Chapter 169: Ironclad Atlético, Dodging the Ironclad King Tang

Tang Ye's cross reached its highest point, then began to descend.

The ball speed was actually not fast, but because it carried spin and had great height, by the time it descended it had already flown to a position slightly behind.

【Tang~~ Ye, playing an overhead ball, directly kicks the ball out of bounds~】

"Tang Ye's pass seems a bit too big!"

"Eh, wait!"

"Alai!"

Just then, Alai, making a forward run, appeared inside the penalty area, jumping up with his body almost brushing against the left goalpost.

Bang!

He headed the ball into the six-yard box!

The ball rebounded, bounced up, and arrived right in front of Bacambu.

The height of this bounce was somewhat awkward, landing exactly at Bacambu's hip level.

There was no organ at this position that could be used to strike the ball!

No choice left!

Bacambu decisively dove forward, tightened his core, and fiercely headed the ball into the goal.

The ball... went in!

"GGGGG—OOOO—LLLLL!!!"

"Goal! Goal!"

"Ba... Tang Ye's pass!"

"Oh my god, Tang Ye's pass can be described with just two words: perfect, because whether viewed from a god's-eye view or from the perspective of the players on the field, Tang Ye's cross was going out of bounds!"

"But in the end, it didn't go out; he noticed Alai preparing to make a forward run!"

Beautiful!

Escrivá suddenly flung both hands outward, then quickly looked toward the assistant referee.

There was no offside on this play!

"Haha!"

Tang Ye's clear laughter rang out across the stadium, and Rodri, closest to him, put an arm around his shoulders.

The pass originated more than twenty meters away from the arc of the penalty area, so Tang Ye did not choose to run toward the corner flag, instead heading directly to the front of the Yellow Submarine's substitute bench.

Tang Ye and Escrivá, standing before him, simultaneously spread their arms wide.

"VAMOS!"

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Dongqiu Di live match report: 12th minute, Tang Ye finds Alai with a long pass, Alai assists Bacambu to score, Villarreal leads 1:0 at home!

【Damn, my Tang Tang Qiuwang is in peak form today】

【I got scared when Atlético scored first just now】

【Actually, I think Atlético scoring an offside goal first would have been a good thing for the Yellow Submarine】

【Oh? Why?】

【Atlético made my Tang Tang Qiuwang anxious, and now they're directly doomed】

【Awesome, so that's how football scores are predicted, no wonder I kept predicting wrong before】

"Come on, come on!"

Bruno patted Tang Ye's buttocks.

Tang Ye's buttocks were flat and lacked flesh, but in Bruno's eyes, this was Tang Ye's engine.

Pat Tom's engine, and then Tom can deliver many wonderful passes!

And then... the Yellow Submarine can welcome victory!

"In the small town where I was born"

"Lived a man who sailed to sea"

"And he told us of his life."

"..."

"Yellow Submarine! Yellow Submarine!"

After taking a one-goal lead, the fans in the stands began singing the Yellow Submarine's team anthem.

This is the Stadium of Love.

The fans were singing their love song dedicated to the players.

The live big screen flashed, displaying the current possession statistics for both teams.

ATM: 41%

VCF: 59%

For most league matches this season, the Yellow Submarine's possession rate usually lagged behind their opponents, but in today's match against Atlético, before even reaching the 20-minute mark, the Yellow Submarine's possession rate had already climbed to nearly 60%.

The reason the Yellow Submarine's possession rate was so high was that Atlético's tactics were quite special compared to the rest of La Liga.

Head coach Simeone did not demand such high control of the ball!

Was this good news for the Yellow Submarine?

Hard to say.

High possession represented more scoring opportunities, but the problem was, Atlético's defensive line was truly terrifyingly solid; the Yellow Submarine looked for chances on the left and searched on the right, yet simply could not find a good opportunity.

As soon as Tang Ye received the ball, a defender would immediately charge at him.

If Tang Ye did not pass the ball quickly, he would be collided with by the opposing defender.

Getting tackled hurts like hell, and Tang Ye didn't want to get tackled!

"Here!"

Musacchio passed the ball to Ruiz, Ruiz passed it to Gaspar, and Gaspar passed it back to Musacchio.

Villarreal kept passing the ball around in their own half, unsure whether to attack down the left flank or the right.

Tang Ye ran back to offer support, constantly looking over his shoulder to observe the positioning of the Atletico players behind him.

