"Magic Flute" bid farewell, the "Merit Curse" that the La Liga giants cannot get rid of

On the evening of May 22, when Real Madrid's legendary midfielder Modric announced his departure this summer through social media, how many people's youth ended simultaneously? What makes La Liga fans more emotionally unacceptable is that, whether it is Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​the two top giants from La Liga have been troubled by the "curse of merit" for many years. Fans want to see their team's merits "enjoy their old age", which seems to have become a luxury for La Liga giants.

The double squeeze of fiscal iron laws and competitive needs

For La Liga giants, the most obvious reason why they cannot retain old veterans is the salary cap system implemented by La Liga since 2013 (salary expenditure shall not exceed 70% of the club's budget). More simply speaking, even if Real Madrid now has a relatively sufficient budget and Modric has taken the initiative to cut his salary, Real Madrid still needs to give priority to the long-term contracts of new generation stars such as Mbappe, Bellingham (21 years old), Vinicius.

And this "survival priority" choice is not an isolated case. In 2021, this kind of thinking has caused Real Madrid's mortal enemy and another giant in La Liga, Barcelona, ​​to a "Messi tragedy." At that time, Argentine superstars were unable to renew their contract due to their salary cap after a 50% salary cut, and finally bid farewell to Camp Nou who had been working for 21 years with tears in their eyes. In addition, Barcelona's purge of Suarez in 2023 and intends to purge players including De Jong and Araujo to make room for new players, which are all helpless actions under the high pressure of the salary cap.

In addition, synchronized with fiscal pressure is the competitive logic of "victory first". Real Madrid has used Bellingham to take over Modric in recent seasons, continuing the tradition of "superstar iteration" since the 21st century - Jero, Raul, and Casillas all left the team when they were not in decline at the age of 33-35. Barcelona is the same. After Koeman took office, he only took one minute to notify the team's meritorious contributor Suarez to leave the team. Frick Times plans to clean up De Jong, Araujo and others to prepare for reconstruction.

Obviously, the change of new coaches is often accompanied by the overturn and reconstruction of the tactical system, and the experience advantages of meritorious players are quickly diluted in the decision to pursue combat power. This iteration is not only a competitive demand, but also serves business value. Real Madrid, under Florentino's power, has actually always followed the strategy of "one superstar in a year", which requires continuous injecting fresh signatures. For example, after Ronaldo left the team in 2018, his resources quickly tilted towards Vinicius, which is a typical manifestation of viewing players as replaceable assets.

Dual drive of business logic and external environment

La Liga fans have complained more than once that compared with Premier League and Serie A teams, La Liga giants have always been more "unkind". But this just hides the rational calculations in La Liga club culture.

The essence of Real Madrid's "one superstar in a year" strategy is to regard players as brand assets. Ramos was abandoned in 2021 due to differences in the renewal period, and Courtois made an exception in 2025 to obtain a two-year renewal. Barcelona regards Messi, who is the best team history, as a bargaining chip, which ultimately leads to Messi being forced to leave under the dual pressure of the salary cap and membership finance, which exposes the cost boundary of "La Macia's feelings", that is, when feelings conflict with the account book, business rationality will always have the upper hand.

At the same time, the "golden and Yuan policy" of the external league has also intensified the loss of merit in recent years. In recent years, superstars such as Benzema and Ronaldo who have left Real Madrid have gone to the Middle East to make gold. Relevant news also pointed out that Modric's next stop is very likely to point to Saudi Arabia, whose salary is 3-5 times higher than La Liga and there is no salary cap limit. After Messi went to the major leagues of the United States, the North American League is also becoming a "retirement league" that attracts Barcelona veterans more, with meritorious contributions such as Suarez and Busquets joining one after another. This phenomenon of "professional gold hunting in his late years" is essentially a passive counterattack by players to the club's "de-personalized" management. Data shows that in the past five years, there have reached 12 players who have transferred from Real Madrid and Barcelona to Saudi Arabia and the American League.

When Modric's 13 championship trophys and the applause of the Bernabeu are frozen into history, the "curse of merit" of the La Liga two heroes is still continuing. For Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​how to find a balance between trophy honor and humanistic care may be a more severe challenge than the lineup. As a senior football commentator said: "The trophy in the showroom belongs to the past, but the emotional bond in the hearts of fans is the club's true eternal asset."

Yangzi Evening News/Zi Niu News Reporter Huang Xiyin