The big clubs are very complex conglomerates that are born, grow, transform, succeed, fail… Cycles and perceptions change, but the shield remains unchanged if history is respected.
There is something to thank for the Santiago Bernabéu of the 21st century, Florentino Pérez: that he understands Real Madrid as a mythological figure of global reach and acts accordingly. The spectacular stadium that is emerging will update and make physical that greatness, giving the city an architectural, social and cultural brilliance. A bond that, like the club itself, expands football and transcends it.
A club is a belief that finds emotional support in the fans. You don’t even have to know the origin of that passion because it is made up of multiple influences, some visible and others invisible.
The Stadium, like the magnificent Sports City, are what is visible. But there are employees who dedicated their lives to Madrid with pride and discretion. And there are heroes whose style and personality marked the club forever and that only superior intelligences are capable of discovering, recognizing and telling. Antonio Escohotado in The forge of glory, says it perfectly with respect to the greatest player in history: “Di Stéfano’s passion for the game was imprinted on the club like a heroic breath capable of reappearing sooner or later with devastating effects for the rival.” In the midst of a comeback, someone should repeat this phrase like a litany.
These days Luka Modric is under an uncomfortable magnifying glass, but it is beginning to be time for us to look at him with a historical perspective to say thank you every time he waters the field with sweat and honors football with his class. He is a player who sows values because he has his relationship with ethics tied in a double knot. The ethics of effort, the ethics of respect, the ethics of love of football. Ethics in capital letters that he will leave as a legacy to the club.
What are these models for? History creates legends and legends draw on the myths that are embodied in the shield. When a player arrives at a club with these characteristics, he begins to notice something different, an obligation that challenges him in every training session, in every game. When he puts on the shirt he feels like he has to live up to it. It is then that the Bellinghams and the Vinicius begin to create new legends with old materials. The talent, which they already brought, the fight, which is mandatory, the exploits, which are a typical product. Everything has the same base, that heroic breath renewed and converted into challenge. Simply put, new players strive not to be less than the heroes who came before them.
Now the club is waiting for Mbappé and I notice in the atmosphere a concern that is unfounded for me. There are those who believe that he runs little, I think that he is a beastly sprinter who cannot be asked to make endurance efforts. There are those who distrust the effect that his status as a divine player may have on coexistence. I believe that his presence can enhance everything, from the talent of his teammates to the fury of the new stadium.
Mbappé is the best and the best have always suited Real Madrid’s vocation for greatness. As well as the fight, which this generation is knowing how to squeeze to compensate for the injuries that are marking the season. Stadium, heroes, values, everything is great. Of course, glory does not tolerate anyone who is above it, but one thing is the allergy to defeat and another is the purpose of looking for culprits when the results do not arrive. This madridista fanaticism gives me the right to say that referee victimhood is the opposite of greatness.
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