Football giants

Chapter 822
Two sessions were successfully held, and the third International Champions Cup was fully expanded.

The competition has expanded from the original eight teams to sixteen teams, divided into North America and Asia, with a total of four groups, fighting against each other.

The North American division is still two groups of eight teams, and the schedule basically continues the past two tournaments.

In Group A, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund can be described as killing people off their feet.

These four teams are all strong, especially Atletico Madrid, the runner-up of the Champions League last season, with outstanding strength.

However, after letting go of powerful stars such as Miranda, Juanfran, Felipe, Mario Suarez, Turan and Raul Garcia this season, the team's strength has been somewhat affected.

Coupled with the fact that Simeone made up his mind to adjust the team's tactics after the team won the Champions League runner-up, and began to focus on improving the team's control, coupled with the official rise of young players such as Montoya and Jose Gaja, the actual combat ability of the Sheets Corps still has some impact.

But even so, the Sheets still drew with Manchester City, defeated Juventus and defeated Dortmund in the three games of Group A, and finally fell behind Manchester City with a goal difference disadvantage.

Pellegrini's Manchester City finally qualified first in the group with a big victory over Dortmund.

Juventus and Borussia Dortmund are third and fourth in the group respectively.

In Group B, Arsenal, which has introduced strong support this season, unexpectedly won three consecutive victories, beating Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Naples, and won the first place in the group.

Paris Saint-Germain won the second place in the group, and Benitez's Naples won the third place in the group.

On the contrary, it is the most anticipated team and the most eye-catching team in European football this season. Tottenham Hotspur, led by Louis van Gaal, lost three consecutive warm-up matches and were disgraced at the bottom of the round.

Regarding the poor performance of the team, the Dutch coach repeatedly stated in an interview with the media that he was not surprised.

Because the team has just undergone a large-scale reorganization, the players still need to adjust, and even his head coach also needs to adjust, and Van Gaal also pointed out that the team's defensive performance has become better and better in the three games.

This proves that the team continues to improve.

Facts have proved that after being eliminated from the International Champions Cup, Tottenham Hotspur played warm-up matches with teams such as Juventus and Borussia Dortmund successively. They won two consecutive victories and their performance has improved greatly.

This also convinced many people that Van Gaal's statement was credible.

In the semi-finals of the North American Division, Manchester City, the top team in Group A, beat Paris Saint-Germain with a score of [-]-[-].

But Atletico Madrid, second in Group A, unfortunately lost to Arsenal with a score of zero to one.

However, in the third and fourth finals, Simeone's team, relying on Tevez's key lore, beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-[-] and won the No.[-] position in the North American Division.

Manchester City defeated Arsenal [-]-[-] in the final and won the North American Championship.

Although there are no super-popular teams like Southampton, Real Madrid and Barcelona in the North American division of this year's International Champions Cup, the strength of each team is quite outstanding, the competition is fierce, and the games are exciting.

This is the case in the North American Division, and the Asian Division is also not to be outdone.

After learning from the chaotic organization of last season's Asian Invitational Tournament, this year's International Champions Cup Asian Division competition is organized more orderly and more successful.

Among them, Group A events are mainly held in several cities in Japan, South Korea and China, while Group B is held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

Gathering top European giants such as Southampton, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, every game in the Asian Division of the International Champions Cup is highly anticipated.

The Monaco team, which was questioned by the outside media and fans before the game, did not think it was qualified to participate in the International Champions Cup, but became the biggest dark horse in Group B in one fell swoop.

Ronald Koeman, the famous Dutch coach who just replaced Martino and took over Monaco, has only been in office for more than a month, but he led the Monaco team to defeat Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester United in three games in Group B. They won three consecutive victories, which almost shocked everyone's jaws.

You know, Monaco has suffered a lot in the transfer market this season.

After selling Mangala, Depay and Aubameyang, the three main stars of last season, I didn't expect to be able to perform so well. How can it not be surprising?
What is even more surprising is that after winning three consecutive victories and winning the first place in the group, Monaco narrowly beat Southampton, who is second in Group B, with a shocking score of [-]-[-] in the semi-finals, and surprisingly reached the final.

Especially in this game against Southampton.

Bielsa's saints almost occupied an overwhelming advantage in the whole game, but the goalkeeper Keylor Navas, as well as the central defenders composed of Marquinhos and Abdunur, performed quite brilliantly. Coupled with Biglia, who shined in the World Cup, continued his magical performance, and Monaco just withstood Southampton's offensive.

In the end, the Belgian teenager Carrasco, receiving an assist from Fekir, pierced Neuer's goal, scored the winning goal for Monaco, and eliminated Southampton, the favorite to win the championship.

Southampton's performance in this year's International Champions Cup is indeed not outstanding. A very important reason is that none of the international players participating in the World Cup played, especially the international players of Brazil, Argentina, Germany and other teams that played to the end. They were directly refrigerated by Bielsa.

This is also for the consideration of the new season. After all, for these international players, they have been on vacation for a period of time after the World Cup, and it is late to return to the team. They are still in the stage of adjusting their physical fitness, and it is not appropriate to rashly play.

Originally, the most worrying thing was the midfielder.

Bielsa arranged for Pogba, Fabregas and Matic to play the main role. As a result, Fabregas seamlessly connected, Pogba performed quite eye-catching, both goals were impressive, and Matic was as steady as ever.

On the contrary, on the defensive line, Varane, Nastasic, and Laporte's partners were a little uncomfortable, and they all had leaks in the game.

