Chapter 347: Manchester United Gum Team and Villarreal Gum Team (Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter, Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Rashford!

He slows down after entering the penalty area!

Rashford's sprinting ability is very strong, but his dribbling inside the box is slightly weak.

Tang Ye was acutely aware of this flaw, so while Rashford advanced, he quietly drifted to the left flank.

Knowing Tang Ye was right behind him, Rashford boldly charged into the penalty area.

Gaspar slowly retreated, and Villarreal's defensive line began to contract simultaneously.

Just as Gaspar refused to retreat any further, Rashford dragged the ball back and passed it directly to Tang Ye behind him!

Here it comes!

With such a perfect opportunity, controlling the ball was obviously out of the question!

Smack!

【De Bruyne Underline Cross Lv4: Deceptive】

Proficiency: 201/800

Since Aleix did not play today, Tang Ye chose a different striking method for his underline cross.

Smack!

The pass struck someone inside the box, bounced up, and flew toward the far post.

It was delivered to Herrera at the far post!

A great chance; Herrera lifted his right foot and hammered the ball straight into the net.

"Goooaaaaal!!!!"

"Goal!"

"Tang Ye's pass from the baseline found Herrera!"

Goalkeeper Asenjo collapsed onto the ground, while Herrera sprinted quickly toward the corner flag.

Tang Ye ran quickly toward Herrera, but suddenly stopped halfway.

Was it offside?

No.

Tang Ye had seen Bruno lowering his head and sighing.

Biting the gum in his mouth, Tang Ye felt a pang of sorrow; he stood still and let out a sigh as well.

【You have obtained 15 Counterattack Points】

【Phase 3 Mission Progress: Assists (1/6)】

The Phase 3 mission received last year could finally be tackled with the start of the Champions League knockout stage.

Six assists.

If there were only two matches, completing the task of six assists was obviously impossible.

The logic was clear: Manchester United had to reach the quarter-finals.

And reaching the quarter-finals had one prerequisite: Manchester United needed to defeat their Round of 16 opponent!

That opponent was Villarreal!

Ten Hag clapped on the sideline, while Escrivá seized the opportunity to gather his players near the touchline.

"Keep an eye on Tom."

"You've all played against him; do I need to say it more times?"

"The baseline, the arc top—these positions absolutely, absolutely cannot be given to him!"

Escrivá was somewhat angry.

Since they knew how Tom played, the Villarreal players should have figured out a way to restrict him!

Standing with his teammates, Tang Ye looked toward the far end where Escrivá was lecturing Bruno and Musacchio.

He could even imagine how Mr. Ferran was cursing!

The baseline absolutely, absolutely cannot be given to Tom!

Yes, Mr. Ferran must have said exactly that.

They knew how to target Tom, but that didn't matter.

Besides the baseline, Tom had many other places from which to pass.

For instance, his favorite spot: the arc top!

Dongqiu Di Live Match Report: Tang Ye's bouncing cross accurately assisted Herrera; Manchester United leads 1:0 away.

【Is he really going to slay his former club?】

【Not really his former club; Tang Ye was only on loan to Villarreal last season; his actual parent club is Utrecht!】

【Ruthless and cold-blooded, this is GGBond!】

【Damn, Villarreal seems to be playing quite well; Escrivá really has skill.】

The first half continued; Escrivá glanced at Ten Hag next door, then returned to the bench.

"Let me check Tom's heat map."

At Escrivá's request, assistant coach Martí brought up Tang Ye's offensive heat map: "Uh... Ferran, I think I need to remind you that Tom is quite different from last season. He's being more careful with his passes now."

If Manchester United had last season's Tang Ye, Villarreal's possession rate should have reached 70%.

But Manchester United had this season's Tang Ye, the new Tang Ye!

Under Ten Hag's scolding, Tang Ye was now losing possession less frequently!

"..."

Escrivá shook his head and continued watching the pitch.

Clearly, this was not going to be an easy match!

"Got any more gum, Marti?"

"You should have some in your bag; help me... never mind, I'll get it myself."

Ferran's pressure seemed a bit too great!

"Yellow submarine~ Yellow submarine~"

Boom! Boom!

Boom-boom-boom!

In the stands, the home fans sang loudly, trying to inspire their trailing team.

And hoping, just maybe, to wake Tom up.

Please, Tom, stop killing us, stop killing us.

Boo-hoo, you're a child of the Submarine!

The fans sang with all their might, but Tom couldn't hear them.

He was a cruel and ruthless man!

