While the first round of the Champions League group stage was in full swing at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Florentino was watching this crucial match in the president's office at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, accompanied by his assistants Redondo and Butragueño.
Zidane, the president's advisor, was originally supposed to be there as well, but due to the strained relationship between Valdano and Mourinho, Florentino was worried about possible conflict in Manchester. So, he arranged for Zidane to accompany Valdano and lead the delegation instead.
Even if something were to happen, Zidane could act as a mediator.
Florentino had initially considered going to the main fan club to watch the match with them, but after some thought, he chose to remain in his office at the Bernabéu.
He had a vague sense of unease.
Given Real Madrid's current condition and morale, it would be very difficult to play away at Manchester City.
Who would have expected that Mourinho would even exclude captain Casillas from the squad?
After conceding the opening goal, Real Madrid barely managed to hold on, despite being completely passive.
In today's European football, strong teams defend very well in positional play, and Mourinho excels at this, so there was little concern about his defensive structure.
The real problem lay in the transition between attack and defense.
That's the most crucial phase.
But on the pitch, Real Madrid remained passive.
Whether in terms of the scoreline, game control, possession, or shots, they were at a complete disadvantage.
And it was the kind of obvious disadvantage that could be seen at a glance.
The stars Florentino was so proud of had failed to change the game under these circumstances.
This puzzled him.
"Why?" the Real Madrid president asked Butragueño.
As one of the famed "Five Eagles," Butragueño had once been an outstanding professional footballer, with a unique understanding of the game.
He may not have been suited to coaching, but he had no trouble analyzing matches.
"The most obvious issue is that our attackers are not inferior to Manchester City in terms of individual ability. Some, like Cristiano Ronaldo, are even stronger," Butragueño began.
"The combination of Ronaldo, Adebayor, and Di María versus Manchester City's Bale, Suárez, and Robben… if we're just talking about individual skill, we might be slightly behind overall, but the gap is not that significant."
"Especially Cristiano Ronaldo. He's the only current superstar capable of going toe-to-toe with Messi."
So why did Real Madrid look so overwhelmed on the pitch?
"The problem is our tactics," Butragueño replied.
"First, our midfield lacks control, and our attackers lack proper connections with each other, which makes coordinated play difficult. It leads to isolation up front."
"For example, with Ronaldo on the left, the most he can link up with is Adebayor. Di María is stationed too far out on the right, trying to stretch the width. But that also means our forwards can't link up effectively."
Florentino nodded. "But isn't Manchester City playing the same way?"
"No, take a look at City. When the ball is with Gareth Bale on the left, Robben tends to position himself on the right inside channel instead of hugging the touchline. Their width isn't provided by the wingers, but by the full-backs."
"And you'll notice that both Rakitic and Yaya Touré frequently push up. They're not afraid of losing the ball in advanced areas because if they lose it, they immediately counterpress."
Given what he had just seen in the match, Florentino had to admit Butragueño's analysis was spot-on.
"Could we play that way?" Florentino asked, concerned.
"Of course. If we had a manager like that. It would take time and a squad restructure, but under our current situation, it's difficult."
"We're already seeing signs of division in the locker room again. And once that happens, don't expect players to cooperate on the pitch. They lose trust in each other."
On the pitch, trust is everything. Once it's lost, it's hard to rebuild.
Trust means the forwards are willing to press high because they know the midfielders will cover them. Defenders are willing to step up because they believe the forwards will press and buy them time to recover.
But once that trust is gone, attackers hesitate to push forward, defenders are reluctant to commit, and everyone plays it safe.
They even start pointing fingers.
"Also, there's a huge tactical flaw in our midfield, and that's the No. 10."
The more Butragueño thought about it, the more he appreciated how prescient Gao Shen's assessment had been back then.
"Our No. 10 doesn't contribute to defense at all. Even Ronaldo tracks back occasionally. But he just jogs for show."
We knew exactly what kind of player we were signing.
But the problem now is, his presence is hurting the balance of Real Madrid's midfield.
"Would changing the coach fix this?" Florentino asked quietly.
Butragueño was a little surprised.
This was the first time Florentino had brought up the idea of a coaching change.
Was this a subtle admission of fault?
