Chapter 619: Champions League Draw: Tang Ye Makes His Appearance at Westfalenstadion

Time arrived at October 1st, a very important day.

Today was the day of the draw ceremony for the 20-21 Champions League group stage; besides grouping the 32 teams participating in this season's Champions League, the ceremony would also present two awards after the draw: UEFA Best Player and Best Coach for the 2019-20 season.

This was also the reason Tang Ye had been photographed by fans appearing in Switzerland.

Repost: Pot allocations for the 20-21 Champions League participating teams:

Pot 1: Manchester United (Champions), Real Madrid, Bayern, Porto...

Pot 2: Liwupu, Atletico Madrid, Ajax...

Pot 3: Dortmund, Atalanta, Inter Milan...

Pot 4: Lokomotiv Moscow...

Dortmund finished third in Fan Fan Dejia last season, failing to beat RB Leipzig, and now they needed to pay some price for that.

Being in Pot 3 meant that Dortmund would face at least two super-strong teams (one from Pot 1 and one from Pot 2) respectively; the situation looked grim.

Tang Ye and Escrivá arrived together at the ceremony venue, where reporters were waiting outside the door.

Click-click!

"TY, will you be playing in the third round of matches?"

"Ferran, how did you convince the club to loan Tom?"

"TY!"

"Is TY's failure to pass the Premier League TUE a conspiracy by Fan Fan Dejia?"

"..."

Originally, Tang Ye had planned to say a few casual words and leave, but the reporters asked an outrageously absurd question, so absurd that Tang Ye needed to personally explain it.

"No, it's not a conspiracy; I didn't pass the Premier League TUE because of their rules—the rules are written that way, even though I don't agree with that rule."

"This has nothing to do with Fan Fan Dejia."

"Do you think you can save Fan Fan Dejia's declining viewership ratings?"

"..."

Tang Ye was somewhat speechless: "If fans are willing to watch me play, then of course I'd be very happy."

Tang Ye explained a lot, yet his words seemed to have little effect.

"Ferran, some fans believe you loaned TY to help Dortmund win the Fan Fan Dejia title; have you considered what you would do if Dortmund fails to win this season's Fan Fan Dejia title?"

"If we don't win the Fan Fan Dejia title..."

Escrivá stopped in his tracks: "We will have a way to solve the problem, but as for what that way is, if we truly fail to win the Fan Fan Dejia title, you will know it at that time."

Hm?

Escrivá's words left the reporters confused and bewildered.

Actually, it wasn't just the reporters; Tang Ye also didn't know what Escrivá was talking about.

Did Mr. Ferran mean that if Dortmund failed to win the Fan Fan Dejia title, he still had other methods to help Dortmund secure that championship?

Was that how it was?

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Countdown to the 20-21 Champions League group stage draw: 10 minutes.

Although it was clearly a countdown to the Champions League draw, the accompanying image was not a glass bowl with slips of paper on the draw stage, but rather a photo from the guest seats.

No one knew which genius had arranged the seating, but Tang Ye was sitting directly between Escrivá and Ten Hag.

"Help me get a bottle of water, hmm, thanks!"

Tang Ye spoke to a staff member in the front row, receiving a transparent bottle of mineral water with its wrapper torn off.

Holding it in his hand and unscrewing the cap, Tang Ye discovered Escrivá was looking at him from the left.

Mr. Ferran also seemed somewhat thirsty.

When Tang Ye turned his head again, Ten Hag was also looking at him.

"..."

Tang Ye raised the water bottle, tilted his head high, and began drinking with a gulp-gulp sound.

"How does Fan Fan Dejia feel?"

Ten Hag suddenly asked, while Tang Ye screwed the cap back onto the mineral water bottle: "Hiss... I haven't started playing yet, but from watching videos, I feel Fan Fan Dejia should be somewhat easier."

Ten Hag nodded slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Tang Ye asked; Ten Hag shook his head indicating nothing was wrong, but then suddenly asked again: "What if Manchester United and Dortmund are drawn together, I mean, hypothetically?"

