"Oh! What a pity!"
"Offside! Su Hang was offside on that play."
"Let's take another look… Yes, when Emerson released the pass, Su Hang was already almost a full body ahead of Espanyol's last defender. A very clear offside."
On the Real Madrid bench, Zidane leaned toward Modrić and said, "It looks like Su was offside, but the real problem is Emerson."
"He doesn't understand Su Hang's burst of acceleration."
"And he holds onto the ball too long. The ball stays at his feet so long that he has to shake off defenders before he can play the through ball. That's why his pass didn't come in time."
"As for Raúl's chance earlier—technically, Emerson's pass was excellent, almost a perfect through ball."
"But he didn't consider Raúl's speed in physical duels. That's not a comfortable receiving angle for Raúl. Even if he'd controlled it, turning that into a true scoring chance wouldn't have been easy."
Modrić nodded repeatedly. In truth, he had thought Emerson was extremely impressive.
His technique was sharp, he could escape Espanyol's midfield pressing with subtle touches, and he created multiple attacking opportunities.
Yet according to Zidane, Emerson had all these flaws.
Modrić: Are you sure you're not just jealous that he took your role as the team's midfield core?
Zidane: Su Hang, I refuse to teach this clueless kid anymore!
Yes—after Zidane returned, Su Hang specifically asked Zizou to look after the Croatian shepherd boy whenever he had time, letting him grow under the guidance of the "third-generation King of Football."
Su Hang also arranged a personalized physical training plan for Modrić, aimed at improving his physique.
Ultimately, the goal was to bulk him up.
But sudden weight gain without matching skeletal development would increase the risk of bone injuries. So the process had to be gradual.
Especially for someone like Modrić, who had never been heavy in his life—bulking up was something that simply couldn't be rushed.
Modrić once told Su Hang that he could play well enough without gaining mass.
Then in the very next training session, he endured a full-match, tight man-marking lesson from Sergio Ramos.
...
Back on the pitch.
In the 19th minute, a similar situation unfolded.
Real Madrid launched a counterattack.
Emerson sent out a long "frisbee" ball.
He kicked it toward the left flank.
Su Hang went full throttle, bursting past the defender in an instant.
But the ball was far too ahead of him.
If Bale's Moment Card effect were still active, Su Hang would've loved that pass.
But he wasn't Bale right now.
His explosiveness let him reach top speed quicker than others—but his actual Speed attribute was only 82. Not slow, but certainly not fast.
So fans quickly saw the defender catch up to him from behind.
In the end, Su Hang used his body to shield the ball, initiating physical contact to secure control—but by doing so, he lost the one-on-one opportunity.
Still, Su Hang knew how to use his strengths.
After slowing down, he played a back pass, spun, and accelerated again.
Van Nistelrooy collected the ball. He wasn't a traditional target man, but he definitely had the ability to play like one. He immediately executed a wall-pass through ball.
Su Hang drove into the left side of the penalty area, nudged the ball left to mislead the center back, then went for the byline.
The defender guarded against a cut-inside or a shot, leaving the path down the line wide open.
Thud!
Su Hang reached the ball just before it crossed the end line and delivered a clean inverted-triangle cutback.
Thud!
Clang!
Van Nistelrooy arrived and hammered a header—but it smacked the crossbar.
It was the closest either side had come to scoring, earning loud applause from the stands.
Real Madrid looked to be in control.
But with Zidane's pointers, Modrić had also begun identifying their issues.
Su Hang, shifted to the left, couldn't maximize his strengths. At least thirty percent of his ability was being wasted.
And because Su Hang's pivot play and ability to drop deep were stronger than Van Nistelrooy's, he effectively became a left-side pivot.
Compared with being a central pivot, where he could threaten both flanks, a left-side pivot cut his danger in half—now he could only pressure one side.
His shooting threat also dropped significantly, as the left side was nowhere near as advantageous as the center.
Most importantly, Su Hang lacked the ability to deliver the ball directly into the six-yard box. That meant Van Nistelrooy, the "King of the Six-Yard Box," had far fewer direct scoring chances.
He now had to leave the six-yard area—sometimes even the entire box—to find shooting opportunities.
Yes, Van Nistelrooy's finishing was world-class, top five in the world or even higher—but he still needed time to adjust to this new reality.
Of course, the inability to deliver the ball comfortably to Van Nistelrooy wasn't Su Hang's fault—it was Emerson's, as the team's attacking core.
He had good control and strong individual ability, but aside from through-balls, he almost had no capacity to move the ball forward effectively.
This exposed his lack of playmaking ability.
He was basically a beast-mode version of Guti, not the beast-mode Zidane everyone thought they were getting!
Su Hang and Van Nistelrooy's discomfort was their way of compensating for Emerson.
If Emerson had the ability to deliver the ball directly into the penalty area—or even the six-yard box—those two forwards plus the lurking Raúl would be absolutely explosive.
This collapsing-but-still-dangerous version of the Galácticos undoubtedly had firepower.
All they lacked was a true world-class engine.
In the 26th minute, after failing to score despite heavy pressure, Real Madrid were punished.
Espanyol countered and struck immediately.
Cannavaro made a fatal mistake—he misjudged the aerial ball.
But considering his 1.75-meter frame, it wasn't exactly a shocking error.
Compared to Real Madrid's overwhelming momentum, Espanyol, though weaker, were better at exploiting their opponents' weaknesses.
This was something Emerson needed to learn.
In the 37th minute, Van Nistelrooy received a pass near the right edge of the penalty area and was brought down, earning a free kick.
It was the perfect distance for Beckham to whip in a cross.
But when Beckham delivered the ball, Emerson and Su Hang arrived at the exact same spot.
Everyone knew Su Hang had top authority on Real Madrid's aerial balls—whether from free kicks or corners.
But that was last season's unwritten rule. This season, the players had changed…
the coach had changed…
so Emerson couldn't really be blamed.
But Emerson took Su Hang's spot and didn't produce Su Hang's output.
His header sailed over the bar with no threat at all.
If that ball had gone to Su Hang, it might very well have gone in.