"Morais! Mark him!"

Hearing his teammates' shouts, Nuno Morais's expression turned anxious.

Charging towards him was Suker, a super striker who struck fear into the world.

Could he successfully stop a breakthrough from an opponent of such caliber?

Nuno Morais felt unsure.

He wanted to call his teammates to retreat and defend together, or at least provide him with some support.

But this APOEL team was an 'attack to death' team; the tradition of attacking was ingrained in their DNA.

The forwards wouldn't retreat.

The attacking midfielders wouldn't come to help him either.

He could only do it himself!

Snap!

Suker pushed the ball horizontally. Nuno Morais saw the gap from this touch and immediately stretched out his leg, wanting to tackle.

But at that moment, Suker touched the ball a second time, completing an inward cut, and broke through in the opposite direction of his body's facing.

Nuno Morais: "!!!"

He quickly turned, wanting to reach out and grab Suker, but already slow to turn, Suker also had powerful explosiveness.

By the time he reached out, Suker stomped his foot and darted forward a distance, leaving him empty-handed.

"Suker!! He broke through!!"

The commentator, González, roared.

As he neared the edge of the penalty area, Suker began taking small, quick steps. This footwork provided excellent enhancement for breakthroughs, shots, or passes.

But the most crucial thing was the movement of APOEL's defensive line.

Suker saw the opposing center-back, William, rushing towards him, trying to further restrict him.

At this moment, Suker lightly tapped the ball with the arch of his foot towards his left, almost effortlessly.

The ball rolled about two meters horizontally from his body.

And there, Kaka suddenly surged forward with the ball, piercing through the defense from the flank like a sharp sword.

"Kaka!!!—"

González roared again.

Kaka charged all the way to the byline, then swept his left foot towards the goal.

Karim Benzema arrived in time, executing a diving slide tackle, and the ball found the back of the net.

"Goooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!"

"Karim Benzema!! The French star helps Real Madrid score first! A brilliant attacking combination by Real Madrid completely tore apart APOEL's defense!"

"They got their first goal in the 12th minute, and it's a valuable away goal, making APOEL even more passive!"

"This is their Turf; they should have shown a better performance, but their offense has been slow to take effect. Real Madrid seized the opportunity, tearing apart APOEL's defense with just one attacking push!"

"Suker voluntarily acted as a decoy. After breaking past the defensive midfielder, he successfully threaded the ball into the open space. Kaka saw the opportunity and surged forward, assisting Benzema for the goal!"

"Real Madrid leads APOEL 1:0!"

Suker, Kaka, and Benzema celebrated excitedly.

Soon, more Real Madrid players joined in. With this goal, they could play the game with more ease.

In contrast, APOEL's side was looking dejected.

Nuno Morais pressed his lips tightly, feeling the gazes of his teammates directed at him.

Blame, anger, annoyance, and other emotions were contained within those looks.

In this APOEL team, defensive players were not valued.

Nuno Morais, as the sole defensive midfielder, was even more of a clean-up role for the front line, with no tactical standing whatsoever.

But once upon a time, he was also a Champions League winner!

In that crazy season, his Porto team, led by Mourinho, won the Champions League.

Although Nuno Morais was a substitute at the time, he still felt honored.

After that, he was noticed by Mourinho and joined Chelsea. He thought he would embark on a brilliant professional career, but unknowingly, he ended up in this state.

Once upon a time, he was also a praised talented player.

But after coming to Porto, he realized his shortcomings.

He didn't have Carvalho's mental fortitude, nor did he have strong defense.

He didn't have the footwork of the Brazil magician Deco.

He also didn't have Alberto's sprinting ability.

Despite such gaps, he chose not to give up, but continued to work hard. With Mourinho's help, he joined Chelsea.

But ultimately, he couldn't establish himself and had to leave.

Before this match began, Nuno Morais saw Mourinho and Carvalho, but he didn't greet them.

Perhaps they would think he was impolite or heartless, but it didn't matter; he had no face to speak to them.

