If you want to take the temperature of what some have been known to call the Real Madrid Industrial Complex, you could do worse than listening to Tomas Roncero. You may know him as the Real Madrid editor of AS – one of Spain's fiercely pro-Madrid sports dailies – but you are probably more familiar with his work on El Chiringuito, the late-night talk show turned meme factory and social media sensation over the past year.
After the first leg at the Etihad last week, Roncero made his entrance to the studio and walked into its pulpit in an oddly triumphant mood given the 4-3 defeat in a Champions League semi-final. He stood tall in front of the other guests in Madrid’s acid green third shirt and, with “The Eye of the Tiger” cued in to play behind him, proceeded to repeatedly punch himself in the head.
