The only ideology is winning: A review of Lourenço Pereira’s take on Real Madrid

Łukasz Muniowski
University of Szczecin, Poland

Real Madrid is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable and successful football franchises in the world. Its international appeal stems from their reputation as perennial winners and their devotion to winning, regardless of price, style or consequences, is a crucial part of their identity. As observed by Pereira, “The values Madrid represents – a sense of nobility alongside a down-to-earth attitude, an ambitious winning mentality, a sense of grit and spectacle – are exactly how the Spanish like to perceive themselves, even if they are not always like that (p. 143). This sounds counterintuitive to what happened with the call-ups for the 2026 World Cup, as the eventual winners of the competition, Spain, did not feature a single player from the team that finished second in La Liga last season. And yet Real remains the club most representative of Spain? How?

According to Pereira, the key to Real’s success is that winning is their only ideology, therefore anyone can embrace it. Their biggest rivals, FC Barcelona, represent Catalonia first and Spain second, and while they are also widely popular, there is this sense that due to their commitment to representing the region, they are close second to Real when it comes to global popularity. At least according to the author, who never hides his bias towards the subject of his book. While he acknowledges that Real is polarizing, he is more into explaining numerous misconceptions about the club than criticizing its actions and policies. His discussion of the club’s relationship with General Franco is particularly enlightening, as the author is able to explain the complexity of the club’s functioning within the constraints of the nationalist regime. The tone of the discussion varies from apologetic to accusatory, as the author never misses the opportunity to show that other clubs were either more favored by the nationalist regime or benefitted from it the same way Real did.

Because of the demands of the market and the devotion to expanding, Real still buys big-name players during every summer transfer window.

Because of that, sometimes getting interesting information from the book requires turning a blind eye to the praise Pereira bestows upon the team. While discussing one of the best football clubs in the world invites compliments, for some this level of reverence might be off-putting. For example, the goal scored by Predrag Mijatovic in the 1998 UEFA Champions League final is described as “the most important goal in the lives of millions” (p. 237). When the author deems Real as “the most important sports brand in the world” (p. 141), he provides no data to back that statement. Granted, this is not an academic book, but some numbers could strengthen the author’s argument.

That being said, Pereira provides interesting details from the club’s history, like in the chapter devoted to the relationship between two Real legends, Santiago Bernabéu and Alfredo Di Stefano. The discussion of the philosophy behind the Galácticos project is also of particular interest, as it presents Florentino Perez as more than a trigger-happy president who brought in big names for the sake of it. Because of the demands of the market and the devotion to expanding, Real still buys big-name players during every summer transfer window. The goal is not necessarily to elevate the team, but more so to keep up interest in the franchise, at the cost of incorporating youth academy players into the team. Oftentimes the local boys do not get a fair shot, as they are expected to immediately produce and they end up playing for other teams, as was the case with Juan Mata or Alvaro Negredo. Perez is described as a man who “predicted the future appeal of players above teams and the rise of video games and online matches played with sides packed with stars just for fun. The Galácticos were always more than just sport. It was a content-creation culture implemented in football consciously for the first time” (p. 248). That analysis is spot on and serves as one of the brightest spots of the book.

There is no story without conflict, and in this retelling of Real’s history, there are two main antagonists: Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona. Nowadays there is no bigger rivalry in football than the El Clasico, but for decades the Madrid derby was the most anticipated game of the season for both sides. While the narrative of a century-long rivalry is promising, and the fact that Real played its first official game against Barcelona provides a perfect departure point for it, the biggest matches between both sides took place in the last 30-40 years. Barcelona’s success in the 1990s and onwards was due to the team playing in a certain way, sticking to principles, and showing pride of their region. Real is the opposite of that, as the club adapts and changes with the times. And as proven by the author, that adaptability is what makes Real Madrid truly “the greatest.”

Copyright © Łukasz Muniowski 2026