Passion and reason use different languages. As I am a very rational person, I have a problem with Madrid. When I have to analyze the preview of their matches I am full of ideas, even if they are all imaginary. But after the game, when the facts have already passed sentence, I don’t find enough arguments to support the emotional outpouring. I celebrate and even scream, but I never know why.
We know the practice. The team repeats it as many times as necessary, in desperate situations and in the most unusual way. The second goal was a combination between Nacho, Rüdiger and Joselu. Who could expect it? Even in the midst of impossible battles, we trust against the advice of common sense. But let’s be honest: we are missing a theory. Magic is not a theory; The legend helps, but it is not enough; The fans influence, but they do not play.
Enemies don’t help either. The luck they wield is not usually so stubborn. You don’t win the lottery every day. Nor does the “always stealing” thing, which may be a consolation, explain this chain of agonizing triumphs. The more it is exaggerated, the less true it seems. Müller said after the game that “at the Bernabéu, always the same” and “that already happened to us in 2017.” Which suggests that the referees, from Monday to Sunday, conspire to feed the Madrid legend with suspicious decisions. Nothing seems to indicate that it is at the request of Ceferin, but they insist.
If we draw a dotted line to find historical continuity, we would have to start with the two great captains (Carlo Ancelotti dixit): Santiago Bernabéu and Florentino Pérez. Then we will have to continue with the great “sailors” (always citing the philosopher Ancelotti), starting with the honorary presidents: Di Stéfano, Gento, Amancio, Pirri. Raúl cannot be missing, as a representative of the youth team, nor Cristiano, with his record-breaking footprint, until we reach the heroes of this generation, several of them one step away from raising the fifteenth. It’s not that they are a theory in themselves, but they are reasons. With their enormous talents, some built and others transmitted the culture of effort, of collective play, of resistance to defeat. That culture is such a solid foundation that the inexplicable can find its first support there. Background pride that becomes a cry in the stands and resurrects the dead on the field.
Let’s say it, at least in passing. Madrid lives, in economic terms, from what it is capable of producing. There is no billionaire behind it who entertains himself by investing money. Access great talents who make good games, achieve victories and shake up the economy. Mbappé will be next. A virtuous circle as old as football and modern as business. But the great football achievement is that Bellingham, which broke it at the beginning of the season, today compensates with effort for the loss of brilliance. May glory seek Joselu because he is committed like a fan. Let everyone bite, let Vinicius unbalance, let Modric celebrate the triumph like a child, let everyone be aware of their role and feel important playing it.
We are at this point: the culture predisposes and the players push it. The rest is mystery, very necessary material to build legends. The incredible thing is that the mystery survives millions of witnesses and social networks that scrutinize it and even parody it. However, they fail to reveal it.
There is the dazzling stadium, beyond it the magnificent Ciudad Deportiva and, on the field, a reliable and already glorious team. Madrid won the title of Best team of the 20th century and is on pole in the 21st century grid. Everything so solid that it is a theory in itself. Even so, it is one more wonder of football that it is so difficult to explain.
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