Chapter 348: The Submarine's Child Defeated the Submarine; Tom Rod Deeply Infiltrates the Enemy Camp

"Wow!!"

"Get past him, get past him!"

"Faster, faster!"

Lukaku's explosive burst suddenly ignited the Yellow Submarine fans in the stands.

A striker with such excellent dribbling!

Escrivá really found a premium product for the Yellow Submarine!

Selling Aleix for 65 million euros and then buying Lukaku for less than 80 million euros.

A bloody profit!

Villarreal definitely made a killing with this move!

Reaching near the byline, Lukaku used his body to shield the ball, leaving Ashley Young with no options.

Arriving near the penalty area!

Finding Fornals!

Passing the ball to his teammate!

It's up to Fornals now!

Slap!

Fornals chose to curl a shot toward the far corner.

But the adjustment time before the shot was too short, and ultimately the ball flew straight off target.

"Hmm, what a pity."

"Fornals' curling ability is still quite good; this is why La Liga fans call him 'Little Tom.' If he had been given a bit more adjustment time, he might truly have helped the team extend their lead."

"But, Commentator He, think about it this way: if the real Tom were here, wouldn't this shot not require so much adjustment time at all?"

"Hiss... That does seem to be the case."

There is still a huge difference between Little Tom and Tom·Real.

Tang Ye's most distinctive feature lies in his incredibly fast adjustment ability.

Whether passing or shooting, he can always complete these tasks in the shortest possible time, which is also why Tang Ye poses such a great threat to defensive lines.

This Little Tom, Fornals, possesses excellent long-passing and curling abilities, but he lacks the core element that Tom has.

If the ball at your feet doesn't feel scalding hot, it means there is still a huge gap between you and Tang Ye!

"..."

On the sidelines, Escrivá sighed and then fell silent.

To find a player similar to Tang Ye, Escrivá had searched through every top-tier league in all of Europe.

But in the end, he only found someone similar.

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye's direct free-kick shot went over the crossbar; the score remains 1:1.

It is now the 71st minute of the match, and at this moment, the director cut to a shot of the Yellow Submarine's substitute bench.

Villarreal's new winter signing, Wu Lei!

【King Wu Ball!】

【Saint Escrivá, hurry up and get Wu Lei warming up; what's the meaning of leaving him unmoved on the bench?】

【Even playing for one minute would be fine.】

【Don't do it; if you really sub in Wu Lei, the Yellow Submarine's offense will collapse.】

【Don't force the hate; my King Wu Ball's positioning is really not bad, okay?】

The Chinese players wanted their Saint Escrivá to sub Wu Lei onto the field, but Escrivá did not do so.

They could only wait and see for now!

"Gomez has relatively good dribbling ability; Manchester United had better strengthen their right-side defense, otherwise..."

"Oh, beautiful!"

"Tang Ye completed a tackle on Gomez!"

After retreating, Tang Ye executed a sliding tackle, perfectly stopping Villarreal's attack.

Possession went to Rodri, and Tang Ye quickly scrambled up from the ground.

Rodri was already prepared to drive forward with the ball, but Tang Ye, having finished observing the situation in the attacking third, had a new idea.

"To me, to me!"

At Tang Ye's request, Rodri passed the ball back to him.

OK!

Slap!

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv5: Replication】

Proficiency: 42/5000

A direct long pass without stopping the ball!

"Tang Ye chooses to go directly behind the defense!"

The camera panned to the front field; Rashford, having long sensed Tang Ye's intention, had already made a forward run, extending his foot to cushion the ball in front of him.

"Oh!!!"

This is a one-on-one opportunity!

Watch Rashford!

Asenjo rushed out from in front of the goal!

Bang!

Rashford fired a low shot; Asenjo, sprawled on the ground, failed to keep it out.

"Gggggg—oooo—lllll!!!"

"Marcus Rashford!"

"Goal scored!"

"2:1! Manchester United have regained their advantage!"

The stands grew even louder; Villarreal fans voiced intense displeasure at the scorer Rashford, hurling every obscenity at the entire family of the United winger.

Rashford ignored the fans' noise and sprinted straight toward the corner flag, sliding on his knees.

"Marcus!"

A thunderous roar from Tang Ye—Jerry's friend Tom was right behind him!

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—!!!

Rising from his knee-slide, Tang Ye leaped onto Rashford's back.

【Double Assist: You receive an extra 30 Counterattack Points】

A double assist in a Champions League match yields a reward of 30 Counterattack Points.

