Staring at his skill panel for a long time, Su Hang finally made his choice.
"Ding! You have applied the Ballon d'Or Trophy to 'Zidane's Early Field Vision.' The upgrade has been elevated to the legendary skill 'God's Eye View.'"
"God's Eye View: Legendary Skill. Vision permanently increased to Level 10."
"Special effect activated: 'Dynamic Vision.' Your field of vision is unaffected while running."
"When passing, you can perceive the tier of the opportunity.
Level 6 pass: teammates' ball control improves upon receiving the ball.
Level 7 pass: teammates' shooting ability increases.
Level 8 pass: teammates have a chance to trigger a critical strike.
Level 9 or above: teammates have a greatly increased chance of scoring!
(This effect does not apply to Happy Footballers.)"
???
Happy Footballers?
No wonder!
No wonder players like Haaland, Sterling, Morata, and Nunez were so hopeless in the future.
So that's it—this "Happy Football" debuff is so powerful that not even God's Eye View can save them!
Su Hang had his reasons for upgrading his vision.
On one hand, he wanted to develop better chemistry with Zidane this season.
Don't be fooled by how strong Su Hang looked right now—his link-up play, attacking runs, and finishing all seemed solid.
But to a large extent, that was Zidane accommodating him.
To put it bluntly, Zidane knew exactly what kind of balls Su Hang could receive, so every pass he sent was one Su Hang could handle.
Yet in some situations, even Zidane could only manage to barely squeeze out a pass.
Those were the balls Su Hang wanted.
He even wanted to take the kind of passes where Zidane himself couldn't be sure of the outcome.
Only then could he truly be lethal and impossible to defend against.
There was another reason as well.
Su Hang wanted to learn how Zidane played football.
Because…
After this season, Zidane would retire.
Beckham would transfer away.
Even Carlos would be leaving.
The engines of the Galácticos were almost all about to be replaced.
When that happened, Su Hang would inevitably face a lack of ammunition.
He could choose to trust the new teammates.
Or he could choose to keep the initiative firmly in his own hands.
Which option do you think he would pick?
"God's Eye View" was Su Hang's answer.
From spearhead to true core!
This season would be one of total release for Su Hang.
Next season, the burden on his shoulders would be even heavier!
…
December 3rd, La Liga Round 13.
Ballon d'Or winner Su Hang ushered in his first victory at the Bernabéu since ascending to the top of the world.
Real Madrid defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–0.
Su Hang recorded two assists and one goal, earning Man of the Match.
However, few people noticed that his coordination with Zidane wasn't as smooth as before.
Zidane made several passes that Su Hang failed to receive.
Or rather, Zidane was clearly looking for Su Hang, but Su Hang was often no longer in the positions he used to occupy.
The same situation played out again three days later in the final round of the Champions League group stage.
This time, the mistakes between Su Hang and Zidane were even more frequent.
Zidane even scolded Su Hang on the pitch.
Su Hang, in response, rubbed Zidane's bald head and told him to trust him—and to try playing bolder passes.
In the end, Real Madrid drew 0–0 with Dynamo Kyiv.
They advanced to the knockout stage as group runners-up.
It was hardly a good result.
For two consecutive years, they had been pinned to second place in the group by Ligue 1 giants Lyon.
Soon after, the Champions League Round of 16 draw was announced.
Real Madrid's luck was terrible, but as a second-place team, they couldn't really expect an easy opponent anyway.
Their roadblock in the Round of 16 this year was the powerful Bayern Munich!
Meanwhile, group winners Lyon drew the fading Roma.
Barcelona faced Liverpool. Barça held a clear advantage, as Liverpool's true strength in recent years hadn't been among the elite.
Inter Milan, reigning supreme in Serie A this season, drew La Liga's Valencia.
AC Milan's opponent was Celtic—a gift package.
Among the other Premier League giants, Arsenal drew PSV Eindhoven. This draw wasn't difficult either. Despite Eindhoven's high profile in the football world, they were mainly known for supplying future superstars to major clubs.
Manchester United's opponent was Lille from Ligue 1—another gift package.
As for big-spending Chelsea, their opponent was Porto. If you said UEFA hadn't pulled any strings, who would believe it?
After all, Chelsea's current head coach was Mourinho, the very man who led Porto to Champions League glory just a few years ago. Several Chelsea players also came from Porto.
Their clash was bound to be full of memories.
December 9th, La Liga Round 14.
The strongest No. 9 and the strongest No. 10 were still out of sync.
Real Madrid lost away to Valencia.
Villa was named Man of the Match.
The Ballon d'Or's 30th-ranked player completed an upset against the first- and second-ranked candidates.
Zidane had communicated with Su Hang both on and off the pitch. He knew very well that Su Hang wanted to receive more dangerous passes.
But both of them needed time to adapt.
Many balls were ones Su Hang could receive, but the time left for him to process them was extremely limited, leading to more and more dispossessions.
On the other hand, Zidane was used to playing at "80 percent." Suddenly needing to find the feeling of "100 percent," he couldn't get into rhythm.
Dragged down by mediocre teammates to around 90 percent, he simply couldn't reach his peak in such a short time.
Su Hang: ???
Modrić: Don't overthink it. What if Zizou was talking about Van Nistelrooy?
Ramos: Exactly. It could just as well be Raúl.
Kompany: I think it's mainly Robinho.
Zidane: Is it possible… that it's all of you here?
But Real Madrid didn't have time to dwell on the league defeat.
On the contrary, their mood was quite good.
With anticipation, they boarded the flight to Yokohama, Japan.
A new challenge awaited them.
The Club World Cup!
…
"The 'Empire's Most Ferocious Su' Flies to Yokohama—Real Madrid to Face Club América!"
"Golden Ball Emperor Su Hang Arrives in Japan! Japanese Fans Surround the Airport in a Frenzy of Worship!"
"Statistics Show: 50% of Japanese High School Students Have Told Their Teachers, 'Coach, I Want to Play Football!' The Other 50% Are Girls Who Want to Join Football Cheer Squads!"
"Hayao Miyazaki Obtains Su Hang's Autograph, Confirms Football Anime Film Based on Su Hang, Titled Starting as the Football King from Real Madrid!"
"To Welcome the Arriving Real Madrid Superstars, Japan Invites Multiple Female Celebrities to Attend the Reception and Dine Together. Reportedly, These Celebrities Engaged in Open and Subtle Rivalry Over Seating Order!"
"Romance in the Air? Su Hang Calls Out the Names of Satomi Ishihara and Yui Aragaki in One Breath—The Two Then Switch Seats to Sit Beside Su Hang and Share Dinner!"
"Japanese Football Set for a Great Revival! Su Hang Gifts Satomi Ishihara and Yui Aragaki Stand Tickets, Hoping They'll Cheer for Him!"
"All Japanese Citizens Unanimously Approve These Two Marriages! The Children Will Take the Surname Su!"