Chapter 582: Heavy Rain

"No offside!"

Azpilicueta went to the referee, hoping to win the goal back for his team.

"And don't just look at that; our player was tripped!"

Azpilicueta pointed toward the six-yard box.

The situation just now was indeed somewhat complicated; besides Pedro being offside, Batshuayi fell during his confrontation with Bailly.

If he hadn't been tripped by Bailly, Batshuayi might have reached the ball before Pedro, which would mean no offside.

"Beep!"

Taylor blew his whistle, signaling Manchester United to take the set piece.

Chelsea players hoped Taylor would check VAR, but Taylor did not look.

"Fuck you!"

"Idiot! Taylor, you're a stupid donkey!"

The fans panicked.

The most entertaining part wasn't even the fans' insults, but the fact that some fans in the stands held up banners attacking Anthony Taylor.

The banners had been prepared long ago, proving that Chelsea fans had long guessed their team would be targeted by Taylor.

Terrifying!

"Boooo!!!"

Chelsea fans shifted their target from Lampard to Taylor, sparing even quite a few Manchester United players as a result.

37th minute of the first half!

Dembélé again!

The Manchester United winger showcased his exaggerated dribbling ability, carrying the ball alone to near the byline and putting immense pressure on the defenders.

Azpilicueta was retreating, while Dembélé showed no mercy, slowly closing in.

Slap!

A right-footed cross directly found Allé inside the penalty area.

Allé knocked the ball back!

"I've got it!"

Signaling his teammates to clear out, Tang Ye fired a long-range shot, but it ultimately struck the goalkeeper and rebounded out.

Hiss!

Players from both sides scrambled, colliding with each other, until Dembélé, who had secretly slipped into the box, secured the ball.

The moment Dembélé took control, Tang Ye knew what his teammate intended to do; he decisively made a forward run into the box and took the ball from under Dembélé's feet.

It was a crossing run, but a front-to-back version of it.

Once inside the box, Tang Ye suddenly jumped, using his left foot to pull the ball back for Dembélé behind him.

Slap!

Another powerful shot sent the leather ball precisely into the net.

"Goal!"

"Dembélé!"

"Dembélé again!"

"2-0!"

"Mm!"

Completing a brace in under 40 minutes, Dembélé's performance in this match was somewhat excessively exaggerated.

"Roar!!!"

Tang Ye and Rashford ran together toward the sideline, where Dembélé was already waiting.

Tang Ye and Dembélé exchanged no words; after standing face to face, they almost simultaneously dropped to their knees.

Kneeling on one knee, one hand covered their face while the other was tucked behind their back.

【Trying to look so cool】

【Not bad, Dembélé; I've decided to temporarily raise King of Ball Dembélé's value by 20 million; Dembélé is now worth 140 million!】

【The ability to dribble with both feet is mainly the key; Dembélé's shooting ceiling should be higher than Master La's, but it's hard to say—both of them are far too inconsistent in form】

【King of Ball Tang, please stop carrying us; how do you manage an assist in every single match!】

【Those who don't understand football might think Manchester United has a huge advantage now, but those who do know this match is already over: Manchester United 5, Chelsea 0!】

The comment section was quite lively, and the scene onsite was much the same.

Dembélé raised both hands, raindrops striking his face.

"The young genius has found his former self at Manchester United"—this is a sentence recently discussed among Manchester United fans and even Premier League fans in general, but to be honest, in my view and Coach Zhan's, the current Dembélé still has some distance to cover before reaching his Dortmund-era level.

Since joining Manchester United, Dembélé's shooting has been enhanced.

However, his dribbling efficiency still does not match his Dortmund period.

Ousmane was once the King of Dribbling in Fan Fan Dejia!

"Stay steady! Let's play more steadily from here on!"

Tang Ye remained calm, fulfilling his duties as captain.

Manchester United's current objective was to enter halftime with a two-goal lead!

"Come on, Ousmane!"

Tang Ye pushed Dembélé as they walked back.

"..."

"Batshuayi, pass to Willian!"

Boom!

Willian and Wan-Bissaka collided, sending the ball flying up from the grass.

Azpilicueta galloped over and headed the ball into the penalty area with all his might.