"Ahead, ahead!"

Slap!

Tang Ye launched a long pass directly behind the defense, pinpointing Martial up front.

Martial controlled the ball beautifully; the Yellow Submarine fans were about to get nervous again!

First dribbling forward himself, then passing it to Rashford!

Boom!

A long-range shot was fired; Rashford's attempt flew up into the stands!

"Fuck!"

Ten Hag shouted at the pitch: "Marcus, what are you doing!"

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

Tang Ye gave Rashford a thumbs-up: "Don't rush, Marcus, don't rush."

Manchester United held the advantage now; Rashford didn't need to be so anxious!

Still, Tang Ye could understand Rashford's impulsiveness.

After all, Manchester United had many young players; not everyone possessed his own thirty-nine-year-old composure!

In the 37th minute, during a corner kick attack, Tang Ye stood beside Bruno, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Bruno's butt.

Bruno whipped his head around, and Tang Ye flashed a happy smile.

Hehe!

"Hiss—"

Bruno glared at Tang Ye, wanting to complain to the referee, but then thought better of it.

He reached out to grab back, but Tang Ye easily dodged him.

"..."

Dongqiu Di Halftime Report: Manchester United temporarily leads Villarreal 1-0; Herrera scored from a scramble.

"Not bad, not bad; keep it up in the second half."

Ten Hag high-fived the Manchester United players one by one on the sideline as Tang Ye and Rodri walked off the field together.

"Tom, take it easy!"

"Tom, stop passing, okay? Go rest, go rest!"

"Go to sleep, okay Tom? You're still growing!"

From the stands came the moving shouts of the Villarreal fans; Tang Ye squeezed his own neck hard, his expression somewhat helpless.

"I only stayed at Villarreal for one season; they shouldn't be acting like this."

Tang Ye murmured softly.

Rodri shook his head, also looking toward the stands: "It's different; you are special."

"Wow, Rod, does that mean I'm very impressive?"

"Hmm... partly, yes, but not entirely."

Tang Ye wanted Rodri to explain what the remaining part was, but Rodri couldn't articulate it either.

It was just a feeling.

Though it was also just one year, Tom had left a deeper impression on the Villarreal fans than Rodri had.

Even deeper than Aleix, who had been there for a year and a half!

At halftime, the Manchester United players were all chewing gum.

It was their first Champions League knockout match in nearly two years; although they held the lead, the players felt considerable pressure. "Lukaku is too difficult to handle."

As soon as they entered the locker room, Smalling voiced his concern.

With Bailly injured and absent, the substitute Rojo frequently made mistakes against Lukaku, putting immense pressure on Manchester United's defensive line.

"You are a center-back, and your ability in duels is no worse."

"So regardless, you must mark Lukaku tightly; that's the logic. I don't like players who complain about tactics."

Smalling wanted to use Lukaku as an excuse to get Ten Hag to modify the second-half tactics, but that was clearly impossible.

Ten Hag and Fan Fan Dejiahe had discussed this match at length; their conclusion was that Manchester United could not deploy more than one defensive player specifically to target Lukaku.

Slap slap!

Ten Hag clapped his hands to draw all the players' attention.

"We need to pay attention in the second half; in the first half, you should have noticed they have the ability to penetrate through the center with their passing."

!

"Rodri, and also Herrera, you need to maintain your focus."

"Tom, continue staying up front, and focus heavily on attacking down the flank where Marcus is positioned."

Speaking of Rashford, Ten Hag's voice suddenly grew louder.

"Marcus, scoring opportunities are something our team earns together."

"So think before you shoot, think first, okay?"

Rashford nodded lightly.

It seems the little mouse will need to play more cautiously in the second half!

After quickly finishing the tactical instructions, the Manchester United players gathered in the center.

Captain Ashley Young looked at Tang Ye: "Tom, do you want to lead the chant?"

Tang Ye stretched out his hand, then pulled it back again: "Hmm... Young, let's skip it today; my throat is a bit uncomfortable, you do it instead."

Ashley Young sized Tang Ye up and down, then nodded lightly.

"3, 2, 1!"

"Champion!"

"China Media Group, welcome back, dear audience members, this is..."

"As you can see, the player chewing gum in the tunnel is Manchester United's number 10, Tang Ye, and then..."

Halfway through his sentence, the CCTV commentator suddenly noticed something amiss.

Tang Ye was not the only one chewing gum.

Rashford, Martial, Rodri, goalkeeper De Gea, and even the home team's captain Bruno were all chewing gum.

