Florentino Pérez and Aleksander Ceferin have not been close friends since the president of Real Madrid, together with some of the most powerful clubs on the continent, launched the announcement of the European Super League. The project did not go ahead due to the haste of its founders and the pressure from fans and governments. But that attempt to discuss the traditional power of UEFA left a trace of resentment and mistrust towards the Madrid president in the Slovenian lawyer.
That is why one of the most anticipated photos of these days in Paris, venue of the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, was the face to face between Pérez and Ceferin. A meeting that finally took place on Friday night, at the UEFA dinner and the finalist clubs.
[ Schedule of Real Madrid – Liverpool | Champions League Final]
The dinner took place at the Louvre Museum and was notably absent, that of Nasser Al Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain, despite being invited to the event. Perhaps the recent surprise renewal of Kylian Mbappé, who will continue in the Parc des Princes when his signing for the whites seemed done, made him prefer not to meet the Spaniard.
As for the presidents of UEFA and Real Madrid, there was no photo at the entrance to the act, where the white president was acclaimed, but they sat at the same table. The meeting was cordial, but cold. The normal considering the furious reaction of the UEFA president to the Super League project and his constant criticism of Florentino Pérez and Real Madrid since then.
Finally there was a pose of both at the end of the dinner, as with the representatives of Liverpool. An image in which Pérez appears giving the head of European football a replica of the new Santiago Bernabéu, and both appear with a smile drawn on their faces.
[ Alignment Real Madrid – Liverpool, final of the Champions League]