A very imaginative move.

But there were no teammates in the box to receive it!

Azpilicueta slammed onto the grass inside the small penalty area, only to be caught by De Gea.

"Fuck!"

"Beep, beep beep!!!"

The first half is over!

The moment the match ended, several Chelsea players immediately went to find Taylor.

Tang Ye had already relaxed upon hearing the whistle, but seeing this scene, he ran over again, dragging Rashford with him.

"Don't do this, don't do this!"

Tang Ye blocked Azpilicueta and Pedro, preventing them from communicating with the referee.

It was halftime; direct communication between players and the referee was not allowed.

If you chatted with the referee for a few sentences and he favored you in the second half, wouldn't that be explosive?

"Stay calm, brother!"

"I feel the referee is slightly favoring us today; I don't know if it's just an illusion."

In the locker room, Tang Ye chatted with his teammates.

"That happens; sometimes they favor the opposition too, but I'm not talking about this match,"

Rashford said.

Manchester United sometimes gets favored by referees and sometimes targeted by them; this is something all professional teams encounter.

But today, Anthony Taylor was indeed a bit harsh, favoring Manchester United throughout almost the entire first half.

Tang Ye thought of something and started searching on Baidu Baike.

He quickly discovered something: "Online it says he was born in Manchester; could he be one of our fans?"

"What if he's a Mancheng fan?"

Rashford asked with a smile.

"That's possible too, because I remember we've been screwed by him before,"

Tang Ye whispered, before Ten Hag soon signaled everyone to stop dwelling on the referee and focus on the match itself.

Chelsea played quite averagely in this match, posing no major threats, but any fan who watches matches regularly knows that Manchester United often encounters problems in the second half this season, the reason being that tactical adjustments in midfield are not good enough.

As captain, Tang Ye must take the lead in managing the locker room order!

"I said it, Kante is their key; their defense in the middle relies entirely on Kante. As long as Kante is there, it's hard for us to push forward or take long shots..."

While Ten Hag spoke at the front, Tang Ye heard a voice from the system at this moment.

【You have received a new mission】

【Mission Objective: Score 3 goals or provide 3 assists】

【Mission Reward: Advanced Club Chest * 1】

This was like a side quest in an online game, popping up occasionally.

The reward level wouldn't be too high, but when the main quest was hard to advance, doing side quests to level up was a good choice.

Simply put, side quests exist for the sake of the main quest.

By completing enough side quests, you won't feel too much pressure when advancing the main quest.

And for Tang Ye, these attribute-boosting side quests were all preparation for the main quest of winning the championship!

The second half began!

Compared to the first half, Chelsea's lineup had some adjustments in the second half.

Giroud replaced Batshuayi, who had performed poorly.

"Chelsea chose to use a taller striker; here I think Manchester United needs to be slightly careful, because as we know, the coordination between Bailly and De Ligt isn't very good, and they might expose some problems when facing a tough striker..."

The rain in the second half was almost exactly as heavy as in the first half, and the standing water on the pitch was similar to what it was at the start of the first half.

However, the psychological pressure on the fans in the lower stands was indeed quite significant, because the sky above the stadium was pitch black, with visibly thick, absurd clouds.

Rumble!!!!

A bolt of lightning struck from the distance, suddenly turning the sky white.

"Wow!!!"

The fans in the stands one after another took out their phones, and just two or three minutes later, the rain grew heavier.

Patter patter patter patter!

Patter patter patter patter patter!

As the rain poured down, the fans quickly ran to the upper levels to seek shelter.

Of course, the players on the field had nowhere to hide from the rain; they needed to endure it and continue playing.

Rain hit his eyes; Tang Ye quickly wiped them with his hand, then immediately made a pass.

Slap!

A long pass found Rashford making a run down the left flank to the byline.

Stop the ball with his foot!

Rashford's outstretched foot didn't even touch the ball.

Fortunately, Tang Ye's pass landed right in a puddle; the water cushioned the impact, so the ball didn't bounce far, and Rashford quickly regained possession.

Dribbling straight through!

Compared to Dembélé, Rashford takes longer strides.

Lacking strong dribbling skills, Rashford does his best to maximize his speed advantage, but getting past Reece James is not that easy.

