Major transfers were still ongoing, and the fallout from the Fabregas transfer incident continued to unfold.

But for Real Madrid, this had nothing to do with them. They only needed to focus on preparing for the new season.

Entering the second week of training, they finally began training with the ball.

After a week of training without the ball, Mourinho began personally overseeing the further development of the tactical system.

This season, Real Madrid would still primarily use a 4-3-3 formation.

This was currently the most balanced formation in terms of both offense and defense.

Compared to last season, there were some significant adjustments in the midfield.

Currently, Khedira, Alonso, and Kaká occupied the central midfield positions, while Di María mostly served as Bale's backup.

Regarding Di María's role, Mourinho was also quite troubled.

He could play in the center or as a winger.

But he hadn't found a particularly outstanding niche.

Bale's transfer had already established two high-speed attacking wings with Suker and Bale.

In such a counter-attacking system, Di María's technical style wasn't very useful.

Therefore, adjustments to the substitute positions would mostly depend on the specific match situation.

As for Bale, Real Madrid had spent a large sum on his transfer, so they naturally wanted to put him to use immediately.

"Next up, the 30-meter sprint test!"

Mourinho stood on the sidelines, holding a notebook and shouting, "The sprint test is divided into two types: one with the ball and one without."

The Real Madrid players listened to Mourinho's explanation and nodded slightly.

Soon, Mourinho began grouping them.

Many were hoping Suker and Bale would be grouped together, as these two were undoubtedly the fastest players at Real Madrid.

But Mourinho didn't make that adjustment.

Bale was grouped with Kaká!

Suker was grouped with Benzema!

Soon, the sprint tests began group by group.

First up were Ramos and Pepe. Ramos, with his background as a full-back, was faster, but not by much.

Among the defenders, the fastest was undoubtedly Srna.

After several groups, it was finally Bale and Kaká's turn.

Instantly, everyone gathered around with great interest.

Bale needed no introduction—he was absolutely a symbol of speed in football. Kaká rarely made long sprinting runs these days, but in his youth, he was also a追风少年 (wind-chasing youngster).

Therefore, their sprint test drew a lot of attention.

"Who do you think is faster?"

Srna asked Suker.

Suker thought for a moment.

"If it's without the ball, Bale should be faster. But with dribbling and ball control, Kaká should be faster."

Soon, the two stood at the starting line.

With Mourinho's whistle, they burst into a sprint.

At the start, Kaká clearly fell behind, indicating that Bale had the advantage in explosiveness. There was no helping it—Kaká's age was a factor.

Even at full sprint, Kaká struggled to close the gap.

Over 30 meters, Bale pulled ahead by a full two body lengths.

In the dribbling sprint that followed, the two were evenly matched.

Kaká's ball control was slightly better.

Although Bale had undergone some transformation, he wasn't entirely stable yet.

But both were very fast.

"Next group!"

Mourinho called out.

Instantly, everyone turned to look.

Suker and Benzema walked to the starting line.

Suker twisted his waist and stretched his leg muscles before taking his position.

Bale also stood to the side, watching intently.

Speed was undoubtedly his strongest weapon, and as another speed-oriented player, he was naturally curious about the difference between him and Suker.

Just then, Mourinho blew the whistle.

Suker's rear leg muscles visibly bulged, and the moment he pushed off, his body shot forward rapidly.

Using just his explosiveness, Suker managed to pull ahead by a body length. After the initial burst, he lifted his head and began sprinting at full speed. By the time he crossed the finish line, Benzema arrived a second later.

"How am I supposed to keep up with that!"

Benzema said with a helpless expression.

The gap had opened up right from the start, let alone during the full-speed sprint.

It was almost like he spent the entire run chasing Suker's back.

The dribbling sprint that followed showed an even starker contrast.

Suker's ball control was excellent, with almost no sense of disruption during the sprint—smooth and natural.

In contrast, Benzema showed clear signs of 'tapping the ball' forward.

This caused the gap between them to widen even further.

The speed test ended, but Mourinho didn't announce the final results, which left some players disappointed.

They were also curious about who was faster between Suker and Bale.

Even Bale looked somewhat disappointed.

The players returned to the training field to continue training. At this point, assistant coach Faria approached Mourinho, glancing sideways repeatedly at the notebook in Mourinho's hands.

Clearly, he was also very curious.

"Want to see the results?"

Mourinho asked, looking straight ahead.

Faria scratched his head awkwardly and smiled, "I'm still a bit curious!"

Mourinho smiled and handed him the notebook.

Faria immediately opened it to check the final results.

"Both are very fast, but without the ball, Bale is faster. With the ball, Suker has a clear advantage."

Faria said, looking at the notebook.

This meant Bale was faster, but Suker had better ball control.

"That's not the key!" Mourinho said, hands in his pockets. "Take a closer look at Suker's results with and without the ball."

