Real Madrid again the biggest and the best club in Europe

“Kings of Europe. We are the kings of Europe. Kings of Europe!” Real Madrid fans sing their favorite song again this weekend. From the final whistle of the French referee Clément Turpin at the Stade de France on Saturday evening to the ceremony on Sunday at the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid. Real Madrid can call themselves the best team in Europe for the fourteenth time in club history after the Champions League final won 1-0 against Liverpool. And thus ‘de Koninklijke’ confirms the status of the largest and most successful club in the world.

Florentino Pérez clapped with a broad grin on his face for the success afterwards. It is largely his success. The president of Real Madrid can call himself the administrative architect behind the win of the Champions League. With steady annual growth, Pérez has built the most impressive football company in the world. And he has success on his side. And the needed luck at the right time.

Pérez took a gamble last year with the appointment of coach Carlo Ancelotti, but did so in the knowledge that the Italian won the Champions League in 2014 with a large part of the player group. Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema, Daniel Carvajal and Gareth Bale (this time as a bench seat) won their fifth Champions League. So call it ‘the cup of continuity’. Although newcomers such as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and match winner Vinicius Jr. in Paris the great stars.

More than half an hour delay

The Stade de France provided a wonderful setting for the final that was initially assigned to the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UEFA decided to move the game. The only downside was the condition of the field. After a concert by Indochine on Saturday 21 May, the grass was so badly damaged that a new mat had to be placed. Before the game, both trainers complained about the badly bonded grass. But there was nothing more that could be done.

After the supporters of both clubs have started singing the club songs Hala Madrid and You’ll never walk alone had sung, confusion arose as signs in the stadium stated that the game would be postponed “for safety reasons.” Footage showed that thousands of Liverpool supporters were still standing in front of the entrances and that several dozen people had slipped past the guards without tickets. After the postponed opening ceremony, provided by the Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, the anthem of the Champions League was still sounded at 9.35 pm.

When it kicked off, the chaos outside was far from over. Fans and local residents from the Saint-Denis district clashed with the French mobile unit. Real Madrid-Liverpool FC was a clash between two styles of play from the start. The Spanish champion of Italian coach Ancelotti opted for the usual 4-4-2 formation in which the football team waits patiently for the right moment to kill the killer Karim Benzema or the swift Vinícius Jr. to be able to establish.

loose blanks managed to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City with some effort on the way to the final without really shining. Just before half time, Real Madrid seemed to take the lead via Benzema after an initially failed classic counter, but the video referee (VAR) ruled out the goal for offside. It was Real Madrid’s only chance before halftime. In the 59th minute it was Vinicius Jr. which struck deadly from a counterattack. The 21-year-old Brazilian tapped in a cross from the Uruguayan Federico Valverde. It was enough to restore hegemony in Europe.

The German Jürgen Klopp has a different view on football and wants to entertain the public in addition to results. Liverpool’s game in the final was characterized by enormous dynamics and variation. The Reds try to conquer the ball in dangerous positions by pressing and then quickly go for the goal with several players. The vice-champion of England managed to win the FA Cup and the League Cup this season and at the same time entertained football fans worldwide.

Football Benchmark

Real Madrid-Liverpool FC was also a clash between two of the biggest football clubs in the world. In that respect, the club from Spain is bigger than its competitor from the Premier League in every way. According to a recently released study by Football Benchmark Real Madrid is the number one in the world with a value of 3.2 billion euros. Liverpool is fifth on that list with an amount of 2.5 billion euros.

The battle at the top of international football is accompanied by waves. The English reigned for decades as ‘the inventors of football’ in the past century, but Real Madrid managed to win the European Cup I five times in a row from 1956 to 1960. De Koninklijke grew into the most successful football club in the world, with thirteen of the most important European cups in the museum. The latter was won in 2018 against Liverpool at the Kiev stadium. Liverpool (2019), Bayern Munich (2020) and Chelsea (2021) broke Real Madrid’s hegemony. And that turned out to be temporary.

†Reyes de Europa, Somos los reyes de Europa, Reyes de Europa”, the fans of Real Madrid sing all weekend.