News from the post-match press ference quickly reached Raul's ears and spread throughout the Real Madrid locker room.

  In fact, within Real Madrid, whether at Valdebebas or the Bernabéu, few things remained hidden from Raul.

  As captain and the face of the club for so many years, Raul's influeended into every er of the anization.

  Sometimes, without him even needing to ask, people would voluntarily bring him information.

  This time was no different. Someone had already told him what Schuster had said at the press ferend, more importantly, how Gao Shen had defehe pyers.

  Beyond Raul, the rest of the locker room quickly caught wind of the ents as well, especially the Spanish pyers like Casils and Ramos.

  "Damn it!" Ramos cursed angrily, throwing his sweat-soaked jersey to the ground. The wet fabrided with a loud thud, punctuating his fury.

  "What do you think you're doing?" Raul's stern voice rang out as Ramos stormed toward the exit.

  "I'm going to ask him what he's pying at!" Ramos barked, his frustration boiling over.

  "Ask him what?" Raul shot back sharply before Ramos could reach the door. "Don't you think we've been humiliated enough for one night?"

  The question froze Ramos in his tracks. His anger ebbed as Raul's words sank in. With a defeated sigh, he turned around, trudged back to his seat, and sat down heavily, brooding in silence.

  The locker room desded into an uneasy quiet.

  It was clear to everyohat Raul was furious.

  From a team perspective, they all uood why they had to ehis. fronting Schuster now would only worsen their predit.

  There were over two hundred reporters waiting outside. Any hint of internal strife would spread like wildfire, turning a humiliati into a full-blown sdal. Losing a game could be chalked up to poor performance, but publifighting would damage the club's image irreparably.

  Raul khis all too well. He had experiehe chaos firsthand during the turmoil years ago.

  Back then, cshes in the locker room had led to Luxemburgo's sag as head coach, Sacchi's resignation as teical director, and Florentino stepping doresident. Real Madrid became a ughingstock.

  It was only after Gao Shen emerged to stabilize the team, bridge the divides, ahem to a historic league and Champions League double that the club regained some sembnce of order.

  Raul uood better than anyone: waiting for aalent like Gao Shen to rescue the team was wishful thinking.

  Ramos, too, remembered those dark days. That was why, despite his temper, he held his tongue.

  "The boss has already defended us," Casils said calmly, breaking the silence.

  By "boss," he was referring to Gao Shen.

  Even though Gao Shen had been gone for over two years, many pyers still instinctively referred to him as "the boss."

  They missed those days, pying under a coach who shielded them from everything. Back then, they could focus solely on football, knowing Gao Shen would handle any problems and take full responsibility for the team.

  There was no way Gao Shen would have made excuses or shifted bme like Schuster had.

  Hearing Casils mention Gao Shen, Ramos' anger softened further.

  Though Napoli had just dismantled Real Madrid, it had been a fair test. Ramos accepted the loss because he respected Gao Shen's team and tactics.

  "The boss probably couldn't stand Schuster's nonsense anymore," Ramos muttered, shaking his head. "Damn it, I've never seen someone so shameless."

  Indeed, Gao Shen's words at the press ference had aowledged the efforts of pyers like Raul, Casils, and Ramos while also ning those who had underperformed.

  While Gao Shen hadn't named names, everyone in the locker room uood who he was referring to, pyers like Gago and Diarra.

  Given Gao Shen's reputation within Real Madrid and European football, no one dared challenge his assessment. Tue against him would only invite further humiliation.

  For the rest of the squad, including the Dutch pyers, Schuster's remarks had only deepeheir dissatisfa. In trast, Gao Shen's ents resonated with them.

  Many agreed that some pyers didn't deserve to wear the Real Madrid jersey, though it was a se rarely voiced aloud.

  ---

  Raul left the locker room and headed straight for the mixed interview area, where reporters were still gathered.

  As soon as he appeared, a swarm of journalists surrounded him. They knew Raul wouldn't stay silent after such a defeat.