Faria looked down and compared them, then exclaimed the next second, "Only a 0.8-second difference!"

Mourinho nodded. "Normally, even for professional players, there's a 2-3 second difference between having the ball and not having it. Some exceptional players can reduce it to under 2 seconds, but currently, the only player who can reduce this gap to under 1 second besides Suker is Ronaldo!"

"When I was coaching Inter Milan, I was curious about peak Ronaldo's stats, so I checked the database... I have to say, Ronaldo's various stats at the time were truly at the level of an alien."

"I thought such a player would never appear again in football, but Suker is now very close, even surpassing Ronaldo in some aspects!"

Faria nodded. "I finally understand why defenders find it so painful to mark Suker. With that level of ball control, even if he's only using 70% of his speed while dribbling, it's enough to give them headaches, especially when Suker changes direction and accelerates to full speed!"

Mourinho nodded.

Faria continued, "So, you want to train Bale to become a player like Suker?"

"Gareth can't do it!" Mourinho shook his head.

"I can help him adjust his posture and dribbling style, and with his own efforts, he can reduce the gap to 2 seconds at most. But to go further, it requires talent!"

Faria sighed, "A one-second difference!"

In competitive sports, a one-second difference can create a huge gap.

Through hard work, Bale could reduce the gap between his dribbling sprint and full sprint to 2 seconds, but he would still be 1 second behind Suker.

This one-second gap was like a chasm!

It couldn't be bridged through hard work alone—only through talent.

And did Bale have that kind of talent?

"After lunch, we'll start with scrimmages in the afternoon. The training intensity for the next week won't be too high. The following players should go to the physio room immediately after eating for muscle relaxation massage!"

Mourinho briefly arranged various matters before dismissing the team.

Suker first went to the locker room to wash his feet, then slipped on his sandals and headed to the cafeteria.

Real Madrid's cafeteria offered an extremely rich variety of dishes.

It was equipped with all the nutrients the players needed to intake.

Suker picked up a tray, selected a few of his favorite foods, and then sat down next to Srna.

"Your appetite has decreased quite a bit!"

Srna said, looking at Suker's tray.

Suker shrugged, "You think I'm still in my adolescence?"

Back in the day, due to malnutrition and rapid growth needs, Suker had a huge appetite. After every training session, he felt like he could eat an entire cow.

But now, with his growth period over, his appetite had returned to normal.

Plus, Suker was consciously controlling his weight, so he didn't eat too much.

"Do you think we can keep our winning streak this season?"

Pepe walked over and sat down next to Suker.

"Last season, we had 38 consecutive wins and won the league undefeated. This season, we should try to continue that, but..."

Srna looked around at the players who were quickly finishing their meals and heading to the physio room.

Among them were Alonso, Kaká, Ramos, Marcelo, and others.

"Do they have injury concerns?"

It wasn't just about the massages—during training, Mourinho had also given these players some separate sessions.

As players, they knew these were recovery training.

Perhaps Real Madrid's current condition wasn't as full as before.

But that was understandable. After all, last season, Real Madrid's morale, form, and everything else were at their peak.

They had also managed to avoid major injury issues, preventing significant losses to the squad, which allowed them to achieve the treble.

But the intense season had taken a toll on their bodies. Although they had recovered somewhat during the break, it clearly wasn't enough.

Moreover, before the league started, there were still the Spanish Super Cup and European Championship qualifiers to play.

"I heard that Argentine coach at Atlético Madrid took the team to Los Angeles for closed-door training."

Pepe said quietly, "A few days ago, I spoke to Tiago, and he told me that after the team gathered, they started training. Although he didn't know the specifics, he felt like they were suffering every day."

Srna shrugged, "We're not much better off. Pintus's physical training is also painful."

"But I'm curious about Atlético Madrid's performance this season!" Marcelo said. "Don't forget, we almost lost to them last season!"

At the time, Atlético Madrid had felt very difficult to deal with.

Extremely difficult!

But this was also the result of the short-term efforts of their Argentine coach, Diego Simeone.

So, after this season, Atlético Madrid might gradually start to threaten them.

The players were very alert.

Suker was also quite satisfied.

Previously, Atlético Madrid hadn't been too outstanding. The former 'Super Depor', Villarreal, and Sevilla had all threatened Real Madrid and Barcelona's dominance in La Liga.

But the situation was different now.

Back then, Barcelona and Real Madrid hadn't yet reached their peak, so there was room for others to compete.

But now and in the future, it was different.

Facing two monster clubs, Simeone's iron-blooded Atlético Madrid would have to fight tooth and nail!

In fact, they managed to win La Liga twice under the pressure of these two super clubs and reached the Champions League final multiple times, which spoke volumes about Simeone's coaching ability.

But for now, Atlético Madrid wasn't a major concern.

