A mature team had one advantage: stability.
The players and coaches were all very familiar with one another. From the start of preseason training, everyone knew what they should do and how far they should go. They all understood each other perfectly.
Take Real Madrid this year, for example. This was already Pintus's third season with the team. Everyone knew what that bald man was like, so even when he put the team through hellish training during their camp in the United States, nobody had much to complain about. Even the two new signings, Mbappé and Theo Hernandez, had learned the reason from their teammates.
After the team departed for the United States, Real Madrid also welcomed a new signing: club legend Raul.
When Raul had left the club back then, he had faced plenty of criticism. Rumors about him being a dressing-room tyrant and a poisonous tumor had never stopped. At the same time, many people had been deeply unhappy with Florentino's decision to purge Raul and Guti, believing that Real Madrid lacked human warmth.
But now, both Raul and Guti had returned to the club. Raul's temporary position was assistant general manager, sitting beside Butragueño. Next, however, he would study to become a head coach, most likely starting by coaching the youth team.
Guti was already coaching Real Madrid's youth team. There was also Xabi Alonso, who was studying coaching courses while learning and gaining practical experience at Real Madrid's Youth Training Camp. In the future, both of them were destined to embark on coaching careers.
Of course, whether they could succeed was anyone's guess.
After two weeks of brutal, hellish training, Real Madrid played their first warm-up match in late July.
Just like the previous two years, Real Madrid performed terribly in the warm-up match. They