Ramón Calderón period
On July 2, 2006 Ramón Calderón was elected as club president and subsequently appointed Fabio Capello as the new coach and Predrag Mijatovic as the new sporting director. As new manager of Real Madrid, Capello signed the World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson, both from embattled Juventus, for a total sum of €23m; Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United for €15m; Mahamadou Diarra from Lyon for €26m and on a last minute trade loan - José Antonio Reyes. They failed, however, to sign A.C. Milan star Kaká, Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas and Chelsea star Arjen Robben as was promised by the new president. During the January transfer window, he has managed to sign Fluminense left back Marcelo (€6.5m), River Plate forward Gonzalo Higuaín (€13m) and Boca Juniors midfielder Fernando Gago (€18m).
On January 16, 2007, Calderón made some very unfortunate comments about the behavior of some players in the squad and the Santiago Bernabeu fans, which has put the club in a delicate situation.[2] One of the players that Calderón criticised was David Beckham, who, in January 2007, agreed a deal to play for LA Galaxy at the end of that season. Among others to criticise Beckham was manager Fabio Capello, who, at the time, vowed never to select Beckham for the team again, although he later withdrew his words. At the end of January Ronaldo left the club for 7.5 million euros for AC Milan. On February 9th 2007, Capello allowed Beckham back onto Real's starting 11 in an away match against Real Sociedad, Beckham played well and scored the equalizing goal in the match (Real Madrid won the match 2-1). The Madrid Derby this season, on the 24th February 2007, between Atlético Madrid and Real, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium was a 1-1 draw. The scorers were Fernando Torres for Atlético, and Gonzalo Higuain for Real. This derby is seen upon as one of the most fiercely contested matches in the Spanish football calendar.
On March 7, 2007 Real Madrid failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League due to Bayern Munich's strong home performance. Despite winning the home leg 3-2, they lost 2-1 in Germany and were eliminated on an away goals tiebreaker.
On March 10, 2007 Real Madrid contested the Clasico against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Real Madrid took the lead 3 times after 2 goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and one from Sergio Ramos but were pegged back by a hat-trick from Lionel Messi. Despite the sending off of Oleguer, the Clasico ended 3-3.
*Wikipedia
