Chapter 186: 18 Chances Created in a Single Match? The Copa del Rey Quarterfinals Begin!

Quite coincidentally, not long after Tang Ye and Escrivá emerged from the locker room, Utrecht also concluded their 17th-round Eredivisie match.

At the strong request of reporters and fans, owner Verhoeven, who had personally come to watch the match, attended this press conference.

He was asked to answer questions concerning Tang Ye.

"Mr. Paul, previously you rejected Villarreal because Barcelona offered a higher bid, but why are you rejecting Barcelona now? With a transfer fee of 75 million euros, you could purchase many players; Utrecht would become even stronger in the second half of the league season."

"Or... do you simply want to earn more money?"

Verhoeven looked at the camera and did not speak immediately.

The owner of Utrecht rarely appeared on screen, yet his aura as a tycoon granted him a calm, unhurried demeanor when facing the lens.

He even appeared calmer than Utrecht's head coach after the defeat!

"Barcelona wishes to complete this transaction early. Tang's loan contract with Villarreal still has half a year remaining, yet Barcelona demands we sign the contract now to decide matters for six months later; I consider this highly inappropriate."

Verhoeven gave the answer he had prepared long ago.

"So, you are worried that Tang will deliver performances worthy of a higher valuation in the coming half-year, causing you to miss out on earning the maximum amount? Is that it?"

With Verhoeven speaking thus, the reporters roughly understood the club's current stance.

Suddenly receiving 75 million euros during the winter transfer window, hastily buying players to turn things around and challenge for rankings in the second half of the Eredivisie season?

No, that is not Zhi De Zuo Fa.

Utrecht is extremely cautious; they have decided to simply write off this season, as such hasty transfers will not yield particularly good results.

They need to closely monitor outstanding players from the top five leagues over the next half-year, then make their move during Piggy Xia Chuang.

By then, Tang Ye's valuation might rise even further!

"No, it is not like that either."

Verhoeven smiled: "As I stated before, Tang is our non-sale item. As you can see, the team is currently encountering some difficulties, and Tang is a typical midfield core who can bring significant change to the squad."

"Yes, we need Tang's help next season to contend for the Eredivisie title once again."

Verhoeven once again emphasized Tang Ye's status as a "non-sale item."

"So you want Tang to help Utrecht again, just as he did last season; is this the entire reason you rejected Barcelona's offer?"

"It is a reason, but not the only one."

Verhoeven glanced at the reporter sitting to his front-side, then looked back at the camera.

"Tang's loan contract with Villarreal has not yet ended; as you know, deciding Tang's future at this time would be disrespectful to Villarreal. We are willing to listen to some offers, but these matters should be discussed after half a year has passed."

What the reporters did not know was that clubs inquiring about Tang Ye's transfer fee extended beyond just Barcelona and Yellow Submarine.

Given Tang Ye's current high demand, Utrecht need not worry at all about him failing to sell due to an excessively high price.

Front-page headline of the "Utrecht Evening Post": Regarding the issue of selling Tom early, the Utrecht board of directors has developed a massive divergence. "Undeniably, 75 million euros is truly a vast sum for Utrecht; this money could almost alter the team's fate for the second half of the season."

Secondary headline of the "Villarreal Chronicle": Between January 1st and January 12th, at least six clubs from the top five leagues and the Portuguese Super League inquired with Utrecht regarding Tom's transfer, with Barcelona's offer likely being the highest. Barcelona's senior management believes Tom's outstanding offensive creative ability can completely activate the MSN trio, thereby forming suppression over Real Madrid.

As Marca editor Lonselo stated: "Messi was defeated by Cristiano Ronaldo in last year's Ballon d'Or voting; now Barcelona is anxious to recruit a pure offensive attacking midfielder, the reasons behind which are imaginable. However, I believe that even with Messi plus Tom, the possibility of defeating Ronaldo remains exactly zero."

As always, whenever the transfer window arrives, news of player transfers is everywhere.

However, this is still the first time a Chinese player has received such extensive attention across Europe.

One can only say that Tang Ye is indeed somewhat exaggerated.

