Chapter 568: Champions League Round of 16 Draw Against Real Madrid: The Fourth Consecutive Time

"Fuck!"

Tang Ye jumped up from the sofa: "No way, someone is trying to sabotage us!"

Drawing Real Madrid directly in the Round of 16 has left many Manchester United players in a terrible state of mind.

This is especially true for the few players who have played in La Liga, such as Tang Ye and Dembélé.

They have faced Real Madrid head-on before and know just how formidable this La Liga team is.

Sitting back down in his chair, Tang Ye took a deep breath: "Look at Osman; this is exactly what I said before—the Champions League knockout draw is rigged. You might not believe it, but it really is like that; I've experienced it many times."

Dembélé hadn't reacted much yet, but Ashley Young and Mata were already panting.

"Doesn't Real Madrid seem weaker this season than in the previous ones?"

Ashley Young suddenly said.

"No, no, no, Hazard has joined them,"

Tang Ye reminded them.

Cristiano Ronaldo's departure had lowered the intensity of Real Madrid's attack line, but during this summer window, they bought Hazard from Chelsea!

This setup is extremely uncomfortable; as for Hazard, he knows Manchester United all too well!

"It seems Hazard is injured,"

De Gea interjected. Upon hearing this, several Manchester United players reached for their phones, but before they could even pull them out, Fan Fan Dejiahe's voice arrived: "Hazard probably won't be able to play."

"That's good then..."

Without Hazard, the strength of Real Madrid's forward line shouldn't be too great.

Then comparing the midfields...

Oh, there's no need for comparison there; no matter what kind of midfield you have, you must bow your head before Manchester United.

Then there's the defensive line.

Actually, looking at it this way, Manchester United only has a weaker defensive line than Real Madrid; the goalkeepers are evenly matched, while Manchester United holds a comprehensive advantage in both the forward line and midfield.

"Actually, we can be a bit more confident,"

Fan Fan Dejiahe blinked.

Manchester United had drawn one of the stronger teams from the second pot, but this should not become the team's current worry.

"Sigh,"

Tang Ye cupped the back of his head with both hands.

He felt some nervousness, but compared to his first encounter with Real Madrid, Tang Ye's state of mind was much better now.

"Didn't you beat Real Madrid last season, Osman?"

Tang Ye turned to look at Dembélé beside him; at that moment, Dembélé was sitting on the sofa, staring blankly at the TV screen.

Turning his head, he replied: "We didn't win..."

Last season's La Liga champion was Barcelona, not Real Madrid.

"Hmm, that doesn't matter, Osman,"

Tang Ye placed his hand on Dembélé's shoulder: "Then this season, you just need to win once with us."

When Real Madrid was first drawn, Tang Ye appeared very panicked on the surface.

But you must not forget that back when playing for Villarreal, Master GG led the team to two draws against Real Madrid!

Rodri and Ale were both witnesses to this!

Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: Champions League Round of 16 Draw Results Released: Barcelona vs. Inter, PSG vs. Chelsea, Manchester United vs. Real Madrid Spotlight Match—Tang Ye Faces the Ceremony Midfield Trio Again. (Comments: 45,127)

【Awesome, Manchester United got rigged.】

【With so many playable opponents, they had to draw Real Madrid... hiss... but I feel like it might actually be okay?】

【Tang Ye > Ceremony Midfield Trio, Dembélé > Benzema, okay, so the conclusion is: Manchester United > Real Madrid.】

【Damn, pairing Barcelona with Inter is so satisfying.】

The highly anticipated Champions League knockout draw has finally concluded, with both PSG and Manchester United receiving not particularly favorable draws.

However, in reality, Ten Hag was not the most nervous among all the head coaches.

The most nervous was Real Madrid's head coach, Zidane.

You have to think from Real Madrid's perspective: they are about to face the current first-place team in the Premier League, the only undefeated team across the top five leagues this season.

Real Madrid's opponent is Manchester United, led by Master GG!

Marca

Click-click!

"I don't know what to say; this result is terrible for Real Madrid. At our most difficult moment, we happen to encounter Eden's 【Hazard】 injury."

Zidane looked dejected.

"Can Hazard recover and return to the squad before the Round of 16 begins?"

Facing Manchester United's impact, Real Madrid arguably must have a powerful winger to assist them, so in the eyes of some reporters and Real Madrid fans, Hazard's return is a necessary condition for them to defeat Manchester United.

Zidane's response was that Hazard should be able to recover before February next year, but the timeline is extremely tight, so whether he can participate in the knockout stage remains uncertain.

"Do you have any way to handle TY? Is there any pre-established plan?"

