In recent years, a certain voice had gradually emerged in European Football: professional football was entering the Oligarchy Era.
From the perspective of clubs, Real Madrid had practically monopolized every Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup title in recent years. This colossal club had forcefully suppressed the entire European Football scene with an almost unattainable presence, leaving no team capable of matching it.
From the perspective of star players, Yang Yang had ruled world football for a full decade since 2007. During that time, European Football had not been without its heroes—Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Ribery, Neymar, Suarez, Griezmann, and a whole host of other stars—but none had been able to knock him from his throne.
This was an era belonging to oligarchs, and it was also an era belonging to giants.
The most obvious sign was that if someone asked before the season, "Who will win the Champions League this season?"
The vast majority of fans would name no more than five teams, and they would basically be the same few teams.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich... who else?
What exactly had caused European professional football to enter the Oligarchy Era so rapidly?
The answer was simple: capital!
Strictly speaking, after Florentino first took charge of Real Madrid and fully implemented the Galácticos project, turning Real Madrid into a global top-tier powerhouse and conquering fans across the world, European professional football began entering the era of globalization. Commercially capable giants such as Barcelona, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich quickly followed suit.
After Abramovich took over Stamford Bridge, the Abu Dhabi consortium acquired Man City, and then the Qatar consortium acquired Paris Saint-Germain. The global investment drought triggered by the subprime crisis caused hot money to flood into professional football. Coupled with the rise of the internet, globalization accelerated