Chapter 567: Return to First Place in the Premier League After 16 Rounds, Champions League Knockout Stage Draw

"Whew!!!"

"Beep beep beep beep!"

Manchester United's set-piece arrangement was quite interesting; they actually chose Tang Ye and Dembélé for the two-man setup.

But that was normal anyway; the War Friend combination was on the shorter side for Manchester United, so they weren't needed to build the wall.

Tang Ye and Dembélé covered their mouths to whisper briefly, then took their positions, focusing intently on the wall forming at the edge of the penalty area.

"Huff, huff..."

Tang Ye's heart was beating fast,

because time was running out, leaving the Manchester United players under immense pressure.

Beep!

Players from both sides began shoving inside the box as Dembélé started his run-up.

He jumped over!

Tang Ye surged up from behind!

The wall split apart, and Tang Ye delivered the pass.

Slap!

The ball wasn't lifted; instead, it rolled along the ground.

This was a driven pass along the turf!

Whoosh!

The ball moved swiftly, slipping between Otamendi and De Bruyne to reach the left side of the penalty area.

Ye He sprinted out from nowhere and fired a shot straight into the top corner.

Goal!

"Oh my god!"

"An amazing goal from Manchester United!"

Thanks to the unexpected set-piece choice and Ye He's ghost-like positioning, Manchester United had scored their third goal just like that.

The English broadcast commentators were extremely excited.

With the match already in the 82nd minute, this goal for Manchester United could very well be the winner.

【A second assist...】

"Roar!!!"

Tang Ye and his teammates turned toward the home stands and roared.

The Manchester City fans hosting the match had been too arrogant; after scoring a late winner, they definitely needed to be taught a good lesson.

Dembélé leaped onto Tang Ye, raising his right hand high.

The Manchester United stands and bench were buzzing with excitement, while Ten Hag remained the calmest of all.

The Manchester United head coach returned to the bench, sat down, and found Fan Fan Dejiahe, who had offered him advice earlier: "You see, this is exactly what I meant by 'too fast'."

"..."

Fan Fan Dejiahe was speechless.

Well, that indeed had been very fast.

"United!"

"United!"

Manchester United's third goal meant that Manchester City's fate was sealed.

Even playing at the Etihad Stadium, defeating Manchester United proved far too difficult.

While the Manchester United players celebrated, Guardiola squatted on the ground, holding his head in his hands.

It wasn't just Guardiola; De Bruyne and Otamendi on the field had also squatted down.

They felt helpless, experiencing that frustrating sensation of giving their all yet still being unable to win.

"Beep, beep beep!!"

After the match ended, Tang Ye approached to comfort the squatting De Bruyne: "It's okay, Kevin; the league is only halfway through, you still have a chance. Remember, we climbed up from third place before."

"Thank you."

Although deeply grateful for Tom's comfort, De Bruyne's face showed little expression.

He had been thoroughly stunned.

Here's a scary story.

Since last season, it seemed Manchester City hadn't beaten Manchester United even once.

"Come on."

Tang Ye pulled De Bruyne up from the grass and embraced his old rival once more: "Keep going, Kevin, keep going."

As a superstar midfielder valued at nearly 150 million euros, Tang Ye believed this was not the end for De Bruyne.

Keep it up, little Kevin!

Walking toward the player tunnel, Tang Ye and Dembélé chatted happily until they encountered Ederson along the way.

"Hey."

Tang Ye dragged Dembélé forward to catch up: "About that free kick in the first half, can I ask you about that free kick from the first half?"

Though he wasn't close with Ederson, Tang Ye could no longer control his curiosity.

"Uh, oh oh, sorry."

Being addressed by Tang Ye made Ederson feel overwhelmingly honored, a sensation that temporarily overshadowed his disappointment over the loss.

"The free kick from the first half..."

"The one you kicked out,"

Tang Ye reminded, the image of that free kick flashing in his mind: "It was aimed at the top left corner."

"Oh, that one."

Ederson realized: "Kevin heard your conversation; he told me you would shoot left, so I moved early. Otherwise, to be honest, that shot of yours was hard to save."

"..."

"Hahaha!"

Dembélé laughed loudly: "See, I told you it wasn't your fault."

"Damn."

Tang Ye was astonished: "Kevin heard us talking? How did he hear?"

"Seems he just passed by, haha."

Ederson placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder and, while Tang Ye was too surprised to speak, asked for his jersey.

"Damn, Rod, someone eavesdropped on our conversation."

The moment he returned to the locker room, Tang Ye found Rodri to tell his teammate about the eavesdropping.

"What eavesdropping?"

Rodri glanced up at Tang Ye, then returned his attention to his phone: "Never mind that, come look first; Liwupu is losing."

