"What's going on?"
As soon as Gao Shen got off the plane at Manchester Airport and sent his wife home, he went straight to the Carrington training base. The moment he walked in and saw Carlo and the others, he immediately asked.
Carlo and the rest were clearly surprised to see him.
They hadn't expected him to return so soon.
No honeymoon after the wedding?
"Just today, news came from Madrid that Mourinho has banned Casillas."
"Banned?" Gao Shen was stunned.
He was genuinely shocked.
Perhaps many people don't realize the gravity of this situation.
Who is Casillas?
Captain of both Real Madrid and Spain.
His performances may have had ups and downs, but his status and identity speak for themselves.
From Sanchís to Hierro, then Raúl, and now Casillas—Real Madrid's captain has typically also worn the armband for Spain.
Back when Luis Aragonés removed Raúl as Spain's captain, it caused a major stir.
If he hadn't led the team to win the European Championship and kickstart a golden era for Spanish football, Aragonés would have paid a heavy price, because Raúl's contributions to the national team could not be dismissed.
Before Spain reached its golden age, it was Raúl who carried the team. Just because other players had emerged and Raúl was getting older didn't justify discarding him without recognition. That would have been disrespectful.
To his credit, Raúl didn't make a scene. He quietly accepted it.
That moment marked a turning point.
From then on, Barcelona players became the backbone of the Spanish national team and formed its tactical core.
There's little to argue about that. Strength speaks for itself on the pitch. Barcelona's youth academy produces world-class players, and the national team uses them. It makes sense. So players like Raúl, Baraja, and Albelda gradually became outdated. That's normal.
But it raised another issue: as the captain of both Real Madrid and Spain, how could Casillas balance the relationship between club and country?
Barcelona players had become central to the Spanish squad, but Real Madrid still formed another significant faction. With tension between the two camps, how was Casillas supposed to navigate that?
The national team had just played, and relations between the Barcelona and Madrid players had only just begun to thaw. But Mourinho's sudden decision to bench Casillas, even if triggered by recent reports, clearly pushed things over the edge.
"What's the reaction in Spain?" Gao Shen asked, concerned.
Carlos Vargas, now Gao Shen's chief analyst and responsible for intelligence gathering, was a Spaniard himself. He clearly found the situation shocking as well.
But when Gao Shen asked, he patiently explained the current public opinion landscape.
Reactions had split into two extremes.
One group, led by Alfredo, editor-in-chief of AS, and De la Morena of SER Radio, criticized Mourinho's decision. They believed it was irresponsible and harmful to Real Madrid.
But Mourinho's stance was unyielding.
Some fans even accused Casillas of betrayal, because his girlfriend had revealed he had reconciled with Barcelona players while on national team duty. This was taken as a sign that not all Real Madrid players were fully aligned with Mourinho.
Upon hearing this, Gao Shen slapped his forehead. "I knew it."
Carlo and the others all showed helpless expressions.
The entire issue was incredibly complex and, frankly, unsolvable.
All parties involved had their problems, but also their own reasons.
Take Mourinho, for instance. Is he just being dramatic?
Not really. He cannot allow anyone to question his authority, so he had to take a firm stand. That meant dealing with Casillas in an authoritarian way.
And Casillas?
He was caught in a difficult position too. As captain of the national team, was it really wrong for him to ease tensions with Barcelona players?
His girlfriend, Sara, is a journalist. She was a journalist before she became his girlfriend, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. In fact, Real Madrid has long tolerated, even encouraged, these kinds of leaks and media attention.
When Gao Shen was managing Real Madrid, even a sneeze in the locker room would make the news.
That's the nature of Real Madrid. Their business model thrives on attention and headlines. That's the system.
But at such a sensitive time, this sort of thing inevitably causes problems.
"What's Real Madrid's official stance?" Gao Shen asked.
No outsiders had any answers, so he turned to Carlo.
"Florentino is furious. Mostly because he feels that Sara should never have disclosed that information. It's made things incredibly awkward."
Gao Shen nodded. That made sense.
It's hard to say who's right or wrong here. What's clear is that under the enormous pressure to get results, things have gone off the rails.
"When I was managing Real Madrid, I warned that this kind of locker room with no privacy would eventually become a problem. And now it has." Gao Shen was visibly frustrated.
He had suffered in the same environment before, and now everyone else was paying the price too.