The director also noticed this situation, and the camera focused on the tunnel.

Except for Villarreal defender Musacchio, all 21 starting players in the tunnel were chewing empty gum wrappers.

Just as the players were preparing to head out, Musacchio reached into Tang Ye's pocket, fished out a piece of gum, and put it in his mouth.

Tang Ye stood sideways to make it easier for Musacchio to open his gum, while still chatting with Rashford.

The movements of these two guys were simply too fluid!

"Uh, this..."

"Yes, well, there are quite a few players in both Villarreal and Manchester United who like chewing gum; this seems to be a kind of culture within their teams."

"Right, it's just unknown when this started."

Unknown when this started?

Do they really not know?

The director's camera cut to Tang Ye emerging from the tunnel.

Teeth so white they gleamed, and the occasionally revealed piece of Bai Bai gum.

Tom is the Godfather of Gum; legends about him circulate throughout the Jianghu!

"Let's go!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

The second half of the match began!

As the side trailing in score, Villarreal launched their counterattack against Manchester United.

Last season, the Yellow Submarine primarily focused on the center; this season, after Gomez joined, they shifted their focus slightly to the left flank.

Gomez possesses excellent technique!

Slap!

After reaching the byline, the cross went straight to Gaspar at the far post!

Gaspar delivered another 45-degree cross!

It's Lukaku inside the penalty area!

"Stick to him, stick to him!"

De Gea shouted anxiously.

Due to Smalling's defense, Lukaku, unable to shoot directly, chose to pass back.

Fornals!

Then to Bruno!

He struck it directly with a long-range shot!

Goal!

Villarreal equalized the score!

Bruno rushed out to celebrate, while the fans in the stands chanted the name of the Yellow Submarine's captain.

"Great shot, Bruno!"

Tang Ye jumped up on the spot and threw an uppercut with his right hand.

Then he suddenly realized something was off, pretended to be extremely calm, quickly retracted his hand, lowered his head, and slowly walked forward.

But anything that happens on the field cannot escape the eyes of the photographers.

The CCTV broadcast showed a replay of Bruno's long-range shot.

Then something strange happened: the director did not replay scorer Bruno's celebration as usual, but instead cut to Tang Ye celebrating and then tracking back.

Fans in front of their televisions widened their eyes.

Ggbond, why are you celebrating too!

【Hahahahaha】

【Tang Tang Qiuwang: Bruno scored, jump up quickly!】

【This is truly outrageous, but considering it's Tang Ye, he probably didn't think that much and just knew Bruno had scored.】

【Awesome, I have a premonition that Tang Ye is going to be punished by Coach Teng.】

The stadium's big screen played back his own jumping celebration from moments ago; Tang Ye awkwardly bit his fingernails.

If Tom knew who the director of this match was, he would launch a long pass straight into the director's head.

Just like he did to that Newcastle fan earlier!

"Wow!"

A smile graced Escrivá's face, and upon seeing the situation on the big screen, he smiled even more happily.

But Ten Hag was far from pleased; sitting on the substitutes' bench, he cast a glance in Escrivá's direction.

"I don't know what he's laughing at."

Fan Fan Dejiahe covered his mouth: "They equalized the score, of course they're laughing."

"I'm not talking about the score. Hmm... although the score is also very important."

Herrera held his head as he walked toward Tang Ye, while the latter shamefully lowered his own head.

"I made a mistake."

Villarreal's home kit this season was basically no different from last season's, and Tang Ye's attention had been too focused.

His mind recalled Bruno's long-range shot from the same situation last season, which was why he had celebrated.

Tom had been tricked by his own memory!

After the clock passed the 60-minute mark, neither team had made any substitutions yet.

But there was some not-so-good news for Manchester United.

After equalizing, Villarreal's possession rate slowly began to rise.

"Villarreal must now be looking to use the momentum built from their first goal to complete a comeback against Manchester United!"

"Manchester United needs to be careful now; after all, this is the opponent's home ground!"

Slap!

Asenjo booted the ball out from the back!

Finding Lukaku at the very front directly!

Lukaku turned and controlled the ball.

Just as Tang Ye began judging Lukaku's passing lane, the Belgian striker for Villarreal suddenly made a very bizarre move.

Dribbling laterally toward the right flank!

Then immediately bursting into a full-speed sprint!

?

At this moment, fans in front of their televisions had only one question.

Is this f***ing... a striker?

PS: Seeking monthly tickets!

Seeking monthly tickets!

(End of chapter)