In fact, as early as when Tang Ye was still playing in the Eredivisie, his kind of super-strong offensive ability had already garnered attention from many head coaches of giants in the top five leagues.

But the problem encountered at that time was that Tang Ye's performance spanned only that single Eredivisie season, and he also possessed the super flaw of poor ball protection and control.

However, after playing half a season with Yellow Submarine, those giant head coaches discovered an astonishing phenomenon.

That was, Tang Ye's flaws were slowly disappearing!

Do you remember how, when Tang Ye first started playing in La Liga, he was completely afraid to take the ball?

But now?

He even dares to pretend to be a forward on the left wing and attempt dribbling breakthroughs during matches against Barcelona!

Tom is slowly transforming into a modern offensive midfielder.

And this is no ordinary offensive midfielder.

This is a super offensive midfielder with 17 assists in 18 La Liga rounds!

Snap!

【De Bruyne Bottom Cross Lv3: Simulation】

Proficiency: 42/400

On the training ground, Tang Ye delivered a precise cross into the penalty area to Rodri, who jumped up and successfully scored with a header.

"Wow!"

Rodri raised both hands toward Tang Ye, and Tang Ye simultaneously raised his own hand: "Rode!"

The two ran to the center to high-five, and Tang Ye glanced at the scoreboard outside the field.

Team A, where he and Rodri were located, was leading Team B by a score of 6:2.

This was a 7v7 scrimmage with a very large advantage!

Just then, training ended, and Tang Ye and Rodri came to sit on chairs by the sideline.

Tang Ye reached into the box behind him, fumbling around; he originally intended to grab two bottles of mineral water, but discovered there was only one bottle in the box.

"I'll drink a little first, and give the rest to you."

Saying this, Tang Ye unscrewed the cap, poured water into his mouth from a distance, gently screwed the cap back on, and then handed it to Rodri sitting beside him.

"Rode, your header is so accurate; how should one train for this?"

Tang Ye suddenly said.

This should not be the first day he has envied Rodri's header.

Thinking that his heading attribute was only 48, Tang Ye was rendered speechless.

What exactly did a heading attribute of 48 look like?

In training, Tang Ye could deliver powerful headers with very high ball speed.

But in matches, Tang Ye basically had no opportunities to score with headers!

This was because he lacked judgment on the landing point of aerial balls and the timing for jumping, with the former even affecting Tang Ye's ability to control the ball.

"There's no need for an attacking midfielder to specifically train heading, right?"

Rodri was also tilting a water bottle into his mouth from a distance; after taking a few simple sips, he placed the mineral water bottle between himself and Tang Ye: "Your passing abilities are already invincible; I still have to keep envying you."

Although he said he envied Tang Ye very much, Rodri himself couldn't quite explain what the situation actually was.

He felt the gap in talent between himself and Tang Ye was simply too large.

With such a vast distance, he even found it difficult to feel any envy toward Tang Ye!

"That's not the same, though; heading is so cool."

Tang Ye had his own view: "When we played against Real Madrid before, if I had heading ability, we might have turned the game around. What a pity..."

"It's fine, take it slow; actually, I think you don't need to focus your energy on heading for now."

Rodri offered his advice: "You rarely get chances to head the ball anyway; the most important thing right now is passing. If you train heading, I think it would be quite a loss; you should leverage your strengths."

Tang Ye nodded.

While waiting for the groupings of the next round of scrimmage matches, his attention gradually drifted to the system.

Creating 18 offensive opportunities in a single match was required to upgrade the Star Treasure Chest into a Legend Treasure Chest.

This was a very difficult task.

Tang Ye suddenly thought of something, ran to the adjacent substitute bench, and pulled out his phone from his backpack.

Google, the La Liga official website...

Tang Ye looked up his stats on the La Liga official website; the data there was very precise, but it simply lacked the category for created opportunities.

So Tang Ye asked Rodri for a website with detailed statistics.

To check his own data.

Having scrolled only a few times, Tang Ye immediately discovered that he had one match whose statistics met the requirements for the upgrade mission.

Yellow Submarine vs Las Palmas (La Liga Round 10).

tangy. (99)

Offensive opportunities created: 25 (highest in the match).

