THE END OF AN ERA

 

Image Credit- Goal.

Author- Kumar Mukul Choudhary.

The year was 2006. The then Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was astounded by the performance of the club in the last twenty months. Indeed, no president in Real Madrid could justify two trophyless seasons, especially when the Galacticos play for your club and the club has spent a fortune upon them. Hence, Perez resigned. In July Ramon Caldaron came to the helm of Real Madrid. A man who promised sensible transfers for the betterment of the club. Two La Liga trophies followed, and everyone thought that the Galacticos project was a done deal. On its face this is the best thing that can happen to Real Madrid. No team can subsist on superstars only. You need strength at every spot of the field. Yet time had something else in mind for Don Perez. Scandals in the Real Madrid Board led to the downfall of Ramon Caldaron. In mid- 2009 Perez again became leader of Los Blancos. This time he was focused on sustainable signings for the club. He wanted to start the project Galacticos 2.0. However, this project he aspired turned out better than 2001 version.

 In came the class of 2009. Florentino Perez wanted to show his power to Spanish football and Real Madrid's stakeholders. Therefore, he broke the world record for transfer fees twice in a single transfer window. First the club signed Ricardo Kaka for more that 60 million Euros. Then came Cristiano Ronaldo for 94 million Euros. As a Real Madrid fan I didn't even care who else the club had signed. For me these two would make us win everything. This was indeed a childhood mistake. Real Madrid also signed a 21-year-old Lyon striker Karim Banzeema (Karim the dream). He and Xabi Alonso were overshadowed by the other two Galacticos. However, over the years we saw the tremendous contribution of these two as well.

The Galacticos 2.0 brought new aspirations in the old rivalry. It began battel between two Spanish clubs having different ideology altogether. Real Madrid who were collecting greatest players of the world through its economic might was pitted against FC Barcelona, a club famous for making home grown talent world class. In this background the class of 2009 started playing together. The initial years for the Galacticos 2.0 were pretty tough. In first two seasons they have only won a Spanish cup. To which the club showed too much joy, to the extent that a certain Barcelona defender made too much fun of this victory. As the supporter of the club these were tough times for me.

In these initial years fate held different ends for two Galacticos. Ronaldo was proving why he is a generational talent by scoring goals week after week. However, Kaka lost his A.C Milan touch and finally lost touch with Jose the maneger, these events have relegated Kaka to the bench of Real Madrid and from there to retirement. Nevertheless, Ronaldo was running supreme in these years. Even Benzema was playing the role of playmaker and created chances for his team. Nonetheless trophies remaied elusive. Then for next two season Real Madrid had a respectable showing both in Europe and at home. However, this only culminated in One La Liga trophy. The team has lost three champions league semi- final in a row. The class of 2009 was playing as it's best however, they are not able to convert these showings into trophies.

Then came the season of 2013-14, the club again broke the record fee for transfers and signed Gerath Bale. He would turn out to be immensely influential for the class of 2009. In one season Real Madrid would go on to win two trophies. An event not seen in the last decade. The next four years will be the best years of the 2010s decade of the Real Madrid. Both Benzema and Ronaldo were at the peak of thier powers. This led to three consecutive Champion league trophies for the Los Merengues. However, for a football fan thing were not as simple as they appear today. Departure of Ronaldo made all of us feel that Karim is a world class striker and a team player who sacrificed his game for Ronaldo's goal scoring skills. At that time many Real Madrid fans like me thought why the club is carrying Karim Benzema despite his limited performances. To the extent that i use to rant in my hostel room that Karim Benzema has a government job in Real Madrid and can only be retired once he turns 60. How wrong I was.

For the next five seasons Karim the dream single handedly kept the club together winning two La Liga, one Spanish cup and one Champions league. He even worked with young talents to leave the club in secure hands. Yesterday after 14 years of service he finally decided to leave the club. With this curtain fell on the class of 2009. A class that made Real Madrid realize why they are considered best club in the world. It showed the world that Galacticos project can work if done sensibly. For me it's end of my childhood. I started watching football in 2009 as 12 years old and finally after 14 years all of my childhood heroes have put curtains upon their countable careers.