"Suker! He completes the tackle! It's a tackle in the attacking third, but Barcelona's retreat is also very proactive, reacting immediately. Suker has no choice but to pass back!"
Suker passed the ball back to a teammate and turned to look towards Barcelona's half.
His expression was somewhat peculiar.
Did it feel like Barcelona's level had dropped a bit?
Although their overall formation was still quite compact and their style of play didn't seem to have any major issues, when he pressed them, these guys seemed hesitant and chaotic in their ball handling.
It wasn't exactly a low-level mistake, but more like a sense of being distracted!
Come on!
This is your last chance to win a trophy this season!
Aren't you going to fight for it?
Or are you hiding some big trick up your sleeve?
Suker was very cautious.
After all, this was crucial to whether they could secure the Treble this season.
There was naturally no room for carelessness.
Suker cared deeply about these honors; they were the nourishment for him to win the Ballon d'Or!
However, Barcelona felt a bit off.
It wasn't just Suker; even Mourinho on the sidelines was stroking his chin with a thoughtful expression.
Barcelona's current form felt sluggish.
Although Real Madrid had the morale boost from already winning two trophies, making their fighting spirit more stronger,
Barcelona had more rest time. Despite some serious squad attrition, they shouldn't be playing with such a lack of energy.
Mourinho turned to look at Barcelona's coaching area, wondering if Guardiola was hiding some dirty trick.
After several encounters, he knew this guy was not an easy opponent to deal with.
However, Guardiola sat on the bench, looking ahead, his expression calm.
He wasn't directing play on the sidelines like usual, and beneath that calm facade, his expression seemed somewhat heavy.
"It seems Guardiola is also facing pressure and got questioned!"
Suddenly, Faria beside him said.
Hearing this, Mourinho turned: "Questioning?"
Faria nodded; "Right? Losing the league and Champions League for two consecutive seasons, as a manager, shouldn't that lead to questioning?"
Mourinho had a sudden realization.
He had been solely focused on whether Guardiola was hiding some trick, completely forgetting about off-field factors.
But honestly, Guardiola's results these past two seasons weren't enough.
For a normal team, finishing second in the league or reaching the Champions League semi-finals would be considered an achievement.
But for a top team like Barcelona, going a season without one or two trophies is a failed season.
Therefore, Guardiola losing the Champions League and league for two straight seasons meant that even within Barcelona itself, he would face questioning.
Furthermore, some time ago, the issue with Bojan caused quite a stir between them.
The problem between Bojan and Guardiola dated back to when Guardiola was coaching the youth team. At that time, Bojan, who was performing well with the first team, caught Guardiola's attention, who wanted to call him back for a youth team game. Ultimately, Bojan refused the call-up.
This was understandable; after all, no one would willingly drop down from the first team to play a youth match.
But with some media hype, and given that Barcelona's talent pool was overflowing at the time, squeezing Bojan's playing time, the media naturally began reporting that Bojan had offended Guardiola, leading to him being benched.
But in fact, Guardiola did give him many opportunities; it was just that Bojan himself couldn't handle the pressure and eventually cracked mentally.
Initially, when Guardiola was successful, the fans supported him, saying it was Bojan's own fault for not planning his career properly.
But after Guardiola lost the league and Champions League last season, the media's tone changed.
Guardiola became the sinner who stifled Barcelona's genius.
But that's the media for you!
When you perform well, they are the ones who praise you the most.
When you are in poor form and can't deliver results, they are the same ones who throw stones, mock, and ridicule you.
And given Guardiola's performance these past two seasons, he faced a lot of criticism. This didn't just come from the media, but also from some radical Barcelona fans and even parts of the higher management.
Coupled with injuries to players like Puyol, Xavi, etc., there was no pillar on the field.
Considering all these factors together, Barcelona's state became explainable.
On the pitch, Suker actively dropped back to receive the ball.
If it were before, Barcelona's midfielders would have closed him down already.
But this time, they were late arriving only after Suker received the ball and turned.
Suker slightly frowned.
This time, he didn't care anymore. Instead, he suddenly did a shoulder feint, combined with a La croquet, to get past Keita, charging towards Barcelona's penalty area from the side.
"Suker is charging towards Barcelona's penalty area! How will Barcelona respond?"
At that moment, Suker passed the ball to the right.
He passed it to Di Maria, while he himself continued his run at high speed, making a diagonal run forward.
Di Maria hesitated for a moment with his feet.
This hesitation created a gap in Barcelona's defensive line as Suker made his run.
Di Maria seized this opportunity. He didn't pass but instead took a powerful shot directly with his left foot.
The ball flew close to the turf; it was a driven, low shot.
The trajectory went straight towards the far post. Before Barcelona's goalkeeper Valdés could react, the ball was already hitting the side netting.
Swish!
In the 17th minute of the match, Real Madrid took the lead.
Beeep!
The referee pointed to the center circle, signaling a goal.
