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Real Madrid Club de Fútbol Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club ...
is a professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. The club was formed in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, and played its first competitive match on 13 May 1902, when it lost 3–1 in the semi-final of the Campeonato de Copa de S.M. Alfonso XIII against
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...
. Real Madrid played against other local clubs in various regional tournaments, that served as qualifiers for the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
, from 1902 to 1940. In 1929, the club became one of the founding members of
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
, Spain's first national league. As of 2022, Real is one of only three clubs never to have been
relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
from the top level of Spanish football, the others being
Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
and Barcelona. From 1902 to 1929, Real won the Copa del Rey five times and the regional championship 15 times. Real Madrid had a successful start in La Liga, finishing second in the competition's first season, and winning the league in
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
for the first time. In the 1947–48 season, Madrid finished eleventh, which remains, as of 2022, the club's lowest final position. Real Madrid won La Liga four times and the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
five times during the 1950s. However, the most successful period for the club in terms of domestic titles was the 1960s, when Real Madrid won eight league championships. It won its first
double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...
of league championship and national cup in
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
. Real is also the only Spanish football team to win five consecutive titles, a feat which it has achieved on two occasions (1960–65 and 1985–90). In addition to their domestic success, Real Madrid's reputation as a major club was established by their outstanding record in the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
. To date, they have been crowned champions of Europe a record fourteen times.
Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...
,
Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...
and other famous players helped the club win the European Cup five times in a row between
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
and
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
, which included a memorable 7–3 Hampden Park final against German side
Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...
in
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
. The club won the trophy for a sixth time in
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
with a team known as the Ye-Ye that defeated Yugoslavian club
Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...
2–1 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
while being composed entirely of Spanish-born players, a first in the competition. They were also runners-up in
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
,
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
and
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
. Winning the competition five consecutive times saw Real permanently awarded the original cup and earning the right to wear a multiple-winner badge since 2000. They have also won the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
twice and were twice runners-up in the
European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
. In 1996, president
Lorenzo Sanz Lorenzo Sanz Mancebo (9 August 1943 – 21 March 2020) was a Spanish businessman who was the 14th President of Real Madrid and a former owner of Málaga CF. Early life He was born in August 1943 in a humble family in Madrid, being the eldest ...
appointed
Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
as coach. Although his tenure lasted only one season, Real Madrid were proclaimed league champions and several important players arrived at the club, such as
Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...
,
Predrag Mijatović Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић, ; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At club level, Mijatović played for six clubs: Budućnost, Partizan, Val ...
,
Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 t ...
and
Clarence Seedorf Clarence Clyde Seedorf (; born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is regarded by many to be one of the best midfielders of his generation. Seedorf is considered one of the most successful players in UEF ...
, to strengthen a squad that already boasted the likes of
Raúl Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
,
Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five La Liga ...
and
Fernando Redondo Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (; born 6 June 1969) is an Argentine retired footballer. A defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute offensively and creatively, he turned professional playing for Argentinos Juniors and played one full ...
. As a result, Real Madrid, with the addition of
Fernando Morientes Fernando Morientes Sánchez (; born 5 April 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He played for a number of clubs during his career, including Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and Valenci ...
in 1997, finally ended its 32-year wait for the seventh European Cup in 1998 under manager
Jupp Heynckes Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (; born 9 May 1945) is a German retired professional footballer and manager. The majority of his player career was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won many nati ...
, defeating
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
1–0 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
thanks to a goal from Mijatović. Real Madrid would go on to win again in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
(under manager
Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...
),
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
(under manager
Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...
),
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
,
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
(under manager
Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...
), and
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
(again under Ancelotti). Madrid are also seven-time winners of the Intercontinental Cup/
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
, defeating
Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...
,
Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...
,
Olimpia Asunción Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most su ...
,
San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
,
Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
, Grêmio and
Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...
in
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
,
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
,
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
and
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
respectively.


