Celebration at Real Madrid: 1000 games for Florentino Perez as president of Los Blancos

On Saturday (today), Florentino Perez will oversee his 1000th match as president of Real Madrid, when Zinedine Zidane and the players meet Eibar at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

It has been over two decades since Perez became the first president at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. His first game at the helm of the club came on 25 August 2000, when Los Blancos were beaten by Galatasaray in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.

On the field that day was Luis Figo, Perez’s signature promised in his election campaign. It was one of the bargaining chores that allowed him to beat Lorenzo Sans in the polls.

In his 999 appearances and two terms as president since then, Perez has seen Real Madrid rise, signing some of the biggest names in world football and winning numerous trophies.

Real Madrid’s first season under Perez was full of ups and downs. There were disappointing losses for Barcelona and Boca Juniors, but still a La Liga title to celebrate at the end of the season.

In the years that followed, Figo would join a host of other superstar signatures, such as Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario and David Beckham.

After beating Bayer Leverkusen to win La Novena in Glasgow, Perez’s presidency stalled after success on the field was exhausted.

After 334 appearances – 194 wins, 66 draws and 74 losses – six coaches and seven trophies, Perez resigned as president in February 2006.