Now, Mourinho was the Head Coach of La Liga giants Real Madrid.

Carvalho, though a substitute, was only due to his age; his ability was still trustworthy.

And he himself had ended up in the Cyprus League, unable to even keep his center-back position, relegated to defensive midfielder.

Just as he said, the defensive midfielder in this team was a clean-up role, not valued at all.

These old acquaintances had all embarked on brilliant professional careers, or had already been brilliant.

But he was still wasting away here!

He dared not compare himself to Suker, because he simply hadn't reached that height.

"Hey! Buddy! Mark Suker!"

"Watch your position!"

"Your job is to limit Suker, don't worry about anything else!"

Nuno Morais gritted his teeth.

These scoundrels were at it again.

They loved to tell people how to play, a bunch of ignorant bastards who played like dog shit themselves, but always liked to tell others what to do.

"I can mark Suker, but you steal your own intercepted balls!" Nuno Morais said, glaring.

Hearing this, Alexandro was stunned for a moment and frowned; "The coach won't let me retreat!"

"If you don't retreat, just wait for the defense to be torn apart!"

Nuno Morais turned and walked away.

What a piece of shit!

His offense wasn't great, and he wasn't willing to retreat to defend.

You think you're Suker, standing up front? You don't have the ability, yet you don't want to share defensive duties.

And that idiotic Head Coach…

"Hey! Morais! Mark him! Mark Suker! You can do it!"

APOEL's Head Coach was shouting at Morais.

Morais gritted his teeth.

Like hell he could!

This half-baked idiot, the whole world couldn't defend against Suker, yet this guy thought he could defend Suker alone.

I'll just follow Suker, playing as a man-marking midfielder.

As for everyone else, let them do whatever they want!

At Real Madrid's bench, Mourinho looked at APOEL's half and then at their Head Coach.

He understood the opponent's desire to attack, and he also understood how much an 'attack to death' team wanted to attack.

But the problem was, attacking wasn't just talk.

It required a reasonable lineup and tactics.

As it stood, APOEL's midfield and defense were almost collapsing, yet these forwards were all still stuck up front, adamantly refusing to retreat.

Do they really think they can receive the ball that way?

Mourinho shook his head and waved forward; "Push up!"

Since the opposing forwards wouldn't retreat, they would just bombard the opponent's penalty area, and see if they would go back.

Soon, Real Madrid's entire team began to push forward.

Especially after the midfielders raised their positions, APOEL's defense became even more difficult.

But even so, APOEL's three forwards still didn't retreat. They even stood behind Real Madrid's midfielders, positioned between the defensive line and the midfield, ready to counterattack at any moment.

Bang!

APOEL's Goalkeeper hugged the ball tightly. He struggled to get up and looked towards the front.

At this moment, APOEL's forwards were all like they were on a high, swinging their arms.

"Counterattack! Counterattack! Pass the ball!"

The Goalkeeper immediately kicked a long ball.

The ball plummeted towards Real Madrid's half.

APOEL's number 10, Charalambides, chased the ball vigorously, constantly turning his head to confirm the ball's landing spot.

"This is it!"

Charalambides took a step, just about to jump, but his body suddenly jolted, as if hitting an iron plate.

Carvalho was practically pressing down on Charalambides, heading the ball forward.

Alonso deftly brought the ball down and gave a thumbs up; "Beautiful!"

With that, he immediately turned, and Real Madrid began their bombardment again.

Clap clap!!

Carvalho got up from the ground, patting the grass off his hands.

He looked down and squinted at Charalambides.

"Idiot!"

As a fellow defender, he really looked down on forwards who didn't retreat.

It wasn't to say that forwards absolutely had to retreat.

But this guy clearly wasn't doing much up front, yet he was still standing there, watching his defensive teammates struggle in defense.

Carvalho was a defender, so he naturally empathized with the role of a defender.

It could be said that if he were on the opposing team, these forwards would have been grabbed by their hair and severely beaten by him after the match.