Boom!

The two collided, running shoulder-to-shoulder toward the byline.

Rashford found no opening and prepared to stop, but the next second, James went into a split.

!

Without hesitation, he cut inside.

The curtain of rain was heavy, obstructing vision; at this moment, the advantage of Manchester United's red jerseys came into play.

Slap!

A pass pushed into the center, finding McTominay!

McTominay controlled the ball and moved forward, aiming to enter the penalty area directly.

Failing to get in, he passed back to Rashford.

Rashford then tapped a reverse pass to Tang Ye.

The rain was a bit too excessive; fans with a god's-eye view were fine, but players without such perspective were suffering greatly.

Inside the box, neither Allé nor McTominay knew how to make their runs.

Boom!

The sound rang out, and a ball suddenly smashed onto the puddle in front of McTominay.

!!

After a brief moment of stupor, McTominay took the ball and prepared to shoot, only to be bumped by a defender inside the box.

Beep!!!

"Penalty!"

"That's a penalty!"

"McTominay has gone down!"

Reece James still hadn't reacted, because the person who pushed McTominay down was him.

"I didn't use force, it was a normal challenge!"

James shouted at the referee.

But during the defense, he was on the outside; lacking positional advantage, the defender had bitterness he could not speak.

"This rainy weather indeed makes it easy to slip, but even if Reece James hadn't made that contact, Manchester United would probably have scored anyway, since McTominay already had the ball near the six-yard box."

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye's long pass provided precise guidance, McTominay won a penalty in the box.

In the rain, Tang Ye's threat to the defensive line was directly elevated by one level, and the penalty Manchester United earned while leading 2-0 could potentially become Chelsea's grave.

Manchester United's penalty opportunity, handed to Tang Ye to take!

"Hoo..."

The rain had been falling for over ten minutes now, with no sign of stopping, and there was quite a bit of standing water in the penalty area.

Tang Ye placed the ball properly and stepped back to a suitable position.

In the camera shot, Tang Ye's hair was completely soaked, with rainwater even sliding down his face.

"Beep!!!"

Run-up!

A little hop with short steps.

Left foot or right foot?

Left foot!

Slap!

A pushed shot delivered.

Caballero guessed the direction correctly, but it was of no use; the ball went in anyway.

"Roar!!!"

Tang Ye charged toward the sidelines, raised both hands upward, and once he reached suitable speed, executed a penguin dive.

Boom!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Ordinary fans might think Tang Ye can only slide on his shins, but that's not the case; sliding with his chest against the grass is also possible.

"Hmm, Tang Ye has clearly practiced this."

"Haha, that must be at least ten meters."

Simply too strong!

Why say Tang Ye has specifically practiced this move? Because De Jong beside him also slid, but simply couldn't achieve the same distance as Tang Ye.

"Roar!!!"

"Vamos!"

【Mission Progress: Goals (1/3) / Assists (0/3)】

Boom boom boom!

Because many people had gone to take shelter from the rain, there were not many fans in the stands before Tang Ye.

This created an illusion, as if Tang Ye's roar had scared the Chelsea fans away.

"United!"

"We are United! (We are Manchester United)"

"Forever United!"

There were only a few thousand Manchester United fans, but their momentum after the goal was not weak in the slightest.

"Vamos!"

De Jong jumped onto Tang Ye.

In the 67th minute, the score on the field was 0:3, with the away team Manchester United leading by three goals.

After this goal was scored, Anthony Taylor blew the whistle to suspend the match.

The rain kept falling, and there was thunder too; play was now impossible, and they had to take shelter from the rain first.

……

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Due to the influence of the rainstorm, the Chelsea vs. Manchester United match has been suspended for 30 minutes.

【Just award Manchester United the 3 points; Chelsea truly doesn't deserve to win today.】

【Then what do you say about Taylor being a black-whistle ref?】

【Even if he biased toward Chelsea, they still couldn't win; mainly, who can beat Manchester United on a rainy day? Tang Ye has activated his domain.】

【Suspended for another 30 minutes too; a 7 o'clock match has been pushed to tomorrow early morning.】

【Playing further would just become a swimming competition; Tang Ye passed the ball and Ale didn't even react in time.】

After waiting 15 minutes, the rain had only lessened slightly; there was no choice but to delay for another half hour.