"This..."

Ten Hag's words made Tang Ye frown.

In his impression, UEFA was no good; what they loved doing most was rigging things during the Champions League draw.

If UEFA decided to rig a matchup between Manchester United and Dortmund, that would be disastrous.

"Although... well... I feel we won't meet."

Tang Ye thought for a moment and gave his answer.

Of course, if they did meet, there would be no choice; they would just have to grit their teeth and play.

"Actually, I feel UEFA should allow avoidance clauses."

Tang Ye said.

Many loan contracts for players include a parent-club avoidance clause; for example, if a player faces their parent club during the loan period, the loaned player must avoid playing.

But the Champions League does not recognize avoidance clauses.

This means that no matter how many restrictions Manchester United added to Tang Ye's loan contract, if the two teams encounter each other in the Champions League, Tang Ye can still play.

Tang Ye cupped the back of his head with both hands, silently hoping UEFA would not rig the draw against him, while at the same time, the live camera shifted from the trio of Tang Ye to the stage.

"China Media Group! This is the live broadcast of the 2020-2021 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony!"

"The guest attending this draw ceremony is Chelsea legend Didier Drogba!"

"..."

【Let's get Liwupu! Or Manchester United would work too; hmm, actually, let's go with Manchester United.】

【The person above must be a Bayern fan.】

【I bet five yuan: Dortmund draws Manchester United, giving us another Battle of the Two Saints. Any European capitalist who understands TV ratings should arrange the groups exactly like this.】

【If they play Manchester United, Dortmund is done for, though they could still advance as group runners-up.】

【So Dortmund advances as group runners-up, only to get eliminated by Real Madrid straight away in the Round of 16, is that it?】

【Can Bayern and Leipzig fans stop being sour? If you couldn't loan him, you just couldn't loan him.】

As Drogba touched the ball, the director kept cutting the camera to Ten Hag and Escrivá, clearly knowing what the fans wanted to see.

If Dortmund were to play Manchester United, that would truly make for spectacular entertainment.

"The third-seeded team in Group A..."

!

The moment the host finished speaking, Tang Ye's heart began beating faster and faster.

"Atalanta."

"Phew..."

"Hey, Manchester United and Dortmund have avoided each other!"

"Haha, yes, in that case, it should be a relatively good result for both sides. After all, Manchester United and Dortmund already faced each other in the group stage last season, so the possibility of meeting for two consecutive seasons is indeed slim."

"In that case, Manchester United is in a group with Ajax and Atalanta; Atalanta is fine, but Ajax... hiss, one can only say Manchester United's draw is merely average. Do not be misled by Ajax being an Eredivisie team; their historical performance in the Champions League is quite outstanding!"

Jinri Toutiao — New Season Champions League Draw Results Released: Manchester United Draws Ajax, Tang Ye Faces Cristiano Ronaldo Again, Barcelona and Liwupu in Group of Death.

Group A: Manchester United, Ajax, Atalanta, Lokomotiv Moscow.

Group D: Juventus, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Istanbul.

Group E: Barcelona, Liwupu, Lazio, Club Brugge.

Seeing the complete draw results, Escrivá did not break into a smile, but neither was he too distressed.

Group D, where Dortmund resides, is rather peculiar; judging by European competition performances in past seasons, the strength of the first three teams is roughly equal, emphasizing nothing more than balance.

Good news: There is no team Dortmund cannot handle.

Bad news: There is no team Dortmund can easily crush.

The draw ceremony concluded entirely, and next came the award presentation segment.

As the 2020 UEFA Best Player, Tang Ye, dressed in a suit, walked slowly toward the podium.

"Thank you."

He accepted the trophy from Drogba's hands.

The UEFA Player of the Year award carries significantly less prestige than the Ballon d'Or, yet this was indeed Tang Ye's first time receiving this honor, as the UEFA Best Player awards for the previous two years had gone to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively.

"Congratulations, Tom."