Great offensive opportunities created: 4 (highest in the match).

Wow?

Tang Ye raised his eyebrows.

So he was actually this powerful?

He had originally thought the system's mission of creating 18 opportunities in a single match was purely meant to make things difficult for him, but now it seemed there was indeed a possibility of completion.

Holding the phone in his right hand to scroll the screen, he counted on his fingers with his left.

After a rather cursory browse, Tang Ye discovered that this season he had achieved the feat of creating 18+ opportunities in a single match in a total of four games.

In other words, this Legend Treasure Chest upgrade mission was very difficult, but it was not entirely without hope!

"What are you looking at?"

Escrivá walked over to Tang Ye; just now he had called Tang Ye three times, but Tang Ye had not reacted at all.

This guy was immersed in his own world!

"Mr. Ferran."

Facing Escrivá's protruding head, Tang Ye did not turn off his phone: "Mr. Ferran, I'm not playing games; this is something related to training."

"Wow, you're looking at statistics?"

Seeing the content on the screen, Escrivá widened his eyes, then looked at Tang Ye, finally pulling his head back and straightening his body.

"Tom, not to criticize, but at your age, you least need to look at statistics; your most important task right now is to carefully consider what you are good at and what you are not, develop your strengths well, and then either improve your weaknesses as much as possible or find ways to hide them. There's no need to rush about statistics; you don't need to compete for the Ballon d'Or..."

Just as he said "you don't need to compete for the Ballon d'Or," Escrivá swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"You temporarily don't need to compete for the Ballon d'Or right now; there's no need to pay attention to these things; these are for adults to play with."

When Escrivá spoke the word "adults," he deliberately emphasized his volume.

The website Tang Ye had opened was a gambling site, which contained all sorts of data; fanatical gamblers could place bets on any statistical item.

Tang Ye turned off his phone.

"I understand, Mr. Ferran; would you like some chewing gum?"

Check Dongqiu Di Match Preview: Beijing time, early morning of January 19, Villarreal vs Alavés, the first leg of the Yellow Submarine's Copa del Rey quarterfinals; can Piggy Hero win the Copa del Rey championship?

【"Can Piggy Hero win the Copa del Rey championship?" Good question.】

【With both Real and Barca still in the running, I feel the Yellow Submarine's chances are a bit shaky.】

【To speak plainly, among the teams remaining in the Copa del Rey now, none are easy to play against. The Yellow Submarine has a higher probability of winning the Europa League than the Copa del Rey.】

【Higher probability of winning the Europa League? Are you disregarding us, the Premier League hegemon Red Devils? Saint Teng will directly beat the shit out of the Yellow Submarine with one hand.】

Fighting on three fronts—the league, the Copa del Rey, and the Europa League—the Yellow Submarine's current situation could be described as extremely difficult.

At this time, it was necessary to refer to the Yellow Submarine's historical record.

La Liga championship titles... 0!

Copa del Rey championship titles... 0!

Europa League championship titles... 0!

Three zeros are truly pitiful.

But some fans seem to have sensed a slightly different flavor.

Zero league titles, only promoted to the top-flight league in recent years.

Why does it feel so familiar?

……

Happy Bean website, Happy Live room.

"OK, brothers! The King's Cup!"

Wang Chao was just as cheerful as before.

The further Villarreal went in the King's Cup, the longer his "exclusive broadcasting rights" for the King's Cup would last. Of course, those so-called exclusive broadcasting rights were still secondary.

Wang Chao was Tang Tang Qiuwang's most loyal fan, so loyal that he had livestreamed Tang Ye's very first Eredivisie match.

Nothing else mattered; Wang Chao now only hoped Tang Ye could win a trophy with Villarreal.

Both the King's Cup and the Europa League were perfectly suitable!

"……"

"Here they come, here they come; as we can see, emerging from the right holding the mascot's hand is Villarreal's number 99... no, number 10, Tang Ye!"

"The match is about to begin; let me first introduce the starting lineups for both sides!"

