Chapter 591: The European Leagues Hit the Pause Button

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: As of 4 PM on March 13, all of Europe's top five football leagues have been suspended.

It is not just the top five leagues; most European sporting events have been hit with a pause button, and the same goes for the NBA in the United States.

According to the official notice, the suspension will last at least until April 10, which means the league table will not change at all for the entire upcoming month, with the Premier League halted after Round 29.

Attached is the 2019-2020 Premier League standings table (as of the end of Round 29):

1. Man United, 78 points.

2. Liwupu, 75 points.

3. Mancheng, 63 points.

4. Chelsea, 54 points.

5. Tottenham, 49 points.

"From the start of the season until now, Man United has enjoyed the highest recognition for winning the title, but they have now encountered a bit of trouble; Man United needs to maintain their competitive form during the upcoming one-month suspension, otherwise they are very likely to suffer a 'surprise attack' from Liwupu," commented a Man Evening News reporter.

This reporter is a loyal Man United fan, and what he said in his article is also the worry of many Man United supporters.

Professional sports teams maintain a high competitive level by relying on one thing: "momentum." Man United has been on a winning streak, so if you now make the players go a month without playing, won't they feel uncomfortable?

All Premier League players feel uncomfortable, but Man United's pressure is undoubtedly the greatest; if even a month later they cannot produce the same performance, they could easily get stabbed in the back by Liwupu.

The Premier League may have its social niceties, but more than anything, it is about fighting and killing!

Mirror front-page headline: Arsenal manager Arteta tests positive for the novel coronavirus; within three days of infection, Arteta came into contact with all of Arsenal's first-team players, while Arsenal's first-team players had contact with Tottenham's first-team players, and Tottenham had contact with Watford.

Following the young Chelsea player, the second person infected in the Premier League has emerged.

"Sigh..."

Tang Ye shook his head gently; at this moment, in the WhatsApp group chat, many players were expressing their condolences to Arteta.

【De Bruyne: Get well soon @arteta】

【Fan Daike: Keep it up!】

【Aubameyang: (Pray) (Pray)】

Hmm...

Tang Ye placed both thumbs on his phone keyboard.

【ty: Keep it up! (Flex) (Flex) (Flex)】

【Rodri: Keep it up】

"Hey, Rod, haha!"

Tang Ye jumped up and ran to the other side of the villa; unsurprisingly, Rodri was also looking for him.

"Such great chemistry, Rod!"

"Haha!"

Tang Ye and Rodri high-fived.

Be optimistic; don't just think about sad things. The suspension has given Rodri and Martial ample rest time, so in Tang Ye's view, the pause is not entirely bad for Man United.

After slapping hands with Rodri, Tang Ye returned to his room, where he received a friend request on his phone.

Bukayo Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

There was a note about him in the group, so Tang Ye quickly clicked accept.

【Tang Ye: What's up, bro?】

【Bukayo Saka:... I just wanted to add you as a friend, ty, because so many people on our team already have you.】

【Tang Ye: Yeah, no problem.】

It wasn't like he couldn't be added; since they were players in the same league, Tang Ye would naturally agree.

However, this Bukayo Saka seemed to be a newcomer; at least in Tang Ye's memory, he had no experience playing against him.

Pulling his consciousness away from the phone, Tang Ye turned his attention to the system.

【Phase Two Mission Progress: Winning Streak (4/4)】

Status: Completed

The Champions League Phase Two mission is complete; let's see the rewards!

【You have obtained 6500 Counterattack Points】

【Champions League Chain Mission · Phase Three】

【Mission Objective: Achieve a total of 5 goals or assists in the Champions League】

【Mission Reward: Unknown】

The Champions League missions are indeed comfortable; with this, Tang Ye immediately obtained 6500 Counterattack Points, and he estimated that completing Phase Three would yield even greater rewards.

Tang Ye checked his panel; his current account balance had reached 10,932 points.

Since there would be a one-month suspension, Tang Ye's train of thought was very clear.

Set aside the money needed to purchase the 【Hazard Super Tata Sauce Burger】, and use all remaining funds to upgrade items that assist with training.

【Ronaldo's Broccoli +6 → +7】

【...】

【Ronaldo's Broccoli +8 → Ronaldo's Broccoli +9】

Spending 7500 Counterattack Points to level up nine times in a row, the effect of the Broccoli also reached an incredibly heaven-defying degree.

【Ronaldo's Broccoli +9: After use, for the next 4 hours, you gain 290% ball-training yield】

Just as he finished operating, the busy Tang Ye soon received a new mission.

Thump thump!

