Contrary to what one might think, Real Madrid of the Galacticos was not a great success. President Florentino Pérez managed to attract a constellation of stars with Luis Figo, Zinédine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo and Michael Owen to accompany the captains Iker Casillas, Michel Salgado, Roberto Carlos, Guti and Raul. The Merengues won the 2002 Champions League with a legendary volley from “Zizou” and were champions of Spain the following year. And that’s all until the French playmaker retired in 2006.
Casa Blanca made a catastrophic mistake by selling Claude Makélélé to Chelsea in 2003, with the French international then demanding a big salary increase. Beckham had to play defensive midfielder with Esteban Cambiasso, Guti or Ivan Helguera. In January 2005, there was a thunderbolt in the transfer window: Real recruited Thomas Gravesen for 3 million euros from Everton. Premier League terror since 2000, the Danish defensive midfielder will not be at all the level for Real.
A year and a half after his arrival, a huge altercation in training with Robinho, then aged 22, put an end to Thomas Gravesen’s adventure in the Spanish capital, the player being sold to Celtic in August 2006. Real led by Fabio Capello, with Mahamadou Diarra in 6, ended up winning the La Liga title!
A battlefield in Real training
Gravesen recently recounted: “One day in training, when Robinho attempted a pointless dribble to mock my lack of skill, I kicked him so violently that the pitch turned into a battlefield in an instant. As our teammates tried to separate us, Fabio Capello watched from the sidelines doing nothing, just a smile on his face; That day, everyone understood that this dream team needed artists to dance on the field, but that my real mission was to break the legs of everyone who bothered them. » The Brazilian Julio Baptista then tried to calm the defensive midfielder.
Note that Thomas Gravesen, retired since 2009 after a return to Everton, has made very lucrative financial investments and now lives in Las Vegas, where he wins or loses a lot of money at poker. He would be a great Call of Duty player.