In addition, Cesar, who temporarily replaced Neuer in the starting lineup, did not perform as well as Neuer, which eventually led to Southampton winning one, one draw and one loss in the group stage, losing to Real Madrid, drawing with Inter Milan, and winning Liverpool.

The most impressive in Group A is Klopp's Inter Milan.

Under Klopp's iron-blooded commander, the Nerazzurri went to Sweden for training for more than half a month. After arriving in Asia, they showed a very good combat effectiveness, especially the tactical style with a distinctive Klopp brand.

Klopp basically continued his four-two-three-one tactics in Dortmund.

But the difference is that many people originally thought that Pellet, who was supposed to play a role similar to Lewandowski, failed to get the starting lineup. Instead, Aubameyang took the center position and joined Felipe Anderson, Dybala and De Bruyne to form the frontcourt.

Behind them, Khedira, Alan, or Nainggolan all performed very well.

At the back, Alex Sandro, Blind, De Vrij and Damian formed the line of defense.

There is no doubt that the goalkeeper is still Handanovic.

With this set of lineup, under the leadership of Klopp, they played on par with Southampton and Real Madrid, not inferior, and even the style of play was not conservative at all. The game was very exciting.

Especially the [-]-[-] reversal of Real Madrid's game was even more amazing.

The performance of Brazilian midfielder Alan in this game is even more impressive. The Brazilian, who is both offensive and defensive, beat De Bruyne, who passed and shot, and was elected the best player in the game.

On the contrary, it is the German midfielder Khedira, who is as low-key as ever, but very important. He is the midfielder Klopp relies on most.

At least, playing three warm-up matches is enough to prove the importance of Khedira.

It's a pity that in the end Inter Milan fell behind Southampton with a goal difference, and had to regrettably be eliminated as the third in the group.

However, Inter Milan's outstanding performance in the International Champions Cup has won worldwide recognition and affirmation.

Under the leadership of Klopp, following the two warm-up matches against Manchester United and Barcelona, ​​Inter Milan won one and lost one, beating Manchester United [-]-[-] and losing [-]-[-] to Barcelona. Both the result and the process are satisfactory.

In the end, Southampton once again lost to Bayern Munich in the third and fourth finals of the Asian Division. It is a pity that they won No.4 and failed to continue their previous outstanding performance.

The dark horse Monaco also failed to perform a miracle. In the final, after leading for 10 minutes, it was finally equalized by Real Madrid, and then reversed in overtime, and finally lost the championship.

But Koeman's team has undoubtedly left an extremely deep impression in the minds of fans all over the world.

What is particularly commendable is that Monaco has a very young player lineup. On the basis of inheriting the gorgeous offensive football of his predecessor Martino, Koeman has further injected changeable tactical coordination, which has further improved Monaco's overall strength.

After the time entered August, the champions of the two major regions of the International Champions Cup have been announced.

Manchester City and Real Madrid also deserved the title.

Continuing the brilliance of the past two tournaments, although the tournament has expanded, the ball market is still hot, the venues are full, and tickets are hard to come by.

Coupled with the high-level exciting events and the star-studded giants duel, fans all over the world are hooked.

As the Wall Street Journal commented when reporting.

"The International Champions Cup, a football feast that has swept the world for more than half a month, has once again expanded its brand, enhanced the value of the event, and proved that it is a well-deserved ace event with the highest gold content in the field of football warm-up matches!"

"What is even more exciting is that after this year's large-scale expansion, the football market in the International Champions Cup is still booming, allowing everyone to see the huge potential and bright development prospects of this event."

"But apart from being a huge success on the football field, the International Champions Cup has not only helped the participating teams greatly expand their influence, but also achieved outstanding results in the commercial field."

"The biggest dark horse this year, Monaco has signed three sponsorship contracts in Asia, and two more are under negotiation. Inter Milan, which performed well, has also signed two heavy sponsorship contracts. Manchester City, which won the championship, not only created momentum for their team in New York, but also signed a huge sponsorship contract."

"In addition, like Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Southampton, Barcelona and Manchester United...almost all participating teams have benefited from this event, which undoubtedly makes people see the value of this event."

"With time, the International Champions Cup may become the most commercially valuable club event outside of the UEFA Champions League!"

"As the organizer of the International Champions Cup, Miracle Media has also attracted the attention of investors because of the popularity of the event. Another event hosted by this company, the European Youth Champions League, has also begun to attract the attention of investors and sponsors after entering its third year."

"As an important event for European club youth teams, the UEFA Youth League is not as influential as the International Champions Cup, but it has also attracted the attention of quite a few fans in the past two years."

"It is reported that Miracle Media has reached an agreement with a number of event broadcasting organizations. Starting this year, this event will be broadcast live in Europe. This is undoubtedly a very good start."

"It is particularly worth noting that when we interviewed the CEO of Miracle Media, he also revealed to our reporter that Miracle Media is secretly brewing a brand new competition, which has already been authorized by UEFA and FIFA. Once the time is right, it will be officially announced."

"In Mr. Sun's original words, this will be a major event that will change the pattern of international football!"

"Seeing that Miracle Media's International Champions Cup and UEFA Youth League are getting more and more prosperous, we really have reasons to look forward to their new season."

As soon as the Wall Street Journal report came out, it immediately triggered a huge response all over the world.

After successfully running the International Champions Cup, Miracle Media actually wants to create a new event?

What kind of race was that?
And why should it change the current pattern of international football?
All of these have whetted the appetite of football fans and media reporters all over the world.

So, while Yang Huan was participating in an event in the capital, the reporters at the scene threw questions to Young Master Huan.

(End of this chapter)