© EuroFootball.com
The decision of the former England national team captain and one of the most famous football players in the world David Beckham to leave Madrid's "Real" after the season and move to the United States likely symbolizes the end of the Madrid "Real" "Galactico" era.
When D. Beckham moved to "Real" in 2003 from "Manchester United", the club already had some of the best players in the world who were purchased in recent years: Portuguese Luis Figo, French Zinedine Zidane, and Brazilian Ronaldo.
However, as it later turned out, the abilities of the best players in the world together were not as great as expected, and the Royal club did not win a single title for three consecutive seasons, and this year this streak could be extended to four.
The "Galactico" era began when Florentino Perez won the club president elections. During the election campaign, he promised to bring the star of the main competitor "Barcelona", Portuguese Luis Figo, to the club, and later he fulfilled that promise.
With the help of Portugal's star, "Real" won the Spanish champions title that year after a four-year break, and impressed with this success, F. Perez decided to ignore the basic rules of football and started to form an attacking team.
The next target for F. Perez was Zinedine Zidane, and his interest was first expressed by writing a message on a napkin and passing it to a guard at a Monte Carlo restaurant.
The acquisition of this star cost the Royal club a record amount at the time - $66 million, which had to be paid to Turin's "Juventus".
And the purchase of this star clearly paid off, as in the 2001-2002 season finale, Z. Zidane scored a winning goal against Leverkusen's "Bayer" in the UEFA Champions League final, which "Real" won 2-1.
The following season, F. Perez took advantage of Ronaldo's conflict with the then Inter Milan coach Hector Cuper and, impressed by the forward's performance in the World Cup where Ronaldo's goals helped Brazil to triumph, he lured the player to Spain.
As with Z. Zidane, Ronaldo needed some time to adjust, but he scored 23 goals and helped "Real" become Spanish champions, although signs of a crisis were already visible.
Blinded by success, F. Perez rejected all requests from coaches to strengthen the defense and decided to acquire David Beckham. However, "Real" had already started to decline in performance before the arrival of the Englishman.
At the end of David Beckham's first season in the Royal club, "Real" fell into a real crisis. The first to notice the problems was L. Figo, who decided to leave the team and move to Inter Milan after "Real" did not rush to renew the contract.
Tired of "Real" failing to live up to his name, Z. Zidane decided to end his career earlier last season.
Last year, Ronaldo also expressed his dissatisfaction and his desire to leave the team. Although ultimately Ronaldo decided to stay in the team, his constant weight problems, frequent injuries, poor performance, and negative influence on team spirit make "Real" sell the forward.
Beckham was the first to announce that he would leave the team after the season, but Ronaldo may leave the team sooner if "Real" manages to implement its plans.
The policy of the new "Real" president Ramon Calderon is completely different. The club acquired three South American talents - Brazilian Marcelo and Argentinians Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago - who are expected to form the core of "Real" in the future.
It is clear that the "Galactico" policy has ended. Will a new era of "Real" victories begin?