Did they really think they were Suker?

Suker not retreating was a privilege earned by scoring 40 goals in less than 30 League rounds.

If they had that ability, not retreating would be acceptable.

But clearly, these guys didn't!

Under these circumstances, they still didn't retreat!

"Damn it! The more I think about it, the angrier I get!"

Real Madrid's offense grew increasingly intense.

Starting from the 21st minute, they continuously created opportunities.

In the 22nd minute, Bale used his speed to burst down the wing, delivering a cross, and Suker leaped among the crowd to score with a header.

Real Madrid led APOEL 2-0.

In the 24th minute, Real Madrid had a corner kick.

Kaka delivered the ball, and with Suker and Benzema drawing attention, Carvalho scored another goal with a powerful header.

Real Madrid led APOEL 3-0.

In the 31st minute, it was another corner kick for Real Madrid.

The same script, the same situation.

Suker and Benzema attracted attention, and Carvalho flicked the ball into the net at the near post.

Real Madrid led APOEL 4-0.

"Roar!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Carvalho roared at the field.

"Cowards! A bunch of softies!"

Carvalho continuously cursed at APOEL's defenders in Portuguese.

APOEL's defenders didn't understand, but that didn't stop them from realizing it was Carvalho's provocative behavior.

Suker also looked at Carvalho in surprise.

"What's wrong with him?"

Srna grinned, "He's just angry!"

"What's there for him to be angry about!" Suker asked, puzzled.

Srna sighed, "You're not a defender, you wouldn't understand!"

Defenders have always been the cornerstone of a team, and the leaders of most teams are defenders.

While forwards are the most glamorous position, in most teams, many defenders can point fingers at their own forwards and chew them out.

But at APOEL, the situation was reversed.

The defenders were a bunch of guys doing the dirty and tiring work, and facing forwards who wouldn't retreat, they didn't dare to say a thing.

No matter how much it was 'attack till death,' it couldn't be done like this!

And as a defender, watching this scene was just infuriating!

Every single one of them was a coward!

Every single one of them was useless!

Carvalho became increasingly agitated, and even Pepe, who was beside him, became hot-blooded.

The Warrior Monk unleashed his power!

Facing an opposing forward's challenge, Pepe directly pushed him with both hands, sending the opponent forward off the sideline, making him fall flat on his face.

Not only Pepe, but even the usually calm Srna's actions became more aggressive.

He made three consecutive tackles, sliding fiercely, from the right side to the left, and managed to slide the ball out of bounds.

Of course, both paid a price for it.

Srna and Pepe both received yellow cards.

"What's going on here!"

Suker looked pained.

They were playing so well, why did everyone lose their heads?

Fortunately, the match quickly entered halftime.

Inside Real Madrid's locker room.

"Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!"

"They were pressed so hard, and those bastards still wouldn't retreat!"

"APOEL's defenders are softies too!"

"Damn it! It makes me so angry I want to tackle them out of the game!"

Watching the agitated defenders, Suker and the others also fell silent.

At this point, these guys were very sensitive, and it was best not to provoke them.

Even the usually calm Srna was so angry he was swearing.

"It's definitely excessive," Casillas said, shaking his head. "They're already four goals down, and not a single one of the three forwards shows any intention of defending!"

"The most disgusting thing is when they lose the ball, they just throw up their hands, don't move an inch, and let the midfield and defense fight for it, damn it!"

Even Ramos, sitting on the bench, was cursing angrily.

Perhaps only defenders could truly empathize with this issue.

Suker grinned, watching Ramos and the others curse, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh:

"APOEL's forwards didn't retreat, and their defenders were fine, but our defenders broke down!"

Kaka also said, amused, "Maybe... they really hate this situation!"

"But... APOEL's defenders really have no guts!" Suker shook his head.

Once everyone had vented enough, Mourinho spoke up, "Substitution at 55 minutes in the second half."

Mourinho first glanced at Suker, but then he remembered he had promised Suker he would play the full match.

