Chapter 583: The Curse on Manchester United?

"Isn't kicking against Real Madrid easy? Hazard is gone."

"UEFA is really giving our Tang Tang Qiuwang face; one person on the poster taking on three?"

"I feel this must be referring to market value; 240 million is greater than the Ceremonial Midfield Trio."

"Carvajal isn't Alexander-Arnold; do you think Rashford can just dribble past him at will?"

"This time I stand with Manchester United, but United lacking Rodri is a big problem."

The Champions League Round of 16 match between Real Madrid and Manchester United has garnered the attention of countless fans, as evident from the liveliness in the comment section.

The mentality of Manchester United fans is not bad, but it hasn't reached an excellent level either.

The reason is Rodri's absence.

The timing of Rodri's absence is too critical; he will directly miss the match against Real Madrid.

"I remember last season in the Champions League you fell in the quarter-finals just because Rashford was injured."

In the Sky Sports broadcast studio, Liverpool legend Carragher and Manchester United legend Ferdinand started chatting; as usual, Carragher would seize every opportunity to mock Manchester United.

"Oh, that wasn't the entire reason."

Ferdinand turned his head away and then back again: "Rashford was injured, but United lost mainly due to form issues; otherwise, even without Rashford last season, we could have advanced to the semi-finals."

"But Rodri is injured, and he might not be able to play in either leg of the match."

"But we still have the advantage; Manchester United will definitely win!"

Ferdinand was very confident in his team: "I know we are missing Rodri, but we still have McTominay and Amrabat."

Ferdinand spread his hands.

The meaning behind the Manchester United legend's words was very clear.

Real Madrid is very strong, but not as strong as Carragher and some Manchester United haters imagine.

"They don't have Hazard, and we don't have Rodri; this is a very fair match, our odds of winning were already high, and they remain just as high now."

"Hahaha."

Carragher burst into loud laughter, only to be called out by Ferdinand: "Hey! What are you laughing at???"

"Oh oh, nothing, nothing."

Carragher adjusted his demeanor, appearing calm.

"You have a Champions League curse, so what I'm saying isn't about who is stronger, but that you have a curse."

"..."

Ferdinand was rendered speechless.

Carragher's implication was that last season Manchester United encountered injuries and then lost to Paris.

This season they have encountered injuries again, so they will lose again as well.

No matter how formidable they are, they cannot win the Champions League; this is the curse upon the Red Devils!

La Gazzetta dello Sport — Online survey data shows that the Real Madrid vs. Manchester United match is the most anticipated football event of this season, surpassing El Clásico, the Manchester Derby, and the North West Derby.

Marca — Manchester United players have arrived in Madrid, and Tang Ye was asked to sign Kroos's jersey. (. jpg)

Judging from the photos released by Marca, the arriving players were greeted by many Real Madrid fans; some came to protest, while others came for photos and autographs.

It is worth mentioning that besides Real Madrid fans, there were also fans of Barcelona and Villarreal.

In comparison, the Barcelona and Villarreal fans were friendlier toward Tang Ye.

"Go for it, TY!"

"Take down Real Madrid, don't let them have the Champions League!"

"Manchester United!"

Barcelona has already been suppressed by Real Madrid in the league standings; if their Champions League performance is also worse than Real Madrid's, it would be truly terrible.

So what to do?

Very simple, Manchester United must go all out and crush Real Madrid for Barcelona's sake.

"Good brother, TY, you and Barcelona are good brothers!"

Barcelona fans were attempting to brainwash Tang Ye.

"Calm down, calm down!"

Tang Ye was still signing autographs at this moment; his right hand was already feeling a bit tired from writing until now.

"Crush Real Madrid to death, go TY, can you guarantee us, come on!"

"Haha, we will give our all, definitely our all."

The Champions League is such a serious matter that throwing a match is naturally out of the question, but Barcelona fans wanted to get Tang Ye's verbal confirmation.

"United!"

"Man United!"

Bang bang bang!

"China Central Television! Here is the live broadcast bringing you..."

"As you can see, players from both sides are successively entering the player tunnel!"

Whoosh!

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye and Dembélé walked around the corner together.

The Real Madrid crest on the floor appeared suddenly like a trap, startling Tang Ye and Dembélé into jumping up quickly.

"Damn!"

"Haha!"

Tang Ye and Dembélé fist-bumped, the latter cupping his hands behind his head: "This is the reaction speed of a CS player."

Tang Ye and Dembélé possessed incredibly fast reaction speeds, meaning that no matter how suddenly the Real Madrid crest appeared, neither of them would step on it!

"No, no, no, not players, but professional athletes; we are professional athletes, professional esports athletes!"

Tang Ye corrected.

