April sees Real Madrid welcome Tottenham to the Santiago Bernabéu as the Spanish side look to progress past the Quarter Finals of the Champions League for the first time since the height of the ‘Galácticos’ era in 2004. And, what a period it has been for the Club in the meantime with countless player and managerial changes but, more significantly, the departure and subsequent re-election of President Florentino Pérez.

The man who drove the original Galácticos era was first elected in the Summer of 2000 on the premise that he would firstly address the financial mismanagement of the club and also pull off the unimaginable and sign Luis Figo from arch-rivals Barcelona. Not only did Pérez deliver Figo but the club won their first La Liga title in four years. The Champions League trophy returned the following season along with another record-breaking transfer as Zinedine Zidane signed from Juventus.

Pérez continued his policy of signing the World’s most glamorous and expensive players during subsequent seasons by bringing then-World Player of the Year Ronaldo in 2002 to Madrid followed by David Beckham in 2003. And, by 2005, Real overtook Manchester United as Football’s richest club.

However, the period was not without its problems. For example, Pérez alienated himself from much of the original playing squad by replacing popular manager Vicente del Bosque with Carlos Queiroz in 2003. The club also had one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe in Claude Makelele who played an important role for the club and was extremely popular among his colleagues. However, as he was tasked with the more unglamorous side of football and lacked the marketing power of a Zidane or a Beckham, Pérez refused to pay him parlance with the club’s highest earners and he left for Chelsea in 2003.

The club went through a total of six managers under Pérez, all of whom were forced to adhere to his meddling and directing of transfer policy. The team itself became unbalanced on the pitch and this was reflected in the results, as Real went three seasons without a trophy. And, following an early exit in the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal, Pérez signalled the beginning of the end for the Galácticos by resigning in February 2006.

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His replacement, Ramón Calderón, brought stability to the club by re-appointing Fabio Capello as manager. Transfer policy followed suit as Mahamadou Diarra, Emerson and Fabio Cannavaro all joined the club and became important members of the team. Figo had long-since left, Zidane retired following the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo joined Milan and Beckham found himself warming the bench after his announcement that he was to move to the USA with LA Galaxy at the end of the season. But, whilst Capello won La Liga, it was not enough for many die-hard fans who opposed his defensive tactics and he left in the summer of 2007.

Calderón’s reign was not without its own controversy and, following his resignation in 2009, Florentino Pérez returned to the club. Within weeks he spent close to £140m on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo as many hailed the return of the Galácticos.

But, Pérez’s approach since has been far from identical. In hoarding football’s brightest talent he has captured one of its finest managers in José Mourinho. His track record with Roman Abramovich and subsequent departure from Chelsea shows he cares little for meddling with his squad from above. And, this change of approach has been clear in Real Madrid’s recent transfer policies. Admittedly the club have sanctioned large fees on rising stars such as Benzema, di Maria, Khedira and Özil, but Pérez has also brought in more defensive-minded players such as Carvalho, Raul Albiol, Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso.

Therefore the Real Madrid of the past two seasons are clearly a different propostion to that of the original Galácticos under Pérez. They were unfortunate to finish behind Barcelona last season with a staggering 96 points from their 38 league games. In comparison, Real won their previous two titles with points totals of 76 and 85 respectively. As it stands, they have only one less point than they did at the same stage last year and are yet to drop any points at home. All that stands in their way, therefore, is a phenomenal Barcelona team who have lost in La Liga only once this year. But, with the ‘Special One’ at the helm and a Club President who appears to have learnt from past errors, one must feel success is just around the corner.

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