Real Madrid are a giant club, possible the biggest in the world. They have won every major trophy many times over with an impressive 9 European Champions Cups (Champions League.) No one can say that any other club is bigger, well, besides a few. Barcelona has grown since Ronaldinho came to the team, AC Milan have to be considered, and of course I would say United who have the highest grossing merchandise sales and are rated above Madrid in a couple of recent ratings. With that said are they the best club of all time?Madrid haven't won the Champions League since the 2001-2002 season when they beat Bayer Leverkusen with a Zidane volley I don't think any soccer fan could forget. Madrid won 5 of their European Championships in the FIRST FIVE YEARS OF THE COMPETITION (1955-1960). They had a great striker by Alfredo Di Stefano who was absolutely unbelievable but teams at that time where not nearly as well rounded as they are now and the competition was not the most important thing of that era. Madrid won again in 1965, and failed in all their attempts until 1998-1999 when they beat Juventus. That is a long time to wait, United fans know all about that, 1968 to 1999. Between those two trophies Liverpool won three, Ajax won four, Bayern Munich won three, AC Milan won four, and lowly Nottingham Forest won 2. What I am getting at is 9 trophies is an unrepresented fact for the dominance of the so called Madrid giants and what some call (wrongly) the best club of all time.
So who would I say is the best European team of all time, AC Milan. I know some will be
upset about this but its true. They have won a total of 7 trophies and all came spread out since the start of the competition in 1955. They won 2 in the 60's, 0 in the 70's, 1 in the 80's, 2 in the 90's, and 2 in the new millennium. They have been one of the most consistent team over the competitions history, appearing in the final 11 times. They lost in a pk shoot out to Liverpool, and extra time to goal to Real Madrid. To me it is a clear choice and for me without Madrid's complete uneven dominance in the early years can not out weigh the dominance over 60 years by one club, AC Milan. United can turn in to the dominant team of the future, especially with Milan not appearing in the Champions League, but we must adopt the same system and mentality of winning that AC Milan has (which I believe United have since Fergie came).Madrid also have a questionable history when it comes to moral decisions. In 2000 Real Madrid where near bankruptcy and deep in dept. They rezoned their training ground and sold it to the City of Madrid. This sale, reported just bellow 500 million euros, allowed the club to buy Zidane, Beckham, Figo, and the other Galactico's and rid themselves of their debt at the same time. It also helped bring in more money with the sale of merchandise from the sports most polarizing individuals (Ronaldo, Zidane, BECKHAM, and Figo). This shady deal was investigated but I don't know much but it seems to be a slight over price. Many felt this decision was made to save Real Madrid by the city and its politicians. I can only say that this is just one case among many where Madrid have done questionable things to achieve success. We should not be surprised then when we hear what Roman Calderon said next.
Roman Calderon joked with his players the other day saying Ronaldo is on his way. He said, "Don't worry, he will be here soon." when answering a question posed by a joking Real Madrid player. I am sure he means this just as a joke but when someone is trying to buy your best player in the most unprofessional way (not listening to United's when they say he isn't for sale, talking about it to the media, playing games with Ronaldo, and playing games with United), and then joking about it allAll I know is if I was a Madrid fan, I would and should feel ashamed for the behavior of my President and head coach. I can only imagine how Madrid fans would react to AC Milan behaving in a similar matter trying to acquire Zidane at his peak. Probably not to different than how I am acting right now, I can only hope United seize business with Madrid in the future.
1 comment:
Yes! Madrid has had a lot of shady behavior throughout the history. But you forgot how they came to be the club they are. Di Stefano was originally found and chased by Barcelona, but as Franco was in power he had different ideas. Franco was never shy about his profound love for the Maregues, and even threatened to kill Barcelona players, if they did not lose, at half time during a kings cup final. He like many after him stuck his hand where it did not belong and managed to get Di Stefano onto his squad. The years that followed had madrid winning everything they could, leagues, kings cups, super cups, and European cups. Most of the local cups have been proven to be bought or manipulated by the dictator but have not come to trial as Franco was clever about leaving incomplete records. Th point is that if Franco had not used his ultimate power to not only scare other teams away but steal players from other teams Madrid would be nothing. In the tim e period before Real blew up Bilbao Athletico Madrid, and Barcelona were more successful clubs but as they have always been polar opposites to the right wing Madrid minds they were left to suffer under the dictatorship. Not only because i am a Barcelona fan till death but because i am able to see what is unethical can i say that Madrid is not only far from being the best club but should be investigated for the majority of their actions. Sadly the fans and people around Madrid never got rid of their Franco mind set and continue to act as if the rest of the world was under them. I hope you United fans do not suffer too much from this encounter with Madrid.
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