Real Madrid is the first Spanish team to reach a magical brand on Facebook – and spends a lot of money on it in vain.
The rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona goes far beyond the playing field.
The two archrivals from LaLiga are in constant competition – for example on the Internet. When Barca set out in 2017 to be the first Spanish club to reach the magical mark of 100 million followers on Facebook, Real set all the levers in motion to intercept the Catalans.
Referring to documents from the Football Leaks disclosure platform, Der Spiegel reports that the royals spent 300,000 euros to get to a nine-digit group of supporters even faster. That would be a lot of money, even if the questionable undertaking had succeeded. Didn
‘t. Barca prevailed in the social media duel and cracked the 100 million a few hours before Real. In the final sprint, Barcelona benefited from the sensational comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League (6-1 victory after 0-4 defeat in the first leg), which in one fell swoop washed around 3.6 million new followers onto the Barca side.
By the way, Real is now clearly ahead. Around 110 million people follow Zinédine Zidane’s team. At Barca, it’s 103 million.