In the first two months of 2009, Real Madrid experienced the turbulence of Calderón's scandal-plagued final abdication, but the team's rise in the competition was smooth.
But after being eliminated as the defending champion, Real Madrid immediately fell into a new wave of public opinion.
AS criticized the performance of Real Madrid's generals after the game. Only one person was spared, and that was Qin Xiong, who scored four goals in the two legs of the game!
Higuaín became the main target of AS's attack. He missed the open goal opportunity in the second leg of the game and did not selflessly pass the ball to help the team achieve the equalizer or even reverse the situation. His behavior was mentioned countless times in the team's newspaper. Even Madrid TV repeatedly played the scene. There were also busybodies who tried to sow discord and interpreted the scene of Qin Xiong kicking the Liverpool goalpost as his anger towards Higuaín.
Arjen Robben and Sneijder, the two Dutch players, were unable to get away from the Spanish media's deliberate targeting of the Dutch players. Their mediocre performances and mistakes were deliberately magnified to the extent that it even attacked their fighting spirit.
Casillas' mistakes, Cannavaro's declining form, Raúl's mediocrity and so on. It seemed that every player in Real Madrid except for Qin Xiong was nailed to the judgment table by the media.
Marca was more objective in its analysis of the root cause of Real Madrid's loss to Liverpool.
And it put forward a point of view: Real Madrid needed a revolution!
Well, Real Madrid had been stable for less than two years and there was going to be a revolution again!
At the same time, the fans and members of Real Madrid were completely disheartened by the decline of the defending champion's performance in various competitions this season.
There was a high probability that Borda, the interim president, would not make it through the summer.
The voices of change came one after another!
A person who was mentioned and never forgotten began to be looked forward to.
That was Florentino!
The Madrid media began to really pay attention to the magnate's actions and analyzed Florentino's reform measures after his successful restoration, because no one doubted Florentino's ambition to return to the Bernabéu!
Florentino had been preparing for a return to Real Madrid for a long time. The reason why he did not publicly announce the election was that, on the one hand, he wanted to test the opinions of the outside world. On the other hand, he hoped to clear all obstacles before the official announcement.
At present, only the president of the "White Platform" member association, Bravo, had announced his participation in the election, but insiders revealed that Bravo was likely to not even be able to provide the campaign deposit. Florentino was not worried about such an opponent.
Florentino's "superstar policy" was very attractive to the media and fans. In his comeback, Florentino would still follow the strategy of building the stadium around superstars. Kaka, Ronaldo, Villa, Alonso, and other star players had already entered Florentino's superstar acquisition list. The construction giant was ready to spend 300 million euros to remake Real Madrid into a "Galactica" in the summer of 2009.
There was no announcement, not even an interview, but Florentino's secret actions were just as exciting.
Although Real Madrid was still closely chasing Barcelona, even if they could eventually reverse Barcelona's title, a major change in the team's lineup was inevitable.
The defeat in the European arena and the humiliating exit in the Copa del Rey had made the Real Madrid fans fed up. No one dared to ignore the voices calling for change.
Of course, money was inseparable from building a new team. Florentino was ready to spend 300 million euros to build a new "Galactica", and the transformation plan of the Bernabéu Corner in the commercial district could provide 450 million euros to Real Madrid, which provided a guarantee for Florentino to carry out a large operation.
When Calderón was in office, Real Madrid received a 70 million euro guarantee from Santander Bank. Calderón also said that there would be superstars who would eventually come to Bernabéu because of his efforts. The media speculated that the superstar he was talking about was Ronaldo.
But Florentino's vision was not limited to Cristiano Ronaldo alone. He hoped to bring in more superstars with high commercial value and great sensational effect. Kaka would be his other target. In addition, Florentino would also inject some Spanish elements into the team. Villa and Alonso were the best representatives of Spain.
The four players mentioned above, plus a few strong players, would cost Real Madrid nearly 300 million euros.
Kaka was no longer an unsellable player in Milan. Not long ago, he almost joined Manchester City. Previously, there was news that Kaka refused to join Manchester City because of an agreement with Florentino.
Real Madrid's manager, Sanchez, had a close relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, Mendes. They had previously reached an agreement between them. Now, Florentino and Sanchez agreed to implement the agreement as soon as possible.
Real Madrid's purge was inevitable. In the rear defensive line, the positions of Casillas, Pepe, and Ramos were unshakeable. It would be difficult for Cannavaro and Heinze to stay. In the midfield, Van Der Vaart and Drenthe would leave. Fubet would be sent back to West Ham United. Florentino did not have a good impression of the "Dutch gang." Snede might be transferred to Juventus because of this. In the forward line, Saviola certainly had no room to survive. The veteran, van Nistelrooy, would also be in an awkward situation.
The purge would also bring a certain amount of income to Real Madrid, which would also be used for recruitment, although the number would not be too high.
The bombardment of public opinion caused the Real Madrid players to be criticized for their performance in the arena. The turmoil in the management and the imperative summer general election made the future of the players uncertain. The morale of the players within the team was on the verge of collapse.
Before the weekend league, Raúl once again held a team meeting. The players went to Raúl's house and everyone calmly discussed how to face the current situation.
It could be said that before Calderón stepped down, the Real Madrid players only relied on themselves. The determination to unite in times of crisis could not be ignored. It was also a subconscious of their self-protection.
Now, they had reached a consensus to ignore what would happen in the summer for the time being and to absolutely ignore the voices of the media. The players themselves also had to do their best to prevent the spread and development of rumors and do their best to keep the team away from scandals and put all their energy into the league.
Regardless of whether they could reverse Barcelona's success in defending the league title in the end, at least they had to be worthy of this white jersey!
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