New Headline: Barcelona Claims Title as Lionel Messi Leads Charge to Fifth Consecutive Cup Victory
Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid, is seen in the stands during the LaLiga EA Sports football match between Real Madrid CF and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid at Estadio Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, on February 1, 2026. (Photo by Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images As the hundreds of millions of Madridistas across the world celebrated their momentous 3-0 demolition of Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, a famous picture began to make the rounds of Football Twitter. It depicted Madrid’s summer 2018 transfer window, with three signings – Álvaro Odriozola, Sergio Reguilón, and Mariano Díaz – being cropped out from the original image.
On the left stood Vinícius Júnior, who, despite squandering a penalty, delivered a commanding display in attack and continued his recent uptick in form. In the middle, there was Federico Valverde, who, in the absence of Kylian Mbappé, Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham, stepped up and delivered the goods with an unforgettable hat-trick. Next to Valverde was Thibaut Courtois, who proved why he is one of, if not the finest, goalkeeper in world football with a super display against the Cityzens.
And over on the right, there was a man who, despite never playing for the club, has established himself as the most influential person in the club’s modern history: Florentino Pérez. Born on March 8, 1947, Pérez got his start in local politics before branching into an executive role with a construction company, but he always had his heart set on one role in particular: Real Madrid president. After finishing second in the 1995 presidential elections, Pérez ran against incumbent Lorenzo Sanz, who had just guided them to the 1998 and 2000 Champions League titles after a 32-year drought.
Promising to sign Luís Figo from archrivals Barcelona, Pérez took home over 55% of the votes and oversaw an impressive start to his tenure thanks to major superstar signings like Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Michael Owen, Robinho, and David Beckham. Initially pursuing a ‘ Zidanes y Pavones ’ strategy in which superstars would play alongside academy graduates, Pérez soon became obsessed with a strategy of signing the world’s best ‘ Galácticos ’ and filling his team with blockbuster icons. Every single year, it seemed that Real were shattering the club-record transfer fee that they had set the previous year.
But whilst this audacious approach resulted in him winning reelection in 2004 with 94. 2% of the vote, it also resulted in his downfall, with Real struggling for balance and regressing to trophy-less seasons before his resignation in 2006. And it’s precisely this lavish spending that has meant that Pérez has never quite got the respect that he has deserved from other football executives.
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