Chapter 507: Last Year's Golden Ball Award Ranking Was Wrong, Ronaldo

Check Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: Juventus vs Manchester United Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg in Progress.

"China Central Radio, Television and Film! This is the live broadcast for you..."

"As you can see, the match has been underway for nearly one minute. Now I will introduce the starting lineups for both sides in this match."

Juventus (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Szczesny

Defenders: Cancelo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola

Midfielders: Emre Can, Pjanic, Matic

Forwards: Bernardeschi, Mandzukic, C. Ronaldo

Head Coach: Allegri

Apart from Alex Sandro, who is suspended due to a red card, all of Juventus's key players are on the field.

Manchester United is the same, of course.

Although this is only the first match of the knockout stage, it is still a Champions League knockout match, and every match requires full effort.

Ha!

Szczesny throws a hand-pass to Emre Can in the center, and Emre Can immediately passes the ball to Pjanic.

Manchester United's pressing intensity in the front field is quite exaggerated, and Juventus's response is to pass the ball quickly.

As soon as Pjanic gets the ball, Tang Ye rushes over.

Bang!

A sliding tackle is sent out, but Pjanic jumps up and dodges it.

"Beautiful, Pjanic!"

"Juventus's counterattack!"

After dodging Tang Ye's press, Pjanic hesitates not a second and decisively passes the ball to Matic making a run on the flank.

Matic carries the ball forward.

Encountering Rodri!

Bang!

A through ball is played out.

It rushes past Rodri's feet and is then passed to C. Ronaldo cutting inside.

"Oh!!!"

As soon as C. Ronaldo gets the ball, the Juventus and Manchester United fans in the stadium start screaming.

Let's look at C. Ronaldo's move...

Facing Smolinger who has rushed out, C. Ronaldo first does a step-over in place.

Waiting for the teammate on the side to get into position, C. Ronaldo plays a through ball.

Pjanic gets the ball again!

Snap!

Decisive pass, the ball goes to Bernardeschi making a run down the right wing!

"Get close, get close!"

Tang Ye is shouting, and Luke Shaw is already in position.

Breaking through Luke Shaw in a one-on-one is not an easy task; after failing the attempt, Bernardeschi chooses to pass back.

It's Pjanic again!

Pass it back to Cancelo behind!

After getting the ball, he suddenly accelerates down the wing, and Cancelo perfectly displays his speed as a full-back.

Snap!

A high ball cut back!

At the edge of the penalty area, C. Ronaldo heads the ball back to Emre Can.

Emre Can!

Bang!

A shot is taken, but it is blocked by De Jong who rushes up.

"Wow!"

Shifting sideways to shake off quickly, De Jong decisively passes the ball to Valencia.

"Ahead!"

Valencia points to the empty space in front of him, and Tang Ye runs over quickly.

Bang!

The ball is passed to Tang Ye on the right wing who steps on it to stop.

No rush to attack; first wait for the opposing defenders to get close.

Also wait for Rashford making a run on the left wing.

Snap!

A kick sweeps up grass clippings from the ground, and Tang Ye's long pass flies out.

"Look at Tang Ye's long pass."

"Hmm! Very perfect!"

A stable and beautiful arc; Tang Ye's long pass successfully reaches Rashford making a run.

This is a chance similar to a breakaway!

Rashford accelerates!

Unfortunately, Rashford slowed down as he approached the penalty area, so he failed to create a one-on-one opportunity in the end.

Cutting inside on his own!

Slap!

He curls a shot out.

But it gets blocked by Bonucci!

"Fuck!"

Rashford shouts loudly, then spits another mouthful onto the grass.

The Manchester United winger is extremely dissatisfied with his own play just now.

Ten Hag is naturally the same.

"Use your brain, your brain!"

Rashford has talent for speed and shooting, but his football IQ can only be described as average.

If this were a young Cristiano Ronaldo, he would probably have gone straight to the byline and struck the far corner.

A corner kick opportunity for Manchester United!

This ball goes to Luke Shaw to take!

"Forza Juve! (Go Juve)"

"Forza Juve"

"Fino alla fine! (Until the end)"

Slap!

The corner is taken; at the first point of contact, Tang Ye and Pjanic are stuck together.

Pjanic touches the ball first, but Tang Ye lifts his leg and flicks the ball that Pjanic had controlled right into the air.

It happens to go exactly toward the inside of the penalty area.

And it lands precisely where Smalling is positioned.

Boom!

The header flies out just beside the post.

So far in this match, Manchester United has produced two shots, but neither has yielded a result!

The clock hits the 15th minute!

Current possession...

Although Manchester United's possession exceeded 65% in the first five minutes, Juventus immediately turned the tide afterward, and by the time the statistics were displayed at the 15th minute, they had successfully leveled with their opponents.

Now, the possession between Juventus and Manchester United is a standard 50-50 split.

"Come on, look at me, look at me!"

