A few weeks ago, Real Madrid gave its future a face.
The most important club in the world presented a video of its stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu of the 21st century, which will be renovated with futuristic curved, diagonal metal slats.
The animation shows a place where the architectural and technical modernization of Real Madrid is taking place.
The traditional football stadium is becoming a gigantic multifunctional arena.
So that basketball, tennis and football will also be possible there, as well as concerts, trade fairs and fashion shows, the lawn in the new Bernabéu will be dismantled into sections, stacked on top of each other and stored.
Michael Horeni
Football correspondent Europe in Berlin.
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According to Spanish media reports, the club has already teamed up with an American private equity fund for the future rental of its stadium for events beyond sport, which is said to want to pay 400 million euros for it - and which should also be involved in the financing of the Super League. Perhaps you will not only see a nicely animated future vision of Real Madrid at this location, which is to be built at the end of 2022, but the future of top European football may also take place there.
On Saturday morning, Florentino Pérez delivered the sound for the new time. At the general assembly of his club, the President of Real Madrid settled with the previous system of European club football in a previously unknown form, questioned its future and viability and emphatically called for the transformation into a Super League self-administered and organized by the top clubs. Peréz left no doubt that Real Madrid will go this way to the end to bring the Super League into being even against the bitter resistance of the European Football Union (UEFA) so far. A blatant and unprecedented declaration of war against the association. "What is the Super League? It's not just a new competition. It is not a new international tournament without further ambitions.It's much more than that. It's an attempt to change the current dynamics of football. Because if we don't do anything, the sport will gradually die, ”said Peréz.
Is football losing popularity with the younger generation?
Real Madrid's president described a scenario in the club's basketball hall on Saturday where research showed "that the abundance of entertainment available to young people today is pushing football out of its privileged position".
The development is worrying.
Analyzing this trend, Real Madrid concluded that “the main reason for this is the increase in unattractive and inconsequential games during the season”.