Chapter 547: Battle of the Two Saints: Manchester United vs Dortmund, Escriba's Revenge

【Tang Ye or Messi? Tang Ye!】

【To be honest, there's real hope this year; although ggbond has no Champions League, Messi doesn't have one this year either.】

【One World Cup kicked all the confidence out of Germany.】

【This newspaper is clearly chasing traffic. But China made the knockout stage while Germany exited in the group stage, so Chinese football > German football.】

【The top two spots are secure; I suggest Manchester United arrange more activities and media appearances for our ggbond—it'll help with the voting.】

【Arrange more activities? Wait until Dortmund crushes us, and then it's Saint Escriba getting revenge on Ten Hag.】

Escriba gets revenge on Ten Hag.

That sentence sounded a bit strange because, in the minds of some fans, there was no conflict between those two guys.

But those fans were clearly mistaken.

Of course there was conflict between Saint Escriba and Saint Ten; it just hadn't surfaced openly.

……

Lloncero, editor-in-chief of As: "I am almost certain TY will win the Ballon d'Or; Messi's time is over."

"I fully recognize TY's ability, but I believe his decisions in this year's transfer window were problematic; if he had transferred to Real Madrid, I would be completely certain he would win the Ballon d'Or—he needs Real Madrid's support." Lloncero did not stop his assault on Barcelona and Messi.

Manchester Evening News predicts the starting lineup for the Battle of the Two Saints: Dembélé continues to start, Tang Ye versus Pogba, Luke Shaw matched up against the talented winger Sancho.

"Why am I the one going against Pogba?"

Ten Hag hadn't arrived yet; in the meeting room, Tang Ye chatted happily with his teammates: "I'm an attacking midfielder, he's a defensive midfielder; I've already gone up against Brandt."

"Maybe it's because your playing styles are more similar," Rashford said.

"Right, many people have said you and Pogba are very alike."

Dembélé imitated a commentator's tone: "Pogba is little TY~~"

"There was such a thing?"

Tang Ye raised an eyebrow: "That must have been German television; if it had been British or Chinese television, I would definitely have known about it."

When Tang Ye was bored, he would read a bit of news, but he wouldn't read it in great detail, nor did he read every piece of news.

First, reading long articles was somewhat difficult for him; second, he didn't have that much time to spend on news.

"Tom, what do you think about the Ballon d'Or?"

Rodri suddenly asked an interesting question.

Fan Fan Dejiahe had just walked in when he heard that sentence, so he didn't rush to prepare the PPT but stood quietly to the side.

"The Ballon d'Or? What about it?"

Dembélé swiped his screen rapidly with his thumb: "Many people are saying you'll win the Ballon d'Or this year."

"Oh, that."

Tang Ye held his head: "To be honest, I feel it's possible, but I don't know if I can win it; I don't have any experience with this."

"Haha."

The highest Tang Ye had ever ranked in the Ballon d'Or in his career was last year, when he came in second.

Having no experience winning the Ballon d'Or, Tang Ye wasn't actually very clear on exactly what kind of performance was needed to take home that trophy.

"I feel your stats are better than Messi's, and we're the 103-point Premier League champions."

Rodri narrowed his eyes as he browsed Messi's La Liga match statistics.

Tang Ye leaned his head over: "Shit, 36 goals? How am I supposed to compete with that?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't panic."

Rodri signaled for Tang Ye to calm down and not be intimidated by Messi's goal tally just yet: "Those are stats from the 2018–19 season; the first half of the season's goals don't count—we're evaluating the 2019 Ballon d'Or."

"Alright then, let me check his assists."

Tang Ye placed his hand on Rodri's phone and operated it briefly.

36 goals and 13 assists—those were Messi's statistics from last season.

Even cutting them in half, the numbers were still outrageous.

But the Argentine's total goal contributions were not higher than Tang Ye's.

Rodri took a deep breath: "Hiss... I feel the probability is actually quite high, haha."

Aside from goals and dribbling stats, Messi was lower than Tang Ye in everything else, and Tang Ye had earned more points in the Premier League.

"But Messi should have an advantage, right?"

Ale put his hand on the table: "The Ballon d'Or isn't won purely on ability; Messi has been famous for a long time, so he gets more votes. The same goes for Ronaldo; otherwise, why wasn't Tom the winner last year?"

"What I mean is, if just a few more people voted for Tom..."

Last year, Tang Ye finished second in the Ballon d'Or, failing to beat Cristiano Ronaldo.

Tang Ye himself was convinced, but many players within Manchester United were not.

Some of Manchester United's youth academy products might side with Cristiano Ronaldo, but the current Manchester United had already undergone a changing of the guard, and most people still hoped Tang Ye would win the award.

"I've been famous for a long time too."

Tang Ye recalled carefully: "One, two, three, four... five, I'm about to complete my fifth professional season; I was already very famous when I was in the Eredivisie."

