It requires more than just a proud history to be relevant in the modern world and the evidence could be seen in the miles of distance between Real Madrid and other teams whom they together ruled in the 19s.
Players of Real Madrid celebrate after defeating Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League Semi Final second leg match at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on May 4, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. Los Merengues make it to final with 6-5 aggregate win after beating Man City 3-1 in extra time of dramatic match (Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The likes of Ajax and Milan were amongst the best teams in the world then and were also able to earn themselves quite some reputation whilst also enjoying counts of success in European club competitions.
However, in today’s world, these teams have really struggled to keep up with the standard set by their forbearers in the days of yore, unlike Real Madrid, who is never really out of the headline.
The future has come and not in anything can any of the teams oust Los Blancos. With a lot of investors coming into football and pumping money into different teams, just to see them become famous and win titles, yet none has the influence Real Madrid has on football in general.
Talk about the hearts of the best players in the world and where they want to be. Everyone wants to play at Real Madrid unless you are from Barcelona, where according to Jose Mourinho, players are thought to hate Real Madrid than they actually love Barcelona.
Real Madrid is a home where dreams are fulfilled and hardly a player has come here and spend a couple of years and not win the big titles. This is so because winning is what they do here and the desire to remain consistent at the top is what makes them ever relevant.
When Real Madrid battled Manchester City at the Ethiad in the first leg of their Champions League semi final meeting, which ended with the host edging Los Blancos in a seven goal thriller, Aurélien Tchouameni shared a post on his social media handle.
It reads, : “Frankly, what a pleasure to watch a match of this level.”
Popular Italian football journalist, Fabrizio Romano left a comment under the post, “And soon you’ll be there!”
With the speculations linking the French midfielder to Real Madrid, shows how much youngsters burn to represent the club because they all are eager to be a part of the fun, sweet memories and also win major trophies.
Everyone wants to be a part of nights like the one Real Madrid have enjoyed in all of the second leg of their Champions League knockout games this season, not only be a part but come out on top frequently. It comes once in a blue moon for many clubs while most of others have never experienced the feels.
When Cristiano Ronaldo was at Manchester United, he was the best player in the world and at that time, the club also dominate locally and in Europe. But the Portuguese was hellbent on joining Real Madrid because he wanted to take his career to a bigger stage and of course, we all know how the story went.
Talk of the best players to ever grace the game and the names of Los Blancos legends will come to mind. This has come to be because of the club maintaining its status over the years, making every upcoming football dream to one day represent them.
Even if you are Kylian Mbappé, right now, you are jealous of Vinicius Junior, of Rodrygo Goes, of Federico Valverde, you’re jealous of your countryman, Eduardo Camavinga albeit you’ve amassed all the accolades in Ligue 1 this season.
A club with a very proud history, which seize to become history, many criticized Real Madrid few years ago of controversies but even in a modern football with technology employed to limit human errors, this club will not be shut off the headline.
Players of Real Madrid celebrate after defeating Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League Semi Final second leg match at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on May 4, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. Los Merengues make it to final with 6-5 aggregate win after beating Man City 3-1 in extra time of dramatic match (Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Made for the big occasion, many would believed that Los Blancos’ European dominance, spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo between the 2014 to 2018 was only because of the brilliance of the Portuguese but this season, has shown the club shares a special chemistry with Europe’s top club competition.
Starting from their first knockout round home game this season, where they trailed 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate heading into the final half hour of the game, they never quitted the believe even though they are up against a side with arguably the best attack in the world.
In the end and in the most unusual of circumstances, the game did not even need an extra time as three goals in the space of seventeen minutes by Karim Benzema propelled them to a 3-1 win on the night and a 3-2 aggregate win.
Again at the Bernabéu in the quarter final, they held a huge 3-1 advantage from the first leg at the Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. However, they were second best on the night up to the 80th minute while the visitors were 3-0 up.
In the turn of event, Rodrygo Goes came off the bench to level the tie on aggregate and six minutes into the first half of extra time, a place in the semi final was secured thanks to a Karim Benzema’s goal, his 12th in the competition.
They had luck on their side in the first leg of the semi final with City, which was played at the Ethiad and the host were missing some of their regular defenders due to suspension and injuries, hence they were able to score goals as did their host.
In the return leg at the Bernabéu, City’s one goal advantage was turn into two by Riyad Mahrez with seventeen minutes to the conclusion of the game but when everyone thought it was over, substitute, Rodrygo Goes scored twice in less than two minutes to restore parity and force extra time with Karim Benzema scoring a penalty in the 96th minute to seal a spot in the final against Liverpool.
The good news for Real is that apart from Karim Benzema stealing the headlines with sublime performances and banging in the goals, the contributions of the young players has been as vital as that of the Frenchman.
In the 3-1 over PSG at the Bernabéu, Vinicius Junior was a constant threat for the opposition defense and was able to assist the goal that spurned the comeback. He also played a big part in the eventual tie winning goal.
He assisted in both legs of the quarter final meeting with Chelsea and scored a decisive second for Carlo Ancelotti side at the Ethiad. Also in the second leg, he was heavily involved in Real Madrid’s second goal
The contributions of Edouardo Camavinga off the bench has been top notch too. In the comeback win over Manchester City, many thought the game was lost when Ancelotti withdrew the midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro but Camavinga on his own dragged Madrid back into the game.
His cross to Benzema led to his countryman assisting the first goal. He won back possession that led to the second and for the third, drove the ball from his own half into the final third before releasing it to Carvajal, who squared it to Benzema to win the penalty.
Coming off the bench in the Champions league this season he has been able to help then come from behind against PSG, Chelsea and now Manchester City. It is only his first season and surely big things are still to come from the 19year old former Rennes star.
.jpeg)
And then Rodrygo Goes, the star of the night on Wednesday. Came off the bench to notch in two important late goals and salvage Real Madrid’s adventure in the competition this season, on the back of scoring two in Real Madrid’s title winning game against Espanyol on Saturday.
These boys are exactly at the place where every footballer wants to be and many youngster will be jealous of them right now. Which is why when Real Madrid comes calling, it is very difficult for any player to say no.
Every player wants to win big titles and no one does it better than Los Blancos. Most La Liga titles, at least nine more than any other team. Most Champions League titles, at least six more than any other team.
Such is the history of Madrid that continues to get better and better. They became the only team to win back to back title in the Champions League era and went on to make it three in a row, and four times in five years, when only five other teams have win up to four titles.
Even with Kylian Mbappé yet to announce his decision on where he will be playing next season, just watching the Champions League games at home is enough for him to choose to play for Real Madrid.
David Alaba ended his years of consecutively winning the Bundesliga which also birthed a Champions League titile in 2020 with Bayern Munich to join a Real Madrid side that was beaten to the league title by Atletico Madrid last season.
The standard the club has set seems unmatchable with their consistency and will to remain at the top and right now, the Austrian is in yet another Champions League final. It (Real Madrid) is a home where dreams are realized.
Best players in the world want to come here. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Zidane, Ronaldo Delima, David Beckham, Fabio Cannavaro and others were all tempted and could not resist putting on the historical all white kit and representing the club of dreams.
Antonio Rüdiger will join the club for free at the end of the season as a free agent from Chelsea as Los Blancos continues to rule the world of football with her influence.
Many rising stars dreams of coming to Real Madrid and that does not look like changing in years to come, as the club continues to stay ahead of others, portraying the place where dreams are fulfilled.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