  True to form, Raul began by apologizing to the fans.

  "I want to express my deepest apologies to all Real Madrid supporters. We're just as heartbroken as you are," he said.

  He tinued, "We gave everything we had, but Napoli's defense was exceptional, aruggled to create ces. Their attack was outstanding. This version of Napoli is almost uable."

  Raul's ents reflected his css and grace—hallmarks of his captaincy.

  You could lose a game, but you couldn't lose ynity.

  He went on to emphasize that this match had revealed a harsh truth: Real Madrid was not yet capable of peting with Europe's elite.

  "We o take a hard look at ourselves. This defeat was a wake-up call. It's one of the most painful losses I've ever experienced."

  When asked about the possibility of a coag ge, Raul tactfully avoided the question. "That's not for me to decide," he said. "But after a loss like this, we must reevaluate everything. We o rethink our approad find a clear path forward for the season."

  Raul made sure to defend his teammates, repeating four times that Real Madrid's pyers had fought hard och.

  It was a clear rebuke to Schuster's post-matents. As captain, Raul refused to throw his teammates uhe bus.

  "It wasn't a ck of effort," Raul said firmly. "It was simply that Napoli was the better team."

  Finally, when asked about Gao Shen, Raul didn't hesitate:

  "Gao is already the best coa Europe, perhaps in the world."

  The stateme maers p its deeper meaning.

  If Real Madrid prided itself on having the best pyers and the best coaches, why n Gao Shen back?

  ---

  The fallout from the 7-0 defeat wasn't fio the Bernabéu or even Madrid. The result sent shockwaves across Spain, Italy, and the entire European football world.

  The m, neers worldwide carried headlines about the match.

  Nobody could believe that the most storied club in football history, with ten Champions League titles, had suffered such a humiliati at home against a retively young Napoli side.

  Spanish tabloids even floated spiracy theories, suggesting the match had been fixed.

  But respected outlets unanimously agreed: this was a historic humiliation. Real Madrid, ohe standard of excellence, had been reduced to rubble by a superior team.

  ---

  Sacchi, in his n, described the game as a test between two teams from different universes.

  "Napoli looked like a team from anaxy," he wrote. "Their tactical sophistication was a plete mismatch for Real Madrid's disanized approach."

  Sacchi reserved harsh criticism for Schuster, calling his lineup and tactical decisions the root of Real Madrid's failure.

  He also warned Napoli not to bee pt.

  "Not every oppo will be as aodating as Real Madrid, especially in the first ten minutes. Napoli o address their occasional disanization."

  ---

  AS, a Madrid-based outlet, dubbed the game the "Night of Shame."

  While aowledging Napoli's brilliance, AS mbasted Schuster's post-matents as irresponsible. It praised Gao Shen's tactical genius and suggested that Real Madrid's ma should seriously sider bringing him back.

  Marca echoed the se, deg that Gao Shen was the ideal didate to lead Real Madrid out of its crisis.

  "Real Madrid is like a terminally ill patient," Marca wrote. "Gao Shen is the only doctor who save them."

  ---

  Reuters highlighted Gao Shen's cutting post-match remarks, particurly his assertion that some pyers were unworthy of wearing the Real Madrid jersey.

  The article also questioned why talented pyers like Parejo and Callejon thrived under Gao Shen at Napoli but couldn't get opportu Real Madrid.

  "Pyers like De La Red, Arbeloa, Juan Mata, Negredo, and Soldado who once shone under Gao Shen are now being overlooked. Real Madrid must refle their decisions."

  Reuters cluded with a powerful statement:

  "With a 7-0 victao Shen has not only dismantled Real Madrid but also wohe Bernabéu crowd. His return now feels iable."

  For Real Madrid fans, the memory of Gao Shen leading the club to a historic double was bittersweet.

  Now, after enduring the worst defeat in their history, they couldn't help but dream of his return.

  ***

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