Day 3. Valdebebos. Real Madrid training centre.

WOW!
Real Madrid has the most fabulous centre of excellence about 20 minutes drive from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the centre of Madrid, we got full access to it yesterday and spent the afternoon and early evening there.
The centre has a multitude of pitches built in a cascade from the top of a sloped complex, the  philosophy is that you join Real Madrid at 8 years old and train on the bottom pitches then work your way up to the top of the complex and ultimately the first team.
The first team was on site yesterday training so security was tight and our access was under close scrutiny, Mr Mourinho was very clear about that.
Raul spent several hours taking us through the complex viewing training areas, changing rooms, gym facilities and then observing training matches from under 17 right through to B & C teams. 
These kids are the best of the best from the Castillan area of Spain and the future of Real Madrid FC, some of the videos I will post later will absolutely demonstrate that very clearly and we witnessed some fabulous play.

Prior to this trip, we had a visit from the President of Malaga FC who have just undertaken a re-building program across the entire club. From their training centre right through to the stadium they are building on the outskirts of Malaga, this is a club on the up and up. They shared their philosophies from the grass roots training right up to the tactical preparation of the first team and their scouting policies which they hope is going to propel them into the Champions League over the next 2 to 3 years.
Watch this space.