Last weekend the world witnessed the catalan club Barcelona lift their 4th champions league trophy in the last decade. They also became the only team to complete a treble of League Title, League Cup & Champions League twice.

After a trophy less 2013-14 season with the club and a loss to Germany in World Cup final followed by CR7 stealing away the Ballon D’Or Lionel Messi finally decided he is done with the mourning period eating pizzas and to hell with Neymar’s selfies. He found his elder wand at the advent of new year and managed to far more then rescue his club’s season which was in a serious crisis in January.

The champions league final result was a disappointment to the Italians but even more so for Real Madrid. The fans losing their minds, the players losing their sleep and the management losing their hair as the club was knocked out in semi-final by an under-dog Juventus side in an aggregate 3-2 result over two legs. Moreover, two of those three goals for Juventus came from Alvaro Morata – a player who was discarded by Real last season and was sent off to Italy. It got worse as they then saw their bitter rivals win their favourite tournament while they had to be contended with Ronaldo’s Pichichi.

But Florentino Perez, the club’s president, a rationale man guided by pure logic decided the solution to club’s problems was to sack the then acting manager Carlos Ancelotti whom as a matter of fact he tried to sign thrice and who gave them their much awaited La Decima only the previous season. Also an opinion poll of the club’s fans showed that majority of them wanted Ancelotti to stay and even the players demonstrated their support for him on twitter. But Perez was able to successfully justify the club leadership’s decision of sacking the manager for those of us who were less than convinced when he spoke in a press conference, – ” What did Ancelotti do wrong? I don’t know”. The reason is probably the club’s policy of trying to give the club a new impulse, a fresh energy every few years. A successful philosophy which gave them one La Liga in 7 years.

It is difficult to stop making fun of Florentino Perez. During his two presidencies Perez has made some very controversial decisions. The most controversial and the one which hurt the club most was the sacking of Vicente Del Bosque who during his 4 years of managerial stint at Real considered to be the most successful period of the club in the modern history guided them to 7 trophies which includes two Domestic Leagues in 2001 & 2003, two UEFA Champions League in 2000 & 2002 and a place in the last four of Champions League for all the four years he was in-charge. Del Bosque, a calming presence in the dressing room who knew how to handle a team full of personalities and deliver results as also evident by his success with spanish national team, would have guided Real to many more titles if not for the whims and fancies of Perez. Another of his decision which stirred up controversy was his refusal to improve Claude Makelele contract, (one of the best defensive midfielders of that era) who was payed far less then his Galacticos teammates. So, it was not unreasonable that he wanted a hike but Perez let him leave the club and thus jeopardized team’s defense. His inability to acknowledge the importance of defenders and his Galacticos policy saw Real become into an un-balanced side crowded with high profile attackers who had limited defensive ability. Also, his policy to bring in marketable players to boost t-shirt sales and discard the less marketable players or to put it crudely not so good looking ones because they are not fit for the stardom and glamour associated with the Real Madrid would inspire ridicule towards him in any true supporter of the great sport.

You can achieve a short lived success assembling in-form players in their prime from across the world but to achieve continuous success and be regarded as the greats you need to inculcate right practices inherent to the club. Real though have always been an attacking side broadly speaking but they need to have a more stronger philosophy. We need someone like what Johan Cryuff was for Barcelona. Someone who could turn the club into a school of football with a unique philosophy and a playing style. Real like barcelona needs a a crop of footballers from their own academy who have played alongside for years and thus develop a far better understanding between them. But Real’s ignorance of their youth team has cause them to be relegated from Segunda to division 3. It cannot be denied that there is an obvious mis-management at club’s top level.

The appointment of Rafa Benitez as the new manager does not excites me as a Real’s fan. Neverthless, I am hopeful Bale will find his form back this season, Ronaldo will score a lot of goals as he always does and be more accepting and a mentor to Gareth Bale, Modric will be fit to play as the new season kicks-off in August, Rodriguez will build upon his already impressive first season, Cassilas will hit form to have a memorable season (which could very well be his last) and team will win much silverware.