Early years

Football was introduced to Madrid by students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They included several
Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...
graduates. In 1897, they founded a club called Sky, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. In 1900, they split into two different clubs: New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Madrid Football Club. On 6 March 1902, after a new Board presided by
Juan Padrós Juan Padrós Rubió (1 December 1869 – 11 May 1932) was a Spanish businessman who was recognised as the 2nd official President of Real Madrid. He first took office on 6 March 1902, about 2 years after Real Madrid was created. Juan Padros Rea ...
had been elected, Madrid Football Club was officially founded. Padrós and his brother
Carlos Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...
(both would later serve as Madrid's presidents) summoned other football enthusiasts to a meeting in the back room of ''Al Capricho'', the family business. The Padrós brothers viewed football as a mass sport that should be accessible to representatives of all social classes, and thought the new club should embody that idea. They proposed the name, Madrid Football Club, which was unanimously accepted. The membership fee was also set, two pesetas a month, and the color of the shirt was chosen to be white in honor of a famous English team
Corinthian F.C. Corinthian Football Club was an English amateur football club based in London between 1882 and 1939. Above all, the club is credited with having popularised football around the world, having promoted sportsmanship and fair play, and having ch ...
, which Juan Padrós had met on one of his trips. Madrid won the first of four consecutive
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
titles, which was the only nationwide competition at the time, in
1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...
. In 1907, they lost a game to a team of
Catholic priests The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...
from Royal English College in
Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...
, with
Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
Edward Power scoring five goals in a 6–2 victory. Future club president Santiago Bernabéu was quoted as saying in 1957 that the "game changed the whole history of football in Spain by showing us how football should be played." In 1912, they moved to a ground called
Campo de O'Donnell Campo de O'Donnell was a multi-use stadium in Madrid, Spain. The stadium should not be confused with Campo de O'Donnell (Atlético Madrid), which shared the same name and was situated away on the same boulevard. It was initially a field (campo) ...
, after previously moving between some minor grounds. In 1920, the club's name was changed to Real Madrid after King
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...
, a reputed football fan, granted the title of ''real'' ("royal" in English ) to the club. In
1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
, the first
Spanish football league The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
was founded. Real Madrid led the first league season until the last match, a loss to Athletic Bilbao, meant they finished runners-up to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. Real Madrid won its first league title in the 1931–32 season and retained the title the following year. On 14 April 1931, the arrival of the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
caused the club to lose the title Real and the royal crown on its emblem, going back to being named Madrid Football Club until the end of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. Football continued during the Second World War, and on 13 June 1943, Madrid beat Barcelona 11–1 in the second leg of the Copa del Generalísimo semi-finals, the Spanish Cup having been renamed in honor of
General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
. The first leg, played at the Les Corts in Catalonia, had ended with Barcelona winning 3–0. Madrid complained about all the three goals that referee Fombona Fernández had allowed for Barcelona, with the home supporters also whistling Madrid throughout, whom they accused of employing roughhouse tactics, and Fombona for allowing them to. The newspaper '' Ya'' reported the whistling as a "clear intention to attack the representatives of Spain." Barcelona fans were banned from traveling to Madrid. The day of the second leg, the Barcelona team were insulted and stones were thrown at their bus as soon as they left their hotel. Barcelona's striker
Mariano Gonzalvo Mariano Gonzalvo Falcón (22 March 1922 – 7 April 2007), also referred to as Gonzalvo III or – especially as of late – by the Catalan rendition of his given name, Marià Gonzalvo, was a Spanish footballer who spent most of his career at FC ...
said of the incident, "Five minutes before the game had started, our penalty area was already full of coins." Barcelona goalkeeper
Lluis Miró Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
rarely approached his line—when he did, he was armed with stones. As
Francisco Calvet Francisco Calvet i Puig (29 September 1921 – 30 November 2001) was a Spanish footballer who played for FC Barcelona between 1939 and 1952. He also played for Real Oviedo between 1952 and 1954. Career Calvet was born in 1921 and came from pe ...
