Former Real Madrid Galactico and Portuguese great Figo reckons Los Blancos will survive despite superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's departure to Juventus this season
Juve's Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid are clutching at straws at the moment having exited the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League and falling 12 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona — all within a few days. But one of their most famous faces of yesteryear, Luis Figo refuses to accept that the reigning Champions League holders have suddenly become a bunch of losers.
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'Tough week'
"Real lost everything in one tough week, but let's not forget that this season didn't start well for them because they had to find a coach within a few days after Zinedine Zidane left. So, a change in coach and then it was a World Cup year and after a World Cup, players arrive at different times from their national teams and that's always tough for any club to deal with," Figo, 46, an ambassador for the UEFA Champions League, said during the trophy unveiling at the Mahalaxmi racecourse yesterday.
Luis Figo
Mercurial striker Cristiano Ronaldo moved on from Madrid to Juventus at the start of this season and many are attributing Real's failures to Ronaldo's exit, but Figo begs to differ. "I don't know what happened between Cristiano and Real which led to him moving to Juve, but if the best football player in the world moves away from a club then it's obviously going to have a big impact on that club. But Ronaldo is a great professional and Real is the biggest club in the world.
So I believe Real will survive without Ronaldo and Ronaldo will make history going forward," added Figo, who spent perhaps his best club football years between 2000-05 at Madrid and was among the first of the Galacticos to be on board in club boss Florentino Perez's most expensive team.
So what was it like being part of the Galacticos that included David Beckham, Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Raul and Brazil legend Ronaldo among the world's biggest football names then?
"Look, you can have a lot of money and buy expensive players, but because you can invest and make a good team, it doesn't win you titles. It's about managing the team well. With the Galacticos, we respected each other and were clear about each player's role," Figo stressed.
"It's difficult to put together a team with so many big names, but we enjoyed the good moments and had some bad ones too when we lost, so it's a mixture of feelings. Us being together was a huge moment in world football because it's a very difficult situation with six or seven of the best footballers in the world playing in the same team. It's not normal but we had great relations between us and we can now remember those years for the rest of our lives," Figo explained.
'Madrid will fight'
Coming back to the current Madrid, Figo exuded hope that the Los Blancos will turn things around for the better. "Santiago Solari [current Real boss] is a friend of mine and I wish him the best but Real Madrid always fight hard. So I believe that at this moment, Real will fight for the league until they have a chance on points. It's a big difference on points, but they will fight," Figo signed off.
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