The 2008–09 season saw Real eclipsed by rivals FC Barcelona, who completed The Treble including beating Real to win La Liga by a wide margin of 9 points. Real were humbled in the Champions League 1st knockout round by English club Liverpool FC - 2nd placed finishers in the Premier League the season before suffering a 1–0 loss at the Bernabeu and a 4–0 drubbing at Anfield. The defeat marked a 5th succesive season of early Champions League exits, with Real not making the quarter-finals since 2004. The team was widely derided in the press. Manager Bernd Schuster was sacked midway through the 2008–09 season, with the team perceptably in decline - a decline that continued under replacement Juande Ramos.
In addition, Real president Ramón Calderón resigned in January 2009 after corruption allegations, and having failed to secure notable transfer targets for the club.
The resignation of Calderón resulted in a presidential election in mid-2009, returning Florentino Perez to the presidency. Perez again pledged to go on a spending spree to return the club to European and domestic competitiveness, notably with his vocal claims of an attempt to sign A.C. Milan's Kaká. Just 24 hours after his appointment, Manuel Pellegrini was unveiled as Juande Ramos's replacement as manager. After much speculation linking him to the club, Kaka was duly signed for a world record fee of £57m on 9 June 2009.On 11 June, Manchester United revealed they had accepted a shock offer of £80m - a new world transfer record - for Cristiano Ronaldo. United gave Real until June 30 to complete the deal. On 26 June Real Madrid and Manchester United signed the final agreement for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, which became effective on July 1. That same day it was confirmed that Lyon had accepted an offer from Madrid for Karim Benzema.
Real is bidding for other players
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