He glanced left, memorizing the situation, then looked right, committing that scenario to memory as well.

"Here!"

Tang Ye called for the ball from Gaspar, but the next second, Griezmann sprinted directly in front of him.

Not giving Tang Ye a chance to receive the ball!

Damn it!

Tang Ye was slightly annoyed; Gaspar had no choice but to pass the ball to Rodri first.

Rodri then made a crossing run with Tang Ye.

After this maneuver, Tang Ye finally managed to receive the ball in his own half.

But Griezmann immediately accelerated and chased him down!

Hell!

Knowing he couldn't just stand still, Tang Ye quickly dribbled the ball forward.

"Atletico Madrid's forward line has only two players, yet they're putting immense pressure on Villarreal!"

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye is dribbling!"

Griezmann pursued Tang Ye relentlessly; after a moment of thought, Tang Ye suddenly stopped.

Griezmann had overshot!

A great opportunity!

Tang Ye adjusted his stance and immediately passed the ball to Sansone, who was dropping back on the left to offer support.

This had nothing to do with Sansone helping him with his homework.

Because Sansone was his only available outlet for a forward pass!

Pulling the ball and turning, Sansone found himself surrounded by no Atletico defenders, so he needed to seize the chance and sprint forward immediately.

As Correa ran toward Sansone, Sansone shifted the ball from his right foot to his left, then kicked it back to his right.

"Wow!!!"

Fans in the nearby stands jumped to their feet.

On the wing, Sansone beat Correa's defense in a one-on-one!

"Run! Faster!"

"Through the middle, through the middle!"

Escrivá shouted loudly.

Atletico's defenders were generally conservative, which meant they rarely got beaten in one-on-one situations.

Now, a one-on-one dribble had happened!

A golden opportunity for the Yellow Submarine!

Sansone charged diagonally from the wing straight into the penalty area.

Aleix and Bruno had already started making forward runs!

And of course, there was Tang Ye; his keen offensive instinct prompted him to start sprinting forward the moment he passed the ball to Sansone.

"Go, go, go! Beat him, beat him!"

"Accelerate, accelerate! Shoot, you can shoot now!"

The fans in the stands were incredibly passionate; Sansone needed to stay calm at this critical moment.

Slowly compress Atletico's defensive line!

As Sansone dribbled forward under pressure, a god's-eye view revealed very obvious changes in Atletico's rear defense.

Their 5-5-0 defensive formation shrank proportionally; five defenders and five defensive midfielders looked incredibly solid.

Any pass Sansone made now would simply be handing the ball straight to an Atletico player's feet!

There was no way to pass!

Knowing he needed to step up and do something, Tang Ye slipped over to the left flank.

Rodri reacted quickly, immediately filling the gap Tang Ye had left.

"Tang Ye has moved to the left on his own!"

"Sansone passes back!"

Okay, now it's Tom's time to control the ball!

Accelerating toward the byline!

Bang!

Tang Ye had barely started his run; before he could deliver the cross from the byline, Juanfran charged straight at him.

Holy crap!

Tang Ye quickly dodged!

But Juanfran couldn't stop in time!

Bang!

The two bodies collided; Juanfran kicked the ball away from under Tang Ye's feet, but at the same time, he himself fell to the ground!

Damn!

Tang Ye crashed to the ground, and the referee immediately blew the whistle, signaling a foul by Hu Anfu.

"Holy shit..."

Tang Ye was a bit dazed from the collision, sitting on the ground and not quite reacting yet.

Damn it, luckily he dodged quickly; otherwise, if he had taken that hit head-on with Hu Anfu, his ankle would surely be injured.

"Tom!"

Taking advantage of the moment when players from both sides started arguing, Rodri quickly ran over, pulled Tang Ye up from the ground, and asked, "Tom, are you okay?"

"No problem."

Tang Ye shook his legs on the spot and was just about to take the set piece when he realized his teammates and the opponents were already going at it.

"Is this how you play football? Is this really how you play?"

Bruno pushed Hu Anfu while walking forward.

Because Tang Ye dodged quickly, Hu Anfu didn't receive a yellow card, but fortunately, Tang Ye dodged quickly; otherwise, he estimated he'd be out for several weeks.

The referee handled it quickly, pushing players from both sides apart before moving to the spot of the foul.

He took out the vanishing spray hanging from his waist and, with a "pfft," drew an arc on the grass.

