Chapter 730: Manchester United's Foundation Is Hard to Break; Tang Ye, the Voldemort, Assists

Simeone's shouting was, of course, also heard by Ten Hag.

Ten Hag went straight to the fourth official: "This is too shameless! Did you hear that? What are they trying to do!?"

"..."

The fourth official felt somewhat awkward and told Ten Hag that mere shouting did not constitute a foul.

"Wow, so you mean I have to wait until Tom is sent to the hospital before I can complain?"

Ten Hag waved his hand: "OK, OK, you guys are truly amazing."

Ten Hag disliked many coaches: Escrivá, Guardiola, Klopp, and Simeone were all on that list.

In the Dutchman's mind, he had long since blacklisted these coaches, with higher rankings indicating greater dislike.

It seemed Simeone's ranking needed to be moved up slightly now!

"Xuuu!!!"

Cristiano Ronaldo moved to the left flank to receive the ball, dribbling toward Felipe with the outside of his foot.

Step-overs!

Change of direction!

Cristiano Ronaldo attempted a step-over to beat his man, but unfortunately, Felipe read his intention, poked the ball away, and completed the tackle.

"Xuuu!!!"

"Trash!"

"Ronaldo is just trash!"

The Atlético Madrid fans showed Cristiano Ronaldo no mercy; at the slightest mistake by the Portuguese, they would resort to every possible method of mockery.

"It's fine!"

Tang Ye shouted, signaling Cristiano Ronaldo to hurry back and defend.

"..."

Time flew quickly, reaching the 14th minute of the first half.

Manchester United's possession rate soared to 82%.

Atlético Madrid's tactics were somewhat unusual, resulting in Manchester United achieving their highest possession rate since the start of the season.

The Manchester United fans were delighted.

But after the 20-minute mark, the Manchester United fans watching on television slowly began to realize something was wrong.

With over 80% possession, Manchester United's number of shots seemed a bit too low?

In their impression of the away kit, they only needed 40% possession to generate nearly 70% of the match's shots.

Of course, in this match, despite Manchester United's 80% possession, their shot count was only two more than Atlético Madrid's, and that included one direct free-kick shot.

"... Tsk, it seems Manchester United has fallen into Atlético Madrid's trap?"

"They say even five defenders can't stop Manchester United, so Simeone simply went all out—hey, five defenders plus five defensive midfielders."

"The intention is laid bare: I'm not playing offense with you at all; I'm just going to defend to the end!"

"Actually, Manchester United still has some chances. Rashford!"

Accelerating to maximum speed, Rashford dribbled toward the byline.

One-on-one against Felipe!

The dribble failed; Rashford paused on the left flank for a moment.

Passed back to Luke Shaw!

Pa!

A 45-degree cross was delivered, aiming directly at Dembélé on the right flank.

Dembélé charged in between Hermoso and Koke.

He jumped!

"Ah!"

Dembélé, preparing to head the ball, was knocked aside in mid-air by Hermoso.

!!

The Manchester United players on the field reacted quickly; Tang Ye and Cristiano Ronaldo immediately rushed toward the referee.

"That's a foul!"

"It's a penalty!"

Tang Ye slapped his own shoulder in front of the referee, indicating that Dembélé's center of gravity had been disrupted in the air, constituting a very serious foul.

"He's right; you should take a look."

Cristiano Ronaldo echoed.

The Manchester United players' appeals had some effect.

However, the referee's decision was a direct free kick, not the penalty the players truly wanted.

Cristiano Ronaldo spread his hands toward the penalty area: "He was already inside the box when he jumped, right? I saw it."

"No, it's a free kick."

Hibbert signaled for Cristiano Ronaldo to move away.

Tang Ye placed both hands on his hips.

He was not very satisfied with the referee's decision.

Such controversies over penalties versus free kicks inside the box often become extremely frustrating.

If the referee had awarded a penalty, that would naturally have been ideal.

But if it's a free kick, even if the attacking player is fouled near the penalty area, the spot marked by the referee will be relatively far back, not at the actual location of the fall.

Take this call, for instance: the white line drawn by the referee was at least 2.5 meters away from where Dembélé fell.

"Stupid ref!"

"Fuck you!"

"Lick my fucking ass!"

Unable to break through after prolonged attacks, they were now being targeted by the referee.

The proud and arrogant Manchester United fans were growing frantic.

"... Direct free kick, and it's given to Tang Ye."

Slap!

A driven pass shot out, pinpointing Rodri inside the penalty area.

Rodri feinted to dodge Kondogbia, then slid a through-ball to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bang!

A thunderous shot unleashed.

Goal!!!

"Beep!"

Before the Manchester United players could even begin celebrating, Hibbert immediately disallowed Cristiano Ronaldo's goal.

【Offside】

"Eh, offside!"

"Cristiano Ronaldo was offside; hmm, that was actually quite obvious."

"Cristiano Ronaldo's forward run was a bit too hasty!"

Cristiano Ronaldo gritted his teeth, glaring at the referee with fury.

He felt the head referee was targeting him!

Regarding the disallowed goal, Ten Hag showed little reaction, merely raising his hand and then lowering it again.

By this point, more and more Manchester United fans realized something was wrong.

Everyone said this match would be tough, but the reality was even worse than the fans had imagined.

"Yo soy del Atleti! (I am an Atlético person!)"

"Aupa Atleti! (Go Atlético!)"

"..."

Manchester United's rear field was wide open; this was a rare counter-attack opportunity for Atlético!

Griezmann dribbled and changed direction, temporarily evading Varane.

Slap!

He delivered a cross, targeting Félix, who was making a diagonal run into the arc.

Atlético's number 7 leaped high into the air.

A header!

Bang!

De Gea sprang up and parried the ball away.

"Oh!"

"Beep beep beep beep!!!!"

Unsurprisingly, this was likely the most threatening shot of the match so far.

It actually came from Atlético.

From this perspective, Atlético indeed possessed the capability to challenge Manchester United.

Moreover, besides playing at home, Atlético enjoyed another rare advantage today.

They seemed to have gained the favoritism of both the referee and God!

"Aupa Atleti!"

"Aupa Atleti!"

Slap!

The corner kick was delivered!

The height wasn't particularly high, but the ball speed was fast.

"Goal!"

Tang Ye, having made the judgment, shouted it out.

De Gea also realized something was amiss, but De Paul was clever enough to use his body to block the Manchester United goalkeeper's line of sight.

In less than half a second, De Gea lost visual contact with the ball.

"Goooooaaalllll!!!"

"Goal!"

"Trippier! A direct goal from the corner kick!"

"Oh, my goodness, haha!"

"A goal from Trippier; Atlético leads 1:0!"

Before the referee could even confirm the goal, the Atlético players had already gone wild.

"Vamos!"

Félix and Carrasco embraced, while Griezmann went to find Trippier, taking a short run-up and jumping easily onto the goalscorer.

"Kieran! (Trippier)"

"Kieran!"

The Wanda Metropolitano stadium was pulled to a climax by the roaring celebration of the fans.

Although Atletico Madrid's 1-0 lead contained an element of luck, the fact remained that they were indeed ahead, and the team they led was the currently surging Manchester United.

The director's camera first focused on Tang Ye, then on Cristiano Ronaldo, and finally on Ten Hag.

The Manchester United manager said not a word, merely running his hand over his head.

The commentators said nothing, but Check Dongqiu Di had already exploded; supporters of Escriva seized the opportunity to launch attacks against Ten Hag.

A starting lineup worth one billion, yet they fell behind to an Atletico Madrid that only knows how to play defense.