Once again, Shane Carter did not play the full ninety minutes.
He was substituted in the seventy-third minute of the match.
"Carter's number goes up again. He is still incredibly young, and Simeone is clearly managing his minutes very carefully," José María García noted from the commentary booth.
And no one could blame Simeone for being cautious.
Football history was littered with the tragic tales of generational teenage talents who were overplayed early in their careers, their bodies breaking down before they ever reached their prime.
Furthermore, Atlético Madrid was already leading 3-0.
Taking Shane off to give his legs a rest, while simultaneously allowing him to absorb a solitary, undivided standing ovation from the home crowd?
It was perfect man-management.
Diego, the veteran Brazilian playmaker, stood by the touchline waiting to come on.
Shane jogged slowly toward the bench. As he crossed the pitch, he raised his hands above his head, applauding the four corners of the Vicente Calderón.
The entire stadium roared back, a tidal wave of noise washing over him.
"He has delivered an absolutely spectacular home debut!" García declared over the broadcast.
"Two matches. Five assists. One goal! With a performance this outrageously dominant, Shane Carter is guaranteed to be the focal point of the global football media tomorrow morning. Think about it: two weeks ago, this American teenager was a complete unknown. Today, he is arguably the most exciting midfield prospect on the planet!"
"The winter transfer window is still open. I would not be surprised if several European giants are already making phone calls..."
Sitting in their living rooms, Atlético Madrid supporters listening to the broadcast scowled at that last comment.
Many immediately took to social media to curse García as a "Real Madrid lapdog." Because the famous broadcaster occasionally spoke favorably about Real Madrid during his calls, he was deeply unpopular among the Atlético fan base.
This sort of tribal hostility toward commentators was extremely common in football.
If a broadcaster showed even a hint of bias toward one club, rival fans would instantly brand them an enemy for life.
But commentators were humans too. Having personal preferences was simply human nature.
Down on the pitch, amidst the deafening applause, not a single Villarreal player stepped forward to try and rush Shane off the pitch.
Having conceded three goals, their morale had completely collapsed.
The referee was equally content to let the moment breathe. This was Atlético's home turf, after all.
If Villarreal wasn't in a hurry to restart the game, why should the referee care?
So Shane took his time. He didn't even break into a light jog until he reached the touchline.
He embraced Diego, raised his hands to the crowd one final time, and then shared a fierce hug with Diego Simeone.
The broadcast camera tracked him every step of the way.
"Look at this. This is pure superstar treatment..."
Inside the ESPN studio, the commentator leaned back in his chair, shaking his head in awe.
The remainder of the match was largely academic.
Without Shane pulling the strings, Atlético's counter-attacks became simple, mechanical, and relatively toothless.
Villarreal, meanwhile, still couldn't figure out a way to consistently breach Atlético's defensive block.
However, the fans inside the Calderón didn't find the remaining minutes boring in the slightest.
They spent the final twenty minutes singing in unison.
And every few minutes, a spontaneous chant of Shane's name would echo around the stadium.
The sheer volume of the chanting forced Shane to stand up from his seat on the bench multiple times just to acknowledge the crowd and clap back at them.
When Shane stood up for the third time, the ESPN commentator couldn't help but laugh. "Two matches. That is all it took. Just two professional matches, and he has secured the unconditional, undying love of the Atlético Madrid faithful!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are watching the birth of a superstar."
"Two games, five assists, one goal. Directly involved in six goals. How could any fanbase not lose their minds over this kid?"
"Where is the USMNT call-up? Jürgen Klinsmann needs to be on a plane to Madrid tonight!"
"Forget the national team for a second, let's just enjoy the moment!"
The American live chat was an absolute carnival of joy and hype.
...
The final scoreline read 4-1.
After Shane was substituted, both teams managed to find the back of the net.
When Atlético center-back Diego Godín rose high to head home a corner kick, García immediately quipped from the Spanish booth: "Well, we finally have an Atlético Madrid goal under Diego Simeone that doesn't directly involve Shane Carter..."
That single sentence highlighted a subtle, underlying concern for Atlético. From a purely statistical standpoint, in two matches under Simeone, the team had conceded only one goal while scoring seven.
The defense looked solid. The attack looked lethal.
But of those seven goals, six had been directly manufactured by Shane.
The team's offensive output was arguably far too heavily concentrated on the shoulders of one seventeen-year-old.
But the Atlético supporters singing in the stands couldn't care less about underlying metrics right now.
Their team had won comfortably. That was all that mattered.
As for the future?
They would worry about the future when it arrived.
