If Real Madrid wins the Champions League in 2021/22, the title will have far more value than just the sporting aspect.

Because fate has forced Los Blancos to face the three clubs that represent, above all, the new economic paradigm that appears to have settled in European football, the symbolic significance would be immense. That of the state clubs, which are financed by inexhaustible infusions of cash from countries with little or no ties to traditional European football.

Three major global giants have stood in the way of Real Madrid's desire for a new Champions League title: PSG, Chelsea, and now Manchester City. Three clubs with financial ties to Qatar, Russia, and Abu Dhabi, whose funding has been questioned by traditional clubs, who believe the French club and the two English clubs are operating under different rules than the rest of Europe.

According to the specialist website Transfermarkt, Real Madrid's opponents have occupied three of the top four positions in terms of net transfer spending so far this century. City are in first place with a loss of 1.52 billion pounds; Chelsea are in third place with a loss of 1.1 billion pounds; and PSG are in fourth place with a loss of 950 million pounds. Real Madrid is ranked sixth on the list, with -939 million.

PSG have focused their resources on stars

The French club, Real Madrid's last-16 opponents, was the most recent of Madrid's three rivals to embrace the surge of foreign capital. They were purchased by the Qatar Investment Authority in 2012, and since then, they have gone from a glamorous but unsuccessful club (two Ligue 1 titles and a Cup Winners' Cup stand out) to a powerhouse of French football, winning seven league titles and six French Cups.

Qatar, on the other hand, arrived in Paris to win the Champions League, while PSG, despite fielding a star-studded line-up that included Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar this season, has only made it to one final, which they lost to Bayern Munich.

Roman Abramovich changed the trend of ownership in English football

Chelsea is the only one of the three teams to have twice won the Champions League. They are, in fact, the current champions. The team's other title came in 2012, when they defeated Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena final.

Until Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, they were just another London club. Since then, they have won five of their six Premier League titles (the other coming in 1955), and the Champions League has replaced their two European Cup Winners' Cups in their trophy cabinet.

Manchester City are the best example of how enormous wealth can be maximized

Further north in England, we come across the Manchester City project, which is just as ambitious as PSG and Chelsea's, and was built with the goal of winning the Champions League.

The Abu Dhabi United Group joined in 2008, transforming City into the dominant force in English football. They have won five of their seven domestic titles since the arrival of Middle Eastern investment (the previous one was in 1968), but have consistently failed to win the Champions League. The final of the 2020/21 season, when Pep Guardiola's side was defeated by Chelsea, is their ceiling.

Real Madrid's final opponent before the 2022 final is City. Los Blancos face a new state-club while on the other side of the draw, Villarreal and Liverpool will play for the second ticket of the grand final.