His attention diverted by something else, Tang Ye quickly ran over.

The Round 16 match for Liwupu had started half an hour later.

Now that Mancheng's match had ended, Liwupu still had twenty minutes left to play.

Let's check the current score.

Liwupu trailed Brighton 0:1!

"Is Brighton that strong?"

Tang Ye's jaw dropped.

If Brighton could take down Liwupu, then after Round 16 concluded, Mancheng would be first in the Premier League.

"They deserved to lose anyway; how could they keep winning consecutively?"

Fan Fan Dejiahe was also watching the live match, visibly delighted: "Liwupu has no idea how to play anymore; Brighton should be able to score another one."

"Go Brighton!"

Tang Ye patted Rodri's shoulder.

He remembered seeming to have something to say, but simply couldn't recall what it was.

Yet Tang Ye wasn't troubled by this; if he couldn't remember, he'd just stop trying to remember.

Premier League Official: Dembélé named Man of the Match for the Mancheng vs. Man Utd game.

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Man Utd defeated Mancheng 3:2 away to win the Manchester Derby; Tang Ye recorded one goal and two assists, Dembélé contributed to two goals and earned a 9.5 rating. (98,321 comments)

It nearly broke 100,000 comments, but unfortunately, this match report still failed to reach 100,000 before being removed from the pinned spot.

Actually, this should be considered a staff error.

The correct approach would have been to add at the end: "After Round 16 concludes, Man Utd tops the Premier League!"

Attached: 2019-2020 Premier League Standings (as of the end of Round 15):

1. Man Utd, 44 points.

2. Liwupu, 43 points.

3. Mancheng, 34 points.

4. Chelsea, 31 points.

5. Leicester City, 28 points.

This season's Premier League, from a certain perspective, was the same as last season: relax even slightly, and some team would come stab you in the back.

Although Liwupu equalized in the final moments, their record of 14 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw still couldn't surpass Man Utd.

Man Utd had one more draw than Liwupu!

Check Dongqiu Di fans compiled the 2019 Ballon d'Or national team captain voting results.

Argentina captain Messi: Mané, Tang Ye, C. Ronaldo.

Portugal captain C. Ronaldo: Tang Ye, De Ligt, Mbappé.

Netherlands captain Fan Daike: Tang Ye, Mané, Salah.

China captain Feng Feng Xiaoting: Tang Ye, Salah, Messi.

England captain Kane: Tang Ye, Fan Daike, C. Ronaldo.

One might have thought the voting order of journalists from various countries was already strange enough, but here with the national team captains, it was even more so.

Among all national team captains possessing voting rights, not a single one's voting order matched the final result.

Of course, none of this mattered now, because this year's Ballon d'Or had long been settled.

Time quickly moved forward ten days.

After securing three consecutive victories in the Champions League group stage, Premier League Round 17, and the EFL Cup quarter-finals, Man Utd received good news.

That news was the return of starting left-back Luke Shaw!

Due to Luke Shaw's return, Man Utd's number of injured players dropped from two (Rojo, Luke Shaw) to one (Rojo), making them one of the teams with the fewest injuries among the top five European leagues.

Manchester United's schedule is extremely dense, yet the number of injured players remains very low; this is because Ten Hag made a very bold decision, namely to drastically reduce the team's training intensity.

Normally, a professional team should have two objectives in a season: improving the team's overall strength and winning the championship.

Manchester United's peculiarity, however, is that Ten Hag has nearly abandoned the goal of improving the team's strength, placing all his focus on victories in the league and the Champions League.

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv5: Replication (Transcendent State)】

Proficiency: 2891/3500

When leaving the training ground, Tang Ye took a moment to check his proficiency status.

There are simply too many matches, which has caused Tang Ye's growth template proficiency to increase very slowly.

A quick look at Manchester United's current schedule reveals that attempting to grind massive amounts of proficiency in December and January is no longer realistic, as the number of matches Manchester United has in these two months is absurdly high, even more exaggerated than last season.

"Actually, I feel we should give up on the EFL Cup."

Tang Ye said to his teammates, "We should give up on at least one of the EFL Cup or the FA Cup; we have nine matches this month and next month, and we simply can't handle it."

"I very much agree with your view, Tom."

Fan Fan Dejiahe expressed his support for Tang Ye: "But I've already discussed this matter with Erik; the main issue is that we don't know which one to give up, the EFL Cup or the FA Cup."

"Let's give up the FA Cup; we've already reached the semi-finals of the EFL Cup."

"But the FA Cup is very important."

Fan Fan Dejiahe pointed out the crux of the problem.