Facing the reporter's question, Zidane shook his head and walked away; the reporter tried to chase after him.

"Coach!"

Click-click!

"Can you answer my question?"

Leaving the draw venue, Zidane got into a car with his staff, preparing to take a flight directly back to Madrid.

"You look like the reporters gave you a hard time."

The staff member looked at Zidane, who was sitting in the back row, staring blankly out the window at the scenery.

"They don't think before asking questions. The draw had just ended, and they straight up asked me if I had any way to beat Manchester United."

Zidane spread his hands: "At least give me some time to think, will you?"

The draw result was already bad, and the reporters were making things even harder for him. Zidane could now be said to be quite aggrieved.

"Sigh…"

Real Madrid's accompanying staff member let out a sigh.

Before this draw began, Real Madrid had subdivided the first-pot teams into three tiers, and the three teams of Manchester United, Liwupu, and Bayern were in the highest tier.

In other words, Real Madrid had drawn the opponent they least wanted to face.

"So do you have confidence, Zinedine? Um… how much confidence?"

"…"

Zidane looked out the window again.

"How's Hazard doing?"

"Not very optimistic, but two months should definitely be enough."

"Then there's no problem."

Manchester United is very strong, that's true.

But if you think the forward Real Madrid bought for over 100 million euros only knows how to eat hamburgers, then you're very much mistaken!

……

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Europa League Round of 32 draw, Dortmund drawn against Copenhagen, Sevilla vs Roma. (Champions League third-place teams enter the Europa League knockout stage.)

Ten Hag in an interview: Real Madrid is the team that has won the Champions League the most times in history, but that doesn't mean they always win.

The New York Times — Apple is pushing a global collaboration with ty. The company plans to launch a "football + basketball" combination endorsement, which means Apple may select a basketball star in the NBA league as ty's partner, with James considered a possible candidate.

The Sun — ty got into a conflict on Ins with a Dortmund fan who was cursing Escriwa, with both sides trading insults for 22 minutes.

Four news items were at the top, but the Europa League draw result and Ten Hag's interview didn't attract much attention from fans. That's because The Sun pulled out something truly explosive.

Because they didn't make it to the Champions League knockout stage, Escriwa got cursed out by some Dortmund fans.

Dortmund's excellent league and Champions League performance last season created a gap in expectations for Dortmund fans this season. As head coach, Escriwa couldn't avoid facing questions.

One German fan named Dean had his comment pushed to the very top.

【Dean: Escriwa has big problems, and I feel like this guy is a bit China-obsessed. Back when he was in La Liga, it was because ty bought a Chinese forward, and at an inflated price too.】

【Dean: His recruitment and tactical focus both have problems. Trust me, if Dortmund want to go far, they have to kick Ferran out.】

It wasn't particularly radical talk, but for some reason Tang Ye scrolled across it. About 8 minutes after Dean's comment appeared, Tang Ye posted a reply below.

Worth noting, Tang Ye was using his main account — the words "follower count: 155 million" were displayed right on his homepage.

【ty:??????】

【Dean: ty? Oh my god, you're the real ty!】

【ty: Tell me why Ferran can't coach Dortmund. Where did your Bundesliga second place last season come from? And who bought Pogba? Was it you?】

The argument between the two sides paused briefly here, interspersed with many onlookers' comments.

Clearly Dean was stunned by what Tang Ye said, and he needed some time to recover.

【Dean: Alright then, why couldn't we make the knockout stage? Going from the Champions League group stage to the Europa League — is that what you call being able to coach Dortmund? Dortmund's current strength is entirely piled up by Pogba and Sancho, there's no future to be seen at all.】

【ty: Dortmund's tactics aren't good enough? Didn't you guys beat Bayern last season?】

【Dean: You lost this season though, and it was 0:3.】

【ty: So you have to keep winning all the time, is that it? How much budget does Bayern have in a season, how much does Dortmund have in a season? Don't you compare, bro? You're just talking nonsense here. Are you sure you're right?】

【Dean: Ferran just isn't good enough.】

【ty: Idiot.】

The two had been arguing their points reasonably, but the moment Dean said "Ferran just isn't good enough," both sides started cursing outright.

Between the two of them, they posted nearly 100 comments. Counting the netizens who joined in for the fun, Dean's post had over 20,000 replies in total, and it probably wouldn't take long to hit 30,000.

