There were a lot of players there who weren't known at the time but would become very popular, among them Thiago, Ricardo Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo. We were introduced and we talked, but we left it there. As the weeks passed, with the focus now back on club football, I learned that Sporting Lisbon were going to play a friendly against Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson was quicker than anyone else and ended up signing Cristiano.
Iniesta: For me, Messi is a guarantee of success, or of getting close to success just by having him on the pitch. He makes the difference in every game. For me, he is the No. Calderon: It was really hard to sign Ronaldo at Real Madrid, because obviously United didn't want to let him go.
He's a unique player. Together with Messi at the time he was the best, and as president I couldn't miss the opportunity to sign him.
We did it, and at the time the figure looked very high. At that time nobody had paid 94 million euros for a player.
But we had the money I always said money has to be on the pitch, not in the bank. I managed to double the TV rights contract, increase revenues, and we were able to do it. Signing him was extraordinary, and he gave us everything. He gave us trophies for nine years. He won individual awards, Ballons d'Or He managed to show that he's an exceptional player and in Clasicos he didn't miss the opportunity to do it.
Great players always show it in big games. He did it in the ones he played in, as Messi did, and many others have. When Cristiano arrived, he was already a No. It wasn't easy [to imagine what he would achieve] because the football world is very competitive nowadays.
We have to compete with clubs that belong to big companies, millionaires The hope when we signed him was that he would respond to expectations, and he did that and then some. It was much more than what we hoped for. His career, in the nine years he was here, it will be very difficult for that to be matched again.
Minguella: [Messi and Ronaldo] have left the bar sky high. It's almost unreachable for the rest. They have given, and continue to give, everything for football. They love the sport so much, and that's made their teammates and their rivals better, too.
LaLiga, and the rest of the world, has been lucky to share this era with them. It's difficult to imagine another rivalry between two players at the very top of the game lasting over 15 years. Messi has become a player that creates, assists and also scores a lot of goals, something which is not normal, while Cristiano, I must say, participates less in the game now, but is still a top-class finisher and an insatiable goal scorer.
Karim Benzema, Real Madrid forward : When you play with a guy [like Ronaldo] who scored 50 or 60 goals a season, of course, you are at the service of the team, but you are at the service of the player too because he is someone who scored a lot.
I had to adapt, I adapted. The names change, but Real Madrid vs. Barcelona is still Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, regardless of the players. It's fair to say that without Santiago Bernabeu, there is no Real Madrid. Not only do they play in the stadium he built and that bears his name, but his remarkable success both as a player 68 goals over 12 seasons, after making his first-team debut aged 17 and as team president over 70 major titles in 35 years is unprecedented.
He also played a key role in the formation of the European Cup -- now known as the Champions League -- and oversaw his side's early domination as they won it six times, including five in a row, in the s and s. Amancio "Amaro" Varela, Real Madrid defender , Real Madrid manager : He always insisted on how important it was to be humble, simple. We couldn't go round saying we were the best, chests all puffed out, even if we were.
Humility, humility, humility. He was someone you had so much respect for. Ignacio Zoco, Real Madrid midfielder : He would look after you and your family.
You weren't just a footballer. Jose "Pirri" Martinez Sanchez, Real Madrid midfielder : If I was in hospital, he would come with me and talk for hours and hours. He was a father figure. When he'd turn up at the team hotel, players would say: "Don Santiago is here He wanted Real Madrid to be exemplary in every way.
He kept everyone in line. Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid forward , Real Madrid manager : He was ahead of his time, taking risks that were truly historic. In an economically depressed Spain, he constructed a stadium for , people and then filled it by seducing the greatest stars of the era. Real Madrid is as big as the titles it has won and the stars it has seduced into joining. Vicente del Bosque, Real Madrid midfielder , Real Madrid manager : Bernabeu was the moral and spiritual leader of the club.
He came in as an errand boy and he left almost six decades later as the director. He was close to us, patriarchal, paternalist. He knew everyone. Calderon: I think he was a pioneer in everything.
He was a visionary. He helped found the European Cup together with L'Equipe. He was the first to bring in foreign players Jose Santamaria, Real Madrid defender : He didn't allow any scandal. When we won the fifth European Cup, the next day we arrived in Madrid and we had to arrive in a 'normal' condition. The night before, we couldn't have a party. We were only allowed to drink orange juice and eat some biscuits!
When the Dutch forward arrived at Barcelona in , he found a club in disarray and notably lagging their rivals. But it was as Barcelona manager that he made the biggest impact, tilting the Clasico rivalry back in their favor. The club -- mirroring their current plight -- was in debt and full of rot when Cruyff took the manager's job in , but he quickly established the club's "Dream Team," era, which yielded four straight LaLiga titles and four straight European finals, including a Champions League title His influence is not comparable.
He is the most influential person in the world of football in the past 50, 60 years. Nobody can compare with him. Txiki Begiristain, Barcelona forward , Barcelona director of football : We all felt the pressure and the need to win, but when you saw Cruyff, you felt like he could overcome everything.
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La Liga 26 Titles. Barcelona Gerard Pique's high-risk hobbies. Barcelona It's time for Dembele and Aguero. While Barcelona and Real Madrid are in the top 10 in terms of stadium capacity, the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus and Bayern Munich are all conspicuous by their absence.
South Africa's Kaiser Chiefs and Mexico's Club America are undoubtedly the biggest clubs in their respective countries, but their appeal does not extend beyond their borders in the same way as other clubs. Indeed, only two of the top 10 most-followed clubs online - Real Madrid and Barcelona - feature on the list of clubs with biggest stadiums.
You can see the top 20 biggest stadiums in the world here. The most popular football jerseys vary from country to country, so Flamengo shirts may sell well in Brazil or Aston Villa shirts may do well in parts of England but not so well outside of those countries. There are, however, a number of clear winners when it comes to shirt sales globally, with millions being made each year.
According to Planet Football , Liverpool's home jersey was the best-selling football shirt on Amazon for , while the home and away shirts of Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal all featured in the top
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