This season's FA Cup is special for Manchester United because if they win the FA Cup title this season, Manchester United will achieve a three-peat in the FA Cup.

The FA Cup certainly cannot be given up; in any case, Ten Hag would absolutely not be willing to do so.

What about the EFL Cup then?

Having already reached the semi-finals, only two more matches stand between them and the championship; not only is Ten Hag unwilling to give this up, but Tang Ye is unwilling as well.

Thinking about it carefully, Manchester United's current situation is indeed somewhat awkward.

Competing for titles on four fronts sounds very formidable, but in reality, Manchester United's players must endure extremely exaggerated pressure because of it.

"Hurry up and go inside, Tom; the draw is about to begin..."

Tang Ye started running.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: 2019-20 Season Champions League Knockout Stage Draw Ceremony.

Pot 1 Teams: Paris, Manchester United, Bayern, Mancheng, Liwupu, Juventus, Barcelona, RB Leipzig.

Pot 2 Teams: Real Madrid, Lyon, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Inter Milan, Valencia, Chelsea.

【Draw Inter Milan; I feel Inter Milan should be easy to bully; I, Tang Tang Qiuwang, have already defeated Inter Milan many times.】

【Don't just pick the weak ones to play; bring on Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, Lyon would work too, let's go!!!】

【Lyon and Manchester United are in the same group; how can they be drawn together?】

【Where is Dortmund? Where is my Holy E's Dortmund...】

The mindset of Manchester United fans is quite good.

This season, Manchester United is the only team in the top five European leagues that has not yet lost a match; such an ultra-high win rate makes Manchester United practically fearless.

Just tell me, among these eight teams in Pot 2, which one can actually beat Manchester United!

Of course, Manchester United fans still hope to draw a favorable matchup, after all, the team's schedule is absurdly dense, and playing against a slightly weaker team would indeed alleviate Manchester United's current pressure.

Inter Milan and Atalanta are both good opponents; playing Napoli would also be fine... it seems the Serie A teams this season aren't particularly strong.

"China Central Television!"

"What is currently taking place is the 2019-20 Season Champions League Knockout Stage..."

The camera moved to the center; the large transparent bowl used for the draw was ready, with small balls placed inside it.

The order in which these small balls are drawn will determine the fate of these European powerhouses in the coming matches!

The host spoke above, introducing the guests attending this draw ceremony, while at this moment, the director switched the camera lens to the audience below.

Among the many head coaches, the one who naturally attracted the most attention from fans was Ten Hag.

The Manchester United manager looked very relaxed and was currently exchanging words with Guardiola beside him.

Although he sat very upright, fans in front of their televisions could still sense an arrogant aura emanating from Ten Hag.

Why would they have this feeling?

Because this is the fact; Ten Hag is indeed very arrogant right now.

This is the confidence that Manchester United has built over the recent seasons!

"Is there any team you particularly don't want to draw?"

Guardiola asked with a smile.

"Any of them is fine."

Ten Hag shrugged: "We prepare for whatever we draw; we cannot decide this ourselves."

"Haha."

The draw ceremony began!

【Juventus】

This was the first team drawn by the guest; next, the guest would draw an opponent for Juventus from the teams in Pot 2.

The team drawn was...

【Atalanta】!

It is indeed a team from Pot 2, but due to the same-league avoidance rule, Atalanta will not become Juventus's opponent.

Draw another one!

【Chelsea】

The camera immediately cut to the stands; the Juventus manager's face had turned dark, while in contrast, Mourinho, the Chelsea coach, wore a smile.

Juventus was indeed tough to deal with, that was true, but among so many teams in the first tier, drawing Juventus actually counted as very good luck.

The draw continued!

Moving to the fourth empty slot!

The guest took a small ball from the glass bowl, pulled out a small slip of paper, and slowly unfolded it.

【Manchester United】

Here it comes!

"Which teams are left now?"

Tang Ye focused intently, watching the teams already drawn displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Manchester United still had quite a few potential opponents: Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Napoli, Valencia, and one more, Inter Milan.

"I guess it's Inter."

Tang Ye said to Dembélé; he loved picking the softest persimmons to squeeze.

"Ousmane, what do you think?"

"Napoli, maybe?"

"It can't be Napoli, Ousmane; we haven't played against Napoli in the knockout stage yet."

These were all just guesses, but Tang Ye felt his own guess had a higher probability of being correct.

"Not having played them makes it even more likely we'll draw them; it's not like we keep playing the same team."

Just as Dembélé finished speaking, the guest pulled the slip of paper out of the small ball.

Seeing the content on the slip, the guest raised an eyebrow.

Wow.

He stretched the paper open, displaying it before the camera.

【Real Madrid】

(End of Chapter)