Chapter 179: The Pain of Your Defeat Is Already a Medal of Honor for Us
Simeone couldn't help but feel envious.
He wasn't jealous of Real Madrid's vast array of attacking stars — what he coveted was Mourinho's pair of tactical cores.
One, the main hub Xabi Alonso, orchestrated the build-up from the back. The other, Leon, ran wherever the team needed him, a two-way engine with no limits to his coverage.
Simeone wasn't necessarily unhappy with his own midfield duo of Gabi and Mario Suárez.
What killed him was the comparison.
Gabi and Suárez were both solid holding midfielders, no question. But neither could serve as the core of both attack and defense for a team.
If only Gabi and Koke could be merged into a player who had both their strengths — Simeone would be ecstatic.
But that kind of fantasy only lived in dreams. In reality, he could only pair Gabi and Koke and try to build something cohesive from there.
So yes, he was jealous. Deeply.
Real Madrid had two foundational players to build around. He only had a duo that made up for each other's shortcomings.
Comparing Koke to Leon might seem disrespectful to Koke — but Simeone couldn't stop himself from thinking it.
"If Leon were my defensive midfielder… if I could build a midfield around him with Gabi and Koke, I wouldn't have to worry about balancing offense and defense at all. Leon would bring out the best in both of them."
The more he thought about it, the clearer his gaze became — and the heavier his heart felt.
Because it was all fantasy.
This almost perfectly tailored young core — someone who checked every box on his wishlist — belonged to his sworn rivals.
With a long sigh, Simeone looked out onto the pitch again, staring at the back of Real Madrid's No. 10 jersey — the player who had carved his way into his footballing soul.
A bold, almost ridiculous idea started forming in his mind...
Mourinho, completely unaware of the longing looks coming from his counterpart, remained laser-focused on tactics, preparing for Atlético's potential counter-punch.
Mario Suárez and Gabi lacked creative spark. Raúl García's best attacking moments came from late runs into the box.
If there was any real creativity on Atlético's side today, it was coming from the left flank — Filipe Luís and Koke.
That duo was the only consistent source of quality delivery to Falcao and Diego Costa.
So, after the match resumed, Modrić shifted his positioning slightly left, while Leon anchored the right central midfield.
In short, it was a clear tactic: Real Madrid was openly targeting Atlético's left flank.
Mourinho didn't believe in playing nice. Once they scored, they went straight for the jugular.
Diego Costa, frustrated by Pepe's suffocating marking, was starting to look completely off his game, even when dropping deep.
Falcao remained the same as always — dangerous, but reliant on service.
And when Real Madrid effectively locked down both wings, Falcao was completely isolated — and ineffective.
Yes, he could score, but in this context, pairing him with Costa might've actually been worse than moving Koke further up and partnering him with Costa instead.
In fact, looking ahead to next season in the original timeline, Atlético's combination of Villa and Costa proved far more threatening.
That combo had more independence in attack, and Villa's creativity exceeded Falcao's by a wide margin.
So in matches like today, even when their midfielders were locked down, Villa and Costa could at least try to initiate something on their own.
But Falcao? His self-creation ability was limited, and he'd become too accustomed to the team playing solely to serve him.
Right now, Atlético was entirely built around feeding Falcao — and he accounted for over half of the team's goals this season.
That was just ridiculous.
So, Real Madrid's game plan against Atlético this season was simple.
Step 1: Ramos marks Falcao out of the match.
Step 2: Leon and his teammates shut down Atlético's left flank.
Do those two things, and Atlético's chances of scoring were practically zero.
Once Falcao was silenced, their next best scorer was Costa — and in the league, he had only seven goals.
Yes, seven.
Though that might sound dismissive, Costa had scored another seven in the Copa del Rey and added three in the Europa League, bringing his total to 17.
But let's be honest — cup goals carry some water weight, and it wasn't unusual that Madrid defenders didn't view Costa as much of a threat.
Before the match, when Mourinho assigned Pepe to shadow Costa, plenty of Real players scoffed.
Now it seemed they were right — Costa posed minimal threat to Real's back line.
Leon, however, fully supported Mourinho's tactical decisions.
Because of Pepe handling Costa, Leon could devote more energy to attacking and shutting down Atlético's wings.
Atlético simply hadn't evolved enough.
At most, if they played in the Champions League now, they'd scrape into the quarter-finals — and even that would require a favorable draw.
Only if they broke their over-reliance on Falcao and let Koke grow for another year could this team become a true European powerhouse.
But that evolution wasn't happening today.
Right now, to Real Madrid, this Atlético was strong — but not strong enough to be a real threat.
In the 41st minute of the first half, it was Ronaldo again — finishing off a cutback from Benzema out wide, a low-driven shot past Courtois.
