That's exactly right.
Everyone could see Luxemburgo's tactical mistakes.
Settling scores could wait until later.
But if they attacked Luxemburgo now, the club would suppress criticism for the sake of upcoming matches. Wouldn't that just give Luxemburgo the chance to play the victim?
Su Hang understood this, so he didn't confront Luxemburgo head-on. He avoided giving Luxemburgo the chance to deflect blame and turn it into a clash with the team.
Luxemburgo was a shrewd operator.
Whether in control or under pressure, he always seemed to have a counter ready, every move meticulously planned.
But even Luxemburgo found Su Hang a nightmare to deal with.
His ability to respond to every move was maddening, and his frightening foresight on the bigger picture made things even worse. Combined with his excellent performances on the pitch, even a master schemer like Luxemburgo had suffered repeated defeats against him.
It was ridiculous!
Luxemburgo wasn't exaggerating when he said that team leaders like Raúl or Guti wouldn't last three moves against him.
They'd either surrender their authority and fall in line,
or end up disgraced and sidelined.
But this Su Hang...
What is he, the Einstein of football?
...
May 7th, Matchday 35 of La Liga.
Real Madrid hosted Racing Santander at the Bernabéu.
Su Hang, dressed in casual clothes, appeared in the stands. His injury required rest, but it didn't stop him from moving around.
With Su Hang's encouragement and the roar of the home crowd, Real Madrid erupted with tremendous energy.
Zidane delivered a hat-trick of assists!
Figo struck a hat-trick of goals!
The two veterans lit up the Bernabéu, leading the team to a resounding 5-0 victory!
The result slashed the gap in goal difference with Barcelona.
If Madrid could put together one or two more big wins in the remaining matches, they might even overtake Barcelona in the standings!
The team's morale soared.
But trouble wasn't far behind.
Two of Madrid's final three opponents were strong teams.
First came Sevilla, a consistent top-five side in recent seasons, occasionally pushing into the top two. One of the few clubs capable of threatening both Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Then came Atlético Madrid. Even worse.
A derby could easily spark clashes on the pitch or lead to injuries. Atlético were notorious for their brutal, hard-nosed style—win or lose, Madrid risked losing players.
And looking at the fixtures, it only got worse. Who on earth arranged this schedule?
The only silver lining was that Barcelona also faced tough opposition in their final three matches.
Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña—two formidable sides.
Soon, results came in.
Without Ronaldo and Su Hang, Real Madrid raced to a two-goal lead against Sevilla.
But "The Beast" Baptista pulled one back, and in stoppage time, Sevilla's young right-back sensation Sergio Ramos headed in an equalizer to make it 2-2.
Against Atlético, Madrid couldn't break through. The match ended in a goalless stalemate.
Two matches, two points.
But an unexpected twist followed.
Without Puyol, Barcelona also stumbled, drawing against both Valencia and Deportivo.
The La Liga title race went down to the final round!
Barcelona still had the edge.
They sat at the top of the table.
Their last opponent? Real Sociedad, sitting thirteenth.
A win would all but secure the title.
Barcelona also carried a three-goal cushion in goal difference over Madrid.
This season, their attack had been relentless, while Sociedad's defense was anything but solid. The gap in goal difference could easily grow wider after that match.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, had to face ninth-placed Zaragoza.
A much tougher assignment on paper.
Their star striker, David Villa, needed no introduction. He was the same player who had nearly knocked Madrid out in last season's Copa del Rey final.
If not for Su Hang, Villa's goal might have done it.
Facing a forward like that, Madrid had to brace themselves for conceding.
Even if they won, beating Zaragoza by three goals would be tough.
No—four.
Actually... five.
If Barcelona won, their goal difference would rise by at least one, pushing the gap to four.
If Madrid beat Zaragoza by four, the goal difference would be level.
Then it would come down to head-to-head results.
This season, Barça and Madrid each won once.
But Barcelona's victory was 3-0.
Madrid's was 4-2.
On aggregate, Barcelona still led by one. Which meant they would be champions.
No matter how Madrid fans crunched the numbers, the result looked absurd.
A five-goal win?
Unless Madrid pulled off an epic rout, they couldn't take the title from Barcelona.
And now... could they really do it?
In theory, yes.
Because in the second half of the season, Figo had rediscovered his peak form.
Together with Zidane, their chemistry made them greater than the sum of their parts.
But...
In the derby against Atlético, as expected, tempers flared.
After being fouled repeatedly, Figo lost his cool, shoved an opponent, and picked up a yellow card.
That booking brought his tally to the limit of five. He would miss the final match!
Some newer fans didn't know the rule.
Everyone knew a red card meant immediate dismissal and a one-match suspension.
Two yellows in the same game meant a red and the same ban.
But in league play, five accumulated yellow cards across the season didn't affect the current game—but did mean suspension for the next.
It was the league's punishment for excessive fouls.
Some leagues even combined yellow cards from domestic cups with the league tally.
In tournaments like the Champions League, World Cup, or European Championship, the rules were stricter.
Three yellows meant a suspension. Then every additional two bookings also led to a ban.
With fewer matches in cup competitions, the impact was even greater.
Cards from qualifying rounds usually didn't carry over into the main tournament. But once the group stage began, yellow cards accumulated. Theoretically, a player could miss matches after their third, fifth, seventh, or ninth booking.
That's why many players had missed Champions League semifinals—or even finals. It hurt the spectacle.
Some suggested wiping the slate clean before the semifinals, but UEFA rejected it.
So after all that...
Real Madrid were without Figo!
In the final round, relying on Zidane alone, it would be nearly impossible for Madrid to get the kind of big win they needed.
The media even compiled Real Madrid's results from the past two years, checking how many times they had won by three or more goals—or scored four or more in a single match...
...
(35 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser