"Matthäus has returned to the Portuguese Super League with a sword that never grows old! This hat trick proves that his form is still at its peak!"
"Five to zero! Sporting Lisbon is simply too strong. Just one match has already shown people their chances of qualifying in the UEFA Cup!"
Drogba stared blankly at the goal.
Was that really tacit understanding?
Was it possible Matthäus never even considered that Drogba would duck his head?
Did he shoot with the mentality of, "There's a high chance Drogba gets blasted in the head... but what if the ball gets through?"
That was basically treating your own teammate like an enemy.
Drogba's mood turned heavy. Not only had he failed to score, he had nearly been shot in the head too.
He suddenly felt himself drifting closer and closer to the bench.
And as expected...
After that goal, Triguera used his final substitution.
Zlatan Ibrahimović replaced Drogba.
"Well done!" Triguera patted Drogba on the shoulder after he came off.
Then Maxa sat beside Drogba and praised him for a long time. In the end, though, he sighed emotionally and said it was a pity Drogba hadn't scored, otherwise it would've been perfect.
But Drogba only remembered the phrase, "It's a pity you didn't score."
He felt like Maxa was mocking him.
A striker who can't score isn't a good striker.
Could it be that his ranking in Coach Triguera's mind had dropped again?
Drogba panicked.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ibrahimović, who had just come on, was clearly desperate to prove himself.
The moment he touched the ball, he tried pulling off some flashy fantasy dribbles to force his way into the penalty area.
But how could Gaziantepspor still tolerate that shit now?
Even Quaresma had been hacked down repeatedly.
Could someone as huge as Ibrahimović really escape?
The defender simply launched straight into a tackle.
Unexpectedly, he got the ball first and completed a beautiful steal instead.
Gaziantepspor immediately launched a counterattack, moving the football outside Sporting Lisbon's penalty area with four quick passes.
Pepe lost his defensive position during the transition, and Fonte was too slow covering over, giving the opponent a clear opening.
One strike.
One kill.
Five to one!
Gaziantepspor pulled a goal back.
After that, neither side achieved anything else, and the match ended 5-1.
Sporting Lisbon secured another huge victory, and for Matthäus in particular, it was an absolutely satisfying night.
Because of this, the UEFA Cup group stage—which normally received little attention—was suddenly widely reported by the European media.
Especially in Germany.
The German media practically went insane.
"Bild" — "Matthäus Loves Hat Tricks! Three goals and one assist lead Sporting Lisbon's youth army to their first European victory!"
"Kicker" — "Bayern Lose in the Champions League While Matthäus Wins in the UEFA Cup. Who exactly was responsible for Matthäus leaving Bayern? Maybe it's time for reflection!"
"Transfermarkt" — "Germany's European Championship failure was not Matthäus's fault. The lack of German talent is the real issue. Matthäus's current form is still worth tens of millions!"
"Der Spiegel" — "Sporting Lisbon crushes opponents 5-1, Matthäus single-handedly holds up half the sky!"
Matthäus's fans could finally breathe again.
They'd been getting slaughtered by criticism since last winter.
First the German fans sprayed him, then Bayern fans joined in.
Now Matthäus had finally proven his innocence.
It wasn't that the old man talked too much shit—Germany's younger generation really was dragging him down!
However, perhaps because the topic of Matthäus's resurgence generated too much traffic, the performances of the other players barely received attention.
Especially Drogba.
Matthäus's assist had been a brilliant pass.
But Drogba's movement during the play had nothing to do with brilliance at all. In fact, he looked completely panicked.
It created the illusion that he wanted to stop the ball but failed miserably.
And during Matthäus's final goal...
Drogba's crouching, head-ducking posture looked as embarrassing as hell. The more majestic Matthäus appeared, the more miserable Drogba looked in comparison.
Drogba turned red with shame while reading the news.
This was too fucking humiliating.
…
September 21st, third round of the Portuguese Super League.
Sporting Lisbon drew 3-3 with Estrela.
Kai and Viana both provided assists.
Terry scored with a header.
Ronaldo scored twice.
Quaresma picked up an injury during the match, and it became obvious how huge his impact on the team really was.
When both wings can fly, the large-circle tactic truly deserves the word "holy."
But if both wings can't take off together, the large-circle tactic quickly becomes just "high."
Even though Ronaldo scored twice and played well overall, he also wasted just as many opportunities in the match. If he hadn't scored those two goals, his rating would've definitely landed among the bottom three on the team.
Last place was Fonte.
Second-last was Schmeichel.
September 27th, fourth round of the Portuguese Super League.
Sporting Lisbon defeated Salgueiros 4-1.
Quaresma, returning from injury, contributed both goals and assists.
The in-form Viana also scored and assisted.
Ronaldo continued his scoring streak.
Ibrahimović scored after coming on as a substitute.
Kai delivered another clever assist.
Meanwhile, Drogba had failed to score in four out of Sporting Lisbon's first five official matches of the new season.
He was entering the most terrifying goal drought of his career.
And that's when internal pressure started to explode.
When a team appears flawless, people naturally begin searching for someone to criticize while praising the team overall.
Drogba, the only attacking player yet to score, immediately became the focus of media criticism.
Many fans even claimed Sporting Lisbon would become stronger if Drogba were replaced.
Nobody mentioned how Kai's three goals and eight assists in five matches, together with Ronaldo's incredible six goals in five matches, had essentially softened the blow of Jardel's departure.
But comparing Drogba directly to Jardel?
That was fair game, wasn't it?
If Sporting Lisbon still had Jardel—or Benfica's Nuno Gomes—how terrifying would this attack be?
It honestly felt like a front line capable of competing among the elite of Europe's top five leagues.
Drogba became the target of a wave of online abuse.
The key problem was that the honest African striker had also been influenced by all this public opinion and genuinely started believing he was inferior to everyone else.
It wasn't only because of the criticism either.
It was also because of the frightening talent Ibrahimović displayed in training sessions.
Ibrahimović's ball sense, control, dribbling, shooting technique, passing ability, and overall technical skill were genuinely better than Drogba's.
Even physically, Drogba felt his advantage wasn't overwhelming.
Once Ibrahimović stopped showing off and started playing seriously, Drogba's edge nearly vanished altogether. After all, Ibrahimović was also tall as hell.
Drogba couldn't see any hope anymore.
So even if training became bitter and painful, he endured it and kept going.
Until...
"Stop, Drogba. Yeah, you. Stop for a second..."
Kai suddenly halted the team's regular training session.
If anyone else had done this, they probably would've been cursed out by the coach immediately.
But obviously, Mr. Kai was a completely different story.
Maxa instantly signaled for everyone to stop, then hurried toward Kai's direction, terrified that Mr. Kai might be thirsty or tired.
His title as the youngest super chef in history, Little Donsa, was always ready for action!
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