That was his 40th league goal of the season.
In terms of efficiency, he wasn't far off last season's pace.
But he still wasn't the top scorer in La Liga.
Earlier that day, Messi had scored once against Athletic Club, pushing his own tally to 42.
So once again, La Liga's scoring title was going to come down to the final stretch between the two giants of El Clásico.
And their numbers? Just insane.
Messi: 42 goals, 12 assists.
Ronaldo: 40 goals, 8 assists.
Had it been last year, Ronaldo might've been anxious, trailing Messi.
He hadn't yet reclaimed the Champions League crown or secured the treble. That year, he needed to beat Messi head-to-head to prove himself again.
But this season, he was calmer.
Maybe because he had a team behind him that he could trust.
Once the league title was in hand, he was confident Mourinho and the team would rally behind him to help him chase down the Golden Boot.
That's what they did last season — Mourinho's full support allowed him to win both La Liga's and Europe's top scorer titles.
This year, he believed he could do it again.
As for assists? Well… Ronaldo didn't know what to say.
Benzema had only 14 league goals. And the number of sitters he missed — at least five or six — was staggering.
But Ronaldo never complained. Benzema willingly played the role of tactical decoy for the team.
So when it came to assists, Ronaldo just accepted it.
But in terms of goals? Ronaldo was sure he could surpass Messi again.
Down by two? Maybe not today.
But bring it to just one goal behind? Very possible.
Fired up, Ronaldo became even more aggressive in attack.
As soon as the second half began, he surged forward, demanding the ball again and again.
Within seven minutes, he'd taken three shots — two of which were on target.
Real Madrid players quickly caught on — their ace was hungry. He wanted a hat-trick against Atlético.
Time to help him get it.
Already two goals down, Atlético had no choice but to open up and go all-out in attack.
They couldn't afford to keep defending. A loss was a loss — whether it was 2–0 or 3–0 didn't matter anymore.
Real Madrid took full advantage and counterattacked relentlessly.
In the 64th minute, during a quick break, Di María played a horizontal pass to Modrić, who had surged up in support.
Modrić burst into Atlético's box, looking to slide a low cross to Ronaldo at the far post — but Filipe Luís yanked him down from behind before he could release the ball.
The whistle came immediately.
Yellow card + penalty!
Filipe Luís was booked, and Real Madrid had a chance from the spot.
Mourinho didn't even look up. He just signaled for Morata and Matuidi to start warming up.
And when Ronaldo slammed the penalty home — notching his 41st league goal of the season and completing his hat-trick — the Bernabéu roared in celebration.
Mourinho didn't hesitate. With a 3–0 lead in hand, he substituted both Cristiano Ronaldo and Leon — the two standout performers of the match — at the same time.
With such a clear advantage, Real Madrid dropped deep into a compact formation and switched fully to counterattacking play. Ronaldo and Leon left the pitch relaxed, already starting their recovery.
In the 74th minute, Mourinho brought on Callejón to replace Di María.
Atlético, aside from scoring a consolation goal in the final two minutes of the match, failed to pose any real threat on goal.
The match ended with a 3–1 away win for Real Madrid over Atlético.
Once again, they had completed a league double over their city rivals. This season, in head-to-head matchups against fellow La Liga top-three teams Barça and Atlético, Real Madrid had achieved three wins and one draw — a dominant record.
Atlético's disheartened fans could only look ahead to next season, hoping for revenge.
La Liga's 33rd round concluded on the night of April 29 with Real Betis and Deportivo La Coruña playing to a draw.
Barcelona, in their match, narrowly defeated Athletic Club 2–1. They now trailed Real Madrid by seven points.
With five rounds left for Barça and six for Madrid, there was still a theoretical chance that Barça could stage a comeback and steal the title.
The odds weren't high — Spanish media broadly agreed on that — but still, what if?
Barça fans and players clung to a sliver of hope.
After all, they were no longer in the Champions League and could focus solely on La Liga.
Real Madrid, however, had the second leg of their Champions League semi-final to contend with — a massive clash — giving Barça every reason to hope for a stumble.
Fueled by this faint hope, when Real Madrid traveled to Germany on April 30 to face Borussia Dortmund, Barça fans loudly and openly cheered for the German side.
Ideally, they hoped for a brutal slugfest, complete with injuries on both sides.
But Dortmund's own fans didn't have the luxury to complain about the malice of Barça supporters — they were already bracing for war.
Because before Dortmund's clash with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain had played the second leg of their semi-final on the evening of April 30.
Naturally, Dortmund fans were eager to see how their bitter rivals fared.
They were disappointed.
Despite a 1–1 draw in the first leg in Paris, Bayern dominated the return leg at the Allianz Arena.
3–0!
