Galacticos reunited: James Rodriguez and Marcelo link up in Greece

With Nottingham Forest having a higher net spend than the rest of the world outside the Premier League, their owner Evangelos Marinakis has also been splashing the cash with Greek club Olympiacos.

The club from Athens brought in the likes of Sime Vrsaljko and Cédric Bakambu over the course of the summer, and most notably have reunited two of the decade’s biggest names in the form of Colombian attacking midfielder James Rodriguez and Brazilian icon Marcelo.

The historic achievements of the two ageing players mimic the history of the nation, and although the achievements that Marcelo and Rodriguez accomplished together in Madrid as part of one of football’s most iconic teams may not be recreated in the tempests of Hellenic football, it will certainly be an exciting prospect.

When Marcelo joined Real Madrid, he was far from Galáctico status. After making a handful of appearances for Fluminense, Marcelo joined Madrid for just £5.85 Million. Youthful but inexperienced, many believed he had the potential to eventually replace the ageing legend Roberto Carlos, with the club’s president declaring that “he is a young player who will inject some freshness into the side”.

By the time that Carlos left Madrid in the summer of 2007, Marcelo had demonstrated he had the potential to match the departing legend. Real Madrid would win La Liga in 2007/08 with Marcelo playing a major role.

When Florentino Pérez regained his position as club president in 2009, he reinstituted his Galáctico policy with the signings of Kaka and, more importantly, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo and Marcelo would form an incredibly productive relationship, and in the following years, Madrid became one of the most dominant teams in Europe. This led to the unparalleled achievement of La Décima in 2014, wherein Marcelo was subbed on and scored in the Champions League final.

Marcelo would go on to play in his home nation’s World Cup in 2014, where a young Colombian by the name of James Rodriguez would set the tournament alight. The tournament’s top scorer and one of the competition’s defining players, James would go on to become the fourth most expensive player in the world and the latest Galáctico.

Arriving in a very different context to Marcelo, James would have instant pressure to succeed with that large price tag attached. Taking on the iconic number 10 shirt worn by some of the game’s greatest players, such as Luis Figo and Ferenc Puskás, James and Marcelo would be part of a very successful 14/15 season that saw Los Blancos finish the season with two pieces of silverware.

However, manager Carlo Ancelloti would leave the club in the summer of 2015, and while midfield additions such as Modric, Kroos, Kovacic and Casemiro would find places in Zidane’s team, James struggled. Although Real Madrid would win the Champions League, Rodriguez clearly didn’t fit into Zidane’s new-look midfield or his Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale strike force.

Rodriguez still demonstrated his world-beating ability time and time again, but he was often forced out of position to accommodate other world-class stars or tactical decisions. He would go from 26 G/A in La Liga to 15 during the 2015/16 campaign.

They both achieved a great deal on the pitches of Spain but witnessing change in Greece would be the most difficult of challenges

This meant that while Marcelo became vice-captain as Real Madrid went back to back in Champions League success, James was played even less, and in 2017 he reunited with his former boss Ancelotti at Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid would go on to win Europe’s elite competition three times in a row, a historic treble, and Marcelo has become one of a select few in the game’s history to win the competition five times in total.

The left back played less games in his final few seasons, but few Madrid fans will deny that he far exceeded all expectations that were placed upon him. This undoubted success meant that by the time Marcelo left Madrid in 2022, he had truly stamped his name as arguably the defining left back of the decade and an icon of both Madrid and the beautiful game.

While Marcelo formed a large part of these historic teams, Rodriguez would go on to feature for Bayern 43 times across a two-year loan spell before returning to a post-Ronaldo Madrid side. Underperforming stars like Gareth Bale and Rodriguez seemed destined to step into the limelight and try and fill the newly vacant holes in the squad, but after just 400 minutes in the league, Rodriguez would finally end his time at the club. He would go onto play for Everton and Al-Rayyan before reuniting with Marcelo.

As the ancient Greek proverb states, life is short, the art long, and both these gladiators have found themselves at the end of their storied careers. The league they both enter could not be further from the glamor of the Santiago Bernabéu, as Greece is consistently rocked by corruption and fixing allegations.

While these timeless players seem perfectly matched to the timeless environment in Greece, they may find themselves in what the BBC have described as an “infinite chaos”.

In such romantic and picturesque environment, violence and aggression often accompany the passion. Georgios Antonopoulos painted a picture of Greek football, saying: “Becoming a successful football club president is not the result of love or care for the football club. It is another way of consolidating one’s business and political power and leverage.”

These accusations crop up regularly in Hellenic football, with allegations of violence, blackmail, and tax evasion all following the sport. Even current Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis faced allegations of match-fixing and was involved in a six-year investigation and court case before being acquitted.

This environment has caused many players to speak out, with former players such as Djibril Cissé opening up about the abuse he faced in Greece, and midfielder Oliver Kapo saying “everything is corrupt” with Greek football being a “total mafia”.

Although many people have tried to fix these issues, including Euro 2004 winning captain Theodoros Zagorakis, there seem to have been few changes to Greek football and the Greek word ‘Paranga’ has become a popular expression. This word, existing to merely describe these football scandals, clearly indicates the frequency with which they occur. Former Greek referee Konstantineas explained: “Greek football is a hydra with many heads. You cut one, others emerge.”

Within this chaotic environment, many have become disillusioned with Greek football, and echo the sentiment of former deputy minister for sport Giorgos Vassiliadis that “justice does not work” and that “the solution can only come from outside”.

While the latter statement does not seem to mirror large policy initiatives within Greek football, the additions of Rodriguez and Marcelo will undoubtedly bring eyes to the sport.

Both incredible talents who played roles in one of the best teams that football has ever seen, the careers of both Marcelo and Rodriguez before and after their time at Los Blancos couldn’t have been more different. Marcelo joined as an inexperienced youth prospect and left an icon of the club, while James came in as a global superstar and left without playing a fundamental role in the success that the club had during his time there.

Marcelo far exceeded all expectations, while Rodriguez failed to frequently match the lofty standards to which he was held. They both achieved a great deal on the pitches of Spain but witnessing change in Greece would be the most difficult of challenges.

However, as Epictetus said: “The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.”