Tang Ye brushed away the foam that was piled a bit too high, then placed the ball on the white line.

"Atletico's foul has given Villarreal a set-piece opportunity."

"Tang Ye and Bruno are standing behind the ball; judging by Tang Ye's condition, he doesn't appear to be injured."

He Wei squinted, staring intently at the screen in front of him.

His expression was relaxed, and he kept chewing gum in his mouth.

Hmm, his condition looks great; he's definitely not injured!

"Let's see how Villarreal handles this set piece..."

Tang Ye began backing up a few steps, positioning himself to observe the situation inside the penalty area.

Villarreal's array of heading experts, such as Aleix, Musacchio, as well as Ruiz and Rodri, were already in position inside or around the penalty area, ready to go.

However, Atletico's defense was very compact, with their ten outfield players huddled together, making it difficult for Tang Ye to find a suitable passing target.

But he had to make a decision quickly!

Tang Ye raised his right hand.

Far post!

The attacking players inside the penalty area reacted immediately, making their forward runs at the same time Tang Ye began his run-up.

Smack!

Tang Ye decisively hammered the set piece into the penalty area with his right foot.

【Ward-Prowse Topspin Set Piece】 + 【Fernandes First-Touch Module】, this cross from Tang Ye could be said to utilize his full capabilities.

The height was decent, clearing the near post directly!

Inside the six-yard box, Musacchio jumped under pressure.

There's a chance!

On the sidelines, Escriba clenched his fists tightly.

Is 2-0 coming!

A direct header!

Musacchio's head failed to reach the ball!

Oh no...

Escriba's tightly clenched fists immediately loosened again.

Just a little bit off!

What a pity!

Duang!

Tang Ye's cross hit the right goalpost, rebounded, and went straight into the net.

Escriba:?

"Damn!"

"Tom!"

The Estadio de la Ceramica suddenly erupted; Musacchio, who was lying in the penalty area trying to win a penalty, realized the ball had gone into the net, quickly stood up, and ran toward the backfield where Tang Ye was located.

He had heard that "duang"!

Tang Ye's set piece had scored directly!

【You have obtained Counterattack Points *15】

Oh!

Tang Ye stood in place.

To be honest, he intended to pass this ball to Musacchio, but Musacchio missed it, and it accidentally went straight into the goal!

【At 38 years old, you pretended to pass to the far post, but in reality, with your excellent set-piece skills, you had long prepared to shoot directly; this is your confidence when facing younger players—you controlled the match!】

【You have obtained additional Counterattack Points *5】

The benefit this goal brought Tang Ye wasn't 15 Counterattack Points, but 20!

【Deceiving teammates, Counterattack Points -1】

"..."

Alright, it's 19 points!

But 19 points is already a lot!

"Tom, over here!"

Rodri led Tang Ye running toward the corner flag, with Sansone and Ale hurrying to catch up.

3, 2, 1!

"VAMOS!!!"

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: After being knocked down by a collision, Tang Ye feinted a pass on the set piece before shooting directly into the goal, fully displaying the style of a Ball King.

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

The first half resumed; after taking a 2:0 lead, the home fans' roar had completely engulfed the Estadio de la Cerámica.

When the score was 0:0 and 0:1, a group of Atlético Madrid fans were still booing Yellow Submarine's team anthem, but that situation no longer existed now.

The great Atlético Madrid was trailing!

And trailing by a full two goals!

"Forward, forward, push further up!"

"Back, back, too far, too far!"

Escrivá was still on the sidelines constantly directing players to expand and contract the attacking line; it was clear this Yellow Submarine head coach wanted to hold this scoreline before the first half ended.

Hold this score, then secure victory in this match!

However, Atlético Madrid was not so easy to defeat; in the 37th minute, Savic carried the ball alone from the backfield to the center, then decisively passed it to Correa on his right.

"There shouldn't be a suitable passing option right now; Correa could consider pushing further forward..."

"Eh! He passed directly! Correa's low driven through-ball went straight to Griezmann!"

Griezmann was pinned by Ruiz and couldn't make a good run; just as the ball rolled to his feet, Griezmann extended his right foot and smashed the ball behind himself.

Then he spun around directly!

!!!

By the time Ruiz reacted, Griezmann had already completed his body rotation and reached a position parallel to him.

It looked like a one-on-one, but Ruiz dared not make a move.

Because committing a foul at this moment could result in a red card!

Griezmann accelerated toward the penalty area!

