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Why did Manchester United even agree to a friendly with Real Madrid?
God knows why
All that Harry knows is that they lost a very VERY humiliating 6-2, with Rashford scoring both of them for United, but that was nothing compared to Rodrygo's hattrick, Benzama's 2 goals and Vinicious' one that made it six.
And Harry?
Well.. people got through him. That Vinicious and Rodygo.. they were strong strikers, ready to go past you any second to score, ready to fight for their team. It didn't help that the midfielders passed with no problem and kept the tempo in their favor, not allowing for United to even try. Not to mention the defense was alert and powerful, keeping them all away from the goal so much that the goalkeeper might as well have laid down and slept.
All in all Harry was left feeling ashamed over how good Real Madrid players were. Not jealous, though maybe a bit, but definitely ashamed.
In all honesty he thought this was agreed on only to humiliate Manchester United. No wonder Ole seriously wasn't doing anything besides watching with a disappointed and tired look on his face through the entire game. Their coach didn't even try to stand up and hype them up, or even to say anything for that matter.
His teammates weren't happy with him either, they were all glaring at him or staring at the ground in pure humiliated nature.
Especially De Gea, who looked like he wanted to kill Harry with his bare hands.. As if it's all his fault the ball passed through them.
His teammates shook hands with the opposing team, Real Madrid, who weren't showing it, probably so they didn't feel bad, but they were gleaming with pride. Especially Rodrygo who was latched onto the blonde midfielder, Luka, with the biggest smile on his face..
Speaking of Luka.. That guy probably caused the most problems for Manchester United. Besides the strikers that is.
He was everywhere, passing with great leg power and smart thinking, while also managing to run circles around the entirety of Harry's team, just to pass the ball to those he thought it would work out with.
Though he didn't score a goal he controlled the speed of the game, he watched, he analyzed. He was clever and tactical, that's the simplest way to put it.
Not that his teammates aren't, but Luka seemed to be something completely different.
And it's not only that he's good at football AND smart, he's kind of pretty as well. He was much shorter than Harry, reaching his shoulders. His blonde hair looked soft and golden in the sun, you can't help but imagine running your fingers through it and feeling the locks. His eyes were a chocolate brown, filled with peace yet determination. He has a lean body, muscle obvious from the way the kit was tight at all the right places, especially around his pretty waist.
All in all the man seemed to have it all..
Speaking of the Croat, he was..
Walking over… tO HARRY-
"Good game" the man smiled, extending his hand to shake Harry's. He stared up at Harry, curving his neck so he could look him in the eyes.
Harry blinked "Oh uh yes" he nodded his head, wrapping his hand around Luka's, practically engulfing it from how small it was against hit.
So small.. Luka is so small compared to him..
Luka's smile turned comforting and Harry could feel his stomach jump.
"You did good today, okay? People have bad days, bad weeks, bad starts... But if no one helps them out how can they get better for the future?" Luka told him, comforting the much taller man with kind words, "Being rude to someone and making fun of them just decreases chances of doing better and lowers confidence… so let me tell you that you did good today."
And Harry's heart MELTED. It was on the floor in a puddle.. His heart ached at the words and in all honesty he thought he might cry from them.
"T-Thank you" Harry uttered out, looking wide eyed at the smaller man..
Luka nodded his head before doing the most adorable thing ever, and stepping on his tippy toes to give him a pat on the shoulder, "No problem" he gently put his feet back onto the ground, "Don't let others bring you down, Maguire"
Fuck..
And Luka continued on, shaking hands with the United players and celebrating with his teammates.
And though his own were glaring at him he really couldn't focus on anything besides the tiny Croat, who still kept the small smile on his pink lips.
—
Something United players and their coach didn't expect, at all, was to go back to their away dressing room and find a corrugated box on top of a table, in the middle of the room.
The table wasn't anything new, it's always been there, but the middle sized box wasn't. Upon Ole inspecting it closer he came to a conclusion it was definitely from the Real Madrid players.
"How do you know?" Pogba had asked, to which Ole replied "There's a note on it"
The team felt it was safe and walked over, circling around the table to get a better look while others just went on with their day and got to dressing up and showering.
Ole picked up the tiny letter attached to the box before reading it out loud to the players, eyebrows furrowed
"Here you go, United, we felt bad sending you back home without anything- Sergio Ramos"
…
"We're throwing this away" Pogba said, to which the others agreed with quiet mumbles and nods. Then Harry saw something-
"Coach, there's something on the backside of it" He told Ole, as Pogba picked up the corrugated box
Ole turned the letter over
"Ps, Luka Modrić made this, good luck throwing it out now"
…
They ate the sweet treats inside.
Goddamn that blonde for being sweeter than the cakes inside.