Barcelona's players looked up one by one dazed. Many were breathing heavily, seemingly exhausted.
Di Maria rushed excitedly towards the corner flag to celebrate, while Suker looked at the Barcelona players and grinned slightly.
So, these guys really were in worse form!
His caution had been completely unnecessary!
Suker turned to look at Guardiola.
Maybe it really was just that Guardiola was facing pressure.
Guardiola had a certain aura in Suker's mind, because in his original timeline, this guy was indeed incredibly impressive.
But these past two seasons, Guardiola had lost both the league and the Champions League. Even Guardiola would face questioning.
And with all these factors combined, Barcelona's poor form made sense.
Suker's expression turned a bit strange.
Were they really going to get Guardiola sacked?
Suker blinked, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
That would be quite interesting!
"Ángel Di María! He scores the opening goal for Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final!"
"Real Madrid is one step closer to their Treble!"
"If Real Madrid defeats Barcelona again in this match, they will have beaten Barcelona six times in a single season. This is something unacceptable for Barcelona."
Gonzalez's words were still somewhat euphemistic.
He didn't fully voice his inner thoughts, also out of consideration for Barcelona fans' feelings.
In his opinion, Barcelona's form this season had been very good and outstanding.
But entering the final stage of the season, especially after the four grueling battles with Real Madrid, Barcelona's form had declined day by day.
It could be said that those four hard-fought matches dragged the 'Galactic Team' down from space.
The current Barcelona already seemed somewhat dispirited.
After all, anyone who loses six matches in a single season to their arch-rival would have their mentality shattered.
In the original timeline, Barcelona suppressed Real Madrid during this period.
Although Mourinho stubbornly held on, the results were indeed not excellent.
It wasn't until Guardiola left Barcelona and Ancelotti took over Real Madrid that everything changed.
But now, everything had changed.
Simultaneously, Real Madrid's suppression of Barcelona was even more domineering and powerful than the latter's suppression of the former in the original timeline.
Under such immense pressure, a mental collapse was also a possibility.
Furthermore, Puyol and Xavi were not on the field.
Messi also couldn't bear such great pressure; he was never a 'leader-type' player.
Taking advantage of a dead ball situation, Kaká approached Suker.
"It's going much smoother than imagined, but we still need to be cautious," Kaká said seriously.
However, Kaká noticed Suker's eyes were gleaming.
Kaká was taken aback.
At this moment, Suker showed a fierce grin; "Cautious? Cautious my foot! Take advantage of his weakness and finish him off! I'm going all out!"
Thinking Barcelona was hiding some trick, Suker had held back until now.
But now that he understood Barcelona's current state, there was no need to hold back anymore.
Go all out, crush Barcelona, and complete a perfect season!
"Pass it here!"
Suker actively moved towards the wing, demanding the ball.
Srna threw the ball to Suker.
He aimed for Suker's feet, but as Suker received the ball, he suddenly spread his legs, letting the ball go through his crotch, simultaneously circling around Busquets to chase after the ball.
Busquets didn't expect this change. By the time he wanted to catch up to Suker again, his speed simply couldn't match him.
Suker pushed the ball forward with large strides, charging towards the penalty area.
Alves immediately rushed towards Suker.
He wanted to deal with Suker outside the penalty area.
But as he approached Suker, he noticed Mascherano was making the same move.
Two central defenders pressing up simultaneously? Suker's grin stretched from ear to ear.
Suker fiercely slotted the ball between the two of them and simultaneously circled around Alves.
"Don't even think about running away!"
Alves reached out, trying to grab Suker.
But Suker's shoulder twitched; he used his elbow to fend off Alves, his foot stomping down fiercely once more as he caught up to the ball.
"Suker!! Barcelona's defense is in danger!!"
Boom!
Suker caught up to the ball and directly unleashed a powerful shot!
It was a thunderous strike. From such close range, goalkeeper Valdés couldn't even react before the ball nestled into the net.
"Gooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!!"
"Suker!! In the 34th minute, Suker scores! Real Madrid leads Barcelona 2:0! They are only one step away from the Treble!"
"Barcelona is clearly not in form, but Real Madrid won't give them any chance to catch their breath. Suker extends the lead, putting Barcelona in a passive position once again. Guardiola should make some adjustments now..."
Hearing the commentator's words, Guardiola on the coaching bench sighed slightly.
He rubbed his temples and slowly shook his head.
He also wanted to make adjustments, but he truly couldn't find a good solution.
If there were a way, they wouldn't have lost six matches in a single season.
'Restrict Suker'!
Everyone knew that to defeat Real Madrid, you must restrict Suker.
But the problem was, Suker wasn't that easy to restrict.
This was a problem laid bare for all to see. Everyone knew what needed to be done, but no one could do it.
Guardiola had also tried many methods. In these six matches, he experimented with various formations and tactics, even lowering his stance and copying the methods of weaker teams by using multiple players to mark Suker.
