For twenty years Florentino Perez ruled Real Madrid without anyone daring to stand in his way. This time he had a rival candidate - and he won again. In the club's first contested election since 2004, Perez took 65 percent of the vote and secured another term at the helm of the most powerful football club in the world.

His opponent was Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who tried to shake the structure with a story of governance reforms and the danger of outside capital. He offered an alternative to more than 100,000 members with the right to vote - and two-thirds said they didn't want it. Riquelme insists the campaign opened important questions, the standard line of a man who lost but doesn't want to admit how convincingly.

The most interesting thing is why Perez called the elections at all. His mandate ran until 2029 - he could have sat quietly. But after a second consecutive season without a trophy, the 79-year-old president decided to seek fresh legitimacy himself, rather than wait for someone else to challenge it. The move of a man who knows the best defence is to control the field before your opponent steps onto it.

The result immediately opens up moves. The formal appointment of Jose Mourinho as coach is expected - something Perez publicly tied to this very election win. A serious reinforcement of the team in the summer transfer window follows too, with a focus on depth and on the injury problems that plagued the club in recent seasons.

Democracy with a winner known in advance - that's a model the Balkan viewer recognises well. When the one who calls the elections also holds everything in his hands, surprises are rare. Real Madrid got a new mandate; the question is whether it will bring new trophies too, or just a new beginning of the same story.