The All-Around Center Forward
Chapter 839 - 837: Soaring Morale
Suker!!!!!!!!——
Suker!!!!!!!!——
Suker!!!!!!!!——
The entire Santiago Bernabéu, with over 90,000 fans, was chanting Suker's name in unison.
Amid such fierce performance, the passion of the Real Madrid fans was fully ignited.
Watching Suker relentlessly charge at Barcelona's defense, seeing those despicable players look so disheveled, they felt immense satisfaction.
At the same time, they gained a new understanding of Suker's explosive power.
His previous performances had already been astonishing enough.
Back then, they thought that was Suker's limit.
But this match, what Suker displayed left them in awe.
They had once had the "Alien" Ronaldo, but Ronaldo's peak was during his time at Inter Milan and Barcelona. By the time he came to Real Madrid, though still powerful, he no longer had that breathtaking impact.
Real Madrid never had the Alien.
But they had Suker.
The same unstoppable impact, the ability to single-handedly shred defenses—all told them they had the world's best forward!
"Make a substitution!" Guardiola said grimly. "Take Alves off."
He wanted to increase attacking intensity, but he feared Suker would target and overwhelm Alves.
Given Suker's current form, if Alves, already on a yellow, made one risky move, he could get a red card and be sent off, leaving them with no chance.
65 minutes in, Barcelona made substitutions.
Alves and Villa came off.
Abidal and Keita came on.
Barcelona's formation changed to 4-4-2, further strengthening the midfield and attack, while using Messi's link-up with the midfield to assault Real Madrid's defense.
At the same time, Abidal was tasked with containing Suker.
But could Abidal really do it?
Swish!
Right after the restart, Abidal was brutally exposed.
Facing Abidal, Suker made a seemingly simple deep push, blasting past him with pure speed!
"Damn it!" Abidal turned and chased frantically.
He had come on as a fresh substitute, thinking he could catch up to Suker, but watching the gap widen, he was stunned.
What the hell!
Who's the one who just came on?
It's the 70th minute, Suker has been sprinting for 70 minutes, but how is he still going?
"Suker! Still charging, the substituted Abidal simply can't keep up with Suker. My God! What kind of stamina is this? Perhaps we need to reassess Croatian players' stamina—Suker is like this, and Srna's stamina is also incredibly abundant!"
Hearing the commentator's words, Srna grinned.
Don't compare me to this freak!
Suker charged all the way to the byline, getting there before Piqué and crossing with his left foot.
After making the pass, Suker lost his balance but performed a sideways roll, ending up on the turf, immediately looking up toward the penalty area.
In the box, Kaká had surged in to contest the header.
However, Kaká couldn't twist his body around; he was facing away from goal.
Suker grinned; "This ball is..."
Just then, Kaká subtly chested the ball down in front of himself.
There, a slender figure appeared, adjusted his feet to the dropping ball, and firmly slotted it toward the near post.
A simple, clean finish.
Swish!
Goal!
"It's in! It's in! Another goal!!"
"Ángel Di María! An angel blesses the Bernabéu, blesses Real Madrid! My God, how did he get into that position? Kaká's setup was simply brilliant—he drew everyone's attention while assisting Di María's goal!"
"Real Madrid extends the lead! 3-1 against Barcelona!"
"Two goals in ten minutes—the balance of victory is tilting toward Real Madrid!"
"If Real Madrid wins against Barcelona, they move closer to an invincible league title. Barcelona was their biggest obstacle, and now they hold a huge advantage!"
"Real Madrid! This Galácticos team is so powerful."
"Of course, Suker's second-half performance cannot be ignored. He became the game-decider, almost single-handedly disrupting Barcelona's defense and contributing to two goals!"
"Now, with Real Madrid in control, how will Guardiola turn things around?"
Turn things around?
Guardiola shook his head.
How?
On the current bench, he no longer had players strong enough to make a difference.
With this squad, no player could bring a game-changing impact.
Messi had reached his limit.
His performance couldn't be called poor.
But Suker's impact was too overwhelming.
Dribbling, shooting, such fearsome charging—Barcelona simply couldn't handle it.
Guardiola felt the league title was slipping further away.
At that moment, Real Madrid made a substitution.
Di María came off, Carvalho came on.
Mourinho made further adjustments.
After Benzema's earlier substitution, he further strengthened the defense.
Guardiola shook his head. So, this Portuguese wouldn't give them a chance to comeback once he had the advantage.
He would do the same, but Suker's form was completely unexpected.
Thus, one misstep led the team to a passive situation.
"We need to add more weapons!" Guardiola sighed slowly.
Barcelona's current squad was indeed strong, but compared to Real Madrid, they lacked tactical depth—in other words, the bench was too shallow.