Once it turned into a light drizzle, players from both sides finally returned to the pitch, but by now, people on both sides had almost no fighting spirit left.

"……"

"The stadium lights are very bright! De Jong!"

"Beautiful!"

De Jong played a long pass forward, and Manchester United launched another attack.

But soon Manchester United made a mistake and got caught out by a Chelsea counterattack.

Kante seized on De Ligt's error, threaded a through ball into the penalty area, and Giroud executed a stop-and-shoot combination with fluid grace, successfully pulling the score to 1:3.

It seemed Chelsea's form was picking up, yet it was already the 83rd minute of the second half.

Unless Chelsea could score two goals in the remaining 10 minutes, they would have no way to take any points.

"……"

"De Jong"

"Wow!"

"Beautiful!"

……

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Chelsea lost 1:4 at home to Manchester United; Tang Ye contributed two assists and one goal plus precise long-pass guidance through the rain curtain, while McTominay earned his first career penalty for the first team. (Comment count: 78,991)

After a quick shower and changing into dry clothes, Tang Ye and Dembélé went to the press conference room together.

Click click click!

"In the new season/phase of Transfermarkt valuations, TY, you rank first globally with an estimated value of 240 million euros, while Dembélé ranks seventh with 120 million."

The reporter wanted to ask Tang Ye and Dembélé about current transfer market valuations, hoping to hear directly from the players themselves their views on inflation.

However, to be honest, this reporter was being a bit presumptuous.

The combination of Tang Ye and Dembélé was simply incapable of answering questions of this caliber.

So, let's change the question.

"Do you think you can return to your peak form and become the new dribbling king of the Premier League?"

The reporter pointed the microphone at Dembélé, and Tang Ye's gaze shifted to his teammate as well.

While he had been quite arrogant when speaking with Tang Ye earlier, Dembélé became conservative again when facing the reporters' cameras.

"Maybe; I don't know about that either."

Haha!

Tang Ye grinned, barely holding back a laugh.

Ousmane had just finished showing off to him not long ago!

Why did you become timid once the cameras were on you!

Actually, it wasn't that Dembélé was timid; he was just much more cautious than Tang Ye, especially when it came to answering reporters' questions.

"Besides that..."

"Your first Champions League knockout match of this season is coming up soon, against Real Madrid."

Real Madrid is Manchester United's opponent in the next match, and they are also currently first in La Liga.

Reporters prefer asking Manchester United players and coaches about the Champions League.

Because this super powerhouse has not won the Champions League in 12 years, and last season Manchester United even fell in the quarter-finals, many fans still cannot accept this result.

Manchester United and the Champions League are at odds!

"It does have some impact, because I still feel we should have beaten Paris back then, but in the end, we simply didn't win."

"Did that defeat hit you hard?"

"Yes, of course, but I feel this season is different from last season."

Tang Ye was now the one answering the reporter's questions, since Dembélé was not a firsthand participant in last season's Champions League defeat.

The reporter smiled: "Some fans believe Manchester United's Champions League campaign has encountered a curse. They say this season's Manchester United will fall directly in the Round of 16, because Manchester United's strength is limited to the Premier League and does not apply to the Champions League."

"Haha!"

Tang Ye said nothing, but simply burst out laughing.

"Wait for the match, just wait for the match; we'll know when the time comes. I don't know what to say right now."

Diario Sport cover—Champions League Round of 16 spotlight match: Real Madrid hosts Manchester United at the Bernabéu, Zidane vs. Ten Hag!

No matter the competition across the top five leagues, any match encountering this Round of 16 clash between Real Madrid and Manchester United must take a back seat, because the hype surrounding this game is undeniably the greatest.

With more than three days remaining before kickoff, UEFA's official homepage has already featured promotional graphics for this Round of 16 fixture.

The image background is the Bernabéu Stadium; on the left are Casemiro, Modrić, and Kroos in yellow-and-white kits, while on the right is Tang Ye in a black kit.

【Real Madrid vs. Manchester United】

【La Liga First vs. Premier League First】

(End of Chapter)