Chapter 584: Tang Ye vs. Midfield Ceremony: Real Madrid Discovers the Match

"Haha!"

Arriving below the stands, Tang Ye spread his hands toward the jeering fans before him, wearing a helpless expression.

Dembélé, standing nearby, saw this and mimicked Tang Ye's gesture.

"Fuck you!"

"Boooo!!!"

Tang Ye was quickly cursed at; although he had only joined in the celebration, Dembélé was after all a former Barcelona player, so coming to the Bernabéu naturally meant receiving extra "hospitality" from Real Madrid fans.

"1:0!"

"Tang Ye's goal! Manchester United takes the lead!"

The commentator shouted.

In truth, more fans had expected Manchester United to score first, but no one anticipated their goal would come directly from a free kick, which came as quite a surprise.

Hiss...

Logically speaking, Real Madrid's wall should have been formidable!

"Tom!"

De Ligt embraced Tang Ye, raising both hands toward the stands.

With too many opposing fans cursing Tang Ye, his Manchester United teammates decided to draw some of that fire onto themselves.

"Hey, bro!"

A Real Madrid fan at the very bottom of the east stand caught Tang Ye's attention: "You asked for my autograph yesterday!"

"Oh, yes!"

Recognized by Tang Ye, the fan was naturally thrilled; immediately after the stands chanted "TY," this same fan joined in with boos.

"..."

Tang Ye sighed.

That brother liked GG Bond because GG Bond was awesome.

But compared to GG Bond, he loved Real Madrid more, because Real Madrid was his home team.

After conceding the goal, Zidane immediately pulled his Real Madrid players over to specifically emphasize set-piece defense.

"Our wall was fine originally; they faked, and then the wall collapsed—we can't allow that!"

"Players on the side away from the goalkeeper must not run wildly! Varane, I'm talking about you! You ran off, so he shot left, and by the time Thibaut 【Courtois】 moved over, it was too late!"

Real Madrid's set-piece defensive tactics were quite mature, but today the players were generally too nervous, ultimately allowing Rashford to break open the wall with a feinted shot.

Such mistakes should not occur in a Champions League team!

"Beep!"

The second half kicked off with Benzema taking the ball!

Keeping Zidane's earlier instructions on kickoff details firmly in mind, Benzema passed straight back to Varane, after which the entire attacking line began pushing forward.

"Right side, right side!"

While dropping back, Tang Ye signaled for his teammates to run with him.

Real Madrid was going to play a long ball!

The camera focused on Varane, who stepped forward and adjusted!

Martial rushed up to challenge, but it was merely a token effort, actually causing no disturbance to Varane whatsoever.

Smack!

The long ball soared out!

!

Jumping up!

Tang Ye and Benzema leaped together.

There was physical contact, but Tang Ye's aerial ability was truly lacking, so unsurprisingly he lost the header to Benzema.

Smack!

Passed to Isco!

Isco then passed to Mendy!

Mendy reached the byline!

"Beat him, beat him!"

"Hurry up!"

"Charge forward, beat him!"

"..."

The Real Madrid fans looked anxious, but for Mendy, beating Wan-Bissaka one-on-one was absolutely not an easy task.

Mendy remained calm, unaffected by the fans' voices.

Smack!

Passed back to Kroos, who was offering support!

"Inside!"

Kroos pointed toward the Manchester United penalty area and immediately played a low through-ball.

Vinícius surged forward from who-knows-where, beating Bailly to the ball.

"Damn!"

Tang Ye knew the situation was turning dangerous, but there was nothing he could do.

David!

Slap!

Vinicius pushed the shot through, and at the same time De Gea sat in the Guanyin Lotus position, successfully blocking the ball away.

But it wasn't over yet!

Slap!

Benzema took another shot, but De Gea, now back on his feet, punched it out again.

The ball flew over the crossbar!

"Just pass it directly to me!"

Benzema threw his hands out at Vinicius: "You should have just passed it straight to me on the first try, damn it!"

The Real Madrid players were furious, while De Gea on the Manchester United side was in much the same state.

"Why didn't anyone rush up to challenge! What the hell was I supposed to do without standing up!"

【Goalkeeping God!】

【So fierce, damn it; De Gea is better than Courtois. I wouldn't accept it if De Gea wasn't a Ballon d'Or candidate last year.】

【De Gea wasn't as fierce as Buffon last year; he's just returning to form this year.】

【Stop comparing goalkeepers; McTominay truly isn't as good as Rodri. His defensive awareness is terrible. Who even came up with the idea of having Tang Ye contest headers...】

【Only Hazard can save Real Madrid now, but Hazard hasn't recovered yet, so that's disastrous.】

【Come on, Real Madrid, hold firm, hold firm!】

The number of Real Madrid fans in China is very considerable; they like Tang Ye and support Tang Ye, but they also support Real Madrid.