Rodri and Dembélé knocked and entered, holding a Mao Jin in their hands: "Going to the gym, Tom."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Check the group chat."

Dembélé held up his phone.

In the Manchester United first team's WhatsApp group, Ten Hag had just sent the players their training assignments.

This meant the Manchester United players needed to film corresponding training videos and then upload them to the group chat.

Ostensibly to supervise training, it was essentially submitting homework for online classes.

Dembélé placed both hands on his head, revealing a helpless expression: "Suspended from matches, but not from training."

……

The Telegraph, March 15th: Three Premier League players have shown symptoms of COVID-19 infection; relevant testing has not yet been conducted.

Dongqiu Di reposted from the Manchester Evening News: Suspended from matches but not from training! During the Premier League suspension, Guardiola has required Mancheng players to train independently at home, with players needing to upload videos of their daily training via WhatsApp.

The Sun—According to contract regulations, clubs must still pay players 100% of their weekly wages during the suspension, even if they do not report to the base for training.

【I get it now; this one-month league postponement equals one month less for the summer transfer window. Time originally meant for travel is now spent training at home; the players are suffering a bloody loss.】

【How is it a bloody loss? Note it's a "mansion," not a home. I'd be willing to forgo holidays too if you gave me an annual salary of 100 million.】

【One month? Without giving me my Ggbond allowance, I'd just lie around and rot.】

【Tang Ye: I know you're all panicking right now, but hold your horses; I'm already training.】

【I thought Ggbond referred to the lazy pig from before; are you even real fans? GG now comes with the "Grandmaster" suffix.】

Tang Ye, Rodri, and Dembélé were living together, so submitting their training homework was basically done jointly.

Among Premier League players, these three belonged to the lucky batch; within the Manchester United squad, new signings like De Jong and De Ligt were living alone, directly bored out of their minds.

Those three were doing quite well!

"Ah!!!"

Dembélé roared, trying to push the bench press bar pressing down on his chest up, but he failed.

"Coming, coming!"

Tang Ye rushed over quickly to help Dembélé lift the bar.

Glancing at the weight plates on both sides, each was roughly 30kg, making Tang Ye unable to hold back a laugh: "Haha, what's going on with you? Can't you even handle 30kg per side?"

"I don't know; I could do it before."

Dembélé spread his hands, while Tang Ye fiddled with the weight plates.

32.5kg per side; if Dembélé couldn't lift this weight, that was indeed terribly bad.

"Haha, how about this: Ousmane, I'll do the reps for you, then you find someone to Photoshop your head onto it, and you can submit the homework."

"Hey, don't look down on people!"

Dembélé pushed Tang Ye away: "Your body weight is greater than mine, so of course it's easier for you; at my weight, 30kg is definitely a struggle, and besides, I'm a dribbler, so I certainly can't be too bulky."

"Isn't he also a dribbler?" Rodri glanced at Tang Ye beside him.

The Manchester United defensive midfielder was also laughing, because Dembélé's strength training was truly too abstract.

"How much can you squat for a half-squat?"

Rodri asked, and Dembélé chose to change the subject directly.

"Hey, don't be like that, haha."

Tang Ye pulled back the fleeing Dembélé: "Just tell us how much you can squat."

"Didn't you see it during previous training sessions?"

"It was all weight plates; I never calculated the total sum."

Dembélé looked at Tang Ye, then looked at Rodri, his face filled with micro-expressions.

After hesitating for a moment, the Manchester United striker finally gave his answer.

"I don't know."

"Hahaha!"

"Haha!"

Tang Ye spread his hands toward Rodri: "I guarantee he can't lift too much, because I saw the plates he used before were very small."

"No, no, no; pause this topic, pause it!"

Time quickly moved forward three days.

Thanks to the help of the +10 Level Chicken Breast, Tang Ye recently felt his body was constantly warm; this was a precursor to his physical confrontation stats about to increase.

This was undoubtedly a good thing, but soon Tang Ye encountered a problem.

Although there was an outdoor football pitch at home, there were only three players in total, and the household servants couldn't assist with training.

Regarding this issue, the club was also pondering whether they could give salary increases to reserve team players and some coaches to have them go to the players' respective villas to assist with training.

This proposal had not yet received approval from the English FA, while Tang Ye and the other two, living in the suburbs, had already started playing around.

YouTube live stream room.

User: tangyetyty

【Online viewers: 892,000】

"Here is our Rodri!"

Tang Ye held the phone, pointing the camera at Rodri, who was riding an exercise bike; the latter raised his hand to greet the fans: "Good evening!"

"Haha, not just good evening; for many people, it should be noon or morning right now."

