novelraw Chapter 607 - 414 The pass from the sole shakes the whole court! Nasser’s wishful thinking is shattered!
Chapter 607 - 414 The pass from the sole shakes the whole court! Nasser’s wishful thinking is shattered!
Manchester City’s commercial director, Belada, nervously dialed Tang Long’s agent Ronaldo’s phone number.
During the call, he informed Ronaldo about Paris Saint-Germain’s official offer of 230 million for Tang Long.
On the other end of the line, Ronaldo responded to Belada with a hearty laugh.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Belada. You informed us of the offer from another club as per the contract terms my client signed with the club. But rest assured, there’s absolutely no operable possibility for such a transfer. Tang just joined the club less than a year ago, who could poach him away?"
"We’re all in this circle, can’t you see? Nasser is just trying to mess with your minds."
"You’re asking about Tang’s personal thoughts?"
"Just five minutes before your call, I got a call from Tang. He said he almost laughed himself to tears, only a fool would leave a great place like Manchester City to play in Ligue 1."
Hearing Ronaldo’s words, Belada felt much more at ease, relieved that his casual comment didn’t cause a major problem.
So as their conversation was nearing its end, when Ronaldo subtly hinted about possibly raising the salary on the original contract at the end of this season, although Belada didn’t have absolute authority in this matter, he readily agreed.
"Rest assured, as long as Tang stays at Manchester City, he will be well compensated, and so will you."
In fact, Ronaldo wasn’t exaggerating. When Tang Long heard about Paris Saint-Germain’s offer of 230 million euros for him, he indeed laughed to the point of hiccups~
Not to mention that Manchester City certainly wouldn’t let him go, just as Ronaldo said, he had no reason whatsoever to leave a well-situated Manchester City to play in Ligue 1.
Although Ligue 1 is one of the traditional five major leagues in Europe,
its overall strength is far inferior to the other four major leagues.
And in terms of team strength and club platform, how does Paris Saint-Germain compare to Manchester City?
In terms of Tang Long’s career plan, moving from Serie A’s Inter Milan to the Premier League’s Manchester City was a significant leap in his career.
At less than 20 years old, he has already become the most dazzling rising star in the football world.
Going to Ligue 1 at this time would be, from any perspective, a huge step back in his career!
Perhaps one day in the future he might consider going there to retire—but that’s at least a decade away, definitely not now.
In reality, Nasser’s motives are clear to everyone.
He didn’t make the offer earlier or later, but coincidentally announced this 230 million figure on the day before the second leg of the Champions League—the pursuit of Tang Long was certainly demonstrated, but the most direct intention was to disrupt Manchester City’s morale, especially to unsettle Tang Long himself.
However, Nasser clearly miscalculated.
During Manchester City’s pre-match press conference, when a mischievous French journalist deliberately asked Tang Long about this matter,
all the journalists in the world simultaneously looked at him, wanting to hear his response.
As a result, Tang Long shot back with a single sentence, even giving a public message to Nasser:
"Thank you, Mr. Nasser, for your admiration. I promise him that I will go to Paris to play in fifteen years, but as for now, all I’m thinking about is how to beat them at home!"
...
The next day, at the Etihad Stadium.
In the player tunnel, Swedish center forward Eevee stood with his hands on his hips, twisting his thick neck from side to side, looking ready for a big fight.
Tang Long was having a final pre-match face-to-face discussion with Sterling nearby.
Their conversation mainly revolved around practicing the pass-and-move plays they’ve rehearsed in training over the past few days.
On that day, Tang Long practiced for 5 continuous hours in the AI Cloud Training Ground;
Once he got the hang of it, he spent the next day teaching Sterling hand-in-hand on the training field, and after a few days, both of their techniques had improved.
Eevee swaggered over to Tang Long and whistled at him.
"Hey, Asian kid, even though you really want to come play for our team, I’ll tell you, I won’t go easy on you in this match."
Tang Long chuckled and said, "When I get to be like you, not only slow and lacking speed, but just barking aimlessly, then I’ll go play in Paris."
Eevee didn’t expect Tang Long to fire back right away, and his face flushed red.
"You, you said what! Nonsense, who says I’m slow and lack speed, back when I played for Juventus ten years ago, I wasn’t slow at all, you brat were still playing in the mud!"
"Youngster, don’t be too arrogant, if I’m not mistaken, you haven’t won a League Champion yet, have you? Let me tell you, I win one every year, I’ve lost count of how many League Champions I’ve won, at least a dozen, haha!"
Tang Long and Sterling exchanged a knowing smile, saying, "You win the League Champion every year, you’ve won dozens, yet not a single Champions League, huh?"
Eevee: "..."
The referee’s whistle blew, and the match began!
Under the cheers of sixty thousand Etihad fans, Manchester City started off in attack mode.
Their sole objective was to dismantle Paris in the first half, ending the battle quickly.