"The home team sticks to their classic 4-2-3-1, a tactic specially formulated by Escribá for our Tang Tang Qiuwang. Currently, it seems the 4-2-3-1 is the most suitable formation for Villarreal, bar none!"

"Then there's the away team, Alavés, also using a 4-2-3-1; however, they aren't copying Villarreal—Alavés started employing this formation early in the season."

Alavés (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Fernando Pacheco

!

Defenders: Theo Hernández, Feddal, Pantic, Femenía

Midfielders: D. Torres, Camarasa, Marcos Llorente

Forwards: Ibai Gómez, Davinson, Edgar Méndez

Head Coach: Pellegrino

"Villarreal!"

Boom! Boom!

"Villarreal!"

Boom! Boom!

The cheers from the fans at the Estadio de la Cerámica were incredibly enthusiastic.

This was the King's Cup quarter-final; considering Villarreal was an ordinary club without much deep-rooted heritage, reaching the King's Cup quarter-finals was already very satisfying for the fans.

Losing wouldn't be a loss!

Of course, if they really did lose, the fans would certainly still feel upset.

Who wouldn't prefer playing in the semi-finals if they could?

Right from the start of the match, Villarreal, playing at home, played very aggressively.

Tang Ye kept refreshing his position unpredictably across the left flank, the center, and the right flank, putting immense pressure on the Alavés players.

Tang Ye's movements on the field today surprised Escribá somewhat.

This guy was constantly searching for opportunities!

Playing very aggressively!

"What did you say to him?"

Sitting back down on the chair, Escribá looked at Martí beside him, his expression not very good.

Clearly, Villarreal's head coach assumed assistant coach Martí had said something to Tang Ye.

Was it Martí's doing?

Had Martí made Tang Ye focus too much on his own statistics?

"Ferran, I guarantee you, I didn't say anything."

Martí raised both his hands.

He had always been very clear about his status: he was Escribá's assistant coach.

He was merely an assistant, so he would not directly decide matters concerning the team or the players.

If Martí wanted to make any changes regarding Tang Ye, he would absolutely communicate with Escribá before doing so.

"Alright."

Escribá took a deep breath.

Then what had made Tang Ye nervous?

Thinking carefully about recent events.

Homework?

Obviously impossible; although getting Dembélé to do his homework had been caught by reporters, honestly speaking, that wouldn't have any impact on Tang Ye.

Then what was it...

After much deliberation, the only suspect pointed to Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Last month, Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo had put too much pressure on Tom!

Damn it!

Escribá felt somewhat angry.

Although Tang Ye was highly talented, at his age he shouldn't be playing so rashly.

He's been influenced by Cristiano Ronaldo!

Thinking of this, Escrivá added Cristiano Ronaldo to the blacklist.

Yes, and Messi too!

Add him to the blacklist!

Anyone who influences Tom must be added to the blacklist!

All of them, into the blacklist!

15th minute of the match.

"Alavés, what's going on!"

"The defender's pass went straight to the striker!"

"Is Alavés playing this arrogantly?"

"Iba Gómez, damn, he shook off Bruno directly!"

At the start, Wang Chao and the Bean Warriors in the livestream room were both full of confidence.

But problems soon emerged.

Judging by the first 15 minutes of the match, Alavés seemed to be in excellent form today.

Even better than their form when Yellow Submarine faced them in the league back in November!

Shaking off Bruno, Gómez dribbled toward Yellow Submarine's left-side penalty area, as fans in the nearby stands rose screaming.

Very dangerous!

"Middle, middle!"

Escrivá shouted reminders to the players on the field; Rodri hurried back to occupy the position at the top of the arc first.

During attacks, Rodri was indeed Tom's subordinate.

But now it was defensive time, and this was Rodri's specialty!

Slap!

Gómez sent in a cross; Asenjo made his read, rushed out from his goal line, and slapped the ball away with his hand.

Inside the penalty area, neither Yellow Submarine's defenders nor Alavés' attackers managed to touch the ball.

Asenjo's decision to rush out was excellent!

"Beautiful!"

Escrivá raised his arms and cheered.

Damn it, when Gómez delivered the cross, Alavés' striker Davilson was already positioned inside the penalty area, ready.

