Wembley Stadium felt utterly desolate beneath the winter night.
The score on the LED screen—Tottenham Hotspur 2–8 Manchester United—looked almost violent, the numbers glowing above the pitch like an open wound that no one in white could bear to look at for too long.
Of course, it was Tottenham who found the sight unbearable.
Manchester United were delighted.
"Ling, at this rate, you might really score more than fifty league goals this season!"
Maguire's eyes were filled with undisguised envy.
As a centre-back who spent most of his career sweeping up danger at the other end of the pitch, he suspected his total career tally might never equal what Ling could score in a single extraordinary season.
The thought was genuinely depressing.
"A hundred goals this year!" Mahrez shouted, raising both hands as if the decision had already been made.
"Forget a hundred. Even breaking Messi's 91-goal record will be difficult!"
Ling smiled helplessly.
The goals themselves were only part of the problem.
Mourinho had already warned him that the January schedule would require rotation, especially with the League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League preparations, and title race all overlapping.
Ling had also promised to spend several days assisting China's U23 Olympic qualifying preparations through his youth-development project.
He could not play for them, of course, but he could still provide video analysis, training plans, overseas contacts, and on-site guidance if Manchester United's schedule allowed it.
Every match he missed or started on the bench would make the record that much harder to reach.
"Honestly, I don't think you need to go in person," Maguire remarked casually. "Can't you just send them a few videos? You're the Ballon d'Or winner now. Turning up at a U23 camp would terrify the poor kids."
"What matters isn't the camp itself. It's the Olympics next August."
Ling shook his head.
Perhaps many people in Europe treated Olympic football as a secondary competition, but the Olympics carried genuine significance in China.
The Chinese U23 side had never won an Olympic football medal, and even helping them qualify would mean something to the players, supporters, and young children following the academy project.
"I can't win it for them," Ling continued, "but if I can help them take one step closer, then the trip is worth it."
"I'd like to play in the Olympics too," Maguire sighed, "but England's situation is too complicated. We don't even enter most of the time."
The International Olympic Committee recognized Great Britain as the participating nation rather than the four separate football associations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Since those associations had their own teams and had little interest in permanently merging, assembling a Team GB men's side was always politically awkward.
"Then help them qualify," Maguire said with a smile. "I've never seen anyone I know contribute to an Olympic football medal."
"Let them qualify first. A medal is still a long way off."
Ling was about to say more when objects suddenly began raining down from the stands.
Keychains.
Plastic bottles.
Paper cups.
The debris fell like a filthy winter shower.
Ling reacted quickly, grabbing Maguire by the arm and pulling him toward the players' tunnel.
The Tottenham players, who were slower to escape, were forced to endure the furious curses of their own supporters along with whatever came flying from above.
"Get out if you can't play!"
"You're the biggest disgrace in Tottenham's history!"
"POCHETTINO OUT!"
"You take our money and let Manchester United score eight! EIGHT! WHAT ARE WE? A WHORE?"
"Have you got no shame?"
"REFUND US!"
The abuse rolled down from the stands in waves.
Son Heung-min covered his head as he hurried into the tunnel, clothes damp from the drinks that had been thrown toward the pitch.
When he finally looked up, he found Ling watching him from several steps away.
Son's mind was already overflowing with frustration.
The humiliation of losing by eight goals at home, the isolation he had felt inside Tottenham's dressing room, and the growing realization that Ling had left him far behind all tangled together until his nose began to sting.
Ling's gaze contained no mockery.
Two seasons ago, perhaps he might have smirked or offered some cutting remark.
Now he had neither the need nor the desire. He had only looked over out of curiosity.
But Son could no longer stand there.
Without saying anything, he lowered his head and ran toward the dressing room.
"Ling, I think you made him cry," Maguire said awkwardly.
He had tried putting himself in Son's position. If Manchester United had been humiliated by that score at Old Trafford, he might have broken down too.
"Let's go. That has nothing to do with us."
Ling withdrew his gaze and continued down the tunnel.
"The schedule is packed. We've got the league, League Cup, and Champions League. We'll barely have time to recover."
The Manchester United players looked at him speechlessly.
Nothing to do with him?
He had scored seven goals, broken the Premier League single-match record, and personally turned Wembley into a crime scene.