It was tough on Mourinho. It was tough on Casillas. It was tough on everyone.
"Someone at Real Madrid even suggested that Sara resign from her job as a reporter. They were prepared to offer her a position within the club. But she refused. And now Casillas..." Carlo shook his head with a bitter smile.
To put it bluntly, Casillas was currently head over heels in love.
Does this sound familiar?
It's exactly like when Ferguson clashed with Beckham over Victoria. The famous flying boot incident.
Now Mourinho probably understands how Ferguson felt back then.
But benching Casillas will trigger serious unrest.
In Spain and within Real Madrid.
Mourinho has a real problem on his hands.
"Have our scouts monitor La Liga this weekend," Gao Shen ordered. "Pay attention to the reaction and the atmosphere. Gather intel from all directions. If there's any sign of de-escalation, I want to know immediately."
Carlos Vargas took note.
Next Wednesday, Manchester City would host Real Madrid.
If the conflict remained unresolved and Casillas stayed benched, that would definitely be good news for City.
But it would be disastrous for Real Madrid.
"If they mess up this season, they might drop to Pot 3," Gao Shen said with a bitter smile.
UEFA coefficients are calculated over the past five seasons. The season when Gao Shen led Real Madrid to the title was no longer counted this year. So, Real Madrid had dropped to the bottom of Pot 2, and were hanging by a thread.
Now, with this kind of internal turmoil, one wrong move could drop them to Pot 3. That would be a nightmare.
Just look at Manchester City. As a Pot 3 team, they were almost guaranteed to end up in a group of death. There's no avoiding it.
Of course, Real Madrid had been unlucky these past two years. Even as a Pot 2 team, they kept getting drawn into brutal groups. Maybe there was something shady going on.
Either way, it was bad news for Real Madrid to have this scandal break just as the season was getting underway.
After returning to Manchester, Gao Shen got back to work.
He and Su Qing hosted a dinner in Manchester for his assistant coaches, colleagues, and players at City.
It was simple. Just a meal at a Chinese restaurant downtown.
Though there's no tradition of giving wedding money in Europe, everyone still brought gifts. Mansour even asked Mubarak to pass along a very valuable one, which made Gao Shen feel deeply grateful.
After that, Gao Shen and Su Qing visited Leeds United and treated Lucas and the rest of the team to a meal, including the players.
Just hosting these dinners took two full days.
During that time, several matters were settled.
For instance, both AS and Marca confirmed that Casillas had indeed been banned. He would not appear in upcoming La Liga or Champions League matches.
Casillas himself declined to comment, but his girlfriend publicly expressed her full support.
Her continued attacks on Mourinho only made things worse.
Antonio Adán would now take over as Real Madrid's starting goalkeeper.
The young keeper had decent talent and potential. He was good enough as a backup, but not quite ready to be Real Madrid's number one.
Mourinho was in a tight spot now.
On the afternoon of September 10, in Premier League Round 4, Manchester City hosted Wigan Athletic.
Gao Shen fielded a full lineup of European players against Wigan, resting South Americans like Suárez and Felipe.
In just the 13th minute, Van Persie opened the scoring for City with an assist from David Silva.
Six minutes later, Manchester City won a penalty. Gareth Bale converted it calmly, adding a second.
After halftime, Van Persie scored twice more in a six-minute stretch, assisted by David Silva and De Bruyne respectively.
In the end, Manchester City thrashed Wigan Athletic 4–0 at home.
At 7 p.m., in La Liga Round 3, Real Madrid hosted city rivals Getafe.
In the 13th minute, Benzema put Madrid ahead.
But in the 38th minute, a defensive mistake allowed Getafe's striker Fedor to pounce and equalize.
Sarabia, who had come through Real Madrid's youth academy and joined Getafe for €2.7 million in the summer, played aggressively against his former club. Just before halftime, he assisted Fedor again to put Getafe in front.
After that, Real Madrid launched wave after wave of attacks, but it wasn't until the 87th minute that Kaka, coming off the bench, set up fellow substitute Higuaín for the equalizer.
In the end, Real Madrid drew 2–2 with Getafe at home.
In this match, Ramos wore the captain's armband. But it was clear that the team's morale had taken a hit.
This immediately raised concerns in the Spanish media.
With this kind of mentality, does Real Madrid stand a chance against Manchester City?
(To be continued.)
***
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