Among the few people currently standing in the tunnel, these two were the most relaxed; their Manchester United teammates were already accustomed to it, but their opponents from Real Madrid were seeing this situation for the first time.

In such an important match, TY and Dembélé seemed to be acting a bit too casually.

"You look ready."

Modrić came over to shake Tang Ye's hand, while Chinese fans watching the broadcast had already started fighting in the comments section on Check Dongqiu Di.

Modrić was the first-place winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or; two years ago, he had defeated GG Bond!

The fans were highly aggressive, yet Tang Ye and Modrić himself got along very harmoniously.

"We are ready, you are ready too; it's all the same."

Tang Ye placed his hand on the Croatian's shoulder: "However, we should be a bit more thoroughly prepared."

Leaning his mouth close to Modrić's ear as if whispering a secret: "We started preparing ten days ago!"

It wasn't any secret, but Tang Ye made it sound like one anyway.

"How about it, Luka?"

Tang Ye raised an eyebrow at Modrić, who merely smiled and then held up two fingers.

"You prepared for twenty days?"

Tang Ye asked in surprise.

"Two months."

Ooh!

That's quite good.

Real Madrid (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Courtois

Defenders: Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Ferland-Mendy

Midfielders: Kroos, Casemiro, Modrić

Forwards: Vinícius, Benzema, Isco

Head Coach: Zidane

Tang Ye recognized most of the opposing players, except for Ferland-Mendy.

Then there was Vinícius; this guy seemed to have just joined Real Madrid, as Tang Ye had only recently seen his name on Check Dongqiu Di.

Of course, the key point was neither the name nor the age, but this player's ability.

Judging by the transfer fee (45 million euros), Vinícius's strength was definitely not weak!

Kroos passed the ball to Vinícius!

The match had just begun, and Tang Ye got his desired opportunity to compete against Vinícius.

Vinícius adjusted from a tight angle, dribbling as he tried to cut inside toward the center!

Tang Ye and McTominay moved forward together, slowly pressing him!

Waiting for the right moment, Tang Ye suddenly accelerated to stick close to Vinícius, restricting the Real Madrid forward's running route.

"Scott!"

Tang Ye shouted loudly.

McTominay had made a mistake; he hadn't followed up to press together!

Slap!

Vinícius passed the ball between his feet, successfully shaking off both Tang Ye and McTominay.

"Wow!!!"

"He's carrying the ball forward himself!"

"Vinícius is very fast, but I think trying to break through Manchester United's center is still somewhat difficult..."

Real Madrid wanted to pierce straight through Manchester United's defensive line from the center; at this moment, De Ligt came directly out of the penalty area to coordinate with De Jong.

!

Passing again was definitely not an option, so Vinícius decisively played a through ball to the left flank.

The one receiving the ball was Modrić!

A quick adjustment!

Moving very fast, Modrić seized the opportunity and immediately delivered an outside-of-the-foot cross into the penalty area.

Benzema!

"Oh!!!"

Bailly stuck close to Benzema.

Jumping up!

Boom!

Bailly successfully cleared the ball!

"Beep beep beep!!!"

"Beep beep beep beep beep!!!!" Benzema had been pushed aside, and some home fans in the stands were already calling for a penalty.

But awarding a penalty in this situation was truly far-fetched.

Benzema hasn't even fallen yet!

"Get back quickly!"

Tang Ye reminded De Ligt: "Matthijs, get back quickly once you come out, or something bad will happen."

"Okay, okay!"

De Ligt and Tang Ye high-fived.

Off the field, Fan Fan Dejiahe revealed a gratified smile, for he discovered that ever since receiving the captain's armband, Tang Ye's influence on the pitch had been growing greater and greater.

This proved Ten Hag's choice was correct.

As for Ten Hag...

The Manchester United head coach could not smile now.

Because he clearly felt Real Madrid's tactical suppression; evidently, this La Liga giant had made many preparations for today's match.

He glanced at Zidane next door.

A strange sensation arose; Zidane seemed to feel Ten Hag looking at him, so he turned his head over as well, the two forming a brief eye contact.

"..."

"Push up!"

Signaling De Jong to press forward, Tang Ye suddenly closed in, pressing Isco from behind.

"Someone behind!"

A warning from a teammate, but it was already too late.

Bang!

De Jong completed the tackle; the ball rolled to an empty space far away.

Wow!

Time to win the ball!

Players from both sides rushed toward the empty space.

Whichever side got the ball first would gain the attacking opportunity!

Judging by the situation on the pitch, Modrić was closer, but Tang Ye possessed an ability Modrić lacked.

Adjusting his body, Tang Ye suddenly executed a slide tackle.

At nearly the limit of his reach, Tang Ye touched the ball one step ahead of Modrić, kicking it forward into a new empty space.

Still an empty space, still a scramble between both sides, but this time the situation favored the Manchester United players more.

