The easier bit was the 90 minutes as Real Madrid won a record-extending 15th Champions League title by beating Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s final.

Madrid did not play as well as they could but they found a way to win, as they so often do. Goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior brought a deserved 2-0 win in the end, and club captain Nacho lifted the trophy to crown what has been another spectacular season on and off the pitch.

The more difficult part has been getting into a position where such victories seem the almost inevitable consequence of intelligent planning and ruthless decision-making at the Santiago Bernabeu, especially by Madrid’s all-powerful president Florentino Perez.

This has been a very good season for Carlo Ancelotti’s team. They won this season’s La Liga title with 95 points from their 38 games, finishing 10 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona, even after easing up and drawing their last two games with the big Wembley date looming.

They also won the Supercopa de Espana in January and lost just twice in all competitions all season – both times to Atletico Madrid, who at least denied their neighbours in the Copa del Rey last-16.

The future at Madrid looks even brighter still, given that key players Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga are all still in their early to mid-20s.

They are also now about to add the world’s best player in Kylian Mbappe, and another Brazilian wonderkid is also arriving in centre-forward Endrick, who turns 18 in July.

Off the pitch, Madrid topped Deloitte’s Football Money League 2024 with the highest revenues across the game over 2022-23. Another more recent study by data analytics company Football Benchmark puts their ‘enterprise value’ above all other clubs – and predicts they will soon have the most valuable squad in football.

All of this after their Santiago Bernabeu stadium has been impressively and expensively rebuilt. Madrid truly look to have a position of dominance. But how have they done it? And how far can they go? Madrid’s super successful 2023-24 was not expected, even at the Bernabeu.

At the end of last season, the outlook was far from bright. Madrid had been thrashed 4-0 by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in their Champions League semi-final second leg, while Xavi’s Barcelona easily won La Liga title.

The biggest names of the Madrid team that won four Champions Leagues in five seasons from 2014 to 2018 were no longer around: come last summer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema had all left. These were supposed to be years of transition for the team.

But the rational way growth towards a new team has been handled, especially compared to what happened at Barcelona in recent years, has been key to Madrid’s continuing strength on and off the pitch, argues Borja Garcia, senior lecturer in Sport Management and Policy at Loughborough University.

“Madrid has been managed with the club’s financial health as a priority, which clearly did not happen at Barcelona,” he says. “Look at the relation of each club with its biggest stars.

“Perez decided, for the good of the club, to sell Cristiano Ronaldo for as much money as possible: €100 million (£85.2 million; $108.5 million at current rates). Barcelona were more emotional. They tried to keep Lionel Messi as long as possible on very high wages, and when he left, he left for free.”

As well as selling Ronaldo to Juventus in 2018, Madrid have also been ruthless with other ageing players. For instance, taking €70 million from Manchester United for Casemiro, then 30 years old, in the summer of 2022.

Meanwhile, Madrid have mostly invested in signing the best young players in the world: Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Camavinga, Tchouameni and Bellingham. As well as taking advantage of market opportunities, such as the cut-price arrivals of Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger.

It is a much cannier transfer approach than the ‘Galacticos’ policy during Perez’s first term as president from 2000-06, when each summer they signed the biggest and most-expensive star, from Zinedine Zidane to David Beckham. In recent years, Madrid have been relatively frugal in the market (except for summer 2019, when €350 million was spent on flops including Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic).

Last summer’s transfer window fit with the new model. Ancelotti would have liked to spend €100 million on 30-year-old England captain Harry Kane, but Perez preferred to invest a similar sum in Bellingham (who is a decade younger). The other transfers were also smart. veteran backup striker Joselu arrived for a loan fee of €500,000, and €20 million went on talented Turkish youngster Arda Guler.

Data from Football Benchmark shows that 55 per cent of Madrid’s total transfer spend over the past six years was spent on players aged 21 or younger – €415 million out of a total of €755 million. Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, only Chelsea (€677 million) spent more on such young emerging talents.

Madrid’s current squad value (as estimated by Football Benchmark) is currently €1.1 billion, which leaves them third behind Manchester City and Arsenal. But the Bernabeu outfit are almost certain to move top of that list within the coming 12 months as their younger players mature and improve.

Bellingham’s tremendous season saw his predicted worth rise to €188 million, making him the most valuable current player in the world according to this model. Vinicius Jr is third (€176 million) and Rodrygo is eighth (€121 million), while Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Guler and Brahim Diaz are all increasing in value too. The ratings below, based on a model devised by sports intelligence firm Twenty First Group, help show the strength of many Madrid players whose best days are still ahead of them.

Mbappe’s arrival would also add about €220m-€230 million to Madrid’s squad value, as well as his immense quality on the pitch. Any other significant signings will almost certainly be younger players with the potential to improve still further, with Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies and Lille centre-back Leny Yoro among those under consideration.

Meanwhile, the squad turnover of the last few years has seen Madrid’s wage bill fall. Total staff costs dropped from €519 million to €453 million for the 2022-23 campaign, as big earners such as Bale and Isco left.

A staff costs-to-revenue ratio of 55 per cent was the seventh lowest of this year’s eight Champions League quarter-finalists. And Madrid’s 2023-24 figure is likely to be lower again, given Hazard and Benzema left, and Bellingham currently earns significantly less than either did. Mbappe’s bumper salary will likely be added next year, but Toni Kroos’ retirement opens up space, and club revenue also looks set to grow substantially. Whether Madrid have finished the season by winning the Champions League or not, their published annual accounts have shown a positive operating result every year since 2002-03.

The most recent figure in 2022-23 was a modest €11.8 million profit, which came off club record annual revenues of €831 million. That saw Madrid overtake Manchester City to top Deloitte’s Money League, the first time they have been the world’s biggest revenue generators since 2017-18.

• The Athletic report