"I can vouch for that."

Ale echoed in agreement.

"I'm standing with Tom."

Add another De Jong!

"It's fine."

Rashford patted Rodri: "Wait until Rodri becomes the captain of Spain, and he'll vote for you."

"Then when will you become the captain of England?"

Rodri directly countered Rashford.

But Rashford was quite laid-back; he had absolutely no intention of becoming the national team captain.

"You should just try to become a captain yourself."

Rodri advised, "Help Tom gather some votes, haha."

"Hey, I don't need to gather votes."

"Hahaha."

"Stop talking about the Ballon d'Or, everyone quiet down a bit."

Ten Hag entered holding some documents, and Fan Fan Dejiahe hurriedly operated the projector.

Ten Hag stood at the head of the long table: "Be cautious, everyone; Dortmund is not as easy to play against as you imagine. They are actually not much weaker than Liwupu..."

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Ten Hag took out the player profiles and had the players pass them around.

There were 17 copies in total for 18 players.

Tang Ye did not have his own copy; he shared one with Rodri, and Rodri would explain the contents of the profile.

"What we mainly need to focus on are their wingers, Jadon Sancho. His preference for dribbling past opponents is in the profile for you to read, though you don't have to; we'll have video projections shortly..."

Ten Hag looked up.

The players were all reading the profiles, while Tang Ye was watching Fan Fan Dejiahe handling the projection.

"By the way."

Ten Hag thought of something: "There's one more thing."

"For this year's Ballon d'Or, I'm also rooting for you, Tom."

"Oh, haha."

Betway: 2019 Ballon d'Or Odds List (Real-time as of October 24).

1. Tang Ye (Manchester United), 1.71.

2. Fan Daike (Liwupu), 2.22.

3. Messi (Barcelona), 3.62.

4. C. Ronaldo (Juventus), 13.00.

8. Rodri (Manchester United), 162.

9. De Jong (Manchester United), 201.

27. Lloris (Tottenham), 1001.

27. Alexander-Arnold (Liwupu), 1001.

27. Felix (Atletico Madrid), 1001.

Is Ggbond's biggest rival Messi?

Judging by the odds, that doesn't seem accurate.

As the player unanimously recognized by fans last season as the "second best in the Premier League," coupled with his outstanding performance in the Champions League, there was only a tiny gap between Fan Daike and Tang Ye.

Of course, midfielders inherently suffer a disadvantage when competing for the Ballon d'Or, and defenders even more so, so Fan Daike's situation might not be as optimistic as fans imagine.

Roncero, editor-in-chief of AS: "If TY played as a forward, he would have already secured the Ballon d'Or, but he would need to be playing as a forward for Real Madrid, because only Real Madrid can provide support for capable players."

Diario Sport: "With a three-month injury absence, TY's chances are virtually gone; Messi's sixth Ballon d'Or is now a foregone conclusion."

The editor-in-chief of Diario Sport, accepting an interview with reporters: "The so-called 'Ggbond' is not worth mentioning; his Ballon d'Or will have to wait until next year."

... Dortmund released their squad list for the match against Manchester United: Sancho and Pogba are included, while Reus is absent due to injury.

Today's match venue was once again Old Trafford, and the Manchester United players arrived at the stadium first.

"Hello, um, hello, hello, haha, thank you."

Tang Ye took a piece of paper from a fan; on it was a sketch portrait of Tang Ye.

"Hmm..."

"How is it, Tom?"

"Thanks, haha, I had a friend when I was young who also liked drawing, but he wasn't as skilled as you."

Tang Ye pointed at the sketch in his hand: "Is this a gift directly for me, or... just for me to look at?"

"This is a gift, of course it's for you."

"Oh, oh, thank you."

Tang Ye fist-bumped the fan and busily wrote autographs.

Many Manchester United fans hadn't seen Tang Ye for quite some time, so they were exceptionally enthusiastic today.

And because they had arrived relatively early, the players also lingered at the side entrance for a while longer.

Just as Tang Ye and his teammates were signing autographs for the fans, a pre-match press conference for Dortmund was being held inside the stadium.

"For us, this is an important match. Although Manchester United currently leads by six points, I believe we still have a chance to win the game."

Currently, Dortmund's group standing is 4 points, while Manchester United has 6 points.

Contrary to the previous match against Liwupu, if Manchester United loses this match, they will lose their position at the top of the group.

"You urged the club multiple times during the summer transfer window to push for TY's transfer, but ultimately the transfer did not succeed. Regarding this..."

"Oh, there was nothing that could be done."

The reporter was abruptly cut off by Escrivá: "I regret that Tom was unwilling to transfer; otherwise, we should have been able to have further exchanges with Manchester United."

The reporter asked about Escrivá's preliminary plans for the team this season, then shifted attention back to Tang Ye.