Martial got the ball first!

Dragged the ball and turned!

"Forward, forward!"

Manchester United's advance had begun!

Martial dribbled forward with the outside of his foot, gradually reaching his maximum speed.

"Watch the wings, watch the wings!"

Manchester United was attacking through the center, yet Zidane was signaling his players on the pitch to beware of the wings.

This was because the Real Madrid head coach had already seen through it!

Snap!

Martial played a through pass to Dembélé; Dembélé and Mendy both ran over, seizing the ball first and leaning toward the center along with their body momentum.

Lifted his left foot!

Dembélé prepared to pass, Mendy raised his leg to intercept, but at that moment Dembélé's left foot suddenly changed from a pass to a cut.

A nutmeg by Ousmane Dembélé!

Mendy had been fooled!

After nutmegging past the defender, Dembélé moved even closer to the Real Madrid goal.

Maintaining a slow pace, allowing teammates behind to gradually catch up and support.

"Hey!"

Martial took the ball from Dembélé, then passed it to Luke Shaw on the left.

Luke Shaw passed to Rashford!

Facing Carvajal, Rashford could have attempted a breakthrough, but he chose to deliver a cutback directly.

McTominay!

"Come, come, come!"

Tang Ye reached out his hand to McTominay.

Got the ball!

Dragged the ball and turned; with a series of moves, Tang Ye avoided Casemiro, who was trying to slide tackle.

Casemiro placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, but this could not stop Tang Ye from taking the shot.

Lifted his leg!

Bang!

A long-range shot was struck, bypassing Ramos and charging toward the goal.

But Courtois punched it out!

Ugh!

Players rushed toward the landing spot; in the end, Dembélé was one step faster.

Performing step-overs to shield the ball, Dembélé dribbled while constantly observing, searching for Tang Ye's position.

Got it!

Slap!

Tang Ye actively ran toward the rolling ball, with Casemiro sticking close to his side.

Casemiro had already braced for physical contact, but this guy Tang Ye stuck out his foot without stopping the ball, letting it roll right through his legs.

!!!

Casemiro realized something was wrong; he turned around and, sure enough, saw McTominay behind him with the ball.

"Pull him!"

Kroos reached out his hand, and immediately after, McTominay started rolling back and forth on the ground.

"..."

Kroos held his head in both hands, watching the referee show him a yellow card.

"Hey, this yellow card is no problem; it had to be given, otherwise if McTominay passed the ball in, Real Madrid would be in deep trouble."

"But to be honest, the location given for this set piece is a bit too favorable."

The camera focused on the spot where the referee was drawing the white line.

"It's relatively close to the center, but, hey, it's quite far from the goal!"

Realizing something was off, Rashford stepped up, pointing at the white line on the grass: "Shouldn't it be a bit further forward? He fell further forward."

Did the line drawn by the referee seem slightly off?

"Beep!"

Rashford soon paid the price for questioning the referee; the Manchester United winger received a yellow card.

"Forget it, forget it, it's fine."

Tang Ye pushed Rashford, and the two of them walked together to behind the set-piece spot.

"Even if we push it forward, we won't gain much, and he definitely won't allow it, but if we cross the ball, it won't make much difference."

"So are we crossing it?" Rashford raised an eyebrow.

Tang Ye shook his head gently: "No, we're shooting directly."

"..."

He didn't quite understand the purpose of what Tang Ye had just said.

But it didn't matter; since Tom thought it would work, they might as well try!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Kroos commits a tactical foul, Manchester United awarded a direct free-kick opportunity, Rashford protests and receives a yellow card.

"Beep beep beep!!!!"

"Madrid! Madrid!"

"Hala Madrid!"

Boom boom boom!

Before the free-kick even started, the over 70,000 fans at the Bernabéu first buffed the Real Madrid players, much like a mage casting spells on front-line warriors before a great battle.

The defensive wall was already ready.

Tang Ye and Rashford stood together!

"Beep!"

The referee's gaze focused on the wall as Rashford began his run-up.

His right leg swung up!

Rashford jumped over the ball!

Behind him was Tang Ye!

Because of Rashford's feint, the Real Madrid penalty area was now in complete chaos; finding a suitable shooting angle under such circumstances was a huge challenge.

"Tang Ye!"

Boom!

Locking his knee, he struck the ball with one kick.

There was little spin; it floated to its highest point before beginning to drop.

Courtois!

A small step followed by a leap to save; Courtois's movement was quite graceful.

The distance was sufficient, but the jump seemed a bit slow.

"Goal!"

"Goal!"

"Oh my god, haha, Manchester United!"

"In the 19th minute of the first half, Manchester United opened the scoring against Real Madrid with a direct free-kick!"

"A direct free-kick from Tang Ye!"

"..."

(End of chapter)