Chapter 652: Erik is Confident About the Champions League Quarter-Finals Because He Will Win

"Toutiao" reposts—The official Chinese national team releases the 48-man squad list for the Asian Preliminaries; Tang Ye, Wu Lei, and Zhang Zhang Yuning are temporarily absent.

Next year is the Qatar World Cup, and the 48-team Asian Preliminaries will commence in May.

This kickoff timing is extremely clever; players from the Chinese national team currently playing in Europe will basically all encounter scheduling conflicts.

Wu Lei and Zhang Zhang Yuning will most likely have to return home first to prepare, but whether Tang Ye returns or not is hard to say.

After all, for the Chinese national team, advancing past the round of 48 is certainly no problem.

Tang Ye reposts the Chinese national team's Asian Preliminaries departure poster on Weibo: (Muscle) (Muscle) (Muscle).

Time arrives at March 19th; today is the day of the Fan Fan Dejia Round 26 match between Cologne and Dortmund.

Today, the Dortmund players have two things to do: the first is to take down Cologne away from home.

The second thing is to watch tonight's UEFA Champions League quarter-final draw ceremony!

The Champions League quarter-finals...

Tang Ye sits in his spot, pondering the opponents they might encounter in the quarter-finals.

The instant Escrivá saw this expression on Tang Ye's face, he guessed what was going on inside the Dortmund midfielder's brain.

"Tom."

Escrivá spoke, and Tang Ye lifted his head.

"May I sit beside you?"

"Oh, of course, no problem!"

Tang Ye immediately made room for Escrivá.

Mr. Ferran asking this question was entirely superfluous.

Even if it weren't the respected Mr. Ferran, Tang Ye would still be willing to give up his seat.

"Actually... the quarter-finals are fine; we just need to focus on the league for now."

Escrivá spoke slowly.

Of course, he valued the quarter-finals, but he was also clear about Dortmund's strength.

Borussia Dortmund's current strength did not support them in contending for a Champions League title.

From this perspective, if Dortmund lost the imminent Fan Fan Dejia title due to worrying about the Champions League, and ultimately failed to achieve good results in the Champions League as well...

That would truly be too terrible!

Although Escrivá was relatively aggressive in tactical thinking, his tactical execution and daily life belonged to the conservative type.

Tang Ye shrugged: "It's fine, we'll just pay attention to both, haha!"

In Tang Ye's view, this match was a certainty.

To speak honestly, Tang Ye would not devote too much effort to matches where he had full confidence; this was not his style.

"Mm, good luck!"

Escrivá pressed his left hand on Tang Ye's shoulder and stood up from the locker room bench.

At this moment, Pogba was sitting right next to Tang Ye; seeing Tang Ye shaking his head and looking around for something, Pogba handed Tang Ye a bottle of sports drink.

"Oh, thanks!"

"Paul!"

Tang Ye lightly punched Pogba on the chest, picked up the drink, and took a few sips.

When Pogba handed the water to Tang Ye, Bellingham was sitting opposite watching; the English midfielder narrowed his eyes, seemingly quite dissatisfied with Pogba's behavior.

Escrivá gave the final emphasis on tactics while Tang Ye sat in his position.

Just as he was listening to the instructions, a sound suddenly rang out in Tang Ye's mind.

【Stamina: 84→85】

Attributes suddenly increasing right before a match was indeed a very rare occurrence.

One could only say that accumulation was truly very useful!

Tang Ye (22 years old)

【Ball Control: 92; Passing: 95】

【Shooting: 88; Heading: 62; Set Pieces: 93】

【Speed: 82; Stamina: 85; Physicality: 89】

【Defense: 77; Vision: 99】

Overall Rating: 94

Judging from the current situation, the attributes Tang Ye needed to focus on next were Physicality and Shooting.

If he could raise both of these attributes to 90, then Tang Ye would be able to help the team as much as possible in the Champions League quarter-finals!

"Left flank, come up yourself!"

Clap clap!

Executing a one-two combination with Solgan, Tang Ye arrived at the left baseline.

Get ready!

Slap!

【De Bruyne Cutback Pass Lv5: Replication (Transcendent State)】

Proficiency: 2271/3500

The cutback pass went to Pogba!