Although Manchester United has their favorite stars, having the home team completely dismantled at home is certainly not a happy occasion.

Real Madrid's performance today gave people a strange feeling, like a martial artist poisoned by a snake, unable to exert their full strength.

Why?

"Hiss... It's clear Real Madrid did prepare for this match, but it's probably because they haven't played a Champions League game in two months. Fans who watch La Liga know that this season, the only team capable of threatening Real Madrid in the league is Barcelona."

Their poor performance seemed to stem from Real Madrid living too comfortably in the La Liga season.

At this moment, the advantage of the Premier League became evident.

Because roughly speaking, the intensity of competition between Manchester United and Liwupu was already at the level of a Champions League final.

"Come!"

Receiving the ball from Dembélé, Tang Ye didn't even look before striking it directly toward the center.

The one controlling the ball was McTominay, pretending to be the striker!

McTominay!

Shielding the ball with his body and waiting for teammates to arrive, McTominay made a pass.

It was Dembélé again!

A classic left-foot-to-right-foot combination; Dembélé advanced with Kroos trailing him.

Bang!

A touch with the left foot, cutting inside before switching to drive down the line.

Dembélé was very fast, and his rhythm kept changing, making it impossible for Kroos to find a suitable moment to tackle.

Arriving near the baseline!

Slap!

Dembélé completed a nutmeg on Kroos!

"Oh!!!"

A very handsome move; Dembélé prepared to cross, but Mendy got to the ball first.

He kicked the ball too far!

"Madrid!"

Bang bang!

"Hala Madrid!"

Bang bang bang!

The fans clapped and then spread their arms, expressing their support for their home team.

Whether due to the fans' cheering or the players slowly finding their match rhythm, after 25 minutes Real Madrid was playing noticeably better and better.

Modrić!

Slap!

The pass came out, and Tang Ye, who had been wandering on the wing, suddenly dropped to the ground, successfully intercepting the ball.

?

Modrić was completely stunned, but Manchester United's counter-attack speed did not allow him to remain confused.

Tang Ye stood up from the ground and, facing Modrić charging toward him, played a low through-ball to the right wing.

De Jong rushed up quickly from who-knows-where, received Tang Ye's pass, and continued sprinting forward at high speed.

It was still Dembélé!

Dembélé, De Jong, and Martial executed a series of combinations on the right wing, finally bringing Martial to the edge of the penalty area.

Ramos held his ground.

Martial took the shot!

The shot was blasted wide, and Martial fell inside the penalty box. "Hey!"

Tang Ye ran toward the referee: "He pushed him, he pushed him!"

There were boos from the crowd; players from both sides were running toward the referee, while Martial simply lay on the ground refusing to get up.

"The referee hasn't signaled yet, but this play might be a bit dangerous..."

"Let's take a look at the replay."

"Oh my, there was indeed interference."

"There was a pushing motion with the hands."

"Yes, but I think the key should be this foot Ramos stuck out; it should be this foot that caused Martial to lose his balance."

Amidst the replay and the commentators' analysis, the situation tilted in Manchester United's favor; as for the final result, that still depended on what the head referee would say.

Surrounded by players from both sides, the referee signaled no penalty, and the Manchester United players immediately panicked.

"Hey!"

"That's a foul!"

"Check the VAR, check the VAR!"

Tang Ye pointed toward the VAR equipment at the far end, while Bailly also chimed in to help argue.

The referee remained unmoved, merely telling Tang Ye to move away: "That's not a foul; we've already confirmed it."

"Not a foul? Come on, look me in the eyes, look me in the eyes!"

Tang Ye made a gesture of poking someone in the eyes: "He pushed! There was also movement underfoot!"

"Beep!"

The whistle finally blew.

However, this was not a penalty whistle, but a yellow card for Tang Ye.

"..."

The referee used his pen to write Tang Ye's jersey number on the yellow card, while the latter stood rooted to the spot, hands clasped over his head.

This feels terrible, bro!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Controversial call; Martial falls in the box, referee awards no penalty.

Coincidentally, just as Manchester United benefited from biased officiating in their last match against Chelsea, they encountered biased officiating in this Champions League game today.

But unlike the previous match, the biased officiating in this game favored the opposition!

Real Madrid adjusted quickly; shortly after nearly conceding a penalty, they found their attacking opportunity.

Vinicius was fierce, dribbling all the way forward.

Cross!

Slap!

The cross was delivered, but the players in the box couldn't reach it.

Far post!

Kroos controls the ball!

He takes one adjusting step, then unleashes a long-range shot.

Boom!

The ball speed was fast; from a distance, it looked like the kind of world-class strike that would go in, but Kroos's shot was simply too straight, heading almost directly at De Gea.

Of course, a ball like that couldn't go in!

De Gea threw the ball out to a teammate ahead; immediately after De Ligt received it, he faced pressing from Real Madrid's surging players.

"Wow!"

