On June 25, 2019, Real Madrid unveiled its women's team. After an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors at the Bernabeu, the club approved the absorption of the newly promoted CD Tacon. An agreement that was finally ratified by the assembly and went into effect starting in the 2020/21 season.

The white club opted for the fast track to fulfill an outstanding obligation that, six years later, barely passes. The absence of titles, but above all the inability to compete against Barcelona, has raised a deep dilemma that points directly to the boardroom.

During the 6-0 second leg of the Champions League against Real Madrid, a chant was heard repeatedly, one that repeats in a classic that still does not have that character due to the lack of equality between the two contenders.

"Where is Florentino?" is a question that, far from being rhetorical, has become a cry. Not only because of the absence of the top executive from the matches of a section completely overshadowed by the great rival.

It is an issue that demands answers and calls into question the team's image as having more European Cups than anyone else. The 25-1 record in wins to losses and the 103-13 in goals reflect an unacceptable balance.

Pau Quesada himself, the white team's coach, threw in the towel in a press conference as realistic as it was pessimistic: "We can compete against everyone, except Barcelona." An admission of inferiority that has taken hold over time.

Initially, Real Madrid anticipated that the women's section would cost them €400,000 just to acquire the spot, plus an initial investment of $2 million. Since then, the entity has invested €29.3 million in salaries, according to 2Playbook.

Although the club has surpassed teams like Manchester City in this category, the Barcelona section allocates about 5 million euros more to its sporting roster. But above all, the problem is one of product and planning.

Barcelona has never understood its women's section as an expense, but as an investment with a return, as reflected in records such as the attendance at Camp Nou in a 6-0 that confirmed the Blaugrana's tyranny.

More than 60,000 people gathered at the Catalan coliseum, a setting that will witness the outcome of a season in which the team aspires to its fourth Champions League, within a very profitable model: reaching the semifinals guarantees a prize of €250,000, and the total pot of the competition already exceeds €1.45 million.

If they eliminate Bayern, another €300,000 would be added; if Pere Romeu's team wins the title, another €200,000 in prizes would be added.

All this without counting the associated value generated by a section that produces Ballon d'Or winners, with Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas, but above all, creators of intergenerational role models.

An ecosystem in which the young feed the seniors and vice versa, unlike the lack of visibility suffered by the different Real Madrid teams.

The white club has three youth football teams: a reserve, a junior, and a cadet team. The first sits fourth in the unique Primera Federacion group, with 37 points, 14 points behind the leader, the Barcelona reserve team.

The junior team is second in the Primera Division Autonomica, three points behind Atletico, while the cadet team is third in the Primera Division Autonomica Femenina, behind the red-and-white team and Madrid Femenino. Their impact on the lower categories of the national team is increasing, but they remain, like the first team, victims of a real lack of promotion.

Ten years ago, Pique and Alexia shared an interview that illustrates the path traveled to the present. "I am totally anonymous on the street," said the Barcelona captain, who has just reached 500 matches, having become an icon of world sports.

In 2015, Madrid did not even contemplate creating a women's football section, even though it had briefly had a women's basketball team, another discipline some demanded be revived.

However, aside from specific cases like Linda Caicedo, the club has not invested in developing communicative or marketing role models within its squad. Interviews with Real Madrid players are practically nonexistent within the club's dynamics, and when statements bypass those channels, episodes arise, such as the one revealed by Melanie Leupolz on the Kicker FE:male podcast, where she recounted a conversation with Florentino Perez.

"You just have to be aware of the age of this team and where it is. Actually, the big successes have also been missing, and often, successes open doors. At the Christmas party, we asked the president when we could play at the Bernabeu, and he told us, 'When you win the first title.' A barrier that remains unbroken, but also marked by the lack of more decisive institutional support."

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