But it ultimately proved that Suker could not be restricted!
At the very least, Suker in this kind of form could not be restricted.
In Guardiola's view, Suker had already reached his peak. This was a super striker even more terrifying than the alien Ronaldo.
When the overall strength was similar, the bonus Suker gave his team was too great.
Simultaneously, he also consumed too much of the opponent's energy.
Once you invested too much power in restricting Suker, others would inevitably be liberated.
Benzema, Di María, Kaká—which one of these players was easy to deal with?
But if you focused on the overall situation and spread the defense evenly, Suker would continuously assault the defensive line.
So, there was simply no way!
To defeat this Real Madrid team, external pressure was already very difficult.
One could only wait for this Real Madrid team to collapse from within.
"Make a substitution!"
Guardiola sighed.
Even though he knew it was futile, he still had to make changes. Letting him give up on the match directly was, after all, somewhat unwilling.
Barcelona made a substitution: Villa came off, Abidal came on, adding some defensive strength.
But with a two-goal lead, Real Madrid started to drop back and defend again; they began slowing down the tempo.
"Sure enough!"
Guardiola felt mentally and physically exhausted.
This substitution was made reluctantly, hoping that Real Madrid, stimulated by the prospect of the championship, would become reckless, attack regardless of the consequences, and give Barcelona chances on the counter.
But Mourinho's team had strong discipline!
Their organization was also excellent, simply not giving Barcelona such opportunities.
In the remaining few minutes of the first half, Messi also continuously assaulted the defensive line.
But the impact was insufficient, and the overall fighting spirit wasn't enough.
There weren't many threatening attacks; many players would stop running after a while.
This also led to Barcelona's offense failing to function effectively.
In the second half, in the 67th minute, Real Madrid capitalized on a corner kick opportunity, with Ramos delivering the final blow.
Ramos scored with a header, widening the score once again.
Real Madrid led Barcelona 3:0.
At this point, Barcelona completely lost heart.
Even some Barcelona fans sadly got up and left the stadium directly.
With the experience of the previous five losses, they didn't want to see Barcelona lose again.
Moreover, they also believed Barcelona had no chance left.
70th minute.
Guardiola used his remaining two substitutions, both on offense.
And Real Madrid reinforced their defense.
Suker stayed up front as a lone striker.
Real Madrid's tactical core was to waste time, while Barcelona anxiously attacked, wanting to score.
Messi desperately dribbled and tried to beat players, but facing Real Madrid's dense defense, he could beat one, two, but couldn't beat Real Madrid's entire back line.
If Xavi were on the field, Iniesta could be liberated and handle more of the attack, helping Messi share the burden of advancing the play.
But now, Barcelona's situation was almost a dead end.
Time passed bit by bit. Barcelona's players grew increasingly软 (soft/weak), while Real Madrid seemed to gain more energy.
The ebb and flow of the game was visibly tilting towards Real Madrid.
"Entering stoppage time, Real Madrid leads Barcelona 3:0. It seems Barcelona has basically lost all opportunity."
"A three-goal lead is difficult for them to overturn. Moreover, most Barcelona fans have already left!"
"This season, Barcelona's performance in the early and middle stages was very good. But entering the final sprint stage, losing the league and Champions League consecutively was a huge blow. Unable to adjust their mentality properly, they hastily faced the Copa del Rey final, causing this match to develop in a one-sided direction."
Gonzalez looked at the time again.
"Looks like the match is about to end..."
The referee looked down at his watch, raised his whistle, and blew.
A sharp whistle sound spread across the entire stadium.
Players from both teams stopped.
Barcelona players fell onto the turf one by one, faces full of pain, struggling to hold back tears of unwillingness.
In contrast, Real Madrid players had already rushed onto the field to celebrate.
"Let us congratulate Real Madrid! They defeated Barcelona 3:0 in this match without any suspense. In this crazy season, after winning the league and Champions League, they have now captured the Copa del Rey, achieving the Treble!"
"This is also Mourinho's second consecutive season leading different teams to achieve the Treble honor!"
"Since the start of the season, Real Madrid has already shown astonishing performance. They pushed forward all the way, capturing the highest honors!"
"Now the season has completely ended. They have perfectly completed all tasks. The lads can relax; they have delivered a brilliant performance in this glorious season!"
"Let us congratulate Real Madrid once again! Nine years of decline, when they erupted, the whole world was shocked!"
"They used the Treble's great achievement to tell everyone that the historical Los Blancos has revived. That Galactic Galleon has begun to soar through the skies; they will crush any obstacle in their path."
"Real Madrid! Lift your trophy! Let's give the most passionate applause to these lads; they have brought us a whole season of wonderful matches."
"This season, Real Madrid's dominance was so impressive. We look forward to next season, where Real Madrid will continue to deliver even more outstanding performances."
"Finally, let us shout one more time: Real Madrid are champions!!!—"