If Real Madrid and Manchester City began an electoral campaign to preside over one of the two vacancies in the Champions League final this season, neither the CIS could predict who would win, nor if it would do so by absolute majority, simple, or would need to agree. Of course, fortunately the campaign for 17-M would be brief (I wish they all were). In this campaign, who will pack their bags for Istanbul? Both have strong arguments to vote for them and could dazzle us with promises to win our trust.
Election slogans have to be short and direct messages, which seek to capture attention and remain in our brain. If its main mission is to transmit in a few words the ideology behind a political party, in Madrid it would be an epic based on what its history and its exploits tell about it. I imagine Vinicius or Benzema as the headliner and underneath a phrase that says: "Let's do it again", or "Let's pull the shield". On the other hand, the skyblues would be more resounding: "This time yes" or "Not in my house", with Haaland, De Bruyne and Guardiola as maximum exponents.
The electoral program is where the full weight of a decision falls. That's where arguments bring you closer or further away. The reasons of the whites would transcend any logic. They would appeal to faith, to the epic, to the newspaper library and history. I would flee from the rational. It would promise things like: "There will be heroics", "save yourself the first 80 minutes", "do not make plans until midnight, things may drag on", or "go to the bathroom to rest, take advantage". Arguments difficult to defend, but that will convince you.
On the other hand, in Manchester they would advocate reason, it would be all head. Few electoral programs we would find with more logic than his. Arguments such as: "We are the highest scoring team in Europe", "this year we have the bug that, in addition, is the pichichi of the competition", "we will keep the ball and possession". And then there's the unbreakable argument, the Etihad. Your refuge. Guardiola's team has not lost in its stadium since November, that is, before the World Cup, and it is something to hold on to if you face the king of machadas.
But for many comebacks that harvested last year, this year Madrid will have to change strategy and place. The most difficult one awaits him yet, exhibiting himself far from the White House, from his shelter area. Far from the walls of the Bernabéu where he has been able to create a mystique impossible to describe or explain.
We leave the rallies to the coaches. Ancelotti and his raised eyebrow would provoke some laughter in the auditorium before getting serious. I would trust everything to "magic" (with an Italian accent).
Guardiola would talk about his legacy in Manchester, as he has done in the run-up to this clash. "My legacy here is already exceptional. We have come here many times, we are not stupid, we know how important tomorrow's game is. Maybe it's the most important since I've been here. I told the players to live in the moment, to enjoy it," the Santpedor coach said yesterday.
Unlike what will happen at the end of the month, this polling station may not serve as an excuse to get rid of a dinner at the in-laws' house, but it does not matter. Tonight the mother of all battles is fought. It's the match of the year, the one everyone wants to see. In a while we will be able to count the votes, but we still have a few hours of reflection left.
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