Who are the "Bad Boys of Real Madrid", the hubs of the mega Spanish scandal?

The group of Raúl Bravo and Carlos Aranda has long belonged to the Youth Academy of Real Madrid. Although their tracks separated after the victory of the Champions League in 2002, the relationship between the two remained intact. The "Bad Boys of the Real Madrid Academy" are now stuck, suspected of involvement in match-fixing. Who are Bravo and Aranda, the pivots of the mega scandal of Spanish football?

By Chris Meijer

Bravo was born in Gandia, south of Valencia, while the cradle of Aranda was in Málaga. Their paths crossed in the youth academy of Real Madrid, where they found themselves both young. The duo played together at Real Madrid C and Real Madrid B, after which their paths split into football. Where Aranda, after only two games in the main force of The Royal started a hike in the Spanish professional football, Bravo won a place in the first selection. On October 6, 2001, the defender made his Real Madrid debut in the match against the Athletic Club. After a somewhat fruitless tenure with Leeds United in the spring of 2003, Bravo became the base player in the Spanish capital under the responsibility of Carlos Queiroz the following season.

During the 2003/04 season, he played no less than 52 games, although angry tongues claim that he owed a special place to his warm relationship with David Beckham. The beautiful season earned Bravo a place in the selection of the European Championship of Spain for the final phase in Portugal. The Roja however did not survive the group stage and the image that remains of Bravo is that he left the training camp of the day. Spanish team on his flip flops. After that, the defender will never again be a fixed value for an entire season at Real Madrid. At that time, his name had already been negative in the news. In collaboration with Aranda, Bravo participated in "Operation DJ", during which the Spanish police arrested three people, including a well-known DJ, for selling XTC pills and cocaine at Madrid's discotheques. The case disappeared, but very quickly, Bravo got into trouble again. The defender was surprised in 2004 with a stolen Mercedes, for which he did not have the necessary papers. The responsibility for this operation was finally given to the dealer in Gandia who had sold the car.

Bravo had good relations with David Beckham at Real Madrid. As such, he owed his base position to the 2003/04 season. ] After 132 matches, Real Madrid left in 2007 after winning the Champions League, two league titles and a supercup with the Royal . The Spanish international fourteen times has settled in Olympiacos, where he faced Ernesto Valverde in his second season. The current coach from Barcelona is having trouble passing the door of his compatriot, who had a noticeable clause in his contract in Greece. If Bravo was involved in a fight, his engagement would be immediately torn. In the end, it lasted four years, except for a short rental period in Numancia, Greece, where Aranda visited his dear yacht. After playing for Rayo Vallecano, AC Beerschot, Córdoba, Veria and Aris Saloniki, Bravo ended his career in 2017. After his career, he briefly worked as a trainer assistant at Aris, which was followed 39, lasted only a few months. On paper, Bravo was now working in the real estate sector.

His companion Aranda encountered problems earlier, said an anonymous source to Marca . "Her mother was an addict and died at the age of nine. He has no relationship with his father. Fortunately, thanks to his grandparents, he had the opportunity to grow up. At the age of fifteen, Aranda got in touch with the police when he stole a motorcycle. With the sale of the vehicle, he wanted to finance a gift for his girlfriend. Vicente del Bosque discovered him, but decided to keep the attacker in the youth academy of Real Madrid. Aranda was then arrested with drugs and guns in his pocket, while he was detained for harassing a police officer and accused of money laundering. His name was also associated with a deceased person on the beach of Malaga, because of his (bad) friends. Despite these incidents, Aranda lasted relatively long as a professional footballer. After leaving Real Madrid, he played for Numancia, Villarreal, Albacete, Sevilla, Real Murcia, Granada, Osasuna, Levante, Real Zaragoza and Las Palmas. Aranda set a record playing for eight different clubs in LaLiga. In 2015, he ended his career, after which he opened two gaming offices in Málaga.

Bravo had good relations with David Beckham at Real Madrid, which he owed his home base during the 2003/04 season

Aranda and Bravo, who met regularly during the night during their career, were paired for the first time in the 2014/15 season. A player from a lower league in Valencia has received an amount of three thousand euros to handle a match. Last week, it was announced that Aranda and Bravo, including Borja Fernández (Real Valladolid), Samuel Sáiz Alonso (Getafe) and Iñigo López Montaña (Deportivo La Coruña) had been arrested, because according to the 39, press agency EFE . with the dismantling of a vast gambling network. The authorities have found matches matched in the first two divisions of Spanish football due to the fact that 14 matches have been used in some matches. The last match "fixed" is the duel between Real Valladolid and Valencia (0-2) on the last match day of LaLiga. With this victory, Valencia qualified at the expense of Getafe for the group stage of the Champions League. Seven Real Valladolid players have reportedly received money for a loss and Fernández, who played the last match of his career against Valencia, is considered the link between the selection of Pucela and Aranda and Bravo.

Fernández met Aranda and Bravo, whom he has known since their common time at Real Madrid, several times this season. Opposite El Partidazo explains to the former defender of Getafe, Deportivo La Coruña and Eibar, that he was in agreement with Bravo in a bar because his former teammate had need help to get his coaching papers. According to Fernández, the fact that Bravo and Aranda were both present at a barbecue with the choice of Real Valladolid was related to the fact that the dinner had been organized in the honor of his retirement as a professional football player . Due to its unblemished past, the name Fernández is the most striking among the protagonists of the corruption scandal. The involvement of Bravo and Aranda seems to be proven in all cases, since the first has changed phone several times before the last round. The duo can expect a heavy penalty (cell) for participating in a criminal organization, money laundering, fraud and corruption. The news that three of his former students are involved in the scandal has arrived in Del Bosque. "They are three wonderful guests," said the coach at rest in front of El Español . "I do not know if this is true, but if it is … I just can not understand how they ended up in this nonsense.The game became a threat to everyone For boys, for football, I'm very naive, so I guess Spanish football is clean Apart from things like these, it has sometimes come true. "

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