Florentino: "Cristiano is already a Real legend"

Florentino Pérez showered Carlo Ancelotti and Cristiano Ronaldo with praise during a badge-giving ceremony held in honour of long-time Real Madrid members.

"We have an extraordinary squad headed by a magnificent coach and the worthy successor to Alfredo di Stéfano. As the current Ballon d'Or holder and having just won his third Golden Shoe, Cristiano Ronaldo is already a Real Madrid legend", the 'Los Blancos' president stated during his speech.

"We 'Madridistas' always want more: it's in our DNA. Ever since the moment that we showed the world that this team never give up and we sealed the greatest achievement in the history of the game, a tenth European Cup, we immediately turned our attention to getting to work on winning number 11", he added.

1,513 badges handed out

The badge-giving ceremony was held at the Spanish capital's IFEMA conference and exhibition centre and was also attended by the club's director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueño. The former striker got the occasion underway with a speech in which he referenced notable events coinciding with the years in which the supporters who received commemorative badges first became members of the club.

Some 1,513 badges were handed out this time round. The majority (1,219) were silver badges, awarded to people who have been club members for 25 years. The rest (166 gold badges and 128 featuring gold and diamonds) went to members who have belonged to the club for 50 and 60 years respectively.