As soon as Suker pushed open the door and stepped into the villa, he saw Kaka and Srna sitting on the sofa in the living room.
"How did it go?"
The moment he saw Suker enter, Kaka immediately stood up and asked.
It was obvious that Kaka was extremely anxious.
Suker glanced at him, took off his shoes, and walked inside.
"Sit down, we'll talk."
Suker gulped down a big glass of water, let out a long breath, and said—
"Mission accomplished."
Kaka's face lit up with joy.
Srna, on the side, was also astonished. "It really worked?"
For Kaka's position-change issue, Suker had gone to negotiate directly with Florentino Pérez.
From any angle, Florentino shouldn't have agreed—after all, while Suker was important, the Spanish local faction also needed to be taken care of.
In fact, in some sense, "homegrown players" were even more important.
But Suker had somehow convinced Florentino, which surprised Srna greatly.
"How did you manage that?"
Suker waved his hand. "Why bother asking so much? The point is, it's done. Even if Casillas causes trouble now, Florentino will keep him in check."
Then Suker turned to Kaka.
"All I could get for you was the chance to be converted to that role. Whether you can actually outplay Alonso for the defensive midfield spot—that's on you."
Kaka nodded firmly. "I understand!"
Suker had already solved the biggest problem for him. If he performed poorly now, it would be disgraceful.
"Don't feel too much pressure," Suker patted him on the shoulder and smiled. "That's what competition is."
Kaka chuckled. "Do you think I'm that fragile? I've long understood how cruel professional competition is. You think in Milan I got my starting spot without pushing someone else out first?"
Suker smiled.
Srna, stroking his chin, shook his head in amazement. "I've seen some locker room politics back when I was at Juventus, but compared to this place, that was nothing!"
At Juventus, conflicts were more superficial.
If I don't like you, or I think you're annoying, at worst we'd have a fight. But at Real Madrid, you could suddenly have a new rival for your spot out of nowhere—or lose your starting position entirely.
The most important factor was the three-way struggle between the local faction, the foreign players, and the coach.
Some things, Srna hadn't understood at first. It took him a long time to realize what was really going on.
And in that moment, he understood he didn't have the qualities to be "the boss."
If he had been in Suker's position, he would have been destroyed by Mourinho and Casillas.
"But don't you think the boss went a bit too far this time?" Srna—who was a hardcore Mourinho supporter—was a bit shaken.
To suppress the Spanish local faction, he was willing to drag Suker into the fray.
Srna knew Suker's temper—if you truly provoked him, he might just flip the table entirely. He could even team up with Casillas to force Pérez's hand.
If that happened, Real Madrid would be in chaos again.
"This isn't going to cause trouble, right?" Srna asked nervously.
Suker waved it off. "It won't come to that.
"Right now, our big picture is the same—we all want results. Casillas, me, even Mourinho—we have an unspoken agreement: the lineup can change, factions can be suppressed, but team strength must not drop.
"Winning trophies smooths over problems—that's the ultimate goal.
"With Florentino's help, Casillas will back down. But…" Suker smirked, "he's definitely going to be pissed inside."
The next day, Mourinho officially announced Kaka's conversion plan.
Immediately, the entire training ground fell silent.
Alonso stiffened, instantly looking toward Mourinho, then turning to Kaka—his eyes full of wariness and displeasure.
No one likes it when a strong rival suddenly appears to compete for your exact spot.
Casillas's expression was also unusually serious, even a little red—he was clearly genuinely angry.
That afternoon, Casillas took leave from training and disappeared.
It wasn't hard to guess—he had gone to complain to Florentino.
There was no choice. The proposal had come from Mourinho.Kaka and Suker's silence meant tacit approval.
Which meant it was essentially decided.
With Alonso's position threatened, maybe even replaced, Casillas naturally stepped in to defend his "little brother."
But when Casillas returned, his expression was ugly.
The Spanish local players also looked dispirited—obviously, they'd suffered a blow.
If even Alonso's starting spot could be at risk, everyone else's insecurity only grew worse.
It could be said that Mourinho's "kill the chicken to scare the monkey" tactic had worked.
By leveraging Suker's involvement, he'd once again put pressure on Casillas.
After training, the Spanish players left without greeting Suker and the others—the relationship had clearly cracked.
Suker could only feel regret about that.
When Suker and his group took the elevator down to the parking garage, the doors opened—and there was Casillas, standing alone.
Everyone immediately tensed.
Srna and Kaka instinctively looked at Suker.
Casillas spoke. "Suker, let's talk."
Suker nodded. "You guys go wait in the car," he told Kaka.
Then he and Casillas walked off together.
Inside Casillas's car, Suker sat in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead in the heavy atmosphere.
"You should have come to me directly," Casillas said coldly.
Suker shrugged. "When you found out, didn't you also go straight to Mr. Pérez?"
Casillas was silent for a moment, then sighed.
"I don't know how you convinced Mr. Pérez, but you were used this time."
Suker nodded. "I know. But you also understand—I couldn't refuse."
Casillas: "Yes. That's why I came to you. I know it wasn't really your idea."
Suker pursed his lips. Well, it kind of was.
But since the proposal had come from Mourinho, the issue had landed squarely on him.
"Mourinho wants control of the locker room," Casillas said seriously.
Suker: "Exactly. He's very controlling."
"He doesn't need to suppress us."
"But he's afraid we'll team up to get rid of him."
"I don't have that thought. I respect him."
Suker shrugged. "But we could do it."
Casillas was silent for a moment, feeling the whole day had been awful.