Of course, that wasn't the most important thing.

What mattered most was that Manchester United had retaken the lead!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye's long pass from deep creates a one-on-one; Rashford calmly slots it home. Manchester United lead 2:1.

"United!"

"Manchester United!"

Now, at last, the away supporters' voices could be heard in the stadium!

"Well done, Tom!"

Ashley Young grabbed Tang Ye's head and roared; Tang Ye shook himself, then placed a hand on Rashford's shoulder. "Marcus, you guessed I'd pass, haha."

Off the pitch, Escrivá cursed loudly, while Bacca watched Tang Ye and Rashford celebrating, lost in thought.

A single long pass from midfield creates a one-on-one, and then the striker converts the chance to score.

What a familiar scene.

The midfielder is still that same midfielder, the familiar super number 10.

But the striker is no longer that same striker!

Bacca lowered his head.

"Focus, focus! Next we defend, next we defend!"

Ten Hag made a simple tactical adjustment for the team.

Villarreal were playing extremely well; considering this, Ten Hag felt it would be better to play it safe.

Holding a 2:1 advantage from the first leg away was already a good result for Manchester United; there was no need to push for more.

After Tang Ye's goal, Escrivá made two substitutions at once, one of them being Bruno, who had just scored in the second half.

Tang Ye tilted his head.

Bruno was clearly playing well; why was Mr. Ferrán substituting him off?

"Concentrate!"

Herrera slapped Tang Ye on the back.

"Okay, okay, I'm focused!"

Bang!

Musacchio played a low, driven through-ball to Fornals, who advanced with it.

"Here, here!"

Lukaku shouted, then drifted again to his favored right wing.

That big man again!

Learning from the previous instance, Tang Ye immediately directed Rodri toward the byline.

As expected, Lukaku once again chose to dribble down the line himself.

Though a center forward, he played exactly like a winger!

"Block him, block him!"

Tang Ye signaled Rodri to take his position, then moved over himself.

Rodri's challenge was evaded by Lukaku!

A square pass into the center!

Castillejo!

Then through to Gómez in the box!

Smack!

Gómez unleashed a driven shot!

Goalkeeper De Gea parried it away!

Phew...

That was close!

Villarreal's attack was truly formidable.

One slight lapse and Manchester United could be forced into a draw!

Another Villarreal attack!

Gaspar surged down the wing!

Cross!

"Far post!"

Tang Ye shouted loudly; inside the penalty area, Rojo and Lukaku jumped up together.

Boom!

Lukaku reached the first point, but his subsequent shot flew over the crossbar.

【Damn, my heart rate is speeding up, brothers】

【Manchester United's defense is struggling so much; in that case, they might as well keep attacking】

【Defense is still safer; go Tang Tang Qiuwang, even though I'm also a Yellow Submarine fan】

【Manchester United really doesn't seem very stable; Saint Teng should be careful】

In the final ten minutes, Villarreal pushed their possession rate to nearly eighty percent, and Tang Ye was running in the backfield until he was almost out of breath.

The good news was that Manchester United's defenders successfully neutralized every danger!

"Beep, beep-beep!!!"

The match is over!

Manchester United carried the 2:1 scoreline to the very end!

Walking to the edge of the player tunnel, Escrivá chewed the gum in his mouth.

Spit!

Spitting the gum into the trash bin, the Yellow Submarine's head coach frowned terribly.

In the final moments of the match, he saw his players create countless chances.

But none of them seized them!

Originally!

Originally they should have won!

To defeat this season's super-strong Manchester United at home!

"Tom."

Rashford and Tang Ye high-fived; the latter first hugged Rashford, then walked toward Musacchio together with Rodri.

"Mateo!"

Though not happy about losing the match, upon seeing Tang Ye and Rodri, Musacchio still broke into a smile: "Tom."

Because his good friend had lost the match, Tang Ye did not bring up the game again.

"Mateo, remember to come for dinner tonight." Glancing at Bruno slowly approaching from afar, he added: "Bruno said you two would treat us, so I won't bring any money tonight; if you don't treat us, we'll just get locked inside the restaurant."

"Haha."

Rodri laughed and hugged Musacchio.

Bruno grabbed Tang Ye's shoulder: "I also forgot to bring money, but we can have Ferran come bail us out later; Ferran got a raise."

"We can just invite Mr. Ferran along as well."

Tang Ye said.

Players are supposed to fear their head coaches, just as students fear their teachers.

But Escrivá and Ten Hag were different; Mr. Ferran was very approachable, so he didn't mind having dinner with the head coach.

