Chapter 217: The Copa del Rey Final Is Coming: Another Showdown Between MSN and TOM!

COPE Radio: Genesio's tactics were completely outplayed by Escribá, which indirectly highlights the gap between Ligue 1 and La Liga. "The tactical adjustments of Ligue 1 teams are simply too slow."

Dongqiu Di: The second leg between Villarreal and Lyon will kick off at 4:05 AM on March 15; before that, they still have two matches to play, including the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.

Currently, Villarreal and Barcelona are the only two teams in La Liga still competing on three fronts: the league, European competitions, and the Copa del Rey, so their clash will naturally attract significant attention.

On March 8, the Royal Spanish Football Federation released a promotional image via social media; in the image, Messi, Suárez, and Neymar stand in a row, facing Tang Ye, who is wearing Villarreal's home kit and chewing gum.

Caption: Defending champions vs. the biggest dark horse.

The moment this promotional image was released, it was reposted by the staff at Dongqiu Di.

【The second showdown between MSN and TOM; by the way, TOM is one person, not a trio.】

【Tang Tang Qiuwang's classic 1v3; let's see if he can pull it off this time.】

【I feel Villarreal still has a decent chance; Barcelona still has a life-or-death Champions League match to play, so they can't go all out preparing for the Copa del Rey.】

【I think the biggest pressure comes from Tang Ye; look at the promotional image, Suárez's brows are furrowed, clearly showing that Tang Tang Qiuwang is exerting too much pressure.】

Although Villarreal is currently in peak form, most fans still do not favor them.

The reason is simple: Barcelona in March is equally fierce!

However, some fans have suggested a way to win.

That is for Escribá to summon the possession of the Saint of Ten from last season.

Don't ask why the possession of the Saint of Ten doesn't work this season; this season the Saint of Ten has been nerfed quite heavily, unable to lead Villarreal to a guaranteed victory over Barcelona.

As for why the Saint of Ten was nerfed this season, a British journalist suggested it is because Ten Hag cannot adapt to the intensity of the Premier League.

Of course, no one knows the real reason.

At 2:30 PM on March 8, Escribá dismissed the team early at the training base.

They are set to depart for Madrid tomorrow, and the Villarreal head coach's intention is to let the players relax properly today.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourselves; if your minds are constantly fixed on the match the day after tomorrow, I suggest you imagine the scene of lifting the trophy after winning, rather than losing, which will help you."

After speaking, Escribá left together with Martí.

Although rest time was arranged for the players, Villarreal's two coaches still had to work overtime.

They needed to thoroughly study Barcelona's tactics for this season.

While the players were packing their belongings in the locker room, Tang Ye finally voiced the question that had troubled him for a long time after pondering for a while: "Sebastián, Mr. Ferran said to imagine the scene of lifting the trophy; what does that mean?"

"It means imagining yourself lifting the Copa del Rey champion's trophy after defeating Barcelona; this seems to be a psychological method to alleviate pressure. Of course, I'm not entirely clear myself."

Bruno answered preemptively.

"Then I'm very good at this."

Tang Ye's eyes were shining: "I've imagined that scene many times before, though I still don't know what the Copa del Rey trophy looks like."

"I remember; you told me about it."

Rodri's words caught Tang Ye's attention.

"Ah, did I tell you? Rod, what did I tell you?"

Rodri shrugged: "Roughly, it was that after winning the championship, don't use the trophy to block the fireworks in the sky; let the fireworks fall naturally upon yourself."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking."

Tang Ye pointed at Rodri, becoming emotional.

He indeed seemed to have said this to Rodri, though his memory of it was a bit fuzzy.

"I think it's better not to think about the match just yet."

Aleix finished packing his bag: "Tom, Bruno and I are going fishing; are you coming?"

"Fishing?"

"Yes, just this afternoon and evening; I'll drive you home tonight."

"Well..."

Tang Ye hesitated slightly.

He was still planning to go home and play some video games today.

"What are you hesitating about, Tom? We're all going, only you aren't."

Musacchio explained: "That place is unknown to many people; I can guarantee that even a beginner can catch something there."

"He's having gaming withdrawal."

Bruno pointed at Tang Ye.

"No, I didn't mean I wanted to play games."

"Then just come with us; eight of us are going together. Fishing is very fun, much more fun than riding bicycles."

After hesitating for a moment, Tang Ye ultimately decided to go along.

Just as Musacchio had said, this was a very secluded place; apart from the sound of car engines, there was only the chirping of birds.

Sitting on the grass, Tang Ye stared blankly at the calm water before him.

