If the most eye-catching result among the four Champions League Round of 16 knockout matches in the previous week was Chelsea's 3–0 home defeat to Bayern Munich, then the most surprising result among the four matches in the following week was Real Madrid's 4–0 away demolition of Dortmund.
Real Madrid's performance was even more astonishing than Bayern Munich's a week earlier.
The reason was simple enough. Before the season began, very few people had genuinely believed in Real Madrid under Yang Yang.
Although Real Madrid had spent five hundred million, although Yang Yang had just led Ajax to the Champions League title, and although his return to Real Madrid had brought his reputation to the peak of his career, none of that was enough to make people believe that Yang Yang could lead Real Madrid to continue its glorious record this season.
Ajax's triumph had been a miracle, but Real Madrid was different. This was a world-famous powerhouse.
The challenges of managing Real Madrid were far greater than those of managing Ajax.
Even with Chairman Florentino's full support, along with the backing of everyone at Real Madrid, could Yang Yang really solve the club's problems?
He had failed to drive out the veterans and had shown no great boldness. What could Yang Yang possibly accomplish in the new season?
The doubts at the start of the season gradually began to unravel as the league got underway.
Through match after match, Yang Yang convinced everyone that even with the same group of veterans, he could make Real Madrid display outstanding fighting power—far greater than under Lopetegui and Solari the previous season.
This was not a problem with the players, but a difference in the Head Coach!
As the season progressed, everyone gradually began to see the outline of an entirely new