Gallego on 'Ferrari Madrid': 'They were the first influencers; Capello banned them even a glass of wine'

Podcast series revisits Real Madrid's 1996–98 era when stars like Mijatovic and Roberto Carlos became media icons, featuring anecdotes from that period leading to the club's seventh European Cup.

Jesús Gallego launched the podcast 'Aquellos domingos. Fútbol y nostalgia' on Cadena SER on November 2, revisiting Real Madrid's transformative 1996–98 period. The five-part series, each 30–40 minutes long, explores how the Bosman ruling and new television rights deals enabled the club to sign world-class players and reshape European football.

The podcast opens with Real Madrid's December 1995 decision to activate Pedja Mijatovic's release clause for 1.426 billion pesetas after a Barcelona match. Gallego recounts how Ignacio Silva, then Real Madrid vice-president, arrived at Mijatovic's home in a Porsche Carrera to deliver the news, with Lorenzo Sanz confirming the move by phone. The series features interviews with Mijatovic, Rafa Alkorta and Álvaro Benito, exploring how players became media icons and symbols of a new era in sport.

Gallego highlights the second episode, 'El partido del siglo', covering the first-leg Madrid–Barcelona clash of that season—described as the first match of the century in Spanish football history due to the unprecedented gathering of global stars. He recalls the chaos surrounding the fixture: queues at the Bernabéu lasting days, ticket touts, police presence, and rain.