Tragic night for Real Madrid at Betis' stadium, where they suffered their first defeat of the season. In a very heated match, Mbappé missed a penalty in the final seconds that the Madrid supporters demanded be retaken because a local player had allegedly entered the area (1-0). The Frenchman did not have his day, as in the first half he would miss an opportunity almost at an empty goal, and when he could have avoided defeat, he would run into a great Álvaro Vallés on the penalty kick.

The rezoning of the land of the old Real Madrid Sports City, at the highest point of the Castellana promenade and where the five tallest office towers in Spain now stand, was a great injection of liquidity for Real Madrid. As a result of that operation, the white club moved its sports city to Valdebebas, where the first team players currently train and where the club's other teams play, and where the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium stands.

When he came out of the dressing room tunnel towards the bench, more than thirty photographers focused on José Mourinho. He was the man of the day: 13 years later he was returning to manage Real Madrid in an official match. The blame lies with 20 months without titles and a dressing room turned into a henhouse. Many fewer flashes photographed Manolo González, the main supporter of Àlex Calatrava, the young Barcelonian who seven years ago worked early mornings at Primark while playing for Parets in Primera Catalana and who yesterday almost spoiled the Portuguese coach's return to the League. The young Carlos Espí prevented it in the 90th minute with a saving goal for the Madridistas, who are starting this second spell with the Setúbal coach on the bench on the right foot (1-2).One of the tasks that Florentino has entrusted to the new coach is to fit Vinícius and Mbappé on the pitch, who at Madrid seem like oil and water. In Cornellà, on the Portuguese's debut, both were starters. Bellingham too, who arrived four days ago from vacation and who was one of the big surprises in the starting eleven. The Englishman immediately justified the coach's decision: before the 10th minute he connected with a header to make it 1-0 after a great free-kick from Arda Güler.Driven by the energy of the British midfielder and Valverde, Mourinho's new Madrid began its new era like a bullet. If it weren't for Clemens Riedel, who cleared a ball off the line, and Dmitrovic, with another saving foot, Espanyol would have reached minute 21, magical at Cornellà-El Prat, with the match decided. It was a mirage. A distant shot from Riedel and a deflected header from Roberto lifted the parakeets off the canvas, who are rebels at heart and who needed very little to believe in a comeback.In the longest possession of the home team, Javi Hernández accelerated an action inside the box and, just as last week he served the 2-0 to Roberto, last night he assisted Cala for the equalizer. The Barcelonian, who just last week debuted in the First Division, shot with soul to debut in the League and score a goal against Courtois, the best goalkeeper in the world. Dreams sometimes come true. The day all the international press was focused on famous people like Mbappé, Vinícius, and Mourinho, Cala managed to shine with his own light, demonstrating that, in life, dreams can often come true.

Rodri's signing for Barça has caused considerable discomfort in the Madrid press. You only have to see the space they dedicate to it on the front pages this Monday. A tiny sliver on the front of "Marca" and a small box on the front of "As". If you don't look closely, you might think it's advertising for some product. The best player in the World Cup, who is also Spanish, is coming to play in the Spanish League, but the most important thing is the result of a friendly match for the Whites, for heaven's sake. But inside they can't downplay it, so what they do is try to answer the great mystery. How is it that Rodri, who dreamed of playing for Real Madrid from birth, hasn't fulfilled his dream and has joined the ranks of the eternal rival. The answer is very clear: just as Feijóo isn't president because he doesn't want to be, Real Madrid hasn't signed Rodri because they didn't want to.

In the summer of 1963, Valencia made a tour of Mexican lands. It was not an easy tour, as the Mexican state did not recognize Franco's Spain. Valencia's coach at the time was the Basque Jacinto Quincoces, a legend of Spanish football who had played for Madrid. During that tour, Quincoces met up with Luis Regueiro. Basque like him. A former Madrid player like him. But the first had sympathized with the Francoists and the second, with the Republicans, which is why he ended up exiled in Mexico. During that tour, they dined together with other former footballers who had been separated by the Civil War. They took photographs together, and those who lived in Mexico gave Quincoces an album in which a handwritten text could be read: "Noble friendship. Against cold and hot wars, atomic bombs, political agreements and all the disgust and deceit that currently roam the world in which we live... It is so strong and indestructible that neither years nor distance can crack it".The album has ended up in the hands of the Catalan historian Arnau González i Vilalta, who has published El primer clásico antes del abismo (Editorial Base). A work in which he investigates what happened to the Real Madrid and Barça players who played the final of the Copa de la República on June 21, 1936, a match played a few days before the start of the Civil War. Players like Quincoces and Regueiro. Madrid won 2-1, with Ricardo Zamora making a key save on the Barça player Escolà in the final minutes of the match. "In the photos you can see how Zamora stops the ball just over the goal line. It's an iconic image, as the photograph captures the white dust rising from the goal line. A striking image, when you think of everything that came after," says the historian. The war also took its toll on those athletes. González has spoken with the descendants of the players who played that match, and has traveled abroad several times, especially to Mexico. He has rummaged through archives and has taken the book further, to place it in its historical context. "It's a long story that will extend to a dinner in Mexico City in 1963, summarized in an album of photographs that some of the protagonists of the match gave to the Real Madrid defender Jacinto Quincoces," he explains.