"Ancelotti is currently without a job, but frankly, I'm not sure he can manage the dressing room," Butragueño said.
Without all the current conflict and infighting, Ancelotti would be an ideal coach.
But now, with tensions rising in the dressing room, would bringing in Ancelotti help ease the conflict?
Florentino gave the vulture a look. He understood what he meant.
In truth, from Butragueño to Valdano to Zidane—and even among the fans—everyone was hoping for Gao Shen.
But why would Gao Shen return to Real Madrid?
He was thriving at Manchester City. The Middle Eastern owners fully supported him, his salary was the highest in the world, and he had just acquired Leeds United in the Championship. Clearly, he was planting deeper roots in English football.
Florentino knew that bringing Gao Shen back would change many things at Real Madrid.
"We'll wait a bit longer. We have to get through the Champions League group stage. If we drop to the third pot, we're finished. Even the current players may want out."
"Contact Ancelotti. If the situation deteriorates, we'll make the change!"
Florentino finished with a look of firm resolve.
Once Ancelotti is brought in, Gao Shen would be ruled out—at least for now.
But Florentino had his concerns.
If the team fails to advance from the group stage or goes out in the round of 16 again, will the stars stay?
Take Cristiano Ronaldo. His standards are incredibly high.
Would he stick around in a team that can't make it out of the Champions League group stage or beat Barcelona in La Liga?
How would he even compete with Messi?
Adebayor, Higuaín, and Benzema—those three strikers were already at odds.
Mourinho favored Adebayor, leaving Higuaín and Benzema frustrated.
Real Madrid was a powder keg. No one knew when or what might trigger an explosion.
So Florentino's priority now was to cool tensions on all fronts.
Because results are the foundation of survival for any football team.
…
No one knew what was being said in the president's office at the Santiago Bernabéu.
But at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, as the second half wore on—especially after the 60th minute—everyone could clearly see that Real Madrid's energy levels were dropping significantly.
This was unusual.
The season had just begun, so the players should still be in peak condition. Even though they had just returned from international duty and played two matches per week, they shouldn't be showing such signs of fatigue at the 60-minute mark.
A more likely explanation was a lack of motivation and the intense pressure from Manchester City.
Mourinho made a substitution, taking off the No. 10 and bringing on Kaká.
He had expected something from the German international linking with Khedira in midfield, but both were disappointing tonight. They were lost at the Etihad.
Mourinho had counted on him to contain Fernandinho, but Real Madrid's No. 10 failed completely.
After coming on, Kaká was very active.
In the 64th minute, Xabi Alonso played a diagonal pass to Di María on the right.
The Argentine controlled the ball, skipped past Felipe, then cut inside and passed to Kaká.
Kaká understood the movement and returned the pass instantly, completing a one-two and allowing Di María to continue his run.
After bursting inside, Di María tried to play a diagonal pass to Ronaldo on the left side of the box. But Kompany stepped forward quickly and intercepted before it could reach him.
After winning the ball, Kompany passed to Zabaleta.
The Argentine full-back carried the ball forward and laid it off to Yaya Touré near the halfway line, then sprinted ahead quickly for a one-two.
Yaya Touré didn't read it in time. He stopped the ball and took a few steps forward, only to find Xabi Alonso pressing in. He shifted the ball to the right, where Robben was hugging the touchline and calling for the ball.
Robben had dropped back and now signaled to Zabaleta ahead of him, pointing for him to overlap down the right.
This confused Coentrão, who didn't know whether to follow Robben or track Zabaleta.
Just then, Robben received the ball and suddenly cut inside. He played a quick pass over Coentrão, right onto the head of Zabaleta behind him. The Argentine headed it back across, perfectly into Robben's diagonal run.
A wave of cheers swept through the Etihad.
"Beautiful link-up play down Manchester City's right flank."
"That one-two between Robben and Zabaleta was brilliant."
Robben accelerated forward, met Zabaleta's layoff, and pushed the ball into space ahead of him.
There was a gaping hole in Real Madrid's defensive structure in that area.
Robben dribbled diagonally toward the Real Madrid penalty area.
At this point, both Carvalho and Pepe had managed to recover in front of the box.
Carvalho stepped up to confront Robben.
(To be continued.)