Hankook Tire - The most innovative football club in the world

“In reality, the more tools you have at your disposal which give you greater performance, the more good results you get,” he says. “We have one of the best sports facilities in the world and as a result, the training of the players can be done in the most optimal way.”

Guti’s office these days is Real Madrid City, the purpose-built facility launched in 2005, and understandably hailed as the greatest ever built by a football club. Covering about 1,067 hectares of land and a short distance from Madrid-Barajas Airport, the complex at 1,200,000 sq m is a stunning 16 times bigger than Moscow’s Red Square.

“Both players and coaches are truly privileged,” the coach admits. “From the moment you arrive at Valdebebas, you find a perfect atmosphere for the development of each required stage in the player’s training.”

Those playing for Guti enter the players’ area no less awe-struck than when they arrived: passing through the extensive medical centre, they find a large physiotherapy room and hydrotherapy space, boasting four swimming pools, two hot and cold water baths, plus a sauna and a Turkish bath. For those lucky enough to make it there, the first team dressing room in turn lead you directly to a gym complex – the largest single structure in the city, then to the training pitches, including a warm-up area with natural grass, and three training pitches that utilise the exact same grass as that used at Real Madrid’s home stadium, the Bernabéu.

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