"Ramos, warm up, Pepe prepare to come off!"

Pepe exclaimed in surprise, "Why me?"

Mourinho didn't speak.

The others just shook their heads helplessly.

Didn't he have any self-awareness?

Pepe, with a yellow card, was more dangerous than a ticking time bomb, and he couldn't handle it calmly like Srna, so the probability of getting a red card was very high.

Soon, the second half of the match began.

With a four-goal lead already, Real Madrid was not in a hurry to attack.

Conversely, APOEL were frantically trying to score.

But in the end, they were constantly hit by Real Madrid's counterattacks.

"Still not retreating?"

At 65 minutes, Carvalho, from the bench, couldn't help but shake his head.

These forwards were annoying.

But these defenders were even more extreme!

They weren't even angry?

He had already exploded!

Pepe, beside Carvalho, shook his head, "Why bother with them, it's not our team anyway!"

Hearing that, Carvalho sighed.

Pepe was right; despite the frustration, it was APOEL's problem.

And based on this problem, they also easily secured the victory.

The only pity was that APOEL was tightly marking Suker.

They simply didn't give Suker any one-on-one opportunities.

As soon as Suker got the ball, there were at least three people around him, pulling and dragging, giving Suker no chance to rack up goals.

But even under these circumstances, Suker still managed to get one goal and two assists!

Finally, the 90-minute match ended.

Real Madrid won 5-0 against APOEL.

"Hey! Nuno!"

After the match, Carvalho went directly to Morais.

"Is this how you usually play?"

Carvalho was a Portuguese veteran, and Morais himself was also feeling frustrated.

"There's nothing we can do, this is APOEL's style of play." He then pouted, clearly unhappy himself.

Carvalho also couldn't help but sigh.

He had seen teams that didn't prioritize defense, but he had never seen a situation like this.

"You guys aren't fighting?"

Suddenly, a voice sounded between the two.

They turned to look and found it was Suker.

"You speak Portuguese?" Carvalho asked, surprised.

Suker waved his hand, "A little!"

Then, he looked at Nuno Morais and said, "Your forwards asked to swap jerseys with me just now, but I didn't."

Immediately, Suker took off his jersey and handed it over.

"Here you go!"

Nuno Morais asked in surprise, "You want to swap with me?"

Suker shrugged, "Is there a problem? I don't swap jerseys with people I look down on!"

Morais scratched his head, "But my performance wasn't good either!"

"At least you tried your best!" Suker patted the latter's shoulder.

Suker wasn't that concerned about whether the forwards retreated or not.

But under circumstances where they didn't retreat, they showed no performance throughout the entire match, didn't score a single goal, and just stood around in the attacking third.

Suker despised this attitude!

If the offense isn't working, at the very least, they should retreat and defend, they should at least do something!

Doing nothing, just standing around in the attacking third waiting for the midfield and defense to pass to them, and crucially, still not scoring.

Suker was very contemptuous of this!

At the post-match press conference, Suker and the others thought the problem was with the team's forwards.

But unexpectedly, the Head Coach was the biggest problem.

APOEL's Head Coach did not mention the defensive issues of this match at all.

He even attributed the loss to the absence of their attacking core, the top scorer Manduca.

It could be said that he was deliberately avoiding the main issue and finding excuses for his defeat.

Suker, who was also present at the post-match press conference, grimaced as he listened, then handed the microphone to Mourinho.

'Mourinho! Tell them off!'

Sure enough, Mourinho's verbal assault began.

"I don't understand why only eight people were playing in a match. Does APOEL not have forwards?"

"APOEL is indeed a team good at attacking. They had a total of five shots in this match, causing the fans in the stands to make five 'saves'."

"I feel like this victory was somewhat unfair. I hope in the next round, APOEL can play with 11 people against us!"

Mourinho's words were venomous; there were no swear words, but every sentence poked at the opposing Head Coach's lungs.

After the post-match press conference, APOEL's Head Coach's face turned beet red!

It was unclear whether it was out of anger or shame!