Real Madrid may win the 10th Champions League title tomorrow if they beat city-rivals Atletico Madrid. La Decima has been on the mind of every manager who has coached the Merengues since 2002, the last year they won the European trophy.
Since 2002 Real have spent almost £1 billion chasing the dream of a tenth European title. However, since 2002, and not including the current campaign, the Madrid giants have never made it past the semifinals.
Tomorrow, Real may put an end to the non-stop mocking
In 2009/10 Perez’s club spent an astonishing £220M to bring Ronaldo from Manchester United, Kaka from AC Milan, and Benzema from Lyon, to the Santiago Bernabeu. Moreover, just last Summer, Real Madrid spent £86M, the highest ever transfer fee, to bring Gareth Bale on the team.
Can the current team follow the extraordinary run of the previous legends?
Los Blancos’ transfer-strategy has often lead supporters to scratch their heads, as the Spanish club engaged with unexplainable moves. In 2009, for instance, the Merengues sold both Arjen Robben to Bayern Munich and Wesley Sneijder to Inter; that year’s UCL final saw Internazionale clashing with the Bavarian side.
Both Robben and Sneijder went on to win the Champions League once they left los Blancos
Had Real spent more wisely than it did, it could have saved a lot of money and possibly lifted more trophies. But all this will not matter if they can beat Atleti and once again, make history.
If anyone can top the likes of Zidane, Beckham, and Figo, it is probably the deadliest duo in the world, Bale-Ronaldo
List of Real Madrid’s transfers since 2002
2013/14 - Gareth Bale (Tottenham) £85.3m, Asier Illarramendi (Sociedad) £34m, Isco (Malaga) £23m, Daniel Carvajal (Leverkusen) £5m, Casemiro (Sao Paulo) £4.8m = £152.1m
2012/13 - Luka Modric (Tottenham) £33m, Diego Lopez (Sevilla) £3m = £36m
2011/12 - Fabio Coentrao (Benfica) £26.4m, Nuri Sahin (Dortmund) £8m, Jose Callejon (Espanyol) £5.5m, Raphael Varane (Lens) £11.5m = £51.4m
2010/11 - Angel Di Maria (Benfica) £29m, Mesut Ozil (W Bremen) £16.4m, Sami Khedira (Stuttgart) £15.5m, Pedro Leon (Getafe) £8.1m, Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea) £6.7m, Sergio Canales (Racing) £4m = £79.7m
2009/10 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) £80m, Kaka (Milan) £56m, Xabi Alonso (Liverpool) £30m, Karim Benzema (Lyon) £28m, Raul Albiol (Valencia) £15m, Alvaro Negredo (Almeria) £5m, Estaban Granero (Getafe) £4.5m, Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool) £4.5m = £223m
2008/09 - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax) £23.8m, Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth) £20m, Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg) £13.4m, Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander) £10m, Ruben De La Red (Getafe) £3.8m, Javi Garcia (Osasuna) £3.2m = £74.2m
2007/08 - Arjen Robben (Chelsea) £31m, Wesley Sneijder (Ajax) £25.7m, Pepe (Porto) £24m, Royston Drenthe (Feyenoord) £11.5m, Gabriel Heinze (Man Utd) £8m, Christoph Metzelder (Borussia Dortmund) Free, Javier Saviola (Barcelona) Free, Jerzy Dudek (Liverpool) Free = £100.2m
2006/07 - Mahamadou Diarra (Lyon) £22.8m, Gonzalo Higuain (River Plate) £18m, Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors) £15m, Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd) £11m, Marcelo (Fluminese) £7.8m, Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus) £6.9m, Emerson (Juventus) £6.9m = £88.4m
2005/06 - Sergio Ramos (Sevilla) £23.7m, Robinho (Santos) £21m, Julio Baptista (Sevilla) £17.9m, Cicinho (Sao Paolo) £6m, Carlos Diogo (River Plate) £5m, Antonio Cassano (Roma) £4.2m, Pablo Garcia (Osasuna) £2.5m = £80.3
2004/05 - Walter Samuel (Roma) £20.2m, Jonathan Woodgate (Newcastle) £13.4m, Michael Owen (Liverpool) £8m, Thomas Gravesen (Everton) £2.5m = £44.1m
2003/04 - David Beckham (Man Utd) £30m = £30m
2002/03 - Ronaldo (Inter) £39.6m = £39.6m