Controlling the ball and adjusting, Pogba quickly created distance from the defending player.

"Up, up!"

The goalkeeper signaled his teammates to press forward, but by then, shouting was already a bit too late.

Because Ge Ba Cheng Gong had already found the perfect shooting angle!

Boom!

A long-range shot swept out; Ge Ba Cheng Gong successfully blasted open the goal.

"Beautiful!"

"Ge Ba Cheng Gong's worldie!"

"1:0!"

In the 28th minute of the first half, Duo Te Cheng Gong opened the scoring against Cologne.

"Boooo!"

Amidst a sky-full of boos from the stadium, Ge Ba Cheng Gong charged toward the sidelines.

Delivering a knee slide!

Thud!!!

"Nice, Paul!"

Tang Ye jumped up and pumped his fist.

"Come on, come on! It's not over, it's not over!"

"..."

Swish swish!

A nutroll through the center shook off the defender horizontally.

However, Tang Ye seemed to have underestimated his opponent; Hector simply stuck out a foot and tripped him.

The referee bit down on his whistle, ready to blow, but Tang Ye stumbled a few steps and managed to stay upright.

He didn't fall!

"Oh!!"

Accelerating again toward the byline!

"He's in!"

Finding Haaland inside the box, Tang Ye immediately delivered a cross with full proficiency at a 45-degree angle.

Slap!

Haaland!

Controlling the ball with his chest!

Haaland looked a bit unsteady in his balance, but fortunately, his volley came just in time.

A volleyed shot whipped out!

"Haaland!"

"2:0!"

"Dortmund's second goal of the match!"

"Hiss... If this is the case, Cologne might be in for a tough time..."

"Yes, we know Cologne's Fan Fan Dejia results this season have actually been quite decent, but no one expected them to play like this."

Playing into the 35th minute, the momentum on the field had almost completely tilted toward Duo Te Cheng Gong.

Cologne wanted to resist, but the pressing from Bellingham, Sancho, and Thorgan Hazard simply prevented them from even getting the ball into the attacking third.

"Hey, Commentator He, that statement of yours is a bit incorrect."

"Cologne's good Fan Fan Dejia record is useless; after all, Duo Te Cheng Gong is currently top of the Fan Fan Dejia standings, haha. Plus, both Bayern and Leipzig lost to Duo Te Cheng Gong!"

Entering the second half with a 2:0 scoreline, Duo Te Cheng Gong maintained their attacking momentum.

Speaking of which, Cologne is actually quite pitiable; this match happens to be Duo Te Cheng Gong's final game in March.

With a full two weeks available, there was absolutely no need to worry about upcoming matches, so Escrivá had no intention whatsoever of substituting Tang Ye off the field.

Furthermore, with a two-goal lead, Escrivá had Duo Te Cheng Gong try out a new tactic.

Not only Bellingham, but Ge Ba Cheng Gong's positioning was also shifted forward by Escrivá.

Of course, Escrivá's adjustment was not obvious, so the commentators and fans couldn't spot it immediately.

"..."

"Katterbach is coming up..."

"Actually, a direct long ball would be a great option, but Cologne is playing rather conservatively; Katterbach first passes to Hector in the center for support!"

The moment Hector received the ball, Tang Ye, along with Bellingham, moved in directly, preparing to double-team the opponent.

But the opposition was clearly prepared; Hector pulled the ball and turned, shaking off both Tang Ye and Bellingham completely.

Boom!

A driven long pass sent forward!

Ge Ba Cheng Gong stretched out his foot attempting an interception, but luck wasn't on his side.

The long pass from Hector rolled past Ge Ba Cheng Gong, successfully reaching Dreksler in the attacking third.

"Far post!"

Bürki warned, but it seemed a bit too late.

Dreksler passed the ball to Duda, who accelerated with the ball toward the right goalpost, followed immediately by a zero-angle thunderous shot.

"Toooooorrrr!!!!"

"Duda's goal!"

"1:2!"

"Hey, that goal was crucial!"

Putting everything else aside, Cologne's counterattack here was genuinely clever.

Of course, the key part was still Duda's final explosive strike!

【Eskrivá takes the fall for this one】

【Don't keep making me, the Saint of E, take the blame alright, this one was purely the other side playing well】

【Come on, come on, Dortmund!】