Chapter 124: Overall Rating of 78, The Europa League Arrives!

Dongqiu Di pinned post: Champions League group stage draw—Dortmund, Real Madrid, and Sporting create a group of death!

Dongqiu Di pinned post: Europa League group stage draw—Inter, Villarreal, Ajax; is Tang Ye facing a difficult path to advance from the group?

CCTV: After negotiations with the European Football Development Center and the Union of European Football Associations, China Central Television has purchased the broadcasting rights for the Europa League for the next three seasons.

【Damn, how did we get Inter with a one-in-three chance?】

【Even drawing Manchester United would be better than drawing Inter, right?】

【Hard to say; as a Serie A fan, I think Inter's performances in the first few matches of the new season have been quite poor, not as good as Villarreal with Tang Tang Qiuwang.】

【For real?】

【This is truly hell difficulty, brothers; plus, Champions League teams will drop into the knockout stage. How do we play this? Forget it, let's just figure out how to reach the knockout stage first...】

【Believe in Tang Tang Qiuwang!】

【Damn, why are there so many little Tang Ren on Dongqiu Di lately? It's already amazing that Tang Ye saved a Eredivisie team; do you expect him to save Villarreal too? Does Tang Ye himself know he has that ability?】

The results of the Europa League draw sparked much discussion within the Villarreal squad, and naturally among the fanbase as well.

The great Tang Tang Qiuwang actually has to face Inter Milan, the 2009-10 Champions League winner, in the Europa League group stage; this is something fans cannot accept.

Sandwiched between Inter and Ajax, what if Tang Ye fails to advance to the knockout stage!

In contrast to Villarreal, Manchester United's draw is very favorable; PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahçe are both entirely manageable for United.

In response, Manchester United's official account posted a tweet where staff spliced a photo of Ten Hag with a photo of the Europa League trophy, creating the illusion that Ten Hag was turning to gaze at the champion's trophy.

Regarding the new season's European competitions, the Manchester Red Devils can be said to be full of confidence!

Immediately after the draw concluded, the schedule was released; Villarreal will play against fourth-pot team Zurich on September 15, marking their first Europa League match of the season.

Zurich may look easy to bully, but Escrivá still holds great respect for this team from the Swiss Super League.

Two days before the match, the Villarreal players held a training session focused on Zurich's tactical characteristics.

【De Bruyne Underlap Cross Lv2: Similar】

Proficiency: 1/200

【Passing: 84→86】

After the 【Underlap Cross】 skill leveled up to Lv2, Tang Ye's passing attribute also reached 86 points.

Tang Ye is somewhat excited right now.

According to the stats in the FIFA games he often plays, a passing ability of 86 is already at the level of a starting midfielder in the top five European leagues.

This means that, at the very least, Tang Ye can now secure a starting position at Villarreal!

Bang!

Tang Ye kicked the ball away with the inside of his foot, then entered the system to carefully review his other current stats.

Tang Ye (38 years old)

【Ball Control: 77; Passing: 86】

【Shooting: 72; Heading: 44; Set Pieces: 73】

【Pace: 67; Stamina: 70; Physicality: 71】

【Defense: 66; Vision: 93】

Overall Rating: 78

Aside from passing, Tang Ye's other attributes have also improved significantly.

His overall rating has even reached as high as 78, which is 1 point higher than the 77 he had when he first joined the team; looking at the individual stat values, he estimates he is not far from an overall rating of 79.

It must be said that the intensity of training within the Villarreal squad is incomparable to that at Utrecht.

Without any skill assistance, Tang Ye's ball control attribute increased by 1 point.

Rising from 76 to 77!

Pity that Mr. Ferran has recently, for some unknown reason, gradually reduced the frequency of the team's passing drills; otherwise, Tang Ye estimates his ball control attribute could have risen to 78 before the Europa League began.

Slap!

Suddenly, a ball flew in from the far end and hit Tang Ye squarely on the head.

"Don't zone out, Tom!"

"My fault, my fault!"

On match day, the Villarreal players boarded the team bus to travel to the Estadio de la Cerámica, located less than a 20-minute drive from the training base.

Villarreal is a very small city in the province of Valencia, where fully half the citizens are Villarreal fans; thus, when the all-yellow team bus drove through the streets, you could see many fans running alongside it on both sides.

"Vamos Villarreal!"

"Bruno!"

"Tom!!"

Several young men in their twenties ran quickly down the street holding signs, and Tang Ye saw his name on one of them.

Yeah Tom!

These fans were clearly mistaken, thinking Tom was Tang Ye's surname, but Tang Ye didn't mind.

His popularity among the fans was even higher than he had imagined!

