After entering October, the Ballon d'Or buzz surged once again.
This year, the award had nothing to do with Suker.
He didn't dwell on it either—after all, he only played in the Europa League last season. If Suker were to win an award despite that, even he would feel embarrassed.
Currently, the strongest contenders were undoubtedly Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
With Barcelona winning the Champions League, La Liga, and Copa del Rey treble, Messi was bound to take at least one major award.
As for Ronaldo, though he finished as runner-up in the Champions League, he also won the Premier League and FA Cup, and had individual accolades like the Champions League Golden Boot and Premier League Golden Boot. So, he also had a strong chance of earning an award.
Although the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year seemed to be merging...
Back in 2009, after Suker and Modric shared the award, that trend started to waver.
In the original timeline, the announcement of the merger was supposed to happen this year.
But since it hadn't happened yet, it wasn't likely to be announced suddenly.
Eventually, the merged award split again in 2016 when FIFA and France Football ended their partnership.
After the split, the FIFA World Player of the Year became more of a side note and lost much of its prestige.
France Football had sent numerous invitations to Suker, hoping he'd attend the award ceremony, but he politely declined every time.
He knew they just wanted to create a comparison and stir controversy.
Praise one, criticize another—generate buzz.
But Suker wasn't having it.
Of course, he wasn't dumb enough to say all this out loud—after all, he still wanted to win future awards and couldn't afford to offend France Football.
So he turned to Florentino Pérez to handle the communication.
Florentino worked efficiently.
Besides, he didn't like Suker lowering his status either. Refusing to attend was a good move for both Suker and Real Madrid.
Especially since there were still league matches, Champions League, and World Cup qualifiers to prepare for. Who had time to entertain them?
Because of the Ballon d'Or discussions, Suker's media presence dipped slightly.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi became the main focus of football discourse in Europe.
Mid-October marked the start of the Copa del Rey.
Unlike his AC Milan days—where they often ignored the Coppa Italia—Real Madrid cared about winning the Copa del Rey.
But Suker wouldn't be playing too early.
In Pellegrini's eyes, the Copa del Rey was a good training ground.
Victory still mattered, but Suker was only needed for stability.
Real Madrid's first opponent was Alcorcón, a second-division team from the Madrid region.
At first, Suker wasn't concerned and calmly watched the match.
Given Real Madrid's strength, even with an all-reserve lineup, the odds of losing were slim.
But fate had a cruel sense of humor.
From the start, Alcorcón unleashed a stunning offensive performance.
Between the 10th and 15th minutes, they scored three goals in five minutes.
The first was a fluke—an absolute wondergoal.
The second showed actual team coordination.
By the third, Suker slapped his thigh and cursed.
"Damn it! Don't tell me it's that match?"
Real Madrid had suffered quite a few embarrassing upsets in their history.
But two teams in particular were notorious: Alcorcón and Alcoyano.
It's as if Real Madrid had a curse against teams with "Alcor" in their name—they would just collapse for no reason.
In fact, they once suffered a humiliating 1–4 loss to Alcorcón in the Copa del Rey.
That's when Suker realized what was happening.
So did Pellegrini.
He had planned to use the reserves to test the waters and give them valuable experience.
But instead of gaining experience, they were humiliated.
Pellegrini was furious—almost fainting from anger. The substitutes' performance was disastrous.
"Suker! Alonso!"
He called out.
Suker and Xabi Alonso slowly got up. After the third goal, they already knew they were going to be subbed in.
Luckily, Pellegrini had the foresight to at least keep Suker on the bench. Had he left him out entirely, the match would've been lost already.
"Real Madrid is playing terribly. I don't even know how to describe it. Without Suker, there's no sign of attacking threat. Benzema? He's sleepwalking up front. And Arbeloa—horrible! An own goal and constant mistakes!"
"Three goals conceded in five minutes—Real Madrid must make changes!"
As commentator González finished, Real Madrid made their substitutions.
Suker and Alonso stood on the sidelines, ready.
Seeing this, González nodded:
"This is the right choice."
But then he paused—without Suker, Real Madrid looked like they had lost their soul.
He began to wonder whether Real Madrid had developed a Suker Dependency Syndrome.
Benzema walked off the pitch with his head down, looking completely dejected.
His performance had been poor. For some reason, he felt totally disconnected—midfield couldn't hold possession, and he couldn't get the ball up front.
Especially after conceding three goals, the entire Real Madrid squad collapsed mentally.
Gago, another subbed-out player, was also one of the culprits.
His repeated mistakes had given Alcorcón scoring chances, and Real Madrid hadn't even managed a threatening attack yet.
Alcorcón's home stadium only had 3,000 seats—essentially a neighborhood pitch.
People were even watching from balconies of nearby buildings.
When they saw Suker about to come on, the stadium erupted in cheers.
Even Alcorcón's own fans cheered.
For them, this was a rare chance to see a true star up close—after all, Alcorcón wasn't a big club.
And a top-level star like Suker? Unthinkable.
Before the match, they never imagined they'd force Suker to step onto the field.
But now, their team had done well—they were leading by three goals and had a real shot at eliminating Real Madrid.
