Also, their passion for and artistry in music and dance expressed in the natural rhythm and movements of tango, samba, and salsa seemed to transcend to their soccer. Latin American teams played an open, free-flowing, and attacking style of soccer. The players were artists and, in many ways, created with technical showmanship, flair, and a freedom of expression.
In contrast, at the time, European teams utilized discipline and order, denied the opposition space to move, encouraged direct passing, and emphasized a clinical and cautious approach. Their focus was simply on winning, and in some cases, not losing.
Di Stéfano used his elegant playing style, soccer intelligence, and leadership to integrate the players and teach them to value teamwork. His desire for self-improvement and professional pride set the team’s standard and became essential values of Real Madrid. Together with his gifted teammates, Di Stéfano invented modern professional team soccer and embodied all that is magical about it.59 The world-class players followed Di Stéfano’s lead because he was the undisputed leader, and also because these highly skilled players learned that eleven men, when given paint (the ball), could go on to a canvas (the field) and paint a ninety-minute picture of imagination and beauty that expressed them.60 Anything less than ninety minutes of full effort and beautiful, exciting, and attacking soccer with elegance, style, and class—whether the players were winning by several goals or losing—was considered an “unfinished painting” or disrespectful to the art and viewers.
The players had invented or perfected important moves used today, such as the “dry-leaf” dipping free-kick, which is a curling ball that drops precipitously, like a leaf picked up by a gust of wind that then suddenly stops and unexpectedly swerves downward, at a point near the goal; and the quick, technically precise instep pass. Just three miles down the Paseo de la Castellana (“Castellana Street”) from the Museo Nacional del Prado (“Prado Museum”), which housed some of the works from the greatest artists, Bernabéu showcased the greatest soccer players in the world playing in a mesmeric style never seen before in Europe. Their artistry fit perfectly because Madrid, the highest capital in Europe built on a vast elevated plateau in the center of the country, has a community rich in history and culture that could appreciate the beauty and artistry. Spain also had the natural advantage of the same language as, and a long history with, most of Latin America, so the Latin American players found it easier to communicate and assimilate. Di Stéfano and the others also had an honor, modesty, and elegance both on and off the field that Madrileños, natives or inhabitants of Madrid, respected and identified with. The Real Madrid community loved and passionately supported the club, in part because they wanted to be, and play like, them. Interestingly, the beauty, freedom of expression, and values resonated with so many people around the world beyond Madrid, that Real Madrid transcended Madrid and even Spain. As the team traveled around the world, had the best players from around the world whose countrymen followed, and was shown on TV, more people around the globe started to pay attention and passionately support the club. The best example of the players, their style of play, and fan reaction is described in the 1960 European Cup final on page 57.
Bernabéu’s ability to build an international team with flair was even more astonishing because it was done under the relatively closed and restrictive dictatorship of General Francisco Franco and during years of extreme poverty in Spain.61 Perhaps the freedom of expression conveyed by their style of play at a time of a dictatorship added to the appreciation of the team. Although Franco was not an exuberant fan of soccer, he advantageously used Real Madrid’s global fans and prestige as an ambassador of Spain (similar to a Spanish brand) in the time of political isolation of his regime, especially in the 1950s.
Bernabéu realized that to have the best team, he also needed to invest in infrastructure and the development of players. With his direction, the Ciudad Deportiva (“Sport City”) training facilities were built on Madrid’s outskirts so that the players could train without destroying the stadium’s field.62 Also, this allowed second team and youth players to train in the same location. They could share resources, but more importantly the star players would be an inspiration to the homegrown talent. The Ciudad Deportiva was a novel concept at the time. (Barcelona would not start an academy until 1970.)
In the mid-1950s, Bernabéu helped create the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, simply referred to as the European Cup (later renamed as the UEFA Champions League), to showcase the team and build the Real Madrid brand beyond Spain. He wanted them to play in a tournament against the best teams from every country and teamed up with French magazine L’Equipe to put together the first European tournament. The idea gained momentum and during a meeting of nineteen European teams convened by the magazine in April 1955, it was agreed that a European Cup should be inaugurated. The first European Champion Clubs’ Cup was held that autumn. Real Madrid won the first five European Cups from 1955 to 1960.
In 1952, Bernabéu, realizing the importance of rituals and traditions, personally oversaw the creation of the club’s anthem, “Hala Madrid!”63 By 1960, television coverage of the European Cup Final had made Real Madrid the world’s best-known soccer club. Bernabéu took his star-studded club around the world to play friendly games to make more money as well as build the club’s brand globally.
Santiago Bernabéu (right) transformed the history of Real Madrid by signing Alfredo Di Stéfano (left), considered one of the best soccer players in history.
Fans saw soccer history unfolding during this time, but unbeknownst to them, they also were witnessing sports management history. Bernabéu’s strategy seemed simple: sign the best players from around the world, such as Di Stéfano, Kopa, Santamaría, and Puskás, the first galácticos, that captured the imagination of fans and attracted new ones. It wasn’t only the players people wanted to see but also their beautifully elegant attacking style of play. Equally important, Bernabéu had a strategy to pay for the players with the large number of stadium ticket receipts and international friendly appearance fees. He helped start a European tournament to showcase his club and build an international brand. He invested in infrastructure and the development of players. He established and cultivated traditions and rituals to build loyalty and passion. His strategies on the field (get the best players in the world to play an attacking style), in the organization (have the best staff members focus on functional areas, investments in infrastructure and people), and in business (build a large stadium to fund the players, build a global brand) were highly innovative and unproven at the time. I refer to this period as Galácticos 1.0. I look at the period more holistically as an “economic-sport model” rather than just calling the players “galácticos.” I refer to it as version 1.0 because in many ways Peréz and his executives draw from that era to innovate further in (what I also refer to as) the version 2.0 in 2000, the version 3.0 in 2009, and version 4.0 in 2015–16.
On May 18, 1960, Real Madrid’s soccer players walk through the tunnel at Glasgow’s Hampden Park Stadium and onto the field to the flashing lights, echoing screams, and haunting chants of 127,621 soccer fans, a European Cup final attendance record that has yet to be broken. In the record crowd is Alex Ferguson, an eighteen-year old forward with Queen’s Park. The legendary Kenneth Wolstenholme will be calling the game for the BBC. With the temperature hovering around forty-one degrees Fahrenheit in the evening, all of the players have chosen to wear their all-white, long-sleeved jerseys. The jerseys only have the simple Real Madrid crest design over their hearts on the front (no sponsor logos) and their numbers on the back (no names).
The four-time defending champions had beaten rival Barcelona in the semifinals to make the final against opponent Eintracht Frankfurt, whose starting players are all German.64 In contrast, Real Madrid is a team of the best players from around the world (five of the eleven starters were born outside of Spain: four from Latin America and one from Eastern Europe). The galácticos in the starting line-up include Di Stéfano, considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. (Pelé once described Di Stéfano as “the most complete footballer in the history