Lorenzo Sanz, who was Real Madrid’s president from 1995 to 2000 and was at the helm for the club’s historic La Septima triumph, has sadly died after suffering from the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus.

The Spaniard had been hospitalised for a number of days after developing a fever, and the subsequent test for COVID-19 provided a positive result.

At age 76, Sanz was very much embedded into the high-risk category for COVID-19, and he died on Saturday, March 21.

Sanz was born in Madrid back in 1943 and came to power with Real Madrid in 1995 after a spell as a director under Ramon Mendoza’s administration.

He rebuilt an ailing Los Merengues team around Fabio Capello as coach and organised important signings such as Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf, Davor Suker and Predrag Mijatovic, which culminated in the historic Champions League triumph in 1997/98.

His time in charge yielded two European Cups, as well as domestic success, yet he ordered an advanced election for the club presidency as a result of institutional problems which had enveloped the club.

In July 2000, Florentino Perez won the presidency by a margin of 3,167 votes, leaving Sanz on the outside looking in.

The former president tried to stand again in 2004 but had little chance of success up against Perez, an individual with whom he had an excellent relationship.

Real Madrid will pay tribute to Sanz in due course, although official details of such practices are yet to be confirmed.