Since Real Madrid entered the Calderón era, there were three main reasons for the decline in the club's profitability.
The first was the decline in commercial income.
Despite the golden signboard of Qin Xiong, Real Madrid's comprehensive commercial influence was on the decline compared to the superstars of Florentino's era, such as Figo, Zidane, Beckham, and other superstars. This decline naturally led to a decline in income.
The second was the decline in the club's commercial development ability under Calderón's leadership.
This was the problem of the club's management team's ability.
The decline in ability was comprehensive. Compared to Florentino's era, there were almost no superstars that could not be bought. Calderón wanting to buy Kaka was just an illusion. If Qin Xiong had not fallen out with Arsenal, perhaps Calderón would not have been able to get this big bargain.
In terms of commercial operations and development, Calderón was only Florentino's assistant. Naturally, he could not be compared to Florentino's team.
The third was the increase in the club's expenses.
Real Madrid might have gone through two summers of operation, and had sent away big-name star players such as Zidane, Beckham, and Carlos, who received high salaries from the club. However, Calderón's expenditure on recruitment was huge. He had spent more than 100 million euros in the summer for two consecutive years, and that did not include the expenditure of bringing in the three South American talents last winter.
Coupled with the increase in the overall cost of the football industry, the rise in player salaries, and other circumstances, this part of the normal expenditure put a huge burden and pressure on the club's income and expenses.
In addition, the abnormal part of the expenditure was Calderón's crime that was condemned by the media.
Calderón's team, including his relatives and friends, paid for a lot of expenses in the name of the Real Madrid Club, which was the "private use of public funds!"
Perhaps this part of the expenditure was not high, but the overall expenditure accumulated over a long period of time was relatively large.
Under such a background, Real Madrid began to take the path of reducing expenditure under Calderón's leadership.
This was completely different from the style of Real Madrid during the Galactica era.
Florentino believed that spending a lot of money to do big things, and a big investment to have a big output.
Calderón was obviously more incompetent in this regard. He could only reduce expenses and control the financial balance, but he could not bring Real Madrid more revenue channels in terms of revenue.
Because of this, Calderón would frown if Freddy wanted to make Qin Xiong the highest-paid player in Real Madrid. He did not think that Qin Xiong did not deserve such treatment. After all, bringing in Qin Xiong was a highlight of Calderón's political achievements.
However, Calderón would have a headache and would not be able to make a decision immediately. He also had to deal with Freddy as much as possible without hurting their relationship and suppress Qin Xiong's conditions for renewal. Calderón roughly understood the inside story behind Qin Xiong's departure from Arsenal.
He didn't want to waste the trust between him and Qin Xiong in a protracted negotiation.
However, he needed to see if Real Madrid could pay Qin Xiong more, especially since Real Madrid still needed to invest in the transfer market in the summer.
.....
On April 27, the last game of the 34th round of La Liga was played at the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid played at home against the Basque lions, Athletic Bilbao, who were in the middle of the league.
Bosque sent a large number of substitutes to play, and Real Madrid's main lineup had to conserve energy for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final in four days.
Perhaps because they had already won the league title in advance, Real Madrid's substitute lineup was too relaxed in the game.
Athletic Bilbao took the game very seriously and once turned the tables at the Bernabéu. Bosque flew into a rare rage at halftime and angrily rebuked the substitutes' performance.
His reprimand refreshed Real Madrid in the second half. After a tough 90-minute battle, Real Madrid drew with Athletic Bilbao at home.
2:2
The draw seemed to be a wake-up call for the substitutes to let them understand the gap between them and the main lineup and that they could not easily defeat their opponents.
Real Madrid's main players did not think too much. The league title was already in their pocket. The only thing they were thinking about now was the Champions League.
Two days later, Liverpool arrived in Madrid.
The European media unanimously pessimistically believed that Liverpool would be beaten black and blue by Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid's fans were well prepared before the game and excitedly prepared a lot of cheering slogans. The fan organizations also agreed to create huge home pressure for Liverpool in the game to escort the team to the Champions League final this season.
On the night of April 30, the Bernabéu was full and noisy.
Real Madrid's players stood in the players' tunnel in high spirits and waited for the game to start.
Liverpool arrived late with a dignified expression.
It seemed that Benítez's pre-game reprimand had a lot of content for the players. After all, Benítez did not seem like an inspirational manager who would give an impassioned speech.
When the players of the two teams walked into the Bernabéu stadium, the stadium echoed with the cheers of the Real Madrid fans in all directions!
"Forward! Madrid! "
Real Madrid's players stood in the stadium for the kickoff ceremony with obvious confidence and an air of superiority over their opponents.
"Welcome to the Bernabéu stadium, where the second leg of the 2007-2008 Champions League semi-finals will take place. Real Madrid defeated Liverpool in the first leg in an away game with a score of 4: 3. Liverpool is fighting with their backs against the wall in the second leg at the Bernabéu. If they can beat Real Madrid and advance to the final, then they will have completed what the media said: an impossible task!
Whether they can reach the Champions League final three times in four years depends on what kind of performance Liverpool will show today.
Real Madrid was obviously better than Liverpool in terms of lineup, form, pressure, and team fitness.
They locked in the league title early and also won the Copa del Rey. They turned all their focus to the Champions League.
Last weekend in the league, when Liverpool deployed most of their main players in Birmingham City but failed to win the game, Real Madrid's starting players were rested as spectators.
With the home advantage today, Real Madrid was favored by all parties for a reason.
Let's take a look at today's starting lineup.
Real Madrid starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defenders: Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze.
Midfielders: Robben, Diarra, Guti, Snede.
Forwards: Qin Xiong, Raúl.
Liverpool starting lineup: 4231.
Goalkeeper: Reina.
Defenders: Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise.
Midfielders: Kuyt, Alonso, Gerard, Mascherano, Benayoun.
Forward: Torres.
The game is about to start and Real Madrid will kick off first! "
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