Actively asking teammates for the ball.

Linking up with Ye He, Tang Ye moves toward the right-wing byline.

Going one-on-one with Spinazzola!

Just as he reaches position, Tang Ye knocks the ball with his right foot with a "slap," then decisively cuts inside.

Every movement is pre-planned, which is why Tang Ye's dribbling always looks exaggeratedly fluid.

Moving toward the penalty area on his own!

As the defender closes in, Tang Ye lifts his left leg feigning a shot, but actually performs another knock.

A through pass sent to Martial, who is making a run just before the offside line.

Boom!

Goal!

Goal!

"Wow!"

The Manchester United players sprint out quickly, while the stands erupt with fans blowing fake whistles.

"This Manchester United attack was indeed executed perfectly, but we must also note that there is a suspicion of offside on this goal..."

The replay is shown.

At the exact moment Tang Ye struck the ball, Martial had already started his run.

The Manchester United striker was right next to Bonucci, if one were to judge their relative positions.

Martial is ahead of Bonucci!

"Beep!!!"

The referee disallows Martial's goal.

The score changes from 1-0 back to 0-0!

"Damn it..."

Wiping the sweat near his eyes with the sleeve of his long-sleeved fan jersey, Tang Ye high-fives Martial.

A vision rating of 99 is incredibly powerful, but even so, Tang Ye, positioned further back, had no way to judge a 5cm offside!

"It's okay, it's okay, just keep it up!"

Captain Valencia shouts to the players.

Although the goal was disallowed and the score remains 0-0, a careful analysis of the situation on the pitch shows that Manchester United actually holds the advantage.

As long as they maintain this advantage, victory in this match shouldn't be too much of a problem!

"Come back, come back!"

"Block Rashford's right foot!"

The Youwen Sect coach appeared somewhat anxious.

When trailing, one must naturally adjust one's tactics!

The 28th minute!

Thanks to the head coach's tactical adjustments, Youwen's possession rate had now reached 56%, a decent breakthrough compared to before.

But any fan who frequently watched Manchester United matches knew that if they failed to suppress United's possession below 40% by the 30-minute mark, the situation was already somewhat dire.

It was something most Premier League teams could achieve, yet Youwen, as a Serie A powerhouse, had failed to do so.

The camera cut to Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch; the fans were now desperately hoping he would step up and do something.

【Youwen is about to collapse, brothers】

【Brother Luo, step it up!】

【Even though I'm a die-hard fan of Tang Ye, I still hope Brother Luo plays well】

【Feels less thrilling than the Asian Cup match against Japan】

【I've realized something: as long as my King Tang Ball doesn't insist on one-touch passes every time, Manchester United's possession still has hope】

There were still observant fans out there.

The main reason Youwen couldn't secure high possession in this match wasn't that the players were performing poorly, but rather that Manchester United's style of play was different today.

Tang Ye had just returned from the national team and hadn't fully adapted to club matches yet; in his last two appearances, his possession time had been relatively high.

The fans weren't sure yet whether this was good news or bad.

With Tang Ye holding the ball, Manchester United's defense would indeed be much more relaxed.

But similarly, their offensive intensity would also decrease accordingly!

Arriving at the 38th minute!

"Cristiano Ronaldo..."

"Mm, beautiful, Cristiano Ronaldo!"

He tapped the ball from his right foot to his left, then executed a backheel pass from the edge of the arc to Mandžukić!

Youwen's attack was coming!

!!!

The fans grew tense as Mandžukić made his run down the flank.

Slap!

The cross was delivered!

Cristiano Ronaldo!

Leaping high, Cristiano Ronaldo sent in a header.

Boom!

De Gea jumped lightly and then landed.

Cristiano Ronaldo's header went high!

"Ah!!!"

The Youwen forward clutched his head, then still gave his teammate a thumbs-up.

"Hiss, feels like Cristiano Ronaldo is a bit nervous today."

"Is it because the opponent is Manchester United..."

Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in this match was still decent, but his handling of certain details was indeed not as good as during league play.

The commentators began speculating about this, eager to know the reason behind it.

Was he nervous because the opponent was his former club, Manchester United?

Or... was it because there was a guy on the opposing side ranked higher than him for the Ballon d'Or?

Just as the two commentators were exchanging thoughts, Valencia sent a high ball into the box finding Tang Ye.

Boom!

Colliding with a Youwen midfielder, Tang Ye instantly tightened his core, determined to protect his position.

He controlled the ball with his chest and flicked it to Rashford!

Rashford passed to Martial; at that moment, Tang Ye curved around the defender to make a forward run, receiving a through ball from Martial.

A fairly smooth combination.

The key lay in the next move.

The defender slowly retreated, with Bonucci eyeing Tang Ye like a tiger watching its prey.

Slower, slower...

Look toward the far post.

Shoot at the near post!

