Real Madrid and Barcelona's clash in Wednesday's Supercopa was more than just a game, it was also "a duel between two different organizational models,” according to Alfonso Callejas of SPORT. Real “has no economic limit” to bring in the best footballers in the world. After signing Luka Modric from EPL Tottenham, the total cost of its players is "an insane" €501M ($628.2M). That number more than doubles the €244M ($305.9M) that the Catalan club has spent (SPORT, 8/28). SPORTUNE.fr's Marcelo Martins noted the difference can be seen by looking at the five most-expensive transfers on both teams. Madrid bought Ronaldo (€96M), Kaka (€65M), Modric (€42M), Di Maria (€36M) and Benzema (€35M) for a total of €274M. Barça's top five of Villa (€42M), Fabregas €40M, Sanchez (€36M), Alves (€32M) and Mascherano (€22M) combine for €172M. The big advantage of the Catalan club is its youth system, "which is one of the best in the world." More than 15 of Barcelona Coach Tito Vilanova's regulars came up from its youth system. If Barça had to buy Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro, Busquets and others, its transfer number would "easily approach the large numbers of Real." For Madrid, only Casillas, Arbeloa, Granero, Adan, Albiol and Callejon came up from the youth system, and "not all of them have a major role" in the first team (SPORTUNE.fr, 8/29).
