The home dressing room was filled with sighs.
"Ha..."
"This really makes no sense. How? Just how?"
They were so exhausted they felt completely drained.
They had poured everything into the first half, but they still could not win.
Pepe let out a deep sigh.
"In the end, it turned out exactly the way everyone said it would."
Before the match started, everyone, every last one of them, had said the same thing.
That no matter what Real Madrid did, they could not beat Manchester City.
That even if the world collapsed, Ho-young could not be stopped.
He had wanted to crush all those words in spectacular fashion, but the result had gone exactly as everyone expected.
To be honest, he had felt a trace of confidence.
This was Santiago Bernabéu, the holy ground of Real Madrid.
And they had prepared that hard for it.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say they had poured in everything they could as human beings.
But the result was 2-1.
In fact, even that was close to a miracle.
"Right. Something was off."
Pepe tilted his head.
The fact that they had predicted Manchester City's strategy in advance and responded to it.
Now that he thought about it, it was definitely strange.
"That was just luck."
Luck.
Logically, that was the only way to think about it.
And the other players were thinking the same thing.
But there was one exception.
Manager Pellegrini was thinking something else.
"Could it really be what I think it is...?"
The so-called wiretapping incident.
A few years ago, there had been a major uproar when it became public that Manchester United had been wiretapped at their home ground, Old Trafford.
"There is no other explanation..."
Pellegrini felt it in his bones.
Because it made no sense from the start that they had been able to target every one of Manchester City's tactical changes.
This was how it had happened.
Before kickoff, President Calderón had come to the manager's office.
That in itself was not strange, since it had happened more than once before, but for some reason, Calderón had been unusually talkative today.
From time to time he had directly interfered by telling him to start certain players, but he had never interfered in tactics like he had today.
But today he had overstepped the manager's authority and issued instructions forcefully.
"According to the information we obtained, Manchester City are using Ho-young as an attacking midfielder."
And that was not all.
President Calderón had gone into detail as though he knew Manchester City's tactics inside out.
But now that he thought about it, it was definitely strange.
The state of the pitch was the same.
They had trained for 30 millimeters, but when match day came, it was as long as 40 millimeters.
Every aspect had been designed to favor Real Madrid.
"Of course, it is only suspicion..."
But if it was true, then as a manager, it was something he could never tolerate.
Because he valued sportsmanship more than winning matches.
"I cannot let this pass."
That did not mean he intended to expose the president's wrongdoing to the media.
There was not even any physical evidence.
Pellegrini simply wanted to play the real match he wanted.
It was right then.
Bang!
A loud crash erupted from the corner of the dressing room.
It was Cristiano Ronaldo kicking the dressing room wall.
And his fury did not stop there.
He threw water bottles one after another, erupting in blazing anger.
It was anger directed at no one but himself.
Because he felt humiliated that he had produced such a poor display against the rival he considered Ho-young to be.
"Hmm."
Seeing that, Pellegrini seemed to make up his mind and gathered the players together.
Then he spoke solemnly.
"Lift your heads. We have nothing to be ashamed of. Are you going to go back out there looking defeated? We are Madridistas. We cannot let something like this break us."
It was not that these obvious words were going to change everything.
If he could change the mood and provide even the minimum spark of motivation, that would already be half the battle.
And the other half was this.
"We are done with this tiresome battle of wits."
"What?"
"From now on, we do what we do best. The football we love most. From now on, we play a real match."
Football they could play with their heads held high.
He meant they should play the football they were most confident in.
At that moment, the players' hands came together.
The faces that had lost all drive were gone.
All that remained was burning desire for victory.
"¡Vamos!"
"Madrid!"
The dressing room was soon filled with fierce voices.
By contrast, the away dressing room was completely calm.
All the players were keeping quiet and focusing only on their mentality.
Even when they spoke, it was all meaningless chatter, and they did not say a single thing related to the match.
That was because of Guardiola's instruction just moments earlier.
"If what Young said is right..."
Right after the first half ended, Guardiola had heard something significant from Ho-young.
It was the opinion that there might be some kind of listening device in the away dressing room.
"It is more than believable."
Ho-young was the kind of person with sharp instincts not only on the pitch, but off it as well.
But even if there really was a listening device, there was no way they could find it immediately without evidence.
More than that, he did not want to throw the situation into chaos.
"The flow of the match is with us. There is no reason to disturb it right now."
Guardiola gathered the players together.
Then he spoke firmly.
"What we need to do is the same as before. Play well. That is all."
After that, he kept his words to a minimum.
Normally he would have passionately explained the tactics, but today he did not open his mouth about tactics at all.
Instead, he wrote something on the tactics board and showed it to the players.
What they did best.
In other words, the complete football that only Manchester City could show.
That was what Guardiola asked for.
The second half began shortly afterward.
[Yes, the second half is underway.]
[Both teams have changed shape. Real Madrid have switched to a 4-2-3-1, while Manchester City have gone to a 4-3-3. Both teams have gone with the tactical setup they are most confident in.]
[Yes, you could call this psychological warfare as well.]
Manchester City carried on with the momentum from the first half.
In the middle of it, they conceded a penalty and allowed the equalizer, but Hazard scored again to put them back in front.
But it did not end there.
Real Madrid refused to give up and fought to the very end, and as a result, Ronaldo, whose desire to win had reached its limit, received Xabi Alonso's through ball and scored the equalizer once more.
And then, around the 80th minute.
[It is 3-3. So it has come all the way to this. We have not seen a match this entertaining in quite a while.]
[I agree. The level from both teams has really risen in the second half. I suppose people really do have to do what they do best.]
Manchester City's attack was still ferocious.
In particular, around the 82nd minute, they strengthened the attack by bringing Ronaldinho on for Eden Hazard.
And he produced a brilliant display, as if bringing back memories of the days, years ago, when he had terrified Real Madrid.
[Ronaldinho drives forward on the dribble! He escapes Arbeloa's pressure with a flip-flap!]
[And he looks toward Ho-young in the center!]
[Then a killer pass dropping right to his feet!]
Tap!
A dangerous situation that could have led to an immediate goal.
But there was no one around him capable of stopping Ho-young's run.
For Ho-young, who scored whenever he got the chance, it was a huge opening.
But at that moment, something completely unexpected happened.
"...?!"
"Wh, what is that?"
[Ahhhh, what is that!!]
[I, it's a dog! It's a dog! A dog has come onto the pitch!]
Incredibly, a golden retriever that had appeared from nowhere sprinted at full speed toward the goal.
Because of that, the match was briefly stopped.
It was standard to stop the match the moment a spectator or an animal entered the field.
"Damn it. The whole flow is gone."
"It was a great chance..."
The Manchester City players were furious.
But whether it understood that or not, the golden retriever that had suddenly run in kept running away and disrupting the match.
At this point, it was enough to make people wonder whether it had been trained.
It ran so well that even when the security staff came in to catch it, they could barely get near it.
But then.
[Hah!]
[Unbelievable.]
Ho-young did it.
As several staff members closed in and tightened the net, Ho-young used his instant reactions and explosiveness to catch the retriever.
Of course, he never would have caught it one-on-one, but even this was beyond normal human limits.
And that only raised Manchester City's momentum, while at the same time breaking Real Madrid's spirit.
"Hah... We were really playing against someone like that this whole time?"
"This is insane... I have no words..."
And then it happened.
The moment the match restarted, Ho-young took one touch and then struck the ball diagonally with the instep of his right foot.
It was a huge distance, all of 41 meters, but because Casillas was slightly off his line, there was a chance.
And besides, this was Ho-young.
Rustle!
As expected, the ball, loaded with terrifying spin, dropped sharply and was sucked into the net.
[Wow... it went in!!]
[A h, a hat-trick! Ho-young completes his hat-trick!! He has dropped a nuclear bomb on the Santiago Bernabéu!]
A decisive goal that sent Real Madrid toward death.
The stands filled with groans.
[Ho-young now has 17 goals in the Champions League alone this season. At this point, he has basically wrapped up the Golden Boot.]
[That's right. He is four goals clear of Lionel Messi in second place. Of course we still have to see how it plays out, but it looks like Ho-young will win Player of the Year again this season.]
4-3.
The match ended there.
And at the same time, a flood of reactions poured out.
[This was seriously an all-time great match.]
└Wow. Has any club ever shown this kind of level against Man City?
└Feels like the first time this season. La Liga really is on another level.
└Of course. Even a tiger without its teeth is still a tiger. If things go right in the second leg, maybe Madrid can still reach the final.
└Say something that makes sense. The second leg is at Man City's home, how is Real supposed to win there?
└Still, you never know. There is still hope. It is possible.]
There were some Real Madrid fans who took hope from the 4-3 scoreline.
But the moment the post-match interview was broadcast, all of that hope turned to smoke.
It was the interview of Ho-young, who had been named Man of the Match.
"Today, the match flowed in a strange direction. Early in the first half, it did not go the way we wanted. It felt as if Real Madrid were controlling us. In other words, our strategy had been completely exposed before we even started fighting. But we were able to win through our football. So I can say this with confidence. We can carry this momentum all the way to the Etihad Stadium."
A brief comment on the match.
And then the final line that followed was the real shock.
"I will give everything I have, as if my life depends on it."
A grim resolve.
It was an interview that made the Real Madrid fans tremble.
And then the thing they had feared really happened.
It was in the match held the following week at Manchester's Etihad Stadium.
[Yes, the second leg of the Champions League semi-final is underway. Manchester City, on the left, have the first touch.]
Just five minutes after those words, the first goal was scored.
Ho-young attacked the goal as if driven by something deep within him.
Then, 10 minutes later, another goal came in quick succession.
A gift sent directly to Calderón, who had personally come to Manchester.
And by the time Calderón's face had turned pale, Iniesta added another goal, almost sealing the win.
A complete performance without a single flaw.
Manchester City, who had prepared with perfect care, continued to dominate in the second half as well and completely overwhelmed the match.
[Manchester City are still completely unbeaten this season. In particular, they have won every single game at the Etihad Stadium.]
[That's right. They did not set records like that for no reason. This is Manchester City's fortress. But today it has become Real Madrid's grave.]
The fall of Real Madrid.
And then.
Piiiiiik!
The final whistle blew, and all sorts of joyful news followed.
"Wooooooo!"
For Manchester City, there was a ticket to the Champions League final, and for Ho-young, one of the greatest talents in the world arrived.
[You covet Transcendent Crack (T). You partially acquire Cristiano Ronaldo's experience and instincts. It will take 16 days to fully absorb the experience and instincts.]
He was able to covet it because he had fulfilled the condition, "Score more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo in this season's Champions League."
And the next day, at Camp Nou, the Champions League semi-final between Bayern Munich and Barcelona ended in a dramatic victory for Barcelona.
The 2011-2012 season.
The UEFA Champions League final that would bring it to a close was set to be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
(To be continued.)