Seeing Tang Ye's excited expression, Captain Bruno, sitting on the other side of the aisle, leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily: "This is what you deserve; you're the most valuable player on our entire team!"

"The most valuable!"

Aleix added.

"Damn it, stop talking about this!"

Ever since the Transfermarkt values were updated, his teammates had been constantly joking with Tang Ye about his market value.

Tang Ye said he didn't want teammates to bring up his market value, but deep down he was actually quite pleased.

Because this was a form of recognition for him—not just from his teammates, but also from the transfer window staff and the fans.

17 years old, 18 million euros!

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye could already feel it.

The future was right before his eyes!

……

Check Dongqiu Di, Villarreal vs. Zurich player list: Bruno and Ruiz lead, Tang Ye starts!

"China Central Television! This is the Europa League Group L first round, Villarreal hosting Zurich!"

"Now I will introduce the starting lineups for both teams in this match!"

"……"

"The match has begun! Villarreal's attack is very fierce; they want to seize control of the game immediately!"

Just as the commentator said, Villarreal started playing very aggressively today.

This was something Escrivá had already emphasized to the players in the locker room.

When the opponent is not strong, how can one avoid an upset?

Very simple: use your strength to control the game right from the start.

Don't give Zurich any chance to catch their breath!

This is the most correct way for a La Liga team to play against a Swiss Super League team!

"Here!"

The pace of the match was fast; seeing a teammate dribbling forward, Tang Ye didn't dare to slack off and quickly ran over to take the ball.

Bruno reached out for the ball; Tang Ye passed it back, turned to shake off the opposing defender, and then sprinted forward.

After observing, Tang Ye found a good gap between Kukli and Sahl.

He quickly ran over to occupy that position!

Facing the press, Bruno passed the ball back to Ruiz in the center who was providing support.

Spotting Tang Ye in an open space, Ruiz decisively sent a low pass.

Pat!

"Damn it!"

There was a slight mistake when controlling the ball; it hit Tang Ye's instep and flew straight up.

But it didn't matter, because there were no Zurich defenders nearby, so Tang Ye had time to bring the ball back down to the grass.

Sahl pressed Tang Ye quickly, but after adjusting, Tang Ye immediately passed the ball away.

Zurich knew Villarreal liked to play possession football; they wanted to use high pressing to fight for the ball.

However, Villarreal's possession was not so easily lost.

Of the four midfielders, apart from Tang Ye, all were top-tier ball controllers!

After receiving Tang Ye's pass, Cheryshev launched his dribbling advance on the wing.

First observing the specific positioning of the opposing defenders, Tang Ye chose to run from the right flank to the left.

"On the left! Cheryshev passes to Ale; Ale dribbles forward again!"

"Hiss, Ale seems to be encountering a bit of a problem!"

Zurich's defenders closed in very fast; as soon as Ale got the ball, he met Winter and Brunner.

For a center forward standing over 1.9 meters tall, dribbling past opponents was still a bit difficult for him.

"Hey!"

Tang Ye shouted; hearing the familiar voice, Ale smiled.

Pat!

Back pass!

Here it comes!

Tang Ye took control of the ball; Bangura rushed straight at Tang Ye's right foot, but at that moment Tang Ye used his left foot to feint, easily shaking off the opponent.

Although he couldn't dribble past him, if it was just about protecting possession, this was not a difficult thing for Tang Ye.

While creating space, he glanced at the penalty area.

Ok!

His gaze returned to the ball; Tang Ye stepped on it with his right foot and crossed with his left!

This was the 【De Bruyne 45-degree cross】!

Just the left-right internal conflict version!

Inside the penalty area!

This was Pato's chance!

The Villarreal players were a bit nervous because during the Champions League qualifiers before, Pato had wasted two excellent opportunities!

Puff!

A header was struck, and the ball went steadily into the net.

"GGGGGG——OOOOOO——LLLLLLLL!!!"

"Goal!"

"Pato's goal!"

The on-site announcer shouted Pato's name in a hoarse yet standard Spanish, and Villarreal's former forward immediately ran towards Tang Ye.

Previously, he had failed to seize the opportunity Tang Ye gave him, becoming the team's sinner.

Fortunately, Tang Tang Qiuwang was magnanimous and compassionate toward all beings; he gave Pato another chance.

Pato seized this opportunity!

Seeing Pato open his mouth, Tang Ye knew what he intended to do, so the two of them shouted that sentence together.

"VAMOS!"

【Counterattack Points *10】

In the system's judgment, the level of the Europa League should be similar to that of La Liga, so Tang Ye earned a reward of 10 Counterattack Points for this assist.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang!