This marathon of a season has entered its closing stages, with less than 5 kilometers to sprint to the finish.
Holding a two-goal advantage and playing at home, Manchester City could confidently utilize their passing and control advantage to launch a fierce attack in the first half.
Paris Saint-Germain, having no choice but to go all out, had to come out and play an offensive game against Manchester City.
In order to create a miracle, Nasser raised the bonus for advancing to 20 million euros before the match!
He even withdrew the entire 20 million euros in cash and piled it up into a huge mound in the visitors’ locker room at the stadium.
"Take down your opponents, and it’s all yours!"
The match started at a blistering pace, a clash of titans, with neither side yielding an inch.
Pushed to the brink, Paris Saint-Germain’s offensive in the first five minutes was even more ferocious than that of the home team, Manchester City.
Take Ibrahimovic, whom Tang Long mocked before the match for not winning the Champions League in over a decade.
At midfield, with his back to the goal, he muscled off Toure, who was about as tall as he was, turned halfway, and unleashed a powerful shot from 35 meters out!
The short goalkeeper, Caballero, despite being only 1.83 meters tall, leapt like a dragon emerging from the sea, punching the ball away with a high leap.
"Come on, you Nordic big oaf!"
After making a brilliant save, Caballero rolled up from the ground and shook his fist at Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic was thoroughly infuriated!
Thinking that at 35 years old, if he couldn’t win the Champions League, he’d likely be mocked for life.
In a state of extreme excitement, he began a relentless barrage of long-range shots.
As long as he was within a 30-plus meter range, even without a good opportunity, he’d shoot directly.
This caused Paris Saint-Germain’s pre-match tactical setup to spiral completely out of control.
Taking advantage of Ibrahimovic’s unsettled mindset, Manchester City weathered the initial ten-minute storm from their opponents and immediately organized an effective attack.
"Sterling!"
The same story unfolded, Sterling made a high-speed dash down the wing.
This time, starting full-back Kimpembe closely marked him, compressing the space behind him, denying Tang Long a chance for a through pass.
Tang Long waved at Sterling, who suddenly stopped sharply and went around in front of Kimpembe.
Kimpembe was annoyed, "You again!"
Learning from past missteps, Kimpembe was cautious, keeping his balance back, slowing his steps, always keeping his movement within a reasonable stride range on his dominant foot.
But the ensuing developments still left Kimpembe embarrassed!
He anticipated Tang Long would play the ball in front of him, but didn’t expect it to be sent to his weaker foot!
This 55-45 ball, Kimpembe couldn’t resist using his left foot to block, but Sterling, like a dragonfly touching water, got there first, performing a quick "croqueta" move, swiftly cutting inside past him.
Seeing Sterling cutting inside from the wing, center-backs David Luiz and Thiago Silva were on high alert!
"Kimpembe the useless, how did you let Sterling get past you again?" Luiz cursed.
This time, Luiz took on the role of the pressing center-back, moving up, while Silva stayed back; the two maintained a reasonable distance, so that if one was beaten, the other could cover.
As Sterling’s advance was slowed by Luiz, he didn’t force his way through, instead pushing the ball to the center, where Tang Long advanced to meet it.
Though defensive midfielder Rabiot firmly occupied the D area, on guard against Tang Long’s through pass or shot, he couldn’t prevent Tang Long from skillfully pulling the ball and with his broad vision, threading it to the onrushing Navas on the right.
Navas’s specialty is crossing from the flank!
With the ball at his feet, he didn’t perform many feints, pushing it down the line, as Marquinhos came up to him.
Marquinhos thought he was about to cross and stuck out a foot to block, but Navas only feinted, continued the push forward.
As Marquinhos followed, Navas feigned again, prompting Marquinhos to lift his leg once more.
Finally, Navas pushed the ball forward again.
This series of fakes had Marquinhos thoroughly vexed—"Just cross the damn ball!"
Swish—
Navas did cross it, and the execution was exquisite.
Despite limited space, he managed to bypass Marquinhos’s outstretched left foot, floating the ball high into the center of the box.
Though the cross was slow, its placement was right on the penalty spot, leaving goalkeeper Trapp in a dilemma, unsure whether to come out or not.
Thiago Silva outjumped Agüero to clear the ball!
The ball flew quite far, and seeing that there was no one at its landing point, Paris’s players relaxed their vigilance;
But they didn’t expect Tang Long to track the ball’s trajectory, rapidly retreating, and without turning, flicked the ball back into the air with his heel!
At this moment, Paris Saint-Germain’s defense line was pushing up rapidly;
With Tang Long’s heel flick rebound, the opponent was caught off guard, and in a flash, Agüero, lurking on the offside line, pounced like a shepherd dog on the Pampas, with only himself in the penalty area, he met the ball with an inside foot volley!
Though his legs weren’t long, his toe pushed hard, and the shot was fast!
It’s a goal!
Manchester City took the lead in just 15 minutes!