They hadn't yet reached their true peak.

Villa was still at Barcelona, and Griezmann hadn't arrived yet.

Their defense also wasn't fully established.

So, for Real Madrid, the real threat was still Barcelona!

They had survived Barcelona's peak era, but the MSN era was still to come, and they also had to overcome the hurdle of the iron-blooded Atlético Madrid.

Looking across Europe!

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, the resurgence of Juventus, Klopp's Liverpool wave, and Guardiola's Manchester City.

These were all opponents that needed to be watched and guarded against.

Bale didn't eat much for lunch. He wanted to keep his body in a very relaxed state.

This was his first intra-squad scrimmage at Real Madrid, and it was the beginning of his integration into the team, so he needed to be prepared.

Earlier, Mourinho had personally explained Real Madrid's tactics to him.

Mourinho was very enthusiastic about him, showing a level of intimacy that almost made him feel overwhelmed.

But Bale had no time to dwell on that. For him, quickly integrating into the team and securing a starting position were the priorities.

He hadn't come to Real Madrid to aim for a European qualification spot, as he had at Tottenham.

From the moment he joined Real Madrid, the club had constantly emphasized that their goal was to win titles!

This mindset was being instilled at all times.

The titles that had seemed distant at Tottenham felt incredibly tangible at Real Madrid.

In the afternoon, after an hour of rest, they finally began the scrimmage.

They were divided into two groups: starters vs. substitutes.

Bale was placed in the starters' group.

Wearing the blue vest representing the starters, Bale could clearly feel the intense, hostile glares from the substitutes.

After all, to these substitutes, Bale was a sudden competitor, an opponent they had to defeat to secure a starting spot.

Suker was out of reach, but Bale was someone they could challenge.

Some were even waiting to see Bale make a fool of himself.

Despite his high transfer fee, to some Real Madrid players, he was still a greenhorn who didn't know how to survive at a top club.

Bale intended to shut these guys up hard!

Soon, the teams were set.

Although it was supposed to be starters vs. substitutes, the substitutes' defense consisted of starters.

Bale was playing as a right winger in this match.

In modern football, inverted wingers were common—left-footed players on the right, right-footed players on the left.

Players like Suker were considered all-rounders.

Bale's previous position was on the left.

As a left-footed player on the left, he was more familiar with that side. But at Real Madrid, Suker occupied the left wing, so Bale had to be adjusted to the right. Bale had no complaints about this.

Although he wanted to play on the left, without proven performance, he wouldn't be allowed to.

After all, neither Real Madrid nor Mourinho wanted to clash with Suker, the team's core player.

The players took their positions.

The scrimmage began quickly.

After the kickoff, the ball started moving toward the right flank.

Mourinho had instructed that, to help Bale integrate, they would focus more on attacking from the right.

Bale had a strong desire to prove himself, so every time he got the ball, he tried to dribble past opponents but struggled to achieve the results he wanted.

Mourinho had placed Srna opposite Bale to pressure him.

If Bale couldn't get past Srna's defense, he wouldn't be able to grow.

The scrimmage continued, with Mourinho and Faria watching from the sidelines.

"Bale is playing too selfishly!" Faria frowned.

Mourinho: "He's treating himself as the offensive core."

After all, that was how he played at Tottenham, so this habit couldn't be corrected overnight.

But this was what the scrimmage was for—to address these issues.

"Bale! Pass more!"

Faria shouted.

Bale was also feeling the pressure from Srna.

Just like in last season's Champions League, Srna was consistently pressuring him, and with the help of teammates, his attacking channels were being blocked.

Boom!

As Bale tried to push the ball forward quickly, Srna suddenly stretched out his foot and intercepted it.

The substitutes launched a counterattack, and through Di María's shot, they earned a corner.

From the corner, Ramos leaped up and headed the ball into the net.

The substitute team took a 1-0 lead!

"Hey! Let's show them what we're made of!"

Ramos excitedly waved his arms. "Defend! Hold them off for the next ten minutes!"

Since it was a scrimmage, each half was only 30 minutes long.

In the final ten minutes of the first half, the substitute team resisted the starters' attacks with resilient defense.

Bale's slowing of the pace also hindered the starters' offensive push.

During this time, Suker also tried a free kick, but Casillas saved it.

In the end, the first half ended with the substitute team leading 1-0.

After the scrimmage, the starters felt somewhat frustrated.

Some players even looked at Bale with skepticism.

No matter how expensive his transfer was, if he couldn't deliver results, his teammates would naturally look down on him.

Suker was also a bit annoyed, but this was part of the adjustment process.

Bale had been the core at Tottenham, and coming to Real Madrid meant adapting to many changes. It would take time.

No rush!

Take it slow!

Suker was patient with Bale because, once he found his form, he would be one of Suker's best supports.