Who else did it have something to do with?
...
Shortly after the match ended, news of the Wembley massacre flooded every football platform.
📰 Sky Sports: Manchester United Humiliate Tottenham 8–2 as Ling Scores Record Seven
📰 BBC Sport: Wembley Massacre: Ballon d'Or Winner Rewrites Premier League History
📰 The Athletic: Bicycle Kick, Rabona and Seven Goals—Ling Produces an Unrepeatable Masterpiece
📰 Manchester Evening News: From Parisian Coronation to Wembley Destruction: Ling's Golden Week Continues
📰 Tottenham Hotspur: The Club Can Confirm That Mauricio Pochettino Has Left His Position as Head Coach
The Ballon d'Or fever had not yet faded, and now the shocking 8–2 scoreline pushed Ling straight back to the top of every trending list!
Comments under the reports multiplied faster than anyone could read them.
📱 @UnitedStand ✔
Seven goals in one Premier League match. Bicycle kick. Rabona. Volley. Header. Penalty. This performance belongs in a museum!
| ↳ 📱 @StretfordEndTom
| Reply: Tottenham finally stood up straight, only for Bayern and United to break their backs in the same season.
📱 @SpursTalk
Pochettino is gone. I knew it was coming, but letting Ling perform an entire Puskás compilation before sacking him feels unnecessarily cruel.
📱 @NeutralPremWatch
Pochettino actually did a good job at Tottenham. He just never won a trophy.
| ↳ 📱 @NorthLondonRed
| Reply: "Never won a trophy" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
📱 @TrophyCabinetInspector
Other clubs write: "Thank you for winning this trophy and that trophy." Tottenham's media team opened the cabinet, found nothing, and wrote "Thank you for your work."
📱 @PremWatch ✔
Tottenham could be entering a long decline. At what point does the Big Six quietly become the Big Five?
...
The temperature continued to fall after the Wembley massacre, but the atmosphere around Manchester United only grew hotter.
Three days later, the Premier League reached its 16th round.
United traveled to Vicarage Road to face Watford, who were sitting second from bottom and struggling with financial trouble, injuries, and a squad short on confidence.
Mourinho fielded a heavily rotated lineup, but even that proved too much for Watford.
United controlled the rhythm without needing to exhaust themselves and comfortably collected another three points.
📰 BBC Sport: Rotated Manchester United Maintain Winning Run at Watford
📰 Sky Sports: Mourinho Rests Key Players as United Cruise at Vicarage Road
📱 @UnitedStand ✔
Ling rests, United win, nobody gets injured. Jose's perfect afternoon.
...
On December 13th, Manchester United hosted Red Bull Salzburg in the final match of the Champions League group stage.
United and Ajax had already secured qualification, leaving Salzburg with little more than pride to play for.
Most of the visiting side looked resigned to their fate, although Haaland continued running, pressing, and fighting as if his future depended on the performance.
He wanted to leave a strong impression in front of Ling.
Unfortunately, football was not an individual sport.
Haaland could rage against Manchester United's defense all night, but without enough support, his effort changed little.
United controlled the match and eventually won 2–0, with Ling and Havertz scoring one goal each.
The Champions League group stage was complete.
The sixteen teams advancing to the knockout rounds were now confirmed:
Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid
Group B: Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur
Group C: Manchester City, Atalanta
Group D: Juventus, Atlético Madrid
Group E: Manchester United, Ajax
Group F: Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund
Group G: Liverpool, Lyon
Group H: Valencia, Chelsea
📰 UEFA Champions League: Manchester United Finish Top of Group E After Victory Over Salzburg
📰 Manchester Evening News: Ling and Havertz Score as United Complete Group Stage in Control
📱 @HaalandWatch
Haaland played like he was submitting a job application directly to Ling.
| ↳ 📱 @UnitedStand ✔
| Reply: Unfortunately, the interview panel was Thiago Silva and Maguire... fuck!
...
Two days later, Manchester United defeated Everton 3–1 at Old Trafford.
Ling scored twice, once with a header and once with a volley, while Grealish added the third in stoppage time.
After helping United secure another three points, Ling traveled to Switzerland with Mourinho for the Champions League knockout-stage draw.
Following the rules preventing clubs from facing teams from the same group or national association, this season's round-of-sixteen draw promised genuine danger.