Their players were brimming with belief. Three goals in, they realized Real Madrid might not be so unbeatable after all.
They believed they could knock out Real Madrid over two legs and advance—a historic upset.
The dream was vivid, but reality was harsh.
Once Suker came on, everything changed.
Boom!
Alcorcón's midfielder Mora rushed at Suker, who calmly planted himself and shielded the ball with his body.
No matter how Mora struggled, Suker stood firm like a mountain and safely laid the ball off to Raúl on the wing.
After the pass, Suker jogged forward at a casual pace.
It didn't look threatening at all.
Mora followed cautiously.
But the moment Raúl struck the cross, Suker suddenly exploded into action.
With a powerful burst of speed, he left Mora in the dust.
"How is he this fast?!"
Mora shouted, watching Suker charge into the box.
"Suker! He's in!"
Two Alcorcón center-backs rushed to intercept him.
But just before they could converge, Suker leapt into the air.
He soared high, tucked his neck, eyes locked on the ball.
The moment it met his forehead, he snapped his neck forward—perfect header.
The ball flew low and fast into the bottom-right corner.
Alcorcón's keeper didn't even have time to react.
After scoring, Suker ran toward the Real Madrid supporters, pointed to himself, and pressed his hands downward—a gesture to calm the angry fans.
And truthfully, they were furious after watching that dreadful first half.
Still, now wasn't the time for fury—they needed encouragement.
Suker raised his hands high and got the crowd clapping.
Despite their sour mood, the Madrid fans responded with scattered applause.
Encouraged, the players on the field regained some composure.
"Suker has made an instant impact. But..."
González's chest felt tight.
Real Madrid's earlier performance had been disastrous.
Before Suker came on, they looked completely lost.
After he entered, the team immediately found rhythm again.
"This is textbook 'dependency syndrome.'"
Having a superstar to lean on is good, but being too dependent reduces your ability to weather adversity.
Suker couldn't possibly play every single match across league, Champions League, and national team qualifiers.
He's not a machine—nobody can do that.
Yet Real Madrid had grown alarmingly reliant on him. Pellegrini's "big gun" tactics had only exaggerated Suker's importance.
Now, without him, the team looked like they forgot how to play.
And it had only been four months.
How much worse would things be at season's end if Suker got injured or suspended?
Pellegrini finally realized the problem with his tactical approach.
He had over-glorified Suker, making the team addicted to him.
If he didn't correct course soon, the entire system might collapse.
This all came down to one thing: no tactical system.
With a system, even without Suker, they could still perform.
Without a system, they were helpless without him.
Even simple passes had no clear target.
Pellegrini rubbed his temples—he would need to rethink the team's tactical structure.
At the very least, he needed a basic framework to support everyone.
On the pitch, Suker was surveying the field while also thinking about Real Madrid's current state.
Pellegrini wasn't a bad coach—he had done great things with Villarreal.
But now he seemed off-track.
Too focused on tactics, not enough on building a system.
No matter how sophisticated your tactics, without a proper structure, it's all pointless.
To Suker, Pellegrini seemed lost—perhaps unfamiliar with managing a true superclub, or maybe just overwhelmed.
From a personal standpoint, Suker appreciated Pellegrini.
He gave him tactical freedom, respected him, and maximized his influence.
But team strength had to come first.
No matter how great Suker felt individually, if the team failed, it was all for nothing.
If Pellegrini couldn't fix the current problems, he wouldn't last long.
Suddenly, Suker saw Raúl getting into position on the flank.
He immediately dropped deeper and cut toward the side, forming an L-shaped run.
Raúl spotted him, passed the ball, and made a decoy forward run—drawing away the full-back.
Suker didn't pass back. Instead, he turned and charged diagonally at Alcorcón's defense.
The moment he accelerated, all eyes locked onto him.
"Don't stick your leg out!"
Alcorcón's goalkeeper shouted.
"Too late!"
Suker stood sideways, planted his right foot, and whipped his left leg in a curling shot.
His weight was slightly back, his body forming a bow, and he didn't over-rotate the ankle.
The ball curled perfectly toward the far post.
The keeper dove with all his might—but it was too precise.
Goal.
41st minute: Suker pulled back two goals.
Alcorcón 3 – 2 Real Madrid
"Suker! A brilliant curler! Alcorcón's defense can't stop him. That's the power of the Croatian star!"
"Since Suker came on, Real Madrid finally looks like a proper team again!"
The Real Madrid fans, previously furious, were now cheering in relief.
With two goals clawed back, they believed in a comeback.
There were still 45 minutes left in the second half.
Benzema, sitting on the bench, stared blankly at the pitch.
This match hit him hard.
When he played, everything fell apart.
But once Suker came on, the team seemed reborn.
He wasn't playing that much better individually—but the team suddenly made the most of his attacking threat.
Benzema began thinking—how could he better partner with Suker?
And it wasn't just him. Every substitute had the same thought.
Suker was the core.
Whoever worked best with Suker would earn a starting spot.
Real Madrid's tactical direction had completely shifted.
And that's how the "Suker Dependency Syndrome" continued to spiral.