PSG didn't even have a moment to breathe. Bayern steamrolled them with ruthless precision, like a team suddenly awakened just before the final.
David Beckham, who played the last 30 minutes, left the pitch in tears.
Zlatan Ibrahimović, who had assisted Lucas Moura for the equalizer in the first leg, was left speechless — eyes red, but no tears.
This impressive PSG side, despite its quality, had now ignited even higher expectations from its fans for next season.
And Bayern? After losing to Inter Milan in the 2010 final, they had returned to the Champions League final after three long years.
Their opponent would be either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund.
So when Real Madrid and Dortmund took the pitch at the Westfalenstadion on May 1, they did so under the scrutiny of the entire footballing world.
The stadium shook with roaring chants, massive tifos, and intimidating energy.
Before kickoff, the biggest spotlight wasn't on either team's star striker or the midfield duel — it was on Mario Götze.
When the teams were announced, and Götze stepped out, jeers echoed across the stadium.
Just days earlier, after the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Dortmund officially confirmed that Götze would be joining Bayern Munich next season.
It was a bombshell — a nuke dropped squarely on the heart of German football.
Dortmund's homegrown golden boy — the first great star of Germany's post-1990 generation — had chosen to defect to their biggest domestic rival.
The reaction was explosive. Fans were divided, the locker room fractured.
Yes — after the official announcement, the atmosphere within Dortmund's squad had changed completely.
Doubts crept into minds that had once been unified.
Lewandowski, who only had a year left on his contract. Hummels, who grew up in Bayern's academy…
All of it was poison to Klopp's plans.
For him, this was a worst-case scenario.
His team had splintered. Unity was gone. And he didn't have the means to repair the fracture in time.
Even so, Klopp poured everything he had into preparing for the second leg against Real Madrid.
He still chose to start Götze.
Mourinho, upon seeing this, could only feel sympathy.
If a player like that existed at Real Madrid, Mourinho would have banished him to the reserves the moment the announcement was made.
No training with the first team. No matchday squad.
End of story.
And Mourinho had the authority to do it.
But Klopp couldn't.
His affection for Götze, and how central Götze was to his tactical framework, made it impossible for him to bench him.
And that made Mourinho's sympathetic glance across the dugouts cut even deeper.
Still, the worst was yet to come.
From the very start of the match, Real Madrid took the initiative and went at Dortmund hard.
This didn't surprise Klopp — they'd done the same thing in the first leg and caught him unprepared.
Dortmund responded better this time. They locked down the middle, and contested the flanks tooth and nail.
Both teams had strengths out wide, and Klopp had decided to go all in. He would fight to the end.
But in the 12th minute, after a standard shoulder-to-shoulder duel with Matuidi, Götze went down.
And didn't get back up.
Klopp's heart sank.
The medical team rushed on and stretchered Götze off the pitch. After a brief check on the sideline, they gave the dreaded signal: substitution needed.
Klopp didn't move.
He looked at Götze, hoping his prized pupil would meet his gaze with honesty.
But Götze didn't look back.
He kept his head down, listening to the venomous jeers from the Yellow Wall behind him.
He didn't explain. Didn't defend himself. And that broke Klopp completely.
Klopp no longer cared whether it was a legitimate muscle strain or not.
Dortmund made the change. Großkreutz came on for Götze.
Nuri Şahin began warming up as well.
It was a massive blow — not just tactically or in terms of player quality.
It was psychological.
It shattered momentum. It eroded morale. And worst of all, it further undermined the trust within the squad.
Matuidi, meanwhile, was stunned. He hadn't even gone in hard — it was a routine challenge.
Sure, sometimes players get hurt in those moments.
But the odds were low. Really low.
Leon came over and patted Matuidi on the back, telling him not to worry — it wasn't his fault.
As play resumed, Real Madrid poured forward with relentless pressure.
Whatever fight Dortmund had left began to fade.
And Real Madrid's players? They didn't care about fairness.
They swarmed forward, feeding the ball repeatedly to Ronaldo.
Ronaldo didn't manage to break the deadlock — but he played a key role in the goal that finally came.
Under pressure, he offloaded the ball to Benzema, who slotted home with a crisp finish.
The away goal Real Madrid had long been searching for finally came.
Benzema jumped in celebration, pumping his fist on the byline.
Aggregate score: 3–1.
Dortmund fans were stunned. The players looked lost.
Klopp… was in agony.
Karanka sighed on the sideline.
Like Mourinho, he felt a twinge of pity for Klopp.
But they wouldn't stop.
Because this — this was part of a team's journey to the top.
Pain came in different forms, but the sting was always the same.
And the pain Dortmund was feeling now — this stinging failure — was exactly the same pain that Real Madrid had endured last season.
Now, it was Real Madrid's badge of honor.
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