Fortunately, he didn't get to head that ball; otherwise, Yellow Submarine's goal would likely have been in trouble.

Yellow Submarine escaped danger.

Now it was the home team's chance to counterattack!

Tang Ye sprinted forward, received Bruno's pass, and instead of releasing the ball immediately, dribbled forward a short distance first.

Cutting toward the left flank, he then pivoted his body and sent a through ball with his left foot toward the right-side baseline.

【Attacks Created +1】

An attacking opportunity wasn't as strict as a clear-cut chance.

Tang Ye only needed to pass the ball to a teammate positioned at the baseline or inside the penalty area; regardless of whether the shot scored, it counted as an attacking opportunity created by Tang Ye.

Bakambu received the ball on the right flank and feinted.

With teammates not yet in position inside the penalty area, Bakambu couldn't deliver the cross immediately.

Tang Ye thought briefly; since Bakambu standing near the baseline would surely face pressing, he actively moved toward the right flank to support.

"Tang Tang Qiuwang, get ready to support your teammate!"

"This is exactly what we mentioned earlier: Tang Ye can not only deliver key passes, but he is also Yellow Submarine's organizational core."

"In a situation like this, Tang Ye could move up to execute a one-two with Bakambu, or receive the ball and switch play to the left flank."

"Eh, Bakambu, holy crap!"

Tang Ye was almost there, but at that moment Bakambu suddenly lost his head and attempted to dribble past his marker.

Attempting a dribble wasn't the problem; the issue was that Bakambu stumbled over his own feet.

He lost possession!

Holy crap!

Realizing something was wrong, Tang Ye immediately turned and sprinted back toward his own half; by then, Alavés' counterattack was already underway.

Slap!

A long pass from Theo Hernández found Mendes precisely on the right flank up front.

Boom!

Mendes leaped up and headed Hernández's long pass directly down to Llorente's feet.

"Damn, don't mess around!"

Wang Chao felt the pressure mount; after receiving the ball, Llorente, just like Tang Ye, chose to dribble forward a short distance first.

But he ran incredibly fast, crossing the center circle and penetrating deep into Villarreal's half within just a few strides.

He scanned the field and delivered a through ball up front!

To Davilson!

"Ohhh!!!"

Davilson turned to control the ball; with incredibly nimble footwork, he successfully brought the ball in front of himself.

The fans in the live stream didn't dare to blink.

This was a chance similar to a one-on-one breakaway!

Musacchio stuck close to Davilson, blocking his shooting angle to the right, which relieved a lot of pressure for the goalkeeper Asenjo.

He entered the penalty area!

Slowing down!

Noticing Davilson slowing down, Musacchio adjusted his position, preparing to move in front of Davilson.

But Musacchio seemed a bit too naive; the instant he changed his position, he lost his block on Davilson.

Bang!

A push shot was delivered; the ball rolled toward the front right and precisely entered the net.

Asenjo's attention was entirely on the near post; he simply had no way to deal with Davilson's push shot.

"Damn!"

"It's a crime, Bacca!"

"Holy shit, Yellow Submarine's combination play is invincible; both the striker and the defender are committing crimes."

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Davilson scores on a one-on-one breakaway; Yellow Submarine trails Alavés 0:1.

In the animated live broadcast of Check Dongqiu Di, the red sphere representing Alavés instantly approached Yellow Submarine's goal, and then the system displayed that Alavés had scored.

Even without watching the footage, one could tell this was an extremely fast counterattack.

Scoring immediately after refreshing their positions indicated that this counterattack by Alavés took less than ten seconds in total.

【I'm convinced; Musacchio's defense this time was truly abstract. If he had just blocked the body position, it would have been solid!】

【Pin the big blame on Bacca, and give the small blame to Musacchio; Bacca basically kicked the ball right to the opponent's feet, which is something else.】

【Brothers, where can we watch the live stream, brothers?】

【Give us a URL, please!】

【Alavés won't be able to act tough for long; I feel like Tang Tang Qiuwang is about to step up.】

【What if your Tang Tang Qiuwang can't help?】

(End of chapter)