Tang Ye was someone who could not sit still; after sitting for only a few minutes, he propped up the fishing rod with some equipment and shifted his attention to his system.

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv3: Realistic】

Proficiency: 543/650

It's this Standard Long Pass!

This thing gains proficiency very quickly, so Tang Ye has always kept it in mind.

Tang Ye's passing attribute has been stuck at 88 for a long time; he urgently needs a growth template to upgrade this attribute.

100 points of proficiency...

Hiss—

It was a pity he couldn't complete the upgrade before the match against Barcelona, but the good news was that Tang Ye still had a chance to raise 【Standard Long Pass】 to lv4 before the second leg against Lyon.

After dealing with the matter of the long-pass template, Tang Ye turned his attention to studying his own forge.

He really wanted to use this free time to upgrade his consumables, but unfortunately, Tang Ye was currently so broke that he couldn't even attempt any stat additions.

Having grown tired of the system, and with the fishing rod still showing not a single sign of movement, Tang Ye reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out his mobile phone.

Just at that moment, his fishing rod began to tremble.

"Oh, damn it! What do I do, what do I do!"

"Help, help, Bruno! Come quickly!"

Tang Ye, who knew absolutely nothing about fishing, was actually the first to get a bite; the Villarreal midfielder's extremely fast reaction speed helped him escape the scene immediately.

"I got it, I got it!"

Bruno ran over to Tang Ye's position, snatched up the fishing rod from the ground, and immediately went to work.

"Oh, Bruno, you're a professional."

Watching intently from the side, Tang Ye said, "But this catch counts as mine."

"I know it counts as yours, Tom; just watch me reel it in for you."

After a brief struggle, Bruno realized something was off.

"What the fuck! This is a big one!"

Hearing the commotion, Musacchio rushed over directly, standing beside Tang Ye: "I told you, there would be a big one."

"This one counts as mine, this one counts as mine! Go for it, Bruno!"

"Vamos!"

"Now is not the time to shout 'Vamos'; just watch my technique."

Bruno shouted.

Although he looked somewhat flustered, the guy's skill was genuinely impressive; with one powerful pull, he yanked the creature straight out of the water.

"Run!"

Tang Ye quickly scrambled away as the hooked big fish flew toward the shore along with a spray of water, finally crashing onto the ground with a "Bang."

Looking down to inspect his own body, he said, "Perfect, I didn't get wet."

"That's not the point, okay?"

All the Villarreal players on the shore gathered around; holding the fishing rod, Bruno said, "Fuck, this fish weighs at least 15 or 16 pounds (7+ kilograms)."

"Haha."

Tang Ye also ran over: "Fishing is so damn fun; I should have come by myself, damn it." Watching the large fish jumping around on the grass, Tang Ye suddenly fell into deep thought.

"I have an idea."

"What idea?"

Tang Ye looked at Bruno: "Let's create a celebration move, one that belongs specifically to us."

"One that belongs to Villarreal?"

"Exactly!"

"But first, I need to take a photo; my fans surely think I spend all my non-match time playing games, so I must prove them wrong."

Front-page headline of Marca: Two days before the match against Barcelona, in the afternoon and evening, Villarreal star Tom's FIFA account was discovered to have played 34 custom matches against 7 different opponents. The reporter found that in these 34 matches, Tom's opponents all used Barcelona's current starting lineup, while Tom, using Villarreal's starting lineup, achieved victory in 27 of them. It is worth noting that he did not include himself in the starting lineup.

"Since the FIFA game has not yet received a version update, Tom's player card only has an overall rating of 72 points; he probably felt he was too weak, so he used Zidane, Hazard, or Mbappe."

!

【Season Simulation has begun】

【Tang Tang Qiuwang really is something; brothers, I'm crying already, okay】

【This is what you call not working hard?】

【34 training sessions before the match; this is GGBond, the god of self-discipline】

【So Tang Ye used Hazard and Mbappe to play as an attacking midfielder? That is indeed top-tier imagination】

【27 wins out of 34 games, an 80% win rate—just ask yourself if you're scared or not】

【The match hasn't even started and Barcelona has already lost 27 times; how can you play when the opponent has cheats?】

The news from Marca sparked many comments from fans on Check Dongqiu Di; since Tang Ye frequently browsed Check Dongqiu Di, he had naturally seen these fan comments.

Actually, Tang Ye felt quite helpless about the situation.

He was simply bored while fishing and playing casually; since the next opponent happened to be Barcelona, he just looked for Barcelona players to match against, yet reporters and fans mistakenly assumed he was "studying his opponent."

"So, Tom, are you really using the game to study your opponent?"

