There were no upsets to be seen as a Vinicius Jr-powered Real Madrid tore through Barcelona to win the Supercopa de Espana 4-1.
In the El Clasico head-to-head record, it extends their number of wins to 104, now four more than Barcelona.
However, while Vinicius Jr will rightly grab all the limelight and Xavi will have the pressure turn on him even further, a huge record broke in the process.
With this cup win, Real Madrid President Florentino Perez has now become the president with the most cup wins in Los Blancos history.
The Florentino era
The Supercup win was Real Madrid’s 33rd title under the stewardship of Perez, who has now surpassed legendary Santiago Bernabeu under whom the club won 32 titles.
Considering that the stadium of the club is named after Bernabeu, it really puts into perspective how massive a record Perez has managed to achieve.
With Real Madrid leading the way in La Liga despite Girona’s surprise campaign, and a tenure that will last till 2025, Perez has the chance to extend his lead at the top to reach legendary levels himself, if not there already.
He first became the president of the club in 2000, when he won the now-infamous club elections, leading to the signing of Luis Figo from archrivals Barcelona.
Perez sent shockwaves through the footballing world with that move, proving that a man driven to become a success has arrived at the scene.
Sure enough, titles were plundered at an incredible rate in his tenure. Perez, despite his critics, became almost synonymous with success. While it is fair to question the role of a president in what the players achieve on the pitch, and the manager orchestrates, there can be no such doubts in his case.
From signing Galacticos that charmed youngsters all over the world, raising the profile of Madrid, to his managerial appointments and ruthlessness in it, second has never been good enough at Madrid.
Even in his recent tenure, he pioneered the policy of signing exciting South American talent before they exploded, and the result is that they have Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, and Endrick soon to join them.
It is often said that evolution is the process of continually changing the answer to a question to better it and keep it along with the times. Revolution is to change the question being asked altogether.
Perez’s time at Real Madrid has been revolutionary, be it his approach to the transfer market, his handling of the egos at the world’s biggest club, or his incessant drive for success.
His legendary status has now been cemented and the legend will only grow stronger because even at 76, the glint in his eye says he’s not stopping anytime soon.