While the players were chatting about dinner, Tang Ye caught sight of Wu Lei walking toward him out of the corner of his eye.

Only then did he remember that Wu Lei had transferred to Villarreal; Tang Ye bid farewell to his friends and quickly ran toward Wu Lei.

!

"Brother Lei."

"You played very well, Tang Ye."

"Haha, thanks."

Tang Ye and Wu Lei shared a hug: "Brother Lei, I was scared to death when I saw you transfer to Villarreal, because I never expected you to come here."

"To be honest, I didn't expect it either."

Wu Lei spread his hands.

Wu Lei's original plan had been to play for a La Liga or Serie A team fighting relegation.

Getting match appearances was secondary; mainly, Wu Lei needed the training of a top-five league team, which was his preparation for the World Cup.

He never expected that after he revealed his intention to play in La Liga, a La Liga head coach would actually contact him proactively.

And it was the damn runner-up of last season's La Liga!

"Go for it, Brother Lei; I'll look forward to seeing you play at Old Trafford in the second leg."

"Mm, although Old Trafford is a bit old, it's huge."

Tang Ye gestured with his hands: "It's much, much bigger than the Ceramic Stadium."

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Manchester United defeated Yellow Submarine 2:1 to take the first leg of the Round of 16; Tang Ye provided two assists to defeat his former club.

Defeating Yellow Submarine 2:1, this was, barring surprises, Manchester United's best performance since February.

Mm, it was even better than the match against Tottenham at the beginning of the month!

Because both teams played at a very fast pace in this match, for fans watching the broadcast on TV, it was an absolute feast of goals.

"We lost the match; that is a fact."

In the press conference room, Escrivá faced a crowd of Spanish reporters below the stage: "Although the score was 1:2, anyone who watched the match would know that we had many scoring opportunities. Especially in the final ten minutes; in the final ten minutes, we almost controlled the rhythm of the game."

"So in my opinion, although we lost the first leg, we are not necessarily going to lose the second leg either."

The powerful center-forward Lukaku had only just transferred to the team in January, so issues in coordination with his teammates were inevitable.

Escrivá believed that given just two more weeks, once Lukaku had grown more familiar with the new environment, the Yellow Submarine could defeat Manchester United!

"Tom was named Man of the Match for this game; do you have any comments on that?"

When the reporter mentioned Tang Ye, Escrivá's gaze suddenly softened with warmth.

"He deserves this award, especially for that long pass in the second half; in my opinion, Tom's vision should be the most outstanding among all players in the football world."

As he spoke, Escrivá's warm gaze suddenly turned sharp.

Because he had just realized something.

Tom now stood on the opposite side from him!

"I am very familiar with Tom's skills; this match has revised some of my previous views."

"In the second leg, it won't be as easy for him to win Man of the Match as it was today."

Click-click!

Last season, Tang Ye was Escrivá's most crucial player, so Escrivá needed to stimulate Tang Ye's abilities as much as possible.

This season was different.

Tang Ye had transformed from Escrivá's most crucial player into his most crucial opponent.

What Escrivá needed to do was suppress Tang Ye's abilities as much as possible!

And then defeat him at Old Trafford!

……

"Here they come, here they come!"

In a restaurant in Villarreal, Tang Ye and Rodri arrived fashionably late.

Leaning against the sofa, Tang Ye complained, "It's a pity Sebastian didn't come along; otherwise, I would have invited him too."

Musacchio stood up and handed Tang Ye a bottle of cola: "Oh, best not; if Sebastian came, we'd have even less chance of winning."

"You couldn't win anyway."

Rodri said jokingly.

"Haha!"

Bruno reached out and put his arm around Rodri's shoulder: "Rodri, you need to keep working hard too; although you aren't as dazzling as Tom, I can still see your talent—you know, that kind of talent. Back then, Ferran tried every way to keep you, even asking me to help persuade you."

"But I didn't do it."

Bruno shrugged with a somewhat helpless expression: "Following a better team is something every player does."

Speaking of persuading players to stay, Cheryshev suddenly said, "Last month when Sebastian said he wanted to leave, I tried to persuade him too; at the time, he even indicated he was willing to stay."

"But in the end, he still left!"

Cheryshev gritted his teeth: "That terrible guy!"

"Alé never had any intention of staying; he told me he had to go to Manchester United."

A familiar voice came from around the corner; Tang Ye turned his head to look.

"Wow, Mr. Ferran, you're here too."