As the referee blew the final whistle, the broadcast camera immediately snapped back to Shane.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, the Man of the Match is once again Shane Carter. Diego Simeone has won his first two matches in charge, and both victories belong almost entirely to the American teenager... Over the course of 180 minutes, he has showcased world-class creativity, elite passing, and breathtaking ball control. He is already operating at the very pinnacle of La Liga!"
On the screen, Shane smiled as he walked onto the pitch.
Inside his mind, the familiar mechanical voice chimed.
[Ding! Match complete. Calculating results...]
[Match intensity: High. Match rating: Excellent!]
[Ding! Congratulations. You have obtained: Random Gold Chest!]
[Ding! Because you have achieved an "Excellent" rating in two consecutive high-intensity matches, your reward has been automatically upgraded!]
[Ding! Congratulations! Your Random Gold Chest has been upgraded to a Legendary Chest!]
[Note: Chest Tier Progression: Black Iron -> Bronze -> Silver -> Gold -> Legendary -> Epic]
[Ding! Open Legendary Chest now?]
Open it! Shane commanded internally.
[Ding! Congratulations. You have obtained: S-Tier Legendary Module - The Blonde Assassin: Diego Forlán Long-Range Shooting!]
[Integrate module now?]
Diego Forlán?!
Shane drew in a sharp breath.
Forlán was an absolute master of the spectacular.
He was a striker who routinely unleashed physics-defying thunderbastards from outside the penalty area.
During the first decade of the 21st century, his long-range shooting ability was universally considered among the very best in world football.
Integrate!
[Ding! Integrating Diego Forlán Long-Range Shooting Module...]
[Long-Range Shooting: 71 -> 95]
[Ding! Your comprehensive ratings have been updated: Attacking Midfielder: 89 | Box-to-Box Midfielder: 84 | Second Striker: 81 | Defensive Midfielder: 77 | Center-Back: 74...]
By acquiring a 95 rating in long-range shooting, Shane's overall grade as an Attacking Midfielder skyrocketed.
He jumped from an 84 rating straight to an 89!
Prior to this moment, whenever Shane operated near the edge of the opposition's penalty area, his only real method of threatening the goal was through passing.
That made him slightly one-dimensional.
Once top-tier scouting departments realized he posed zero direct scoring threat from distance, organizing a defensive scheme to neutralize him would become significantly easier.
Especially against elite Champions League clubs.
Those teams possessed defenders with world-class 1v1 ability and highly organized defensive structures. If Shane could only rely on passing or dribbling to create danger, breaking those teams down would become exponentially more difficult.
But if...
If he possessed a lethal, unpredictable strike from outside the box...
The tactical dynamic would change entirely.
It would force defenders to step out to block the shot, immediately opening up passing lanes behind them. The synergy between elite passing and elite shooting created an effect far greater than the sum of its parts.
This was exactly why Shane had been rigorously practicing his long-range shooting during his days off.
He refused to let himself be easily scouted and neutralized.
Possessing Zinedine Zidane's ball control and passing was incredible, but it did not make him invincible.
Because Zidane himself had possessed a phenomenal shot. His finishing technique was elite.
And even Zidane occasionally got marked out of games.
Shane was not satisfied with his current level.
He needed to get stronger.
And stronger.
...
Delivering two consecutive, logic-defying performances instantly transformed Shane into the hottest property in the global sports media.
In Madrid:
Marca: [Atlético's Teenage Star Creates Six Goals in Two Matches! Simeone Has Found His Tactical Core!]
AS: [Carter Dazzles the Calderón! Is He La Liga's Next Global Superstar?]
In Catalonia:
Mundo Deportivo: [Real Madrid Are Blind! Florentino Discards a Midfield Prodigy Worth Tens of Millions!]
Sport: [Is the American the Ultimate Heir to Xavi? Sensational Midfield Masterclass in Madrid!]
The landscape of Spanish football journalism perfectly mirrored the eternal war between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It was a constant, proxy battle between the Madrid mouthpieces and the Catalan mouthpieces.
But the hype was not contained to Spain.
The entire European continent was furiously reporting on the American teenager.
In England, the media capital of the footballing world, the ruthless tabloids of Fleet Street dedicated massive spreads to Shane's performances.
The English press was notoriously famous for aggressively overhyping young English talent. If an English academy kid strung together two decent passes, they were instantly hailed as the next Bobby Charlton.
Conversely, they were usually incredibly hyper-critical of foreign prospects.
But Shane's performances were simply undeniable.
The Guardian: [...An American teenager is setting the Iberian Peninsula on fire. Five assists and one goal in his first two professional matches. A truly explosive arrival.]
