Marcotti writes on SI:BAD WEEK: For Real Madrid, which lost its fourth straight game. It’s the first time in the club’s history that this has happened. So much for the Galacticos, the Zidanes y Pavones and the rest of the smoke chairman Florentino Perez tried to sell. Many, including yours truly, predicted it would all ends in tears. And it did.
It never ceases to amaze me that coaches and managers in every team sport manage to forget that a team is more than a collection of individuals. My high school soccer team had only about two-thirds the talent that my younger brothers’ team had – they had two 30-goal scorers, I think our leading scorer racked up about 12 – but we finished third in state while they were upset in the second round of regionals.
I was so disappointed for my brothers, who were crushed, but unsurprised. The team plays against its alumni every year, and while my team had simply abused the alumni, theirs didn’t take the game seriously and lost 3-1. It’s a bad sign when a team doesn’t mind losing, especially games they should win. I’ll take eleven players with mediocre talent who hate to lose over a squad of Galactic Superstars who think they deserve to win just by showing up every single time.
It’s just so fitting that once it became clear they couldn’t win La Liga or the Champions League, the Real Galacticos would give up and finish the season by embarrassing their historic club.