"You're treating today."

Escrivá patted Tang Ye's head, then sat down beside him.

"Hey, Mr. Ferran, we agreed that Bruno and Mateo would be treating."

"You took two goals from us; do you still expect us to pay?"

Escrivá gave Tang Ye an annoyed glare.

"Then that's bad."

Tang Ye realized something ominous: "Then we might get detained here, because I have no money; if the boss wants to call the police, you must stop him, otherwise we'll be taken away by the police."

"Just holding you here is enough; 140 million euros—we could eat here for a lifetime."

"Haha!"

The players at the table burst into loud laughter, while Tang Ye could only spread his hands helplessly.

How could one hold Tom hostage in a restaurant? That was wrong!

"Hmm, Tom, you're about to play in the EFL Cup, right? I recall it's the final; the opponent is... Arsenal?"

After Escrivá finished speaking, the attention of all the players at the table focused on Tang Ye and Rodri.

"That's correct, but..."

Tang Ye glanced at Rodri beside him: "Arsenal isn't an easy opponent to play; Rod feels the same way."

Arsenal was a formidable opponent.

Wanting to defeat them to win the EFL Cup title was just as difficult as wanting to defeat the Yellow Submarine to advance to the next round of the Champions League; neither was an easy task!

Tang Ye and his friends ate their meal; the joyful atmosphere made him forget Mr. Ferran's earlier remark about holding him hostage at the restaurant.

Bruno and Tang Ye talked about his bicycle, which was a gift Tang Ye had previously given to his Yellow Submarine teammates.

Musacchio and Tang Ye talked about fishing.

However, due to the overly heavy schedule of the Premier League, Tang Ye had not persisted with the habit of fishing as they had agreed.

At 11 PM, Bruno decided to move on to a bar, so everyone began to get up.

"Wait, let me find my phone; where is my phone..."

"Oh, found it."

Tang Ye prepared to leave, but at that moment, Escrivá, leaning back in his chair, suddenly spoke to him: "Tom, didn't you bring Wulei? You could have brought him along too."

"Oh, I thought about that, but decided against it; after all, Rod doesn't know Wulei, and that might make things awkward for them."

Tang Ye urged Escrivá to leave, since now only the two of them remained in the private room.

The taxi was waiting outside!

Escrivá indicated there was no rush, gestured for Tang Ye to sit first, then stood up himself.

"Tom, I have a question for you; it might not be easy to answer."

Tang Ye laughed out loud: "Haha, Mr. Ferran, just go ahead and ask; I'll tell you everything."

Feeling his words lacked sufficient rigor, Tang Ye added another sentence: "Of course, if it concerns the team's tactics, I can't reveal those; Mr. Eric would sentence me to death."

"It's not about tactics; it has nothing to do with tactics."

Escrivá knew asking about an opponent's tactics was off-limits, and he also knew Tang Ye would never speak of them.

What he wanted to ask was something else.

Something more important.

"Tom, if, um... if Villarreal were also a giant club—um, I mean, if Villarreal were a giant club—would you be willing to come here to play?"

"The kind where you stay at Villarreal forever, competing for championships against Real Madrid and Barcelona."

Tang Ye tilted his head, quickly completing his thought process: "Of course; I think Villarreal is actually quite a nice place, and besides, Spain's climate is better than England's; it rains all the time over there."

"Mr. Ferran, we should head out; Bruno and the others are waiting."

Escrivá walked to the door and shut it with a snap.

Then... then he looked at Tang Ye before him with a strange expression.

!!!

Holy crap!

Tang Ye was so startled he shot straight up from his chair: "Mr. Fer... Mr. Ferran?"

"Why don't you just stay at Villarreal; don't go back to Manchester."

Escrivá advanced toward Tang Ye step by step, while Tang Ye retreated step by step.

"Mr. Ferran, don't be like this!"

"Mr. Ferran, have you had too much to drink? Huff, huff, please don't be like this; I'm begging you, Mr. Ferran!"

Bang!

Tang Ye knocked against a wine bottle at his feet, but he paid it no mind, continuing to back away little by little.

"Boo-hoo, Mr. Ferran, you're not going to kill me, are you? Please don't kill me. I'm Tom!"

Seizing an opportunity, Tang Ye suddenly sprang into action, summoning all his strength to dash to the door, then flung it open and ran out.

"Rod, where are you, Rod? Bruno, save me, Bruno! Boo-hoo!"

"Uh..."

Escrivá shook his head: "I was just joking..."

(End of Chapter)