You don't need to be close friends with Florentino Pérez to know that Real Madrid's president doesn't take criticism well. Two blank years are too many for a leader accustomed to success who had recently been pointed out for poor management in transfer policy. With a serious face in the stands and after the umpteenth change on the bench, Florentino slammed his fist on the table, calling an absurd press conference – the first he had held in eleven years – to announce elections. Also for the first time in two decades, the leader had an opponent in front of him – until now, he had won them as the sole candidate. And once re-elected, he seemed to put the pedal to the metal with an aggressive and authoritarian transfer policy, where he not only wanted to strengthen his Madrid, but also wanted to annoy Barça, the rival to beat in the Spanish league in the last two years.

The world of football is cyclical, it tends to revisit itself. And Real Madrid is a great example to remember this. 17 years after Florentino Pérez returned to the white presidency and signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Ricardo Kaká in one go to dethrone Pep Guardiola's triumphant Barça, Leo Messi and company, the white leader, legitimized at the polls at the beginning of last June, is once again reaching for his wallet to challenge his eternal rival's reign.

Football historians recall that Real Madrid truly became great in the 1950s thanks to the European Cup. That newly created tournament became successful at a time when the Old Continent was still rebuilding after the Second World War. It was also a time when the Spanish national team was better known for its failures than for its successes — with the exception of the '64 Eurocup, held precisely in Spain—. So it suited the Franco regime well that the Madrid club, winner of the first five editions, became an ambassador for the country internationally. It was still a winning team that, in the domestic competition of the First Division, would also rack up League titles.

The market hasn't officially kicked off yet, but we've already seen the first summer trend: footballers who one day dreamed of playing for Barça and the next day sign for Real Madrid. Yes, José Mourinho, the antichrist of the pointed finger and insatiable provocations, is capable of convincing children forged in the Barça academy or Portuguese players perfected under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola without any resistance. With his rhetoric and, above all, with a good bag of money from the wounded Florentino Pérez, he works magic with a single call. Between the persistent little song of Bernardo Silva or the return of Marc Cucurella, however, what will hurt Barça the most will be seeing the full-back from Alella dressed in white. It's easy to ask yourself: “How did we let this happen?” The answer is simple: neither now nor ever has he felt that Barça truly wanted him.

Marc Cucurella is the new player for Real Madrid. The Catalan full-back, trained at La Masia, will wear white for the next six seasons after a lightning operation worked on in silence by the white club, which will pay 60 million between fixed and variables for a starting player for the Spanish national team who was on the market.

Goals, in football, we've seen many types. But this week, with the papal visit, we've seen some we didn't even know existed: "the Church's goals". Taking advantage of the visit of Leo XIV to the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday, Manolo Lama and his battle companion, Paco González, were in charge of narrating a curious spectacle. "You can really tell God is captaining this feat," said the usual commentator on Cadena COPE (the radio of the Episcopal Conference) for Real Madrid matches, as a series of balls were kicked into improvised goals set up in front of the Pope.

The arrival of José Mourinho at Real Madrid generates a change in the paradigm of the wide range of signings managed and controlled by super-agent Jorge Mendes. The Portuguese representative and problem-solver has operated quite a bit in recent years with Barça, as he maintains a good understanding with president Joan Laporta. This is how, for example, operations such as the landing of footballers like João Félix three seasons ago at the blaugrana discipline can be read. Although it was not a request from Xavi Hernández, who was then still the blaugrana coach, Mendes brought him to Barça with Laporta's approval because the super-agent, in the same way that he unblocks operations for club directors – he has been in charge of solving hot potatoes like Ansu Fati's – also uses his influence to satisfy the wishes of his players.

Neither Michael Olise, nor Vitinha, nor Harry Kane. The world-class star that its president, Florentino Pérez, announced a few days ago during his campaign on Iker Jiménez's program was Julián Álvarez. Or, at least, that's what can be understood from the statement Real Madrid issued on Tuesday evening. "Real Madrid announces that, after the board of directors meeting held this Tuesday, it has made an offer of 150 million euros to Atlético de Madrid for the federative rights of Julián Álvarez," the club stated at the beginning of the document, which concluded with another clear paragraph: "After studying and evaluating it, Atlético de Madrid has appreciated the offer, made within the framework of the good relations between the two clubs, and has rejected it, referring to the player's release clause".

