Roma.
But now, the knockout match between Tottenham and Roma appeared on the TV screen, a match that never happened in his previous life...
"Hehe... Finally couldn't resist tampering, could they?"
Thinking about how he even argued with some people about the fairness of UEFA's draw in his previous life, Fly felt that he was truly too naive back then...
He remembered that in his previous life, many people on a certain green app said that UEFA used white balls of different temperatures to cheat in the draw. At the time, Fly didn't believe it and thought these people were just conspiracy theorists.
It wasn't until a major drawing error occurred in the 2021-2022 Champions League knockout stage draw that Fly finally believed this.
After all, in order to force a draw between Paris, who had Messi, and Manchester United, who had Cristiano Ronaldo, it resulted in teams from the same group being drawn against each other in other pairings.
This major blunder directly ignited the entire internet, and it was only then that Fly learned that the knockout stage draws were artificially controlled by UEFA...
Thinking of this, Fly secretly glanced at Arshavin to confirm that his attention was focused on the drawing ceremony on the TV, and only then did he relax.
Because the blunder in that Champions League draw happened when Arshavin was the drawing assistant.
If Fly hadn't recalled this, he probably wouldn't have remembered this part...
"It seems retired players also need to make a living... If you say the person involved didn't know about this, I wouldn't believe it."
Fly knew very well that this method of distinguishing specific teams in the white balls by different temperatures required the cooperation of the drawing assistant, otherwise, it would all be in vain...
Arshavin becoming the blunder assistant that time must have been known to him beforehand.
Considering that many players face financial difficulties or even bankruptcy after retiring, Fly guessed that the Tsar might not have been doing well at the time, otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to do such a thing.
Afterwards, Fly noticed the former England star who often appeared on TV programs and couldn't help but mock himself:
"Turns out they're all the same... I thought you were a good person because I saw you always speaking highly of me in your BBC column..."
"Now it seems, hehe... Essentially, you're just a person who only cares about profit..."
Instantly, Fly's impression of Gary Lineker plummeted.
After all, a top commentator for the Premier League on BBC could never be destitute.
But he still came to UEFA headquarters to cooperate with those fat-headed officials to deceive the world. Fly couldn't respect such a person...
"Barcelona's opponent is... Shakhtar Donetsk!"
Seeing Joan Laporta and Guardiola on TV simultaneously sighing in relief upon hearing their opponent for the first round of the knockout stage, Fly raised an eyebrow.
Shakhtar Donetsk replaced Arsenal, the runners-up of Group H in the original timeline, and faced Barcelona in the first round of the knockout stage.
There's no problem with this...
This indicates that the pairings for other teams haven't changed; only Arsenal's has.
"Damn your ancestors, UEFA, you're truly shameless..."
When Gary Lineker pretend-stirred the remaining 5 white balls and then picked one out, Fly clearly felt the breathing of his teammates around him suddenly become several degrees heavier.
"Relax, relax... None of the second-placed teams are strong contenders, what's there to panic about?"
Facing Fly's comfort, Wilshere, Fabregas, and the others did not reply.
They just wanted to quietly await the arrival of fate.
Seeing that no one understood his well-intentioned words, Fly pouted, not bothering to pay attention to these ungrateful guys.
"Arsenal's opponent is..."
Gary Lineker deliberately dragged out the announcement for a few beats, then broke the white ball in half and took out a white paper with the team's name printed on it.
After opening it, Gary Lineker's expression suddenly froze, then he turned to the camera and opened it, completing his previous sentence:
"AC Milan!"
As soon as the name was announced, the live broadcast camera immediately focused on Wenger and the current AC Milan head coach Allegri.
Arsène Wenger faced the camera, smiled slightly, showing no signs of panic.
In contrast, the future Juventus coach's face was visibly gloomy. Clearly, drawing Arsenal was very bad news for him.
"Damn it! I knew this would happen... Those damn UEFA never wanted us to have it easy!"
Wilshere and Walcott immediately cursed out loud the moment Arsenal's opponent for the Round of 16 was revealed.
Fabregas, as Arsenal's captain, didn't react as strongly as the other two, but his face was also clouded with gloom.
Only Fly had a smile on his lips, thinking to himself:
"Milan again? Hmm... The opponent in my first professional match. Drawing them must be fate. Winning against them in a friendly doesn't count as true ability; winning against them in the knockout stage is what will show my strength, hahahaha..."