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Real Madrid's Biggest Secret Revealed -- And It's Not Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale

What’s the difference between Real Madrid and Goldman Sachs? One has ‘galacticos’ while the other is referred to either as the master of the universe or a giant vampire squid but that’s not the answer.

One is the world’s biggest football club; the other is arguably still its most powerful investment bank. This duo should be like chalk and cheese.

What they have in common is that both have now been the subjects of academic treatises by former Goldman banker Steven G Mandis.

While his previous employ made Mandis’s first book appear something of an insider’s story, even as he protested otherwise, his choice for book number two was driven in part by wanting to demonstrate a true outsider’s perspective.

In the preface to The Real Madrid Way, his latest tome, he admits to not having lived in Spain or indeed Europe for a long time, having no previous affiliation or loyalty to any European team and having “limited experience-bias”.

In the six months that he lived in Madrid, he attended only one regular-season Real Madrid game and admits that nobody could call him a hard-core fan of the club, saying he is equally pleased when its rivals win because he has friends in Spain who root for them.

He calls football ‘soccer,’ refers to the pitch as a ‘field’ and prefers ‘cleats’ to boots, ‘uniform’ to kit, and ‘locker room’ for dressing room.