【Came here for the fame】

【My ggbond's combat power is this strong, I'm here to help】

【What's there to curse Ferran about? Aren't you satisfied with Dortmund's results? If not, just spend more money in the summer window like Manchester United did, blow 200 million】

【Hahahaha, feels like it'll go viral, leaving a mark】

【I also think Escriwa is China-obsessed. If you're not buying our local Germans, why are you buying Chinese? Luckily China doesn't have too many players worth tens of millions of euros, otherwise our team would probably be all Chinese】

Some things online just can't be explained clearly. Tang Ye and Dean argued until both got tired and stopped, but the fans who joined in for the fun started arguing for some reason too, and dozens of new battlefields opened up under the post.

From Escriwa's recruitment to Ten Hag's recruitment, then questioning Escriwa's decisions when he was coaching in La Liga before, accusing the Spaniard of the huge mistake of not including a buyout clause in Tang Ye's contract back then.

"If a buyout clause had been added to the Utrecht contract, Villarreal would have already made 200 million by now. Ferran has no vision."

Escriwa's critics seized on this issue to launch harsh criticism against the Spanish coach, while Escriwa's supporters felt the critics' demands were a bit too high.

Back then, Tang Ye was just a talented teenager worth 20 million euros, still in the lottery-ticket stage. Who knew his value could multiply tenfold.

Actually, these topics were still fine, but as the arguing went on, it gradually triggered racial conflicts, and tens of thousands of fans of different stances went straight to war in the comment section.

When the comments were approaching 30,000, a mysterious force appeared, and in the end the post was gone.

Time moved to the next morning, London time. Tang Ye issued a statement through a post.

His account had been hacked!

It wasn't ggbond himself!

……

"Damn, I got a bit heated."

On the morning drive to the training base, Tang Ye hung his head: "But I really feel it's not my fault. He's definitely wrong to say that. Isn't Fan Fan Dejia better than Dortmund's previous coach, Sitting Like?... Though I don't really watch Fan Fan Dejia matches."

He turned to look at Rodri: "Rod, what do you think?"

"Of course, I'm on your side."

The little brother supports the big brother.

"But..."

Hmm?

Tang Ye raised an eyebrow: "But what?"

"You could have at least used an alt account..."

"Damn, I only have that one account!"

Registering an account requires a SIM card; Tang Ye only had one UK SIM, and his previous Spanish SIM had already been blocked for non-payment.

"Yeah, you'd better prepare an alt account."

Stopped at a traffic light, Rodri placed his hand on Tang Ye's thigh.

Tom's fanbase was simply too massive; even a single comment would garner at least a thousand replies.

How could such a top-tier superstar use his main account to curse people out?

"Beep beep!!"

A car beside them honked; Tang Ye turned and rolled down the window.

"Tom! Oh... shit!"

"Can I get an autograph?"

"OK."

Having said that, Tang Ye unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned his upper body out to sign for the fan, but the next second Rodri yanked him back in.

"What's wrong, Rod?"

"Wait!"

Rodri shouted loudly: "Pull over after we pass this traffic light!"

Official AFC announcement: The winner of the 2019 Asian Ballon d'Or is Chinese national team player Tang Ye; this marks his fourth consecutive personal victory.

"Beautiful! Rashford!"

A goal from Rashford.

Manchester United leads Watford 1:0!

"Vamos!"

On the substitutes' bench, Rodri jumped to his feet abruptly.

It was already the 62nd minute of the second half; after playing the entire first half without scoring, they had nearly thought they wouldn't secure all three points from this match.

However, Manchester United finally managed to break through the opponent's defense!

A goal by Marcus Rashford!

"Beep!"

After the first goal, Manchester United made their substitution.

Tang Ye came on to replace the goalscorer, Rashford.

"Wow!!!"

"Tom! Tom!"

"Erik, perfect substitution!"

Manchester United fans highly approved of Ten Hag's substitution choice.

So correct!

"Marcus!"

Tang Ye and Rashford high-fived, then Tang Ye ran toward his position.

"Cut inside, cut inside, let's attack down the right!"

"..."

"Tang Ye, come to the left flank. Tang Ye is playing in Rashford's position. I wonder how Manchester United will handle this."

"Dribble toward the center!"

"Tang Ye!"

He shook off the defender, then immediately executed a rainbow flick.

Just then, McTominay surged forward, receiving Tang Ye's pass up front.

Controlling the ball...

McTominay dribbled forward himself!

Passing to Luke Shaw on the baseline!

Luke Shaw controlled it, and Tang Ye moved into the cutback support position.

He took the ball, then executed another turn!

Tang Ye used his quick turn to shake off the defender, then immediately passed the ball into the penalty area.

De Jong surging up from behind!

Bang!

A powerful shot fired out; Manchester United scored their second goal of the match.

2:0.

Manchester United leads by two goals away from home!

……

(End of Chapter)