The Pucela Pact is underway according to Marca. Real Valladolid need to beat Atletico Madrid and wait to see what Elche and Huesca do to stay in La Liga, while Real Madrid need Valladolid to win and for them to beat Villarreal to win the title. Ronaldo Nazario, Valladolid’s president and a man intimately tied to Madrid, knows this all too well.
The trio of Florentino Perez, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo were the principal protagonists of the Galactico project that Madrid famously ran in the early 2000s, and have retained a close relationship to this day. Zidane returned to the club as a coach during Florentino’s second term as president, as did Ronaldo as a club ambassador only to leave that role to become president of Valladolid.
Now, their interests are aligned. Florentino and Zidane, the latter of which coaching potentially his last-ever game as Madrid coach, need their Brazilian friend to inspire his team to a victory that will save Pucela from relegation as well as potentially handing Madrid the title. Diego Simeone’s Atletico, however, will take some beating.