Manchester United could face Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, or another difficult runner-up.
As night settled over Nyon, UEFA headquarters buzzed with excitement.
Ling stepped onto the red carpet beneath another wave of cheers.
Naturally, the event was far less extravagant than the Ballon d'Or ceremony, but UEFA had still invited leading players and managers from major clubs to increase the attention surrounding the draw.
Cristiano Ronaldo had specifically instructed his driver to slow down before reaching the entrance, hoping to give the crowd enough time to notice him.
Even then, the cheers were not as loud as those Ling received.
Wasn't Cristiano still the footballer with the most followers in the world?
Perhaps.
But Serie A did not command the same global attention as the Premier League, and his recent performances had not reached his own impossible standards.
Ling, meanwhile, had combined breathtaking technique, historic achievements, dramatic storylines, and the full marketing power of Manchester United.
The internet-famous club might occasionally struggle to understand football, but it certainly understood publicity.
Companies, global sponsors, and United's media machine promoted Ling relentlessly.
With his ability and recent accomplishments added to that exposure, he had become the most influential active player in world football.
Calling him only a footballer was almost inaccurate now.
He was also an idol.
He was not breathtakingly handsome in the traditional celebrity sense, but once his skill, confidence, and achievements were added to his appearance, the result was difficult to ignore.
"Champions League... Champions League..." Cristiano muttered the words as he walked into the venue.
What did he need for a triumphant return?
The Champions League and the World Cup.
If he could win both, then no one could question his right to call himself the king of his era.
Before long, the draw ceremony officially began.
The cameras first swept across the front row.
In previous years, the central seat had belonged almost automatically to Messi or Cristiano.
Tonight, Ling occupied it.
After UEFA's long and tedious opening remarks finally concluded, everyone straightened in their seats.
England women's football star Kelly Smith reached into the first bowl, removed a small ball, and unfolded the paper inside.
"Manchester United."
A prolonged silence followed.
Managers and representatives from the unseeded clubs instinctively shifted in their chairs, some of them wiping their brows.
Drawing Manchester United in the group stage was difficult.
Drawing them across two knockout legs, with Ling in this form, was something else entirely.
Hamit Altıntop, serving as the final ambassador, reached into the second bowl.
He unfolded the slip.
"Real Madrid."
Zidane's vision seemed to darken.
Damn it!
Altıntop had once played for Real Madrid, yet he had just handed them the worst possible opponent!
The rebuilt Real Madrid had shown clear improvement under Zidane.
They were leading La Liga, performing well domestically, and gradually recovering from the chaos of the previous season.
Their one major mistake had been finishing second in the Champions League group.
Every cause had its consequence.
Zidane did not consider himself superstitious, but at that moment, even he wondered whether fate was deliberately mocking him.
On paper, the difference between the squads was not insurmountable.
But Zidane understood the deeper problem.
Real Madrid lacked a soul.
They had excellent players, experienced veterans, and talented youngsters, but when the match became truly desperate, who would take responsibility?
Who would drag them forward when the system failed?
They could overwhelm weaker teams in La Liga.
Against the strongest clubs in Europe, the answer remained unclear.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid fans were devastated.
Any hope they had left was quickly buried beneath a flood of comments from Manchester United supporters.
📱 @UnitedStand ✔
Courtois has been knocked out in the Champions League round of sixteen four times. Shall we make it five?
📱 @MadridCentral
Hazard is injured again. We spent more than one hundred million euros on a VIP spectator!
| ↳ 📱 @StretfordEndTom
| Reply: At least he gets a good view of Ling.
📱 @RedDevilass
Ling, captain of the Anti-Real Madrid Task Force, has returned for another mission!
| ↳ 📱 @NeutralUCLWatch
| Reply: What the hell is the Anti-Real Madrid Task Force?
📱 @UCLHistory ✔
Manchester United stopped Real Madrid's possible three-peat. Can Madrid now stop United from completing their own?
📱 @MadridTactics
Real Madrid still have a chance. Benzema is excellent, Vinícius and Rodrygo are improving, Modrić remains elite, and Ramos still leads the defense.
| ↳ 📱 @UnitedCNFan
| Reply: We weren't afraid of the Galacticos. Why would we fear the academy edition?