Benzema nearly got the ball!

"To me!"

De Jong called for the ball, but his position was quickly blocked by Isco.

Meanwhile, McTominay was also being marked.

Long passes weren't working; Real Madrid had started playing a high press!

With Rodri absent, Manchester United's problems in building play from the back were exposed, forcing Tang Ye to drop back.

"Left side!"

"Block him, block him!"

"To me!"

He deftly flicked the ball, passing it to McTominay nearby, who then delivered it forward.

"Tang Ye's directing is truly beautiful."

"But the problem is, if Tang Ye has to drop back to support, Manchester United's counterattacks will be hard to execute..."

"Hey, I think Real Madrid can just keep playing this way, targeting Manchester United's high line."

One side lacked Hazard, the other lacked Rodri.

It seemed now that Manchester United, missing Rodri, was suffering the greater impact?

After several trials, Real Madrid discovered the code to the match, and the players immediately executed tactics related to surging forward and pressing.

Precisely because of this adjustment, Real Madrid completed a reversal of the situation at the 35-minute mark.

Manchester United changed from the side controlling possession and attacking to...

Well, Manchester United was still technically the side controlling possession and attacking, but their ball kept staying in their own half, unable to get out.

"Spread out, spread out to both wings!"

Ten Hag was very anxious; Zidane next door was also very anxious. The two coaches were battling tactics on the sidelines, but in reality, the players on the field, already heated up, couldn't hear their respective coaches' shouts.

"..."

"Beep, beep-beep!!!"

The first half ended, with the score temporarily holding at 0:1.

Manchester United leads away from home!

However, leading does not mean Manchester United has already won this match, because Real Madrid found a way to deal with Manchester United before the end of the first half.

Manchester United is now encountering a slight problem.

"Scott, you need to run back and forth, but not run chaotically."

Tang Ye said to McTominay: "Check their positioning before you make your run."

"I am watching; I will move closer to De Jong and you."

"No, no, you need to watch the opponents' positions; every time you run over, you get blocked by a new player, which won't work."

Tang Ye gestured vigorously, trying to explain the reasoning behind this to his teammates: "One person cannot create space on their own; they will mark man-to-man. You must coordinate your runs with your teammates. Where exactly to run depends on how they position themselves. Modrić will keep pushing up; you either stick to him or avoid him—don't hesitate!"

The first half went okay, but Tang Ye really couldn't feel happy during the last ten minutes or so.

Because he had been playing as a defensive midfielder the whole time!

"Hurry up! Let's go!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe urged the players to move faster.

"..."

Time quickly moved to the second half; as the leading side, Manchester United chose to make the first substitution: Amrabat replaced Rashford, changing the original 4-2-3-1 formation into a 4-3-1-2.

What to do when Rodri is absent and ball distribution becomes problematic?

Ten Hag's method for solving the problem was quite decisive: simply increase the number of defensive midfielders from two to three.

As for the forwards, since Rashford was being tightly restricted by Carvajal anyway, they might as well take him off directly.

The camera cut to Rashford sitting on the substitutes' bench; the Manchester United forward looked visibly uncomfortable.

"Hey, it's alright."

Lin Lin Jiade patted Rashford on the thigh.

The two men now shared the same predicament: there were players in the squad playing their positions better than them.

Analyzing carefully, Rashford was actually quite lucky, since at least he was a starter.

Lin Lin Jiade was even more impressive; an attacking midfielder valued at 40 million euros, he could hardly get any playing time except when playing as a winger.

The two Englishmen huddled together for warmth, but soon the situation on the field changed abruptly.

Dembélé showed off again on the wing.

But because there were only two forwards, Manchester United's fast-break attack failed to materialize.

At this moment, Tang Ye started causing trouble, dragging Luke Shaw to the left flank and moving toward the byline.

"Hey!"

He reached out asking for the ball.

Dembélé!

Slap!

A long pass with the left foot precisely found Tang Ye near the byline.

This is teamwork!

Dribbling with the outside of his foot, Tang Ye took on Carvajal one-on-one.

There were many subtle tricks underfoot; Tang Ye had planned dozens of ways to beat his opponent in his mind, but Carvajal was simply too cautious.

No choice.

Slap slap!

Executing a one-two with Martial, Tang Ye moved along the byline toward the center.

Step-overs to shield the ball!

Lift the left foot!

Ramos reacted extremely quickly; seeing Tang Ye lift his left foot, he immediately positioned himself at the far post ready to clear.

As a result, Tang Ye suddenly tucked his left foot behind his right and struck with a rainbow flick.

Bang!

The defenders thought Tang Ye was aiming for the far corner, but in reality, Tang Ye chose to sneak it into the near corner.

There was no pace on the shot, nor was the angle particularly good, but it was sudden enough—so sudden that neither the goalkeeper nor the defenders could do anything about it.

Goal!

(End of chapter)