Chapter 676: Guardiola Must Equip an AMD Processor to Defeat

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Dortmund 6:0 massacred Holstein Kiel to advance to the German Cup final, with Brandt and Sancho each scoring twice; Haaland returned in the 80th minute after recovering from injury, while Tang Ye remained glued to the substitutes' bench. (92,352 comments)

After easily defeating their semi-final opponent, Dortmund will face RB Leipzig in the German Cup final.

With Fan Fan Dejia's first-place team playing the third-place team, one can only say the final promises to be quite a spectacle.

Meanwhile, in some unknown corner here, Bayern fans are secretly weeping.

Unable to beat the foreign-aid-backed Dortmund in the league, eliminated from the Champions League, and even failing to overcome Leipzig in the German Cup semi-finals.

Well, if one excludes the German Super Cup, Bayern can essentially announce a trophy-less season in advance.

Official German Football Association statement: This season's German Cup final will take place on May 13 local time at the Berlin Olympic Stadium (a neutral venue), with Borussia Dortmund drawing the home team's locker room.

After the conclusion of the German Cup semi-finals, Dortmund fans began awaiting the second leg of the semi-finals on May 8.

Holding a one-goal lead, Dortmund fans felt relatively confident.

Unfortunately, on May 5, Dortmund still had a Fan Fan Dejia league match to play against RB Leipzig.

The Fan Fan Dejia schedule arrangement was indeed terrible, at least for Dortmund this season.

Facing a major battle against Mancheng on the 8th, yet having to play against Fan Fan Dejia's third-place team on the 5th, it was truly unbearable.

In response to this situation, Dortmund convened an internal team meeting to discuss the month's arrangements.

"All matches must yield to the Champions League; I need to emphasize this premise to you all."

Escriba clenched his right fist, pointed his index finger at the ceiling, and paced back and forth on the stage.

The Spaniard's suspension had not fully ended, so he still could not take charge for the second leg.

But!

Escriba had determination and confidence!

He believed in the Dortmund players; they were capable of creating miracles!

"So, do I start against Leipzig?"

A voice rang out; Escriba stopped and looked at Tang Ye sitting below the stage: "Shouldn't you need more recovery time?"

"Actually... I feel fine."

Tang Ye shrugged, extending both hands to show Escriba his muscles.

Noticing the bandage wrapped around his right palm, Tang Ye added, "This doesn't matter; it won't affect anything."

"I'm not talking about your hand; I'm talking about your stamina."

"After the first leg, you looked like you were about to drop dead."

"Haha!"

Escriba's words made the Dortmund players in the room laugh in unison.

Indeed, after the first leg, Tang Ye gave the impression that he could collapse at any moment.

Teetering, he looked somewhat terrifying.

"It has been a week now."

Tang Ye insisted he could still play, but his request to start was still rejected by Escriba.

After high-intensity exertion, at least ten days are required for full recovery, so Escriba firmly believed that Tang Ye had not yet reached his peak condition.

So...

After a brief discussion, Escriba made his decision.

Tang Ye would remain on the substitutes' bench for the match against RB Leipzig.

As for whether he would actually play, that would depend on the situation at the time.

Anyway, the Fan Fan Dejia title had already been secured in advance for this season, so winning or losing against Leipzig didn't really matter.

Additionally, all remaining time was dedicated to discussing strategies for the second leg against Mancheng.

This was today's focal point; Tang Ye tried to focus his attention and listened carefully to Escriba's explanation.

The core approach for the second leg was the same as the first, but not entirely identical.

Dortmund's starting lineup would change for the two-legged tie.

Bellingham was suspended due to a red card and could not play, so his position needed to be filled by either Brandt or Reyna.

Additionally, Haaland would replace the current starting striker.

However, these two adjustments were merely "tentative plans" for now; the specific situation would depend on the next match against RB Leipzig.

The league result no longer mattered to Dortmund, and the core objective of the next match was to test Haaland's condition.

If Haaland was in good form, he would be the starting striker for the second leg; otherwise, he would go to the bench.

This wasn't to say Escriba didn't trust Haaland; rather, under the current circumstances, every decision had to be made with extreme caution!

Slap!

Slap!

Tang Ye was juggling the ball on the training ground; seeing Pogba reach out his hand, he decisively passed the ball over.

Controlling the ball with his thigh!

Just as Pogba stepped forward and lifted his thigh, his supporting foot suddenly buckled, as if sinking into the grass.

"Hey!"

Tang Ye immediately shouted: "Paul, what are you doing?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Pogba kicked the ball away.

To prove his fitness, Pogba even shook his ankle in front of Tang Ye.

"No problem, haha."

"..."

Tang Ye narrowed his eyes.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly spoke: "I feel like your ankle isn't very flexible; have you... have you had a cortisone shot?"

"..."

Indeed, something too simple couldn't fool Tang Ye's eyes.

Pogba's ankle didn't resemble that of a top-tier football player with a slight ankle issue; it was stiff like an ordinary person's, and that was the problem.

However, Pogba always insisted he had no issues.

"This..."

"Alright."

Out of trust in his teammate, Tang Ye didn't intend to continue discussing this topic.

At this moment, Pogba suddenly asked Tang Ye a question.

"If I were injured, do you think Ferran would ask me to get a cortisone shot?"

"Hmm..."

Pinching his chin, Tang Ye carefully considered the situation Pogba described.

"Probably not; other coaches might, but Ferran probably wouldn't. Then again, it's hard to say, because you're too important to us, and we're in a critical period now."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing!"

Pogba shook his head.

Tang Ye's answer made him feel his approach was correct.

Since Escrivà would have him get a cortisone shot even knowing the situation, it was better to secretly get the shot himself.

Pogba was a smart man; he knew that if his teammates learned of his injury, their mindset for the match would definitely be affected.

Just as Tang Ye had said moments ago.

Now was Dortmund's most critical period; mistakes were not allowed during such a crucial time!

Time gradually advanced.

It was May; at this point, only a little over one month remained until China's Gaokao.

Tang Ye received an invitation to record a video encouraging Chinese high school seniors for the Gaokao.

"The Gaokao starts on the 7th, right? Or the 8th? It's not quite a month away yet."

Tang Ye said.

"Our meaning is simply that you have a match on the 8th, so we'll record it in advance and use it then."

A teacher from Peking University's Admissions Office pointed out Tang Ye's mistake.

"Oh, I didn't think of that, haha!"

Covering his head with his hand, Tang Ye asked Zhang Zhang Yuning to help him film.

"OK, King Ball Tang, I am now your cameraman."

"Haha, keep the camera straight; this is to cheer on Gaokao students, so film it well."

Zhang Zhang Yuning gave a thumbs-up to indicate OK, while Tang Ye walked over and stood properly before the light screen.

"Hello everyone, I am Tang Ye, an athlete of the Chinese National Men's Football Team. On behalf of the Chinese National Men's Football Team, I wish you all success in your examinations..."

"Wait, wait!"

"Damn, I forgot what I was supposed to say."

Tang Ye signaled Zhang Zhang Yuning to stop filming, pulled out his phone, and checked the speech draft the teacher had written for him.