The fans in the stands of the Madrigal Stadium began to build momentum; in the camera shot, the Zurich players one by one lowered their heads.

【Hahaha, Tang Tang Qiuwang's assists are still reliable.】

【Left foot again, damn it, so Tang Tang Qiuwang is truly completely balanced with both feet; even Zhou Zhou Botong and Little Dragon Girl aren't that formidable, right?】

【Can't criticize this one; this is a genuine genius.】

【I am just a little Tang Ren; I'm laying my cards on the table!】

【Is 3:0 secure? 3:0.】

"Move, move!"

"Don't walk!"

The match continued; Escrivá kept pressuring Tang Ye.

After spending a month together, the Spaniards had gained some understanding of Tang Ye.

You could treat Tang Ye as a wind-up machine, and his spring was very short, requiring frequent winding.

Because if you didn't wind him, he simply wouldn't move!

Tang Ye felt a bit awkward; in truth, even if Escrivá hadn't shouted, he would have needed to run frequently in this match anyway.

In Spain, Tang Ye had learned the concept of coordinated off-ball movement; Escrivá's training sessions made Tang Ye realize that he must rely on constant running to coordinate with his teammates.

Everyone else was running, so he had to start running too!

The 32nd minute.

"Currently, the home team Villarreal's possession rate is 58%; considering their opponent today is Zurich from the Swiss Super League, this possession rate is actually somewhat low."

"However, the flow of play still favors Villarreal."

"Eh, let's take a look at this attack by Zurich!"

"Tang Ye made a mistake."

"Rodríguez stole the ball!"

The Zurich players knew they couldn't engage in passing and possession against their opponents, so Rodríguez's first reaction upon gaining the ball was to find his teammates up front.

If things weren't working on their side, then launch a long kick to find teammates on another route.

The pass was precise, going straight to Sadiku!

Sadiku headed the ball!

Goalkeeper Asenjo parried the ball out!

But it seemed it wasn't over yet?

Bangoura's follow-up shot!

Goal!

"Damn..."

Tang Ye, who was running back toward his own half, noticed the ball enter the net and slowly came to a stop.

His loss of possession had led to his team conceding a goal.

Wasn't that tantamount to committing a crime!

"It's fine, it's fine!"

While the Zurich players were celebrating, Bruno seized the opportunity to quickly run over to Tang Ye.

"Small issue, it doesn't matter!"

Tang Ye high-fived Bruno, his mood no longer as comfortable as it had been at kickoff.

The first half continued.

Tang Ye was waiting.

Waiting for a chance to redeem himself!

Here it comes!

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball】!

The level of the Growth Template skill determined the similarity and success rate of Tang Ye's usage of the skill; a level 4 rating was already quite high.

Nowadays, Tang Ye could essentially execute a decent through ball once every two attempts.

And just moments ago, his through ball had reached Allé up front!

"Woww!!!"

The fans in the stands were screaming; Allé dribbled to the byline and played a cutback to Ndiaye, who followed up immediately with a long-range shot!

Bang!

Goal! Just five minutes after his "crime," Tang Ye used his excellent vision and long-pass control to create an opportunity for his team.

"Damn, he's truly fierce."

Tang Ye did not rush to celebrate; Ndiaye's long-range shot made him feel a bit envious.

A tricky angle plus top-tier ball speed on a long-range shot—this was what Tang Ye believed a midfielder ought to do!

He just didn't know when he would acquire such abilities?

Damn, I'm so envious!

"Beep, beep-beep!"

Check Dongqiu Di halftime report: Yellow Submarine leads Zurich 2:1; after Tang Ye's fatal error, he created a golden chance to save the scoreline.

Besides some dynamic images, the Check Dongqiu Di app also provided Tang Ye's first-half match statistics.

Halftime rating 7.9, 2 golden chances created, 1 assist, 11 possessions lost, running distance 4.9 km.

Eleven possessions lost, plus 4.9 km of running in just one half—these are extremely negative stats for any La Liga midfielder.

But when it comes to Tang Ye, things are a bit different.

Only 11 possessions lost in 45 minutes, and 4.9 km covered in those same 45 minutes.

Hell, this is simply godlike!

……

The second half is about to begin; players from both sides line up again in the tunnel.

Tang Ye can't quite stand still; he rises onto his toes, then lowers them again.

Mr. Ferran already stated his requirements in the locker room.

Considering that Inter Milan and Ajax, two thorny opponents, remain in the group, the Yellow Submarine must secure a larger goal difference in today's match against Zurich.

Only then will they have an advantage when fighting for the top two spots in the group!

"Let's go!"

Behind him, Soriano places a hand on Tang Ye's shoulder.

"Come on, come on!"

……

(End of chapter)