Real Madrid Need To Understand Success Is Worth More Than €200 Million

So los merengues have been knocked out of the Champions league—and what a year to be knocked out, with the final in the Bernabeu and the need to prove to the world that Real Madrid are still the greatest club in the world.

One can't help but feel a bit of concern for Real Madrid as the pressure from fans and the Spanish media, which has always existed, is particularly high this year—and will be for the next couple of years.

This all escalated from the summer, when current president Florentino Perez came in and splashed an unprecedented sum of money on player transfers to create another set of Galacticos.

The difference is whilst the previous Galacticos were built during a period of three years, this time, arguably, the full set has been brought in at a go. And even in the previous era, they only won two La Liga titles and one Champions league in the six years of the Galacticos reign—a fairly respectable return, but hardly a major trophy a year.

As a matter of fact, those trophies could hardly be accounted to the Galacticos, as they were bought in one in every year for about four years.

Although every one of the new Galacticos is exceptional in his own right, the pressure to produce at the highest level with so much expectation—and with absolutely new teammates—is a task no player should have to deal with. The team should receive immense credit for doing so well in the current situation.

But by all means, the biggest kudos should go to Manuel Pellegrini for being able to manage the mixture of new and old players and big egos and making a team out of them.

And therein lies the issue—making a team. Three things inspired the creation of the new Galacticos: The dire performance of the previous season, the political and marketing expertise of Perez as he staged his comeback, and the indomitable Barcelona FC of 2008-09.

The difference between the current Real Madrid and Barcelona sides is that the majority of the Barcelona players and staff live and breathe Barcelona—they have been around long enough to function at their normal capacity. They feel at home.

This is the stuff that brings a consistency of success. How many top-class players have been at Real Madrid long enough to call it home? But, more importantly, how many managers? Every manager comes with his idea for the team—and the more managers you have, the less consistent you will be.

If Real Madrid sack Pellegrini—who, in my opinion, is one of the best managers they can get at the moment—there is all indication that their future success will continue to be just as checked as their present.