"Oh, my mistake."

Rodri cleared his throat, correcting his greeting method: "Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, everyone!"

"Haha!"

Tang Ye took an empty mineral water bottle, pretending it was a microphone, and used it to interview Rodri: "May I ask, Rodri, are you a cyclist?"

"Yeah, I'm a Tour de France cyclist."

Slap slap!

Rodri patted his calf, showing off his calf muscles.

"Oh, a cyclist's calves wouldn't be this thick; you're a fake Tour de France rider."

Tang Ye complained, then found Dembélé.

At that moment, Dembélé was sitting on the floor, his phone broadcasting a live CS match.

"Hmm! Let's do a quick interview; this is... s1mple! (a pro CS player). Good evening, s1mple."

Tang Ye pointed the camera at the match Dembélé was watching to show the viewers in the livestream.

"Can they win?"

Tang Ye asked Dembélé, who replied with a serious expression, "I should be the one playing this sniper position."

"Oh, come on!"

Tang Ye punched Dembélé's arm lightly and, at the request of the livestream viewers, turned the camera toward himself.

"When will we start playing again..."

"Didn't the Premier League issue an announcement? It seems like April 10th. Hey, those training are training; don't be nervous."

Tang Ye soothed the anxious fans.

The danmu comments included everything: English, Spanish, German, and even some dizzying Arabic.

All that flashy stuff; Tang Ye focused his attention on the Chinese and English danmu.

"Rodri is already fine; he's been fine for a while, just waiting to regain match fitness."

【Can the winning streak continue?】

【Go go go, don't go out; if you get infected, it's game over!】

【I feel TY and Dembélé should be fine; it's just that Rodri shouldn't go out. There are only 20 days left until matches resume!】

【Resume matches? You're dreaming; it won't happen!】

【Good luck next month; Manchester United wins them all!】

"The next month..."

Tang Ye sighed.

Many fans worried that Manchester United wouldn't be able to maintain their form after matches resumed; regarding this, Tang Ye wasn't quite sure how to respond.

He was merely Mr. Erik's apprentice, not Mr. Erik himself, so sometimes he truly had no solution for such things.

"We will do our best; next month Rodri can play, and yes, Martial can play too."

Check Dongqiu Di hot discussion: Tang Ye held a half-hour livestream on YouTube, with a peak concurrent viewership of 3.12 million.

Tang Ye answered fans' questions: Rodri and Martial can both play next month.

Time slowly approached March 19th.

To be honest, training at home was hardly a joyful experience because it was simply too boring; these days, Tang Ye's life basically consisted of gaming, training, and discussing charity issues during the epidemic with Rashford.

Rashford handled the charity work almost entirely on his own; Tang Ye was only responsible for reposting and donating, so in reality, Tang Ye had only been doing two things recently: gaming and training.

Now, whenever Tang Ye died in a game and sat there zoning out, he would think of Carrington.

Although it wasn't an especially luxurious training base, it was a place where he could train and eat together with over twenty teammates.

The epidemic was a disaster for everyone, especially for someone like Tang Ye who required extensive social interaction.

So the question arose.

When would the Premier League resume?

Ding!

His phone rang; Tang Ye simply took off his headset to check the phone first.

The message came from Fan Fan Dejiahe; the Manchester United assistant coach had forwarded an announcement from the official Premier League account.

Official Premier League: Due to the continued spread of the epidemic, the Premier League resumption date has been postponed to April 30th.

"What the fuck!"

Tang Ye put his headset back on: "Ousmane, check the group chat!"

Holding his phone, he carefully verified the authenticity of the news; afterward, Tang Ye's body went limp as he leaned back in his chair.

His mindset had completely exploded.

Repost: Arsenal officially announced that their striker Aubameyang and young player Bukayo Bukayo Saka tested positive for COVID-19; including Odoi (Chelsea), there are currently three Premier League players infected with COVID-19.

Man Evening News commentator: The situation is getting worse and worse; I even think the Premier League won't be able to resume on April 30th.

"Manchester United needs to pay attention to the mental state of players within the squad during the stay-at-home period."

"Especially TY," the Man Evening News commentator emphasized specifically.

Jinri Toutiao — All five major leagues have been postponed; the earliest kickoff date is April 27th. When will the results for the Champions League Round of 16, which is already halfway through, be decided?

Attached: Status of the 2019-20 Champions League season.

Teams already advanced to the quarter-finals: Manchester United, Juventus, Paris, Atalanta.

Teams yet to confirm advancement to the quarter-finals: Barcelona, Bayern, Mancheng...

(End of chapter)