The ball clearly wasn't in the net—how could that be… wait!
Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and the others who had rushed back from midfield to surround the referee suddenly noticed something odd.
Why hadn't Silvinho and Puyol come over to question the call?
Especially Puyol—he was the captain, the team leader!
There was no way he wouldn't come over, right?
Was he exhausted?
Standing inside the six-yard box, Puyol spread his hands helplessly.
Guys, it's not that I'm tired—it's you. You're so exhausted your eyes are playing tricks on you.
So tired you can't even tell that I'm the captain, not some "big-headed captain."
That shot just now? He damn well scored it.
As Valdés turned toward the goal and slumped down onto the turf, everyone realized something wasn't right.
The camera locked onto the net, zooming in closer and closer.
The next moment, the entire Real Madrid squad went berserk.
Several snapped strands of netting told the whole story.
"This…"
"My God!"
"It's torn!"
"The net's torn!"
"Su Hang has shot through the net again!"
"Unbelievable!"
"What did we just witness?"
"What kind of shot was that?!"
"Su Hang has torn the net again in El Clásico!"
"GOAL!"
"Four–three! Su Hang delivers the winner against Barcelona!"
"Just like Ronaldinho, Su Hang has completed a hat trick in a single half!"
"But as the saying goes, scoring first doesn't mean you win—I could do that too! Compared to Ronaldinho's hat trick, Su Hang's hat trick clearly decided the match!"
Barcelona fans were completely stunned.
This… this was actually possible?
Someone really shot through the net… twice?
Once could be luck—but twice? What does that count as?
On the screen, Su Hang pushed aside his Real Madrid teammates who were rushing over to celebrate. He walked behind the goal, picked up the dislodged microphone, and spoke into it:
"Your goal nets, Barça? They're not up to it either!"
"Maybe it's time to think about changing suppliers."
"Trust me—quality matters. What you're using right now clearly isn't good enough."
"When you place the order, remember to mention my name. I'll give you a massive discount!"
Boom!
Barcelona fans erupted into furious abuse.
Su Hang, however, raised both arms high and returned to celebrating with his teammates, as if all he heard were cheers.
Normally, remarks like that—slightly provocative—would have escalated tensions and sparked a confrontation with Barcelona's players.
But perhaps shooting through the net again was simply too shocking.
The Barcelona players were so stunned that they forgot to stand up for their own fans.
The next two minutes of stoppage time passed in a haze.
In the end, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 4–3.
They once again claimed victory in the Spanish El Clásico.
With these precious three points, Real Madrid climbed back up to third place in the league.
The last time they'd been third was before Higuaín had even opened his scoring account.
Barcelona, meanwhile, were knocked off the top of the table yet again by this defeat.
Sevilla happily took over as league leaders.
When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits—Sevilla were the beneficiaries.
Valencia sat fourth in La Liga.
Villarreal were fifth.
The point gap among the top five was extremely tight, and the rankings could change at any moment.
Zaragoza were sixth, with Atlético Madrid in seventh.
Real Madrid's next month and a half featured relatively weaker opponents. Their schedule clearly eased up, marking the end of their toughest stretch and giving them a chance to catch their breath.
But the final month-long sprint would be another matter entirely.
Even if injured players returned by then, aside from Barcelona, they would still have to face nearly every other team in the top seven.
It would be a brutal test.
...
Mundo Deportivo: "Ronaldinho's hat trick rivals Su Hang's! He could become Su Hang's biggest Ballon d'Or competitor next year!"
Mundo Deportivo: "Referee makes multiple controversial calls! Barça condemns the 'Dragonfly Captain' for refusing to favor the home side!"
Marca: "Su Hang's hat trick seals victory over Barça! Real Madrid become serial winners of El Clásico!"
AS: "Barcelona urged to overhaul procurement department! Faulty goal net blasted apart by Su Hang becomes a La Liga joke!"
Kicker: "Su Hang sets new La Liga power-shot record! 150 km/h rocket tears through goal net!"
Bild: "Insiders reveal Barcelona's procurement chief under internal investigation after goal net incident!"
Sky Sports: "Barcelona declines multiple equipment proposals, citing lack of profit. Suppliers respond that profit is not the primary concern."
The Times: "Insiders suggest Barcelona's 'no profit' stance reflects internal pricing issues rather than supplier capability."
Gazzetta dello Sport: "El Clásico exposes the gap between rising stars and superstars! Su Hang named man of the match, Ronaldinho rated 9.8, while Messi squandered chances repeatedly and scored just 3.7!"
The Echo: "Barcelona lost, but Ronaldinho didn't. What he lacks are better teammates. Barça should sign more superstars—don't waste Ronaldinho's prime with youth products like Messi and Iniesta!"
This match turned into a full-blown media war.
The massive release clauses for Messi and other Barcelona academy players sparked widespread debate across the football world.
On one hand, many argued these players simply weren't worth that much.
On the other, those clauses blocked many elite clubs from attempting to sign young talents like them.
Don't be fooled by how many big clubs now claim Messi and Iniesta are overrated.
If they were actually placed on the transfer market, there would still be plenty of teams willing to pay over €20 million for them.
People complain about expensive smartphones mainly because they want to buy them.
Otherwise, how many people complain about other phones that cost just as much?
Hardly anyone even talks about them.
In addition, Su Hang set multiple records in this El Clásico.
One of them was breaking his own single-season La Liga scoring record.
Before facing Barcelona, Su Hang had scored 26 goals in 25 league matches—an astonishing rate.
That already matched his total La Liga goals from the previous season.
But the hat trick at Camp Nou took his tally to 29 goals.
That placed him seventh on La Liga's all-time goal-scoring list.
He drew level with Sevilla legend Juan Arzaga, Barcelona icon Hans Kranker, Real Madrid great Hugo Sánchez, Deportivo La Coruña legend Bebeto, and active player Makaay, whom he had faced not long ago.
Except for Makaay, all of those records dated back more than a decade.
The scorers above them on the list were from even earlier eras.
Su Hang's total now equaled the combined goal tallies of the second-place Ronaldinho and third-place Milito—one with fifteen goals, the other with fourteen.
With eleven league matches still to play, expectations for Su Hang's goal count this season were extremely optimistic.
...
(35 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser