"Back home, it's the devil's schedule! First Roma, then Bayern at home in the Champions League, followed by Lazio in between, and then Bayern away again," Suker said with a sigh.
Although the Italian Football Federation helped to adjust the league fixtures by postponing the match between Inter Milan and AC Milan, it was still extremely tough for AC Milan.
"This is nothing like a devil's schedule," Modrić shrugged. "This is just normal in the Premier League!"
"We go back to play Chelsea, then a Champions League match, then Arsenal, another Champions League match, and then Liverpool."
Hearing Modrić's words, Suker couldn't help but grimace.
The Premier League was indeed a high-intensity league. The constant grind of match after match drained teams in domestic play and often led to underperformance in European competitions.
"We got knocked out of the Champions League by Roma last round. Totti was amazing," said Vukojević.
In the previous Champions League round, Lyon drew away with Roma, but lost 0–2 at home and were eliminated.
In that match, Totti scored twice, sending Lyon out of the competition.
Suker and Totti were direct competitors for the Serie A Golden Boot.
Currently, Suker led with 27 goals in 28 matches, while Totti had 24 in 28.
After the match, the players chatted for a while.
But soon they had to part ways and return to their respective clubs.
Led by Srna, the Croatian players thanked the fans and then returned to the dressing room. After packing up, coach Bilić immediately announced their dismissal.
Bilić knew the season wasn't over and that his players had to return to their clubs for matches, so he didn't delay them.
Suker, Šimunić, and Šimić took an evening flight directly back to Milan.
Once back, the first day was devoted to medical checks arranged by Ancelotti.
This was already the fifth time Suker had undergone a medical this season.
He was very familiar with the process by now.
At Milan's medical center, Suker placed the metal sensor patches on his body in the designated spots. What had once felt unfamiliar now was second nature.
With the patches on and a respiratory mask over his mouth, Suk began running on the treadmill.
Soon, the device triggered a full-body energy activation due to the oxygen restriction.
Outside, Ancelotti and the team doctor watched the indicators on the screen.
"How's it looking?" Ancelotti asked.
The doctor exclaimed repeatedly, "Unbelievable! It's absolutely unbelievable!"
"What's the matter?" Ancelotti asked nervously.
Doctor: "His physical condition is excellent — it's as if he didn't go through any match fatigue at all."
The doctor had worked at the Milan center for many years and had seen many gifted players, even iron men, but none with Suker's extraordinary physiology.
It was as if he were immune to fatigue!
Ancelotti finally let out a sigh of relief.
As long as Suker stayed healthy, that was all that mattered to him.
"Alright, you can come down now!"
Suker quickly removed the patches and changed into his training outfit before leaving the room.
Soon after, Šimić and Šimunić followed for their own checkups.
Ancelotti cared about them too, though not as much as he did about Suker.
All three were in great shape.
Now Ancelotti was fully at ease.
Of course, over the next couple of days, he still planned to bring in Kaká, Inzaghi, Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, and others for similar checkups.
After his physical, Suker returned to his villa.
As soon as he walked in, Luna, his goofy dog, came charging at him from afar, tail wagging like a whip.
"Get lost, I don't have time to play with you!"
Suker waved his hand.
But Luna wouldn't give up, even tugging at Suker's shirt with her mouth.
"You stubborn mutt!" Suker grumbled.
Eventually, he gave in and pulled out a chewed-up ball from Luna's toy box.
Seeing the ball, Luna got even more excited, panting and barking in anticipation.
Suker threw the ball as far as he could. As soon as Luna ran off, he dashed inside and shut the door.
By the time the silly dog came back with the ball, Suker had vanished.
Inside, he packed up his things and prepared to head to the training base.
Since Kaká had already left in the morning, Suker couldn't catch a ride with him.
Bus line 126 connected Milan's city center to the training base, passing by major landmarks like Times Square.
There were few passengers on the bus — partly because it was a suburban route and partly because it wasn't rush hour.
Suker swiped his card to board.
"Good afternoon, Carl!"
The young driver in the cabin waved and smiled, "Good afternoon, Suker!"
Suker often took this bus, so he and the driver knew each other.
A year ago, it had been Old Carl driving this route. Now his son had taken over.
Because Line 126 connected to the AC Milan training base, most drivers were Milan fans.
Inter fans often avoided this area altogether, claiming it shouldn't even be considered part of Milan.
There were few people on the bus, but almost everyone recognized Suk.
Given Milan's football culture, it was impossible not to know who he was.
Many greeted him warmly, and Suker responded in kind.
He found an empty seat and enjoyed the view until the 10-minute ride brought him to the training base.
As he got off, Suker called out.
Carl raised his hand in the mirror and shouted, "Go get Roma!"
Suker raised a clenched fist in response.
Suker greeted the security staff at the entrance and headed inside. Read full story at novel•fire.net
He walked straight to the locker room, and as soon as he opened the door, the atmosphere changed.
"Filippo, I heard you got a new girlfriend? She's ten years younger? You beast!"
"Ivan, I heard you got nutmegged by a teenager in the Euro qualifiers? Hahaha!"
Gattuso started chasing Suker around the locker room again.
What had been a quiet room turned into chaos.
Soon, Ancelotti came in.
"Everyone, to the tactics room!"
Five minutes later, the Milan players were assembled.
They expected tactics for the Roma game, but were surprised to see information on Bayern on the board.
It made sense though — Roma were a familiar league opponent. There wouldn't be many surprises.
Bayern, however, was different and required special preparation.
Ancelotti focused on one player in particular — a German named Lukas Podolski.
After Ballack left, Bayern entered a transition period, with young players like Lahm and Schweinsteiger becoming starters. Podolski was part of that new generation.
Suker didn't know much about Podolski, except for one thing — the infamous slap incident with Ballack.
As team captain, Ballack had once taken a slap from the younger Podolski.
No matter the tactical differences, slapping your captain was unacceptable.
The incident had caused a huge stir.
Many believed Podolski wasn't acting alone — behind him stood Lahm, Schweinsteiger, and even national coach Löw.
Ballack, being too good-natured, got taken advantage of.
Had it been Oliver Kahn as captain, Podolski would have been beaten to a pulp.
In short, Ballack had carried German football through tough times, only to exit in disgrace.
But personal feelings aside, Podolski was still a serious threat on the pitch.
Still, given Bayern's current situation, Suker believed Milan had the upper hand.