At the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, foreign players, the most important in the squad, have long been cheered. Vinícius, Rodrygo, Valverde, and Mbappé arrived in Madrid as professional athletes and, despite some racist episodes inherent in the world of football, the integration of privileged people has never been a major problem. But this Monday at the Bernabéu, a different kind of foreigner was being cheered, those who had to leave their homeland to find "better opportunities".

Florentino Pérez will be president of Real Madrid until 2030, or at least that's what the results of this Sunday's elections at the white club indicate, which will be remembered for a chaotic vote count. With this new four-year mandate, Florentino will be close to almost 30 years at the helm of the club (he has been there since 2000 with a single interruption between 2006 and 2009). Now, he begins a new stage marked by internal, but also external challenges. For the first time, he will have active opposition. Enrique Riquelme, his opponent in the elections, to whom 35% of the members have given their support –a figure that has been interpreted as a wake-up call to Florentino–, has made it clear that he has come to stay: "This is not the end of anything, but the beginning of a path". But what will this path be like? And above all, will he be the only stumbling block for the white president?

Florentino Pérez called elections last May 12 with the intention that they would not be held, but the move backfired and the members not only voted for the first time in twenty years, but one in three of those who voted did so to tell him that they no longer want him as president. In less than a month, Florentino has discovered that he has opposition and, despite winning the elections, he has lost the referendum. Now he will retreat to his winter quarters after appearing on El chiringuito to boast, and will leave the cameras and microphones to José Mourinho, who will be the face and voice of Real Madrid, a terrible piece of news however you look at it.

1. Real Madrid has had a blank season in football. And in basketball. And in women's football. One hundred percent failures. Not a single title for the club with the best record in history. Faced with Flick's Barça's successes, a large smokescreen was needed, and Florentino Pérez invented express elections so that Madridism would have a democratic appearance. He has won them overwhelmingly. No surprise. Now he will be able to do what he wanted: sell 5% –or 10%– of the club's ownership to generate close to the billion euros that Madrid urgently needs. The cost overrun of the works on the Bernabéu stadium – the mess has not only been architectural – forces them to generate income from wherever, even if it means that the members will no longer be the owners of the entire club.

Florentino Pérez will continue to preside over Real Madrid after a chaotic night regarding the count. Despite the challenge of 1,000 mail-in votes in favor of Florentino, which caused the count to begin after 9 PM, the constructor emerged victorious from an election decided in the early hours, without debates and with little information. Pérez boasted to the press at 1 AM after defeating Enrique Riquelme at the end of a long day where information was lacking at times. In fact, while the count of the first election in 20 years at the club was underway, Madrid's television channel was showing past Champions League finals. And when Florentino announced his victory, he did so without providing official figures. At 2:12 AM, the club published the final results: Florentino won with 21,741 votes, 65% of the support, and Enrique Riquelme received 11,814 votes, 35%.

For some time now, Spanish politics has been immersed in a permanent electoral campaign, due to the calling of elections at the state, autonomous community, or municipal level. On the other hand, they cannot say the same for the world of football and, in particular, for Real Madrid. Twenty years later, the Whites are holding elections this Sunday and the campaign has suggested that, whatever the result, it will inevitably mean a mutation of the club: Florentino Pérez, president since 2009, has opened Pandora's box of ownership by rolling out the red carpet for a private investor. Meanwhile, Enrique Riquelme, his first opponent in history, has emerged as a critique of the model of recent years, promising a sporting structure that is "serious, modern, and profoundly madridista" and capable, he says, of leaving behind the low points the white team is going through. He has also promised a way of governing that is "transparent" and "more democratic." During the campaign, there has, of course, been talk of players and coaches. The candidates have promised the signing of great players, but depending on what happens, Madrid will experience very profound changes off the field.

Informatively, the interest in Real Madrid's elections is unquestionable, but the level of the two presidential candidates demonstrates that the type of leadership in the world of football – there and here – is very low. They are privileged gentlemen with an outsized ego who confuse the part with the whole. In short, toxic masculinities with different styles, but with the same essence. For now, the one who has already won the white elections by sheer patheticness is a Florentino Pérez who has become an erratic being who rambles on repeating battles from 25 years ago, whatever the format: press conference or a massage-interview with friends like Iker Jiménez. It's easy to imagine a maid from an ex-colony cutting the hake into very small pieces so as not to choke. The opponent, however, is no anti-dandruff shampoo: Enrique Riquelme is the same old song, but further from the nursing home.