It was his signature move of aiming far to hit near, but it was blocked by Bonucci.

"Wow!"

Joyful shouts came from the Youwen bench among the coaching staff.

Before the match, they had studied Manchester United's players, with Tang Ye naturally being the primary subject of their research.

To counter Tang Ye's bizarre technique of aiming for the far post to hit the near one, the roles for Youwen's defenders and goalkeeper were very clearly defined.

The goalkeeper was responsible for the far post, the defender for the near post; this way, there was little chance of error!

"Hiss..."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Tang Ye felt utterly helpless now.

Chiellini placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder and patted it.

"..."

"Beep, beep beep!!!"

The first half of the match ended, with the score temporarily frozen at 0:0.

The Manchester United players on the field were not very happy, because they had already created advantages during the match just now.

They had four more shots than Juventus, yet failed to score an actual goal.

"Rod, lean closer to me; in the second half, we need to play crossing attacks."

Tang Ye shared Ji De Xiang Fa with his little brother Rod.

Juventus was specifically targeting ggbond, so ggbond absolutely had to call for support.

As Tang Ye and Rodri chatted, suddenly Rodri stopped speaking and pinched the muscle on Tang Ye's flank with his hand.

"What's wrong, Rod?"

Following Rodri's gaze, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was preparing to return to the locker room, happened to be walking alongside them.

"Cristiano."

Tang Ye greeted Cristiano Ronaldo, and the latter bumped fists with Tang Ye: "Played very well; good luck in the second half."

Cristiano Ronaldo left Tang Ye with a view of his back.

"Hmm..."

Tang Ye and Rodri stood in place, watching Cristiano Ronaldo walk away slowly: "Rod, why do I always feel there's a hint of threat when Ronaldo speaks? Am I mistaken?"

"No, I feel you shouldn't be mistaken."

Rodri nodded gently: "Because my feeling is the same as yours."

Check Dongqiu Di halftime report: Martial's goal ruled offside; Manchester United draws Juventus 0:0 at halftime; Tang Ye faced obvious targeting by defensive players.

Home team locker room.

Bonucci took off his jersey and hung it around his neck: "Are we crazy?! Is everyone crazy?"

"If we still want to win, if we still want to claim the Champions League title, then we cannot continue playing like this."

Clearly, this was not Bonucci's first time cursing; the Juventus players in the locker room remained relatively calm.

Of course, calm as they were, the teammates all listened very seriously to Bonucci's words, because they too had now realized the gravity of the situation.

Clap!

Clap!

Bonucci clapped his hands in anger: "When the ball is at our feet, we cannot play like this; if we keep playing this way, we won't win a damn thing. Just one Rashford is giving us headaches!"

Bang!

Bonucci kicked over the box in the middle: "If we keep playing like this, we're all idiots!"

"Yeah, he's absolutely right."

Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his support for Bonucci: "This match is too important for us, so we must bring our best form."

Cristiano Ronaldo's expression was serious, and Chiellini beside him was equally grave.

A week ago, Tang Ye had just won the Asian Cup championship; back then, Cristiano Ronaldo had privately told Chiellini that he must defeat Tom head-on in a Champions League match.

"Last year's Ballon d'Or ranking was wrong"—these were Cristiano Ronaldo's exact words to Chiellini.

"Our backfield needs to play more steadily; we must play steadily."

Having just changed jerseys, Cristiano Ronaldo shared Ji De Kan Fa with his teammates: "We must constantly be wary of Tang Ye's passes, especially the defenders; players on the offside line must stay focused."

"I played against him before in La Liga; you need to know how strong his ability is to seize passing opportunities."

Cristiano Ronaldo spread his hands: "He might seize a gap of just one or two seconds to deliver a pass, so don't think things are too simple, and don't assume it's fine to temporarily let the opposing striker go."

"The problem is huge!"

Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to smash the bench beside him with his fist, but in the end held back, pressing his hand onto the bench instead.

Juventus adjusted their match state and tactics; Manchester United did the same.

"Wow wow wow!"

Tang Ye opened the locker room door and ran out first.

"Welcome back, dear audience friends; this is the 2018/19 season Champions League Round of 16..."

"The second half has begun!"

As the kicking-off side, Manchester United showed no courtesy to their opponents; Bailly sent a long pass directly to Ziyech, immediately launching the attack.

The attacking players were pushing forward!

Ziyech quickly came under marking; Martial, De Jong, and Tang Ye all moved toward him together.

They executed a series of short-pass combinations, finally resulting in Martial dribbling down the right flank to the byline.

"Here!"

Tang Ye cut inside calling for the ball and received a cutback from Martial.

A very good opportunity; Tang Ye prepared to pass the ball to Rashford on the left.

Just at that moment, the situation suddenly changed; Cristiano Ronaldo came up to challenge Tang Ye, and ultimately Tang Ye was tackled to the ground.

Bang!

(End of chapter)