On the Barcelona side, head coach Rijkaard—who had initially tried to break up the fight—ended up being sent off with a red card after Modrić spat at him and the situation spiraled completely out of control.
Messi, the instigator of the clash, was also shown a red card.
But compared to Sergio Ramos's iron-hard certainty, Modrić's sly calculation, and Rijkaard's explosive rage, Messi—one of the four red-card recipients—stood out for entirely different reasons.
His face had gone pale. He clearly hadn't expected his actions to trigger such severe consequences.
He regretted what he had done.
He was genuinely shaken by Ramos's ferocious expression and by the sight of both teams piling into a full-scale brawl.
This was an atmosphere that had never existed at La Masia.
After receiving brief spray treatment from the team doctor, Su Hang stayed on the pitch.
By then, the match had reached the 98th minute, with roughly one or two minutes of stoppage time still to play.
In the 99th minute, Casillas took a free kick from deep in his own half.
Players from both sides leapt to contest the ball in midfield.
Su Hang won the first header.
Thuram claimed the second bounce.
But neither could bring the ball under control.
Zidane claimed possession at the third bounce, deftly flicking the ball past the onrushing Iniesta with consecutive touches.
Bang!
Without letting the ball hit the ground, Zidane immediately chipped a pass forward.
Su Hang—who had already burst forward the moment he won the first header—drew his bow at the top of the penalty arc.
The ball came in from the left, so he tilted his body and raised his left foot.
His body moved like a roaming dragon, his leg snapping like a steel whip!
Boom!
A ferocious strike unleashed a super long-range thunderbolt.
The ball flashed forward and flew straight into Barcelona's goal.
Valdés had no time to react at all.
But this time, the ball didn't ripple the net with a white splash.
Instead, it spun violently, battering the net again and again, until—
Shrrk!
Bang!
The ball tore straight through the net and rocketed toward the advertising boards, instantly blacking out the Adidas logo.
The entire stadium fell into dead silence.
Derek Rae swallowed hard, but before he could speak, Stewart Robson—whose eyesight wasn't exactly sharp—slapped his thigh and sighed in frustration.
"Oh no! What a pity!"
"That didn't go in?"
"The quality of Su Hang's shot was incredible. Valdés didn't even have a chance—so how did it miss?"
"Did he chase the angle too much and skim the post?"
"No, from my angle it clearly went in! But the ball flew all the way to the advertising boards… this—"
Derek Rae shook his head repeatedly.
"No, no, no! It went in! That goal absolutely counts! My eyes are the ruler—I'm never wrong!"
On the pitch, the referee was already conferring with the assistant referees.
The stadium cameras began hunting for the truth.
Romano, an intern photographer for the London Metropolitan Daily, locked onto the key detail immediately, zooming in nonstop.
When the torn net appeared on the big screen, all 80,000 spectators collectively sucked in a breath, doing their part for future global warming.
"GOAL!!!"
The stadium exploded.
"Su Hang! Su Hang scores!"
"Hat trick!"
"Su Hang completes another hat trick in El Clásico!"
"But what's even crazier than the hat trick is that this goal ripped the net apart!"
"No! Don't say 'ripped through'—this was a complete tear!"
"The King's Rift!"
"Super heavy artillery! An invincible wonder goal!"
"Su Hang's shooting is terrifying!"
"I've never seen a shot this powerful!"
"GOALLLLL!"
The commentator completely lost his mind.
The fans roared at full volume.
The Bernabéu shook as if struck by an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale.
Even the broadcast cameras began to tremble, transmitting that incomparable shock to viewers all around the world.
The camera zoomed in on Su Hang—specifically on the hole torn into the heel of his right boot by his studs.
All 80,000 fans, perfectly in sync, roared:
"Barcelona, get out of the Bernabéu!"
...
AS: "Su Hang Bags Another El Clásico Hat Trick! Real Madrid Defeat Barcelona 5–3!"
Marca: "Winning Is King! Barcelona, Get Out of the Bernabéu!"
Kicker: "One of the Most Spectacular Derbies of the Year… Su Hang Shows Total Dominance in El Clásico!"
Bild: "Ballon d'Or Race Settled? Ronaldinho's Brace Not Enough as Su Hang's Hat Trick Prevails!"
Sky Sports: "Su-style Death Star Cannon Is Unstoppable—One Shot Tears the Net, Truly Unrepeatable!"
BBC: "True Violent Aesthetics! I'm Willing to Crown Su Hang the World's Best Shooter!"
The Times: "Su Hang's El Clásico Stats: One Red Card Created, Two Yellow Cards Drawn, Three Goals—Match Rating: 10!"
Gazzetta dello Sport: "Su Hang Continues His Domination of Ronaldinho—Let's Congratulate the New Ballon d'Or Winner in Advance!"
Tuttosport: "Barcelona Drop to Second in La Liga as Real Madrid Secure Three Crucial Points!"
The Echo: "Ramos and Modrić Trade Blows, Messi and Rijkaard Sent Off! El Clásico Descends into All-Out Chaos!"
Whistle!
After two quiet matches, the Su fans instantly came back to life.
Barça fans called us a 'prison striker,' right?
Well, what about now?
Every bit of suffering we endured in other teams' 'prisons'—we've taken it all back from Barcelona.
So tell me, are you convinced or not?
Barcelona supporters could only perform their vanishing act online, too afraid to make a sound.
If they had been the ones most eager for this match beforehand, they were now the ones who regretted it the most.
When Ballon d'Or voting opened, Su Hang's ranking instantly surged to first place.
Zidane followed closely behind.
Ronaldinho failed to make the top five.
Of course, the voting window was still long—nearly a month—so the final outcome… well, it was unlikely to change much.
...
As per standard procedure, La Liga launched an investigation into the post-match incident and announced follow-up punishments.
Both clubs were fined.
Sergio Ramos received an additional one-match suspension for maliciously assaulting another player.
Messi received an additional three-match suspension for maliciously injuring another player and triggering the subsequent conflict.
Afterward, Messi issued a public apology to Su Hang on social media.
He stated that he never intended to deliberately hurt Su Hang and admitted that he had truly lost his head in the moment.
However, fans quickly dug up footage of Messi's foul on Beckham the previous year, which had also resulted in Beckham's injury and caused serious trouble for Real Madrid at the time.
As a result, the Messi whom Barcelona had been heavily promoting this season as both talented and exemplary in character suffered a sharp drop in public reputation due to this incident.
Adidas unilaterally terminated the multi-million-euro endorsement deal they had just signed with Messi that summer.
According to the contract, since Messi was at fault due to misconduct, Adidas was not required to pay any compensation.
While Messi was feeling dejected, the club stepped in to comfort him.
Club executives stated that Messi would remain a core part of their future plans and that his current starting role would not change.
The club would always support him.
Shortly afterward, however, the club quietly canceled negotiations for Messi's salary increase that season—saving a cool four million euros on the spot.
...
(35 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser