Comparing Real Madrid & Man Utd’s net spend since Ferguson retired

Nine years is a long time in football – and it’s easy to forget quite how different things looked for Manchester United and Real Madrid back in the summer of 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

At that time, Manchester United had reached the Champions League final in three of the last six years, winning it in 2008. Under Ferguson, the Red Devils had also won five of the last seven Premier League titles.

In contrast, European royalty Madrid hadn’t won the Champions League since 2002 – or even reached a final since then, suffering six successive round of 16 exits between 2004 and 2010.

Jose Mourinho delivered a La Liga title in the 2011-12 season, but Barcelona ruled Spanish football, winning four league titles in five years between 2008 and 2013.

Undoubtedly two of the biggest clubs in world football, United had the success and silverware worthy of their name, while Madrid were struggling.

Fast forward nine years since the departure of United’s legendary manager Ferguson, and things couldn’t be more different between the two grand old institutions of European football.

David Moyes’ inherited a title-winning squad, but the Red Devils fell away to seventh in 2013-14 and haven’t had much to cheer about since, only winning the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League in the last nine years, with a painful trophy drought of five years since 2017.

Real Madrid also changed managers in 2013. Carlo Ancelotti arrived at the Bernabeu, inheriting a damaged and demoralised squad from Mourinho’s final campaign, one that failed to win any major silverware in 2012-13.

Los Blancos went and won the Champions League during Ancelotti’s maiden campaign – the first of an unprecedented five in nine years (!) since 2013. They’ve also won three La