The match was over.
The Real Madrid fans in the Bernabéu Stadium stands streamed out through every exit like the receding tide, while the staff entered the field at once to maintain the pitch and prepare for the next match.
The Real Madrid players looked somewhat dispirited. They had left early and returned to the locker room, seeming almost too ashamed to face the Bernabéu fans.
Cristiano Ronaldo was waiting in the players' tunnel. Passing Man City players greeted him courteously from time to time. Although Real Madrid had drawn the match and been eliminated on aggregate, the Portuguese superstar had still won everyone's respect by scoring three goals across the two legs.
Su Dong, Pepe, David Silva, Toni Kroos, Marcelo, and the others brought up the rear. When they saw Rony, they immediately hurried over and embraced their old friend.
"Hey, Rony!" David Silva and the others also went one by one to high-five and shake Cristiano Ronaldo's hand.
Marcelo, whose temper matched his best, hugged him and cheerfully tried to console him with a few jokes.
Knowing that they had things to say, David Silva and the others tactfully said their goodbyes and left.
Su Dong's situation was truly special.
His friendship with Cristiano Ronaldo had begun when they were both still obscure nobodies. At most, the Portuguese had enjoyed a little fame at Sporting Lisbon, but that was all.
When Pepe met them, he had been just as unknown, fighting with everything he had on the pitch simply to earn a foothold.
Later, after arriving in Spain, Su Dong had also met Messi and Iniesta early on, when they were struggling in Barcelona's Youth Team. The three of them had formed a deep friendship.
In professional football, this arena of fame and fortune, every successful player went