The Political Breakdown of Real Madrid

In this episode, Alex explores why Real Madrid is beginning to resemble less of a football club and more of a political institution. Using ideas from institutional theory and populist politics, he breaks down the growing legitimacy crisis surrounding Florentino Pérez and the emergence of Enrique Riquelme as an outsider challenger positioning himself against an increasingly insulated establishment. The conversation looks at how performance decline, ownership debates, and elite power structures are turning a football election into something that feels much closer to a political movement.