"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second leg of the Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Manchester United, live at three in the morning!"
"You're watching ESPN, and I'm your commentator, Derek Rae."
"I believe many of you are tuning in tonight because Su Hang is in the starting lineup!"
"There were rumors not long ago that Su Hang would retire in the next few days, but instead he's chosen to return at this moment. Perhaps there was some kind of miscommunication."
"During the warm-up just now, Su Hang looked to be in very good condition."
"Today, Real Madrid are lining up in their most frequently used formation from last season—a 4-1-3-2."
"Su Hang and Van Nistelrooy up front."
"Robinho, Zidane, Beckham."
"Emerson anchoring the midfield."
"Bravo, Cannavaro, Kompany, Ramos across the back line."
"And Casillas in goal."
"It's said that Carlos has basically recovered from his injury, but unfortunately he won't make this match. Still, his return will greatly ease Real Madrid's personnel issues going forward."
"Bravo's attitude is fine, but his ability is limited. He was completely exposed by Cristiano Ronaldo last match. If Carlos were available, things might not have been so bad."
Soon, the big screen displayed the starting lineups for both sides.
Manchester United were set up in a 4-3-3.
Giggs, Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo
Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher
Evra, Heinze, Vidić, O'Shea
Van der Sar
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Compared to the treble-winning Red Devils of the past, this Manchester United side seemed a little short on star power.
But as long as Ferguson was still there, United would always be one of the strongest contenders for any title.
In truth, both teams were in the middle of generational change.
Manchester United's transition had simply been faster.
They had already found their core in players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney, Vidić, Fletcher, Carrick, Evra, and O'Shea.
By contrast, among Real Madrid's newcomers, only Ramos, Kompany, and Robinho were barely reliable.
Fortunately, they had produced a Ballon d'Or–level Su Hang.
That alone outweighed any number of Evra-type players.
Evra: Damn!
With the referee's whistle, the match officially kicked off.
More than eighty thousand fans at the Bernabéu roared in unison, humming the Real Madrid anthem as they cheered their team on.
The opening minutes were played with high intensity and emotion.
Then, in the third minute, everything changed.
Cristiano Ronaldo surged down the right, dribbling until Bravo was left scrambling, and forced a corner.
Scholes delivered the ball in, and Serbian international Vidić rose high, overpowering the equally tall Kompany to head it into the net.
The Bernabéu fell silent.
"Too fast! Real Madrid have conceded far too quickly!"
"Vidić has struck a fatal blow! He's forming the Premier League's best center-back partnership with Ferdinand!"
"Although Ferdinand is suspended for this match, he'll be back for the Champions League final. AC Milan may already need to start figuring out how to deal with the Ferdinand–Vidić wall!"
"Manchester United lead 1–0! That makes it 4–2 on aggregate!"
"It looks like Real Madrid's Champions League journey is coming to an end! Su Hang's return doesn't seem enough to save them! After all, he's only one man—not a god!"
In the sixth minute, Real Madrid launched an attack.
Su Hang dropped deep to receive the ball and threaded a through pass forward. Robinho accelerated with the ball, only to run into the recovering Cristiano Ronaldo.
Both had "Ronaldo" in their names, both were wide players, both famous for their stepovers, both often criticized for being too flashy… when two Ronaldos met, a battle was inevitable.
Robinho decisively cut inside, taking Ronaldo head-on—charging straight toward danger.
Cristiano Ronaldo, full of fight, went in with a sliding tackle.
It was hard to tell whether he got the ball first or Robinho first.
Both were moving at full speed.
The next moment, Robinho was clutching his ankle and rolling on the grass.
Real Madrid's medical staff rushed onto the pitch.
The referee arrived immediately, brought the situation under control, and showed Cristiano Ronaldo a yellow card.
Scholes and Su Hang both went to the referee.
Scholes argued that Ronaldo's tackle was clean and shouldn't have been booked.
Su Hang insisted Ronaldo hit Robinho first and should have seen red.
The referee ignored them both.
Very quickly, the Real Madrid medic's expression turned grave. He looked toward Simon on the sidelines and shook his head.
"Oh no—this is another nightmare for Real Madrid!"
"Robinho is injured as well!"
"This is terrifying! Last season, Real Madrid suffered an extreme injury crisis, and this season they've somehow managed to top it!"
"Almost none of Real Madrid's key players have escaped injury!"
Modrić: ???
Ramos: Come on, repeat after me—key players!
Modrić: I was the first man to take down Capello, and I'm not important?
In the end, Real Madrid substituted Raúl for Robinho.
Su Hang shifted to the left midfield position.
Raúl and Van Nistelrooy formed a twin-striker partnership.
This was also a "suggestion" Su Hang had made to Simon.
"Ding! You have activated a Moment Card: Franck Ribéry (2007)! You will gain Ribéry's unique match experience for fifteen minutes."
With a loud buzz in his head, Su Hang activated the Moment Card.
There was no time to wait any longer—this was Manchester United, after all.
If he waited any more, what if they scored an own goal themselves?
Maguire: ???
Just kidding!
At this stage, the Red Devils' fighting spirit was fierce.
If Real Madrid couldn't pull a goal back quickly, once United's momentum fully took over, a comeback would be almost impossible.
Su Hang actually had four Moment Cards in reserve.
Shevchenko in 1998, just beginning to shine.
Ronaldinho at his 2004 peak.
Messi from 2007, and Ribéry from 2007.
Ribéry wasn't the strongest card, but he was the most suitable for Real Madrid right now.
Manchester United's midfield and defense were extremely aggressive, and combined with the Premier League's fast, forceful style, they put immense pressure on Real Madrid's playmaker.
Zidane could manage if he played conservatively, but if he became more aggressive and tried to thread multiple killer passes, the fouls he'd suffer would increase exponentially.
Zidane felt this too, which was why his attacking-midfield position was slightly deeper as he waited for the right moment.
In this situation, the Shevchenko card was meaningless—there was no one to supply Su Hang with ammunition.
The Ronaldinho card was incredibly strong, but it conflicted directly with Zidane's role.
A team could only have one such dominant attacking midfielder.
If there were two, one of them would inevitably fade into the background.
Moreover, against Manchester United's fiercely aggressive midfield and defense, Su Hang wasn't keen on going in hard.
His injury resistance stat was as high as nine—on paper, he was very hard to injure—but… hadn't he just recovered?
Probability was not something worth gambling on.
As for the Messi card, its main attacking route was on the right, while Su Hang primarily operated on the left.
On top of that, their playing styles were fundamentally different.
At this stage, Messi relied heavily on his teammates.