Guardiola had initially placed high hopes on Bojan.
But after a series of incidents, not only did their relationship sour, but his form also declined.
Guardiola felt it was time for a major recruitment drive.
Otherwise, Barcelona would一remain suppressed by Real Madrid.
The match entered stoppage time. In the 89th minute, Barcelona scored again from a Messi free-kick, but they couldn't find another goal after that.
Thus, when the full-time whistle blew, the score was Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona!
Real Madrid secured their 33rd consecutive La Liga victory, taking a strong step toward an invincible league title.
As for Barcelona, with this loss, the gap widened to 8 points.
In the remaining five matches, Real Madrid would have to lose three games for Barcelona to have a chance at the title.
The initiative was in Real Madrid's hands.
With such a wide margin for error, Barcelona had essentially lost their league title hopes.
"The full match has ended. After 90 minutes of intense battle, both teams delivered a spectacular game with five goals, and ultimately, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 3-2!"
"For Real Madrid, Suker, Kaká, and Di María each scored a goal. Barcelona's two goals came solely from Messi!"
"In terms of performance, Suker was undoubtedly the man of the match!"
"With Barcelona now trailing Real Madrid by 8 points, Guardiola must shift focus. In three days, Real Madrid will travel to the Camp Nou for the first leg of the Champions League semifinal."
"This is a match Barcelona absolutely cannot afford to lose. Having lost the league title race, they cannot afford to lose their Champions League hopes."
"Last season, Barcelona failed to win any titles. This season, they must achieve something!"
"Folks, let's meet again in three days!"
At Manchester United's training base, the tactical room fell silent after the commentator's sign-off.
"Honestly," Ferdinand suddenly said, "Suker's performance scared me!"
Vidić rubbed his temples, sighing. "With form like that, besides fouling, there's really no way to stop him, is there?"
"What about just injuring Suker with a tackle?" Fábio suggested.
Modrić turned with a displeased look.
Even though they were club rivals, he and Suker were national teammates!
And good friends off the pitch.
Fábio immediately waved his hands. "I was just hypothesizing! There's no way to contain him!"
The others sighed collectively.
Barcelona was strong!
But even such a Barcelona was pummeled by Suker in the second half.
That form was terrifying to watch!
Modrić also turned to the TV, his eyes filled with amazement.
Beside him, Ronaldo spoke for the first time. "Didn't you know about Suker's form?"
Modrić shook his head. "We don't play like that. To maintain overall balance, we don't put all our chips on one player. Plus, our counterattacking style is different from Real Madrid's. our assistant coach, emphasizes multi-point attacks and flexibility!"
"But Real Madrid is different, or rather, Mourinho's tactical choices are different. He uses an extremely strong breakthrough point to drive players in other positions."
Here, Modrić stroked his chin. "So that's how you can play!"
Perhaps, when he returned to the national team, they could also recreate this 'God Suker' tactic.
Croatia's tactics were largely similar to Real Madrid's.
Although their squad depth couldn't compare to Real Madrid's, they could also allocate tactical resources to Suker.
Modrić decided to call Bešić as soon as he got home and have him watch this match.
By now, the Bernabéu was in a frenzy.
Excited fans raised their arms and cheered loudly. Even though the match had ended, they didn't leave but instead chanted the players' names.
Among them, Suker's name was the loudest.
Suker initially wanted to head to the locker room, but hearing these chants, he had to return to the pitch.
Suker walked onto the field bare-chested, and instantly, thunderous applause erupted.
"Suker! You're the best!"
"God, I'm completely captivated by your dribbling!"
"GOAT! GOAT!"
"Thank you for coming to Real Madrid! Thank you for showing us such an amazing match!"
"Keep it up, Suker! Two more to go!"
"Let's crush Barcelona!"
In the stands, the fans were electrified.
Suker walked to the center of the pitch.
He raised his right hand, left hand pressed to his lips, signaling for silence.
Soon, the noisy stadium fell quiet.
Tens of thousands of people became silent because of one gesture from Suker.
Suker smiled and raised both hands, clapping gently.
Suker's clapping was rhythmic and slow.
Before long, the Real Madrid fans joined Suker in clapping.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The synchronized, rhythmic clapping swept through the stadium like a tidal wave.
Suker accelerated his clapping rhythm.
The entire crowd followed suit, quickening their clapping.
Soon, the intense clapping resembled rapid drumbeats.
BoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoomBoom!!!
Suddenly, Suker again pressed his left hand to his lips.
Instantly, the stadium fell silent.
At that moment, Suker raised both arms and roared with all his might:
Hala! Madrid!——
An electric current surged through everyone. The Real Madrid fans felt hot blood rushing to their heads.
They instinctively raised their arms, and from all four stands, erupted a massive roar.
Hala!!!!!!!!!!Madrid!!!!!!!!!!——
BOOM!!!!!!!!——
The passion in the stadium seemed explosive. All the Real Madrid fans were going wild.
They shouted Suker's name at the top of their lungs, reaching a state of Excitement.
Instantly, the only sound in the stadium was "Suker."
Assistant coach Faria watched this scene and sighed. "He knows how to please the fans. It's as if he naturally belongs here."
Mourinho nodded slightly.
At this moment, Suker's actions completely ignited the passion of the Real Madrid fans and activated the players' fighting spirit.
In the coming matches, even if there were casualties, with this soaring morale, they could fearlessly face the challenges.
"Suker! Suker! Suker! We have the best Suker..."
In the locker room, the Real Madrid players linked arms, happy smiles on their faces, hopping around and singing an impromptu tune.
Suker was among them, one arm around Srna, the other around Kaká.
When Suker pointed at Kaká.
Everyone shouted: "Kaká! Kaká! Kaká! He's handsome and scores goals!"
Suker then pointed at Srna.
"Srna! Srna! Srna! Please don't take out your Cock!" (LMAO)
Srna froze for a moment, then flew into a rage.
"Bastard!" Srna grabbed Suker by the neck. "Did you make up those lyrics?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
At that moment, Mourinho walked in.
Mourinho was also beaming.
With the 33rd consecutive league win and a double over Barcelona, his support, fame, and status were steadily rising.
Although he hadn't fully gained control of the locker room yet, things were gradually moving in the 'right' direction.
"Alright, gentlemen..."
Everyone quieted down.
Mourinho continued: "After winning this match, I know you're all excited, but don't forget—our mission has just begun. This is at most a good start, but there are two even more critical matches ahead!"
"In three days, we will go to the Camp Nou to face Barcelona—another tough match! Especially after this game, I think you clearly understand that."
"Next match, we're away—the difficulty will be even greater. But we will still defeat Barcelona and plant the seeds of fear in them!"
"We will make those Catalonians shut up, make those Barcelona idiots fear us..."
Mourinho's tone was highly incendiary, constantly fueling the rivalry.
At this moment, only Suker and Casillas remained relatively clear-headed.
Suker sighed slightly.
It's starting!
Mourinho's hatred rhetoric!
Mourinho's eventual departure from Real Madrid began here—extremely intensifying the rivalry and hatred with Barcelona, ultimately leading to an irreconcilable conflict with Casillas, the Spanish national team captain.
This eventually led to Casillas leading a group to confront Florentino Pérez in an annual drama.
Suker looked at Casillas. Though the latter was displeased, based on club performance and the situation, he chose to tolerate it for now.
For Suker, at least at this stage, the conflict wouldn't erupt.
He had no intention of getting involved in the struggle between these two, as long as it didn't affect his performance.
Moreover, for Suker, Mourinho was a transitional coach. His arrival was to build a solid defense for Real Madrid.
Of course, if Mourinho didn't cause trouble, didn't fight for locker room control, and coexisted peacefully with the players instead of enforcing a strict hierarchy, Suker could accept it.
But once issues arose, Suker would also speak up for Mourinho.
After all, for him, Ancelotti was the true captain for Madrid.
Speaking of which, that fat old man had his fun at Chelsea and now was in Ligue 1.
That old fatty just loved steering that little broken boat, even though he couldn't quite handle it himself—really hard to understand.
On the way home, it was still the usual four.
Di María drove, while Suker sat in the passenger seat, eating a hot dog. He turned and said, "No dinner tonight—figure it out yourselves!"
After the match, Suker was quite tired—both physically and mentally.
So, he didn't feel like cooking.
"Then I'll make a simple dinner at home and have it with the special sauce," Kaká said, then turned to Srna. "You coming?"
"Yes!" Srna replied succinctly.
These were all big lazybones—they'd mooch a meal whenever possible, absolutely refusing to cook for themselves).
"This match was exhausting!" Srna rubbed his neck. "And there are two more like this—I'm gonna puke!"
Kaká also complained: "And only three days to recover. Not sure if we can regain form!"
Di María, driving, said: "I actually feel pretty good!"
"Because you scored, of course you're full of spirit!" Srna retorted. "Try defending against Barcelona's forwards!"
"Not doing it!" Di María immediately shook his head.
Suker also looked at Di María.
Truly a big-game player!
In the second half of the season, Di María hadn't scored a single goal.
But when it came to playing Barcelona, he suddenly perked up and scored a goal that extended the lead. This goal largely deflated Barcelona.
Even though Messi's free-kick later pulled one back, it was ineffective.
Suker had a premonition that in the next few critical matches, 'Angel' was going to erupt.