From a god's-eye view, this was indeed a one-on-one!

In the stands, fans of both the home and away teams held their breath at this moment; Griezmann fired a low shot, and the ball flew between Asenjo's thigh and arm into the net.

And into the goal!

Goal!

Griezmann's one-on-one breakthrough and goal!

The Atlético Madrid players, who had suddenly pulled one back, were ecstatic; Griezmann and Gameiro ran together, both performing a knee-slide celebration.

VAMOS Atletico!

"Booo——!!!"

The home fans continuously booed Griezmann, but he paid it no mind.

A super attacker valued at 80 million euros, Griezmann's individual market value could match half of Yellow Submarine's starting lineup!

"Mark him tighter..."

Asenjo shrugged his hands at Ruiz.

Ruiz felt somewhat awkward now, as he clearly hadn't expected to let Griezmann get past him.

His defense just now was practically a crime!

"It's fine, it's fine."

Bruno ran over and fist-bumped Ruiz: "It's fine, it's fine, we're still leading, it doesn't matter."

The first half entered its final stages; after Griezmann scored, Atlético Madrid's momentum gradually returned a bit.

In the 44th minute, they nearly equalized the score, but fortunately Ruiz made no mistake this time, heading the ball away just before Griezmann could connect with his header.

"Beep——!!!"

"Alright, the first half is over!"

"The score temporarily stands at 2:1, with the home team, Villarreal, leading by one goal."

"Currently, looking at the statistics, Villarreal's advantage is quite obvious, as they performed better than Atlético Madrid in both possession and attack. But as we've said, you can't just look at stats in a football match."

"Actually, setting aside possession rate and effective attacks, Atlético Madrid's performance in this match has been quite good; they effectively limited Tang Ye's impact, which I think is very important."

The two Tang Ye fan commentators on CCTV pretended to analyze both teams' tactics while actually looking for opportunities to praise Tang Ye.

But the logic remains the same; it's truly hard to say who will win or lose this match!

【Damn, I went to the toilet and Griezmann scored?】

【Actually, Tang Tang Qiuwang shouldn't have been able to score that set piece; it's all Juanfran's fault for acting so pretentious—what level is he to dare collide with Tang Ye?】

【Scoring directly from a set piece is truly ridiculous... I remember Tang Ye also scored directly from a set piece back when he was at Utrecht, but I feel this one was even more fierce.】

【Of course, Tang Ye's strength is growing very fast at his current age.】

【"Strength growing very fast" refers to: dodging physical confrontations.】

【Just say whether it went in or not; with Atlético's defense being so solid, finding chances from set pieces isn't easier than finding them in open play—Tang Ye saw through everything long ago.】

In the halftime locker room, Tang Ye, according to his habit, replaced the gum in his mouth.

Fresh gum!

A fresh state of mind!

Bruno walked over, very naturally reached his hand into Tang Ye's pocket, pulled out a piece of chewing gum, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

"Just take one from my backpack."

Tang Ye pointed to his Joma backpack resting on the ground, then quickly pulled another piece of gum from inside to replace the one he'd lost.

"Hey, Tom, I have a question."

While Escrivá was still setting up tactics, Bruno sat down beside Tang Ye: "Is it true that you only reach your best state when you're chewing gum?"

"This..."

Just as Tang Ye was pondering how to answer Bruno's question, Escrivá, standing in the middle, had already finished drawing what he wanted with his marker pen.

"Guys, I must admit you played very well in the first half; a 2:1 scoreline against Atlético, I think that's appropriate."

He stole a glance at Tang Ye in the corner: "Although I don't actually know how that second goal was scored..."

Huh?

"But that's not the point! The point is we need to carry this leading advantage to the end of the match and then win this game."

Thump! Thump!

Rapping the whiteboard twice, Escrivá continued speaking: "Our opponents expended a great deal of effort on defense, which means their physical exertion in the first half will be extremely, extremely high."

"Although we are leading in the first half, I believe our real opportunity actually lies in the second half!"

A 0:0 or 1:1 score in the first half, then seizing on Atlético's exhaustion in the second half to score a last-gasp winning goal—this was the script Escrivá had planned for this match.

However, the reality was that Yellow Submarine was already leading in the first half.

Therefore, Escrivá had to adjust his plan.

Focus more on defense before the 70th minute of the second half, then strengthen the attack after the 70th minute once the opposition has little stamina left!

(End of Chapter)