By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — It’s been a week to remember for Real Madrid, but for all the wrong reasons.
From player fights to bizarre news conferences, arguably the world’s biggest soccer team has been buffeted from one attention-grabbing revelation to another.
So what is happening at the club? And what can we expect to see over the coming weeks?
Firstly, it’s important to understand the context in which these controversies are popping up. Their roots are firmly planted in the fact that Real Madrid has now gone two seasons without winning a major trophy.
That might not be such a big deal for most clubs around the world, but it’s pretty much the end of the world for Madrid. Given the money paid for players and its rich history of silverware, winning trophies is the bare minimum expected of its players and failure to do so usually leads to ruthless changes in the squad.
That’s certainly been the case this year, with Xabi Alonso released from his managerial role in January after a poor start to the season. He was replaced by Madrid’s B team manager Álvaro Arbeloa, who has been unable to turn around results during his interim spell.
The season hit a new low on Sunday, with Madrid losing 2-0 to familiar foe Barcelona. The result saw Barca secure the league title right in the faces of its rival, a humiliation that has seemingly stoked the fire that was already burning in the heart of this star-studded Madrid team.
Pérez on the attack
In light of the disappointing season, Real Madrid’s club president Florentino Pérez called a news conference at late notice Tuesday. Given rumors were circling that José Mourinho was on his way back to manage the team next season, some assumed Pérez would be addressing that, looking to steady the ship after a torrid few months in the Spanish capital.
But how wrong those people were.
Instead, the normally measured Pérez, the most successful president in the club’s history, launched into an animated tirade, which set himself up as a victim of an “organized campaign” to unseat him. In an impassioned speech, he called for new club elections and urged his opponents to publicly state their desire to replace him as president.
“I want to talk about all those I believe are behind this campaign … some people are moving in the shadows to run for elections. Well, let them run,” he said, confirming he was healthy and ready to lead the club. “This is the opportunity I am giving them.”
Pérez, 79, spared few prisoners in his memorable press conference, attacking multiple targets that included journalists in the room, Barcelona and La Liga on several topics. Notably, though, he did not speak in detail about the team’s poor results and did not get drawn into questions about the possibility of Mourinho becoming manager.
“He’s been in charge of Madrid for 26 years across two spells, and this is the first time we’ve seen anything like this,” Ruairidh Barlow, editor of Football España, told CNN Sports on Wednesday.
“He turned up 18 minutes late to his own press conference. Spent 21 minutes mostly attacking the press and targeting specific journalists, getting into arguments with some of them, and did 40 minutes of questions with them,