With the two Super Cup titles secured, the outside world's view of Real Madrid underwent a dramatic change.
Yang Yang also made another comeback. Across three matches in the two Super Cups, he contributed seven goals and one assist by himself, making him the leading hero behind Real Madrid's successful double and once again fulfilling the promise he had made earlier.
There was an outpouring of praise outside the club. Within the team, everyone had also regained their confidence and morale during the fight for the two titles, eagerly waiting for the new season to arrive. Yet Real Madrid's coaching staff still dared not let their guard down.
The day after defeating Athletic Bilbao to win the Spanish Super Cup, the coaching staff held their final preseason meeting at Valdebebas after the afternoon recovery session. Technical Director Valdano also made time to attend in person.
At the meeting, besides Head Coach Zidane's summary and analysis of the entire summer of warm-up matches, Yang Yang, as Chief Assistant Coach, also analyzed this year's summer preparations. His conclusion was that there had been both gains and losses.
The gains had been substantial. Pintus, in particular, had made enormous contributions in fitness training and conditioning, while Hamidou Msaidié had carefully looked after the physical condition of Real Madrid's players. This had made the team's entire preseason preparation go smoothly. Not a single player had even suffered a serious injury, which was highly commendable.
Everyone understood the importance of preseason preparations. They could even affect the entire long season ahead. As a professional player, Yang Yang felt that he had adjusted very well this season and had gotten himself into excellent condition.
"My body has told me very clearly that it went from being out of shape when we began preparations to gradually adjusting