"Fan Fan Dejia, do you think Tom can win this season's Ballon d'Or?"

"Hiss..."

In his seat, Escrivá leaned his head back: "I think it's highly probable; in fact, in my view, he should have won the Ballon d'Or last season already."

"But you just said you have ways to deal with Ty?"

"Haha, there's no conflict between those two statements. I acknowledge Tom's ability, but I also believe in my players. Even if Tom has already won the Ballon d'Or, I still favor my team, because we possess the capability to defeat Ballon d'Or-level players."

The reporter raised an eyebrow: "Defeating Manchester United at Old Trafford is not an easy task."

"Then, Fan Fan Dejia, I wish you success!"

"Mr. Fan Fan Dejia!"

Emerging from the player tunnel, Tang Ye specifically went to the Dortmund bench to shake hands with Escrivá.

"Haha."

Escrivá hugged Tang Ye, then tugged at the captain's armband on Tang Ye's arm.

"Good luck."

"Mm, you too, good luck."

Clap!

After bidding farewell to Escrivá, Tang Ye slowly jogged back onto the pitch as the Champions League anthem echoed in his ears.

"China Central Television! We are bringing you live coverage of..."

"As you can see, players from both sides are ready on the field; now let me introduce the starting lineups for this match..."

Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Bürki

Defenders: Hakimi, Akanji, Hummels, Schulz

Midfielders: Witsel, Brandt, Pogba

Forwards: Sancho, Götze, Thorgan Hazard

Head Coach: Escrivá

The match has begun!

"We can see that Dortmund's lineup is actually quite luxurious."

"But it can't compare to Manchester United's."

"Haha, that's true, but what I must say is that in this season's Fan Fan Dejia league, Escrivá led Dortmund to victory over Bayern Munich."

Escrivá's achievements at Dortmund are certainly beyond question.

But you must also consider the situation he currently faces.

Mr. Fan Fan Dejia is now facing a fully assembled Manchester United led by Mr. Eric.

This is a very powerful opponent!

The scene was somewhat noisy; soon, Dortmund found their first attacking opportunity.

Pogba spotted the timing.

Slap!

A long, curling pass with the outside of his foot bypassed the midfield line and reached Sancho up front.

Lifting his leg to control the ball!

The moment he received it, Sancho was immediately pressed by Luke Shaw.

Dragging the ball, he slowly moved toward the baseline...

Passing back to Brandt!

Bang!

Brandt played a through ball; Sancho held his position against Luke Shaw as both ran toward the baseline.

Stopping the ball with his right foot!

Just as Luke Shaw thought Sancho would cut inside, the Dortmund forward dragged the ball with his right foot and smashed it onto his left.

Bang!

The ball bounced out to the baseline.

"Wow!!!"

A completely unexpected dribble; Sancho cut inward along the baseline.

Slap!

He crossed to Götze, who had moved up to support.

Götze passed it back!

To Brandt!

One adjustment step, then another adjustment step.

Whoosh...

Bang!

A shot was struck!

"Eh, Brandt's shot was too straight."

"That ball posed no difficulty whatsoever for De Gea."

"... Nevertheless, Manchester United must still be cautious."

Escrivá had clearly devised tactics specifically to counter Manchester United, making those on the United side somewhat nervous.

Saint Escrivá knows GGBond very well!

It wasn't until the 10th minute that the commentators and fans alike began to grasp Dortmund's basic approach.

The approach was simply to avoid the midfield line.

Since Manchester United's several midfielders were all formidable, Dortmund would simply refuse to engage with your midfield.

Slap!

Achraf Hakimi delivered a through ball from the wing; ahead, Sancho sprinted quickly and soon gained control of the ball.

But this time Luke Shaw had learned his lesson from the Xiqule Sect, not allowing Sancho to pass easily.

"Here!"

Witsel called for the ball.

Sancho passed back!

After receiving the ball, Witsel made a mistake: he failed to pass it out immediately.

This was practically handing over an opportunity!

Rodri stepped up, using his body to block Witsel's passing lane.

With no other choice, he could only look for a second passing option.

But Tang Ye had already anticipated Witsel's intention; his second passing option was already marked by Tang Ye.

Rodri used his body to push Witsel aside, then took control of the ball.

Perfect!

Manchester United's counterattack officially began; Tang Ye decisively abandoned marking his player and started making a forward run.

Rodri dribbled the ball himself.

He wanted to nutmeg Tang Ye.

But Tang Ye was being closely marked by Pogba.

"Hey!"

Tang Ye shouted, and in the end, Rodri still made the pass.

Stop the ball!

He adjusted his position with a V-drag, then smashed the ball from his left foot to his right.

Slap!

Tang Ye completed a nutmeg on Pogba.

"Ahead, ahead!"

……

(End of chapter)