Musacchio felt very curious about this and walked over to Tang Ye's seat.

"How could that be possible? You're overthinking it."

Tang Ye clasped his hands behind his head.

From beginning to end, he knew clearly that the game and reality were not the same.

FIFA could only bring him a pleasant mood, not experience against other teams.

"That's true."

Musacchio nodded.

The idea that playing games could accumulate match experience sounded indeed a bit too far-fetched.

"By the way, Mateo."

Suddenly remembering something, Tang Ye said: "You need to pay attention to Suarez; his first touch might kick the ball to a place you wouldn't expect, so you must stay fully focused."

"?"

……

On March 9, Villarreal and Barcelona arrived separately in Madrid, the capital of Spain.

Arriving in the host city a day early fully demonstrated how much both teams valued this match.

Although Barcelona possessed an absurdly deep heritage, this was the Copa del Rey; one could never have too many championship trophies!

As soon as the team bus reached the hotel where they were staying, Villarreal fans and local Real Madrid fans quickly surrounded it.

"Villarreal!"

"Take down Barcelona!"

"Kill them! Don't let Barcelona win the championship!"

For this Copa del Rey final, Real Madrid fans were even more nervous than Villarreal fans.

This was because the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona had always been out in the open.

So far this season, neither team had won a championship.

How could they let Barcelona win the title first?

"Exactly, the championship must belong to Villarreal."

A local Real Madrid fan told a reporter from *AS*: "You know, I've been a Villarreal fan since I was young; I started watching Tom's matches ten years ago."

The reporter nodded, the camera panned to Villarreal's bus behind the fan, then shifted back to the Real Madrid supporter: "So you believe Villarreal has a greater chance of winning tomorrow's match, is that right?"

"Of course."

The Real Madrid fans expressed extremely high support for Villarreal.

"Although there aren't many neutral tickets available for this match, we Real Madrid fans will absolutely fill the neutral stands; our goal is to give Villarreal the maximum support."

"Just as I said earlier, Villarreal is my second home team."

*AS* front-page headline: A reporter captured Messi stepping off the bus holding a cup of mate tea; the Argentine star seemed to be in good spirits.

*AS* front-page secondary headline: Royal Submarine? According to reporters, over 3,000 Real Madrid fans would cheer for Villarreal on match day. "They do not want Barcelona to win the championship."

Betway odds for the Copa del Rey final, Villarreal vs. Barcelona:

Villarreal win: 2.87 to 1.

Draw: 3.35 to 1.

Barcelona win: 2.12 to 1.

Tom chews gum 3 times: 16.28 to 1.

Tom chews gum 5 times: 7.98 to 1.

Tom chews gum 8 times: 3.11 to 1.

Tom chews gum 10 times: 5.29 to 1.

Tom does not chew gum: 122 to 1.

The betting company offered numerous wagering modes for the Copa del Rey final; after several outrageous moves, the hype surrounding the match increased further.

The current Copa del Rey final was no longer just a match for Spanish fans; eyes from all over the world would be turning toward it.

Rumor has it that Villarreal and Real Madrid have merged?

Let me see what exactly is going on!

……

Time moved to the afternoon of March 10; at this moment, there were still four hours until the Copa del Rey final involving Villarreal.

In the home team's locker room at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Bruno sat on a bench, rapidly shaking his leg; Tang Ye, who had come over to get a drink, happened to see this scene.

"Bruno, are you very nervous?"

While drinking water, Tang Ye walked over; since Musacchio had gone to the restroom, Tang Ye sat directly beside Bruno.

"Bruno, you don't need to be nervous; just imagine the scene of us lifting the trophy."

"I'm not nervous."

Bruno shook his head: "The one who should be nervous is you, Tom; this is your first time participating in a Copa del Rey final. Hmm... well, actually, it's my first time too."

Tang Ye was only eighteen years old this year; if he didn't win the championship, there would still be opportunities in the future.

But Bruno was nearly thirty-five; this year was very likely the closest he would ever come to a Copa del Rey title in his entire career!

If he couldn't win it this year, there would be no opportunities in the future!

"Rest assured, Bruno."

Sitting on the bench, Tang Ye said: "We will ultimately win the championship; that will be a championship for all of us together, not for just one person."

After all, Tang Ye was a thirty-nine-year-old man; he knew what Bruno was thinking.

Therefore, today's match was special for Tang Ye.

He wanted to help Bruno fulfill his dream of winning a championship in his career.

It wasn't only Real Madrid and Barcelona players in La Liga who were qualified to lift the championship trophy.

Tom's friends could do it too!

……

(End of Chapter)