Daily Mail: [...Directly involved in six goals in two matches. Can you believe this kid is only seventeen? But the tape does not lie. Atlético Madrid's Shane Carter is doing the impossible in La Liga!]
Sky Sports: [...Are the Premier League giants paying attention? A world-class midfield talent is blooming in Spain!]
The fact that the notoriously insular English media was willing to pause their endless hype of domestic prospects to praise an American playing in Spain proved just how absurd Shane's debut week had been.
And it wasn't just England.
In France, Germany, and Italy.
The name Shane Carter began appearing densely across major sports pages.
Football fans across the globe were waking up to the same reality.
A seventeen-year-old American was taking over La Liga.
His production of six goal contributions in two games had everyone waiting with bated breath to see what he would do in his third.
...
Atlético Madrid had already been eliminated from the Copa del Rey earlier in the season.
The knockout stages of the Europa League would not commence until February.
Consequently, for the remainder of January, Atlético's fixture list was surprisingly light.
This provided Diego Simeone with incredibly rare, incredibly valuable training time to begin properly drilling his tactical philosophies into the squad.
Atlético Madrid was, historically, a very traditional Spanish side.
Prior to Simeone's arrival, their tactical identity had been heavily influenced by the Spanish passing game. Their previous manager, Gregorio Manzano, was a classic Spanish coach who prioritized possession, patient buildup, and intricate short passing through the midfield.
Simeone's philosophy was the exact opposite.
His football was built on a bedrock of aggressive, suffocating defense.
He prioritized the speed of transition. He wanted to win the ball and instantly strike while the opponent was disorganized.
This was a massive culture shock for the current Atlético roster.
However, a new manager beginning his tenure by aggressively drilling the defensive structure was standard practice.
And organizing a rigid defensive block was generally much easier than coaching complex offensive possession patterns.
Therefore...
During these January training sessions, the Atlético squad spent almost all their time running defensive shape drills.
The fact that they had scored seven goals in two games was almost entirely down to Shane's individual brilliance in transition.
Simeone fully intended to maintain this dynamic: the team would focus entirely on defending as a unit, and the offense would rely on rapid transitions orchestrated by Shane. Simeone was actively consolidating the teenager's status as the undisputed focal point of the system.
...
At Atlético Madrid's training complex...
Thibaut Courtois lay flat on his back on the grass inside the penalty area.
He didn't even bother looking back over his shoulder at the ball resting in the net. Instead, he stared blankly toward the edge of the box.
The rest of the Atlético squad looked exactly the same.
Every player on the pitch was staring toward the perimeter of the penalty area, mouths agape, eyes wide, locked onto the teenager who had just unleashed an absolute thunderbolt.
Under the stunned gaze of the entire squad, Shane raised his fist and let out a victorious shout.
It was his second long-range goal of the training match.
The Diego Forlán module had fully integrated.
He had just taken it for a test drive.
And the results were terrifying.
Forlán hadn't been considered one of the deadliest long-range shooters of his generation for nothing.
Take the shot he had just hit, for example.
From roughly thirty meters out.
A pure, violently struck right-footed drive using the laces.
The ball had flown toward the goal on a frozen rope, traveling like an artillery shell.
Just as it reached the six-yard box, it took a sudden, vicious upward swerve. Courtois had legitimately thought the ball was sailing over the crossbar, only for it to smash violently against the underside of the woodwork and ricochet down across the goal line.
Having thrown himself backward in a desperate, failed attempt to tip it over, Courtois hit the turf hard. He simply lay there, staring at Shane in absolute disbelief.
Over the past month...
The impression Shane had cemented into the minds of his teammates was clear:
He possessed alien vision, god-tier passing, and silken ball control.
But his shooting was pretty average.
Everyone knew he had been staying late to practice his long-range striking recently.
But the problem was...
Developing a genuinely threatening shot from distance usually took months, if not years, of relentless repetition to master the technique.
Yet Shane's performance today seemed to completely shatter that logic.
If he had only scored one screamer, they could have easily dismissed it as a lucky strike.
But he had just scored two...
You can't fake it twice.
Standing on the touchline, even Simeone looked slightly dazed.
"How long exactly has he been staying late to practice shooting?"
He turned to his assistant, Germán Burgos.
"Less than two weeks!" Germán replied.
"He developed that kind of ball-striking technique in less than two weeks?!"
Simeone pointed a trembling finger at the training pitch.
"Diego, I told you," Germán said, shaking his head with a wide grin. "The kid is a genius."
At this point...
No matter what impossible, logic-defying feat Shane pulled off next...
Germán Burgos was just going to repeat that exact sentence.
It had officially become his catchphrase.