"Forget it. What's done is done. Let's both take a step back. We'll accept Kaka's position change, but from now on it's fair competition between Alonso and Kaka for the defensive midfield spot."
Hearing that, Suker let out a slow breath.
If Casillas had gone all-out against it, Suker would have had a real headache.
"Thanks for understanding," Suker smiled.
Casillas sighed. "We have the same big goal—good team performances, titles…"
Suker added, "And keeping our own turf safe. Don't worry, there won't be a next time."
If Mourinho tried this again, Suker would go nuclear.
Casillas nodded, then suddenly turned to him.
"One last question—are you working with Mourinho?"
Suker immediately shook his head. "No."
Casillas: "Alright. I get it."
And with that, the Kaka position-change storm came to an end.
Mourinho had achieved his aim.
Kaka got the opportunity he wanted.
Alonso was forced to compromise, though very unwillingly.
And in that tense atmosphere, Real Madrid approached La Liga Round 12.
2010/2011 La Liga – Round 12: Real Madrid vs. Sevilla
Sevilla were a strong Spanish side. While they couldn't unseat Real Madrid or Barcelona from their league dominance, they had often threatened their title runs.
One slip, and they could cause chaos.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona had suffered at the hands of Sevilla and Villarreal before, so neither underestimated them—they played with a "knock them dead" approach.
"So this is the Bernabéu!"
Rakitic looked around the stadium. It was his first time here, and he was full of curiosity.
Real Madrid's pull in world football—especially for players—was huge.
Their home ground reflected that, with a silver-white theme like their kit—pure, clean colors.
Thunderous applause and constant cheers from the stands added to the pressure.
Of course, Rakitic wasn't a rookie—he'd faced Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga—so the intimidating atmosphere didn't overwhelm him.
"Let's head back, warm-up's over," teammate Negredo patted his shoulder, and they returned to the dressing room.
On the way, Rakitic saw Suker and Srna, but they didn't interact.
Both sides focused on final adjustments.
Then they gathered again in the players' tunnel.
The camera panned down the line, lingering on Suker.
Suker, used to this, stared straight ahead, face calm—though inside, he felt a spark of excitement.
Srna could sense his liveliness—more than usual.
Eating, drinking, and kicking opponents—Suker loved going up against teammates.
So far, no Croatian teammate had beaten him directly in a match—Srna had only narrowly done so with Inter.
Soon, led by the referee, they walked onto the pitch.
"This is Round 12 of the 2010/2011 La Liga season—Real Madrid vs. Sevilla!"
"For Madrid, caution is needed. Sevilla, having strengthened in the summer, might cause surprises. Madrid must be ready!"
"For Sevilla, facing this powerhouse, they must be careful but go all out!"
Commentator González's tone leaned subtly toward Sevilla—hardly surprising, since he was from there.
The starting lineups:
Real Madrid (4-3-3):
GK: Casillas
DEF: Srna, Ramos, Pepe, Arbeloa
MID: Khedira, Alonso, Diarra
FWD: Kaka, Benzema, Suker
Sevilla (4-3-3):
GK: Palop
DEF: Luna, Alexis, Escudé, Dabo
MID: Rakitic, Renato, Perotti
FWD: Negredo, Alfaro, Kanouté
Diarra, mostly a substitute, got another start—leading many to wonder if he'd regained Mourinho's trust.
But Di María had also been in great form.
Few knew that Madrid's locker room had just gone through a sharp faction conflict.
Kaka had been given the defensive midfield trial.
To avoid fully breaking the balance, Mourinho gave the Spanish faction a small concession—starting Diarra.
Of course, that didn't mean Diarra was now a starter—Di María's form made that clear.
Going forward, Diarra would mostly start in low-stakes games.
Rakitic was unaware of all this, focused entirely on the game.
Sevilla prepared to kick off.
Kick-off.
"Move! Run!" Rakitic shouted, urging his team.
He passed back immediately, then ran into space.
But he quickly noticed—wherever he went, Kaka, Benzema, and Suker positioned themselves to trap him.
They didn't mark tightly, but they were always in interception range.
This forced him to run more, looking for passing lanes.
Thanks to his work, Sevilla advanced, spreading the play wide.
Suker stayed near midfield, waiting for counterattacks—Madrid weren't pressing high.
Kaka, meanwhile, dropped deeper.
Suker was a pure attacker—his main duty was finishing.
Kaka's job involved passing, organizing, pushing forward—and also defending, tackling, and intercepting.
Kaka's defensive skills were quite good—not elite destroyer level, but solid—learned largely from Gattuso.
Observing, predicting, adjusting position—and at the right moment—
Poke! Kaka stabbed the ball away from Kanouté and passed to Srna.
Srna played it across to Ramos, then gave Kaka a thumbs-up.
"Well done!"
Kaka sprinted forward.
But Madrid didn't counter quickly—Sevilla had already dropped back.
"Hold the defense!" Sevilla players regrouped, tense.
Madrid's slow advance felt like the calm before a storm.
Suker drifted toward the wing.
Mourinho had asked him not to enter the half-spaces too often—partly because Arbeloa, playing left-back for the ill Marcelo, wasn't as dangerous going forward.
Mourinho could have swapped Srna to left-back and Arbeloa to right-back—but he kept Srna on the right, showing how important Srna was to him—perhaps grooming him as a defensive leader.
Srna, though close to Suker, didn't interfere with Mourinho's decisions—and even seemed to support them.
Suker's faction was basically the "spectator faction"—if Mourinho hadn't dragged them into it, they'd never have gotten involved in his fight with the Spanish locals.