told the story, "They were shouting: ''Reds! Separatists!''... a bottle just missed Sospedra that would have killed him if it had hit him. It was all set up." Real Madrid went 2–0 up within half an hour. The third goal brought with it a sending off for Barcelona's Benito García after he made what Calvet claimed was a "completely normal tackle". Madrid's
José Llopis Corona José 'Pepe' Llopis Corona (4 June 1918 – 29 January 2011) was a Spanish footballer who played as a left defender. Over the course of seven seasons he amassed La Liga totals of 150 games and 14 goals, namely with Real Madrid. Football career ...
recalled, "At which point, they got a bit demoralized," while Ángel Mur countered, "at which point, we thought: 'go on then, score as many as you want'." Madrid scored in minutes 31', 33', 35', 39', 43', and 44', making it 8–0; two goals were also ruled out for offside, and proceeded to score a further three goals in the second half, to which Barcelona replied with a late consolation goal.
Juan Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh Pre ...
wrote: "In that atmosphere and with a referee who wanted to avoid any complications, it was humanly impossible to play... If the azulgranas had played badly, really badly, the scoreboard would still not have reached that astronomical figure. The point is that they did not play at all." According to football writer
Sid Lowe Simon James "Sid" Lowe (born 21 June 1976) is an English columnist and journalist. Born in Archway, London, and based in Madrid, he covers Spanish football for many publications, websites, television channels, radio stations, and football-relate ...
, "There have been relatively few mentions of the game
ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...
and it is not a result that has been particularly celebrated in Madrid. Indeed, the 11–1 occupies a far more prominent place in Barcelona's history. This was the game that first formed the identification of Madrid as the team of the dictatorship and Barcelona as its victims."Sid Lowe: Fear and loathing in La Liga.. Barcelona vs Real Madrid
p. 67. Random House. 26 September 2013
Fernando Argila, Barcelona's reserve goalkeeper from the 1943 match, said, "There was no rivalry. Not, at least, until that game."


The Bernabéu Era (1943–1978)

Before becoming president in 1943, Santiago Bernabéu had already carried out the functions of player, first-team captain, club maintenance, first-team manager and director in an association with the club that would last nearly 70 years. He was responsible for rebuilding the club after the Civil War and oversaw the construction of the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...
and the Ciudad Deportiva. Bernabéu also reorganized the club at all levels in what would become the normal operating hierarchy of professional clubs in the future, giving every section and level of the club independent technical teams and recruiting staff, such as
Raimundo Saporta Raimundo Saporta Namías (December 16, 1926 in Paris, France – February 2, 1997 in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish professional sports club, club basketball administrator. After his death, FIBA and Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid renamed both t ...
. Moreover, under Bernabéu's tutelage, during the 1950s former Real Madrid Amateurs player Miguel Malbo founded Real Madrid's youth academy, or "''
cantera Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely u ...
''," known today as La Fábrica. Finally, beginning in 1953, Bernabéu embarked upon a strategy of signing world-class players from Spain and abroad, the most prominent being Argentine
Alfredo di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...
. During Bernabéu's presidency, many of Real Madrid's most legendary names played for the club, including Di Stéfano,
Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...
,
Francisco Gento Francisco "Paco" Gento López (21 October 1933 – 18 January 2022) was a Spanish footballer who played as an outside left. He was voted by IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) as the greatest Spanish footballer ...
,
Héctor Rial José Héctor Rial Laguía (14 October 1928 – 24 February 1991) was a footballer who played as a forward for Real Madrid between 1954 and 1961, and was part of the team that won five consecutive European Cups. He played professional footbal ...
,
Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...
,
José Santamaría José Emilio Santamaría Iglesias (born 31 July 1929) is a retired football central defender and manager. He spent his 18-year career with Nacional and Real Madrid, winning a combined 17 titles including four European Cups with the latter clu ...
,
Miguel Muñoz Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the mos ...
, Amancio and Santillana. It was under Bernabéu's guidance that Real Madrid established itself as a major force both in Spanish and European football. Before passing away in 1978, Bernabéu had been the club's president for almost 35 years, during which his club won 1 Intercontinental Cup, 6 European Cups, 16 league titles, 6 Spanish Cups, 2
Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. Europ ...
s, and 1
Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the nam ...
.


The De Carlos Era (1978–1985)

After a brief period as interim president, Raimundo Saporta called for elections. The club's treasurer, Luis de Carlos, resigned in order to run for president. 26 July 1978 was the deadline for candidates to apply in order to run for office. De Carlos submitted 3,352 documents endorsing his candidacy, while the rest – gynaecologist Campos Gil and florist José Daguerre – did not get the minimum number required in time. This called off the election and Luis de Carlos was proclaimed president of Real Madrid. On 4 June 1980, the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...
hosted the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
final between Real Madrid and
Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in Primera Federación – Group 1 for the 2022–23 season. It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a cap ...
, the club's second team that was initially founded on 21 July 1972. Castilla managed to defeat four First Division teams – Hércules,
Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
,
Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...
and
Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...
– to reach the final. Real Madrid defeated Castilla, coached by the sorely-missed Juanjo, by a score of 6–1. Later in the year, ''
France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusiv ...
'' magazine named Real Madrid "Best European Team" of 1980. The jury took into account the two national titles the team won that year – La Liga and the Copa del Rey – and the fact that they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup that season. Despite the previous year's successes, the 1980–81 season had an unpleasant finish for Madrid. On 26 April 1981, they lost the league title when the victory chant was already being sung in
Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...
. Real Sociedad, who drew 2–2 against Sporting de Gijón in the last minute at
El Molinón Estadio El Molinón (), officially Estadio Municipal El Molinón-Enrique Castro "Quini", is an association football stadium in Gijón, Asturias, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Real Sporting de Gijón. With a capacity of 29,029 seats, El ...
, claimed the title. Barely one month later, in the
1981 European Cup Final The 1981 European Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Real Madrid of Spain on 27 May 1981 at the Parc des Princes, Paris, France. It was the final match of the 1980–81 season of Europe's premier cup com ...
on 27 May, an
Alan Kennedy Alan Kennedy (born 31 August 1954) is an English former professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a left back for Newcastle United and then Liverpool. He was a stalwart member of the latter team that won many honours f ...
goal gave
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
the European Cup title over Madrid. The professional Real Madrid squad was one of four teams of the Primera División to back the strike called on 11 April 1982. On that day, the Whites played at Castellón with Castilla footballers and defeated the hosts 1–2. The
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the
1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...
took place at the Santiago Bernabéu. In a thrilling match,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
outplayed
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and won 3–1. What most spectators will remember most from that 11 July 1982 was the joy that overcame
President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...
Sandro Pertini Alessandro "Sandro" Pertini (; 25 September 1896 – 24 February 1990) was an Italian socialist politician who served as the president of Italy from 1978 to 1985. Early life Born in Stella (Province of Savona) as the son of a wealthy landown ...
each time the Italian side scored. With the presidential elections on the horizon, candidate Luis de Carlos introduced Alfredo Di Stéfano and Amancio Amaro as coaches of the first team and Castilla, respectively, on 19 May 1982. "The Arrow," as Di Stéfano was popularly known, initially left Madrid in 1964 only to return 18 years later. In the election, de Carlos defeated Ramón Mendoza and invited Di Stéfano, who signed to manage the team on a two-year contract. His first season in charge is best remembered by the bizarre fact of five trophies closely lost, four of them in four finals (Supercopa, European Cup Winners' Cup, Copa del Rey and Copa de La Liga). Besides that, in
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
the squad finished in 2nd place a single point behind champions basque-side
Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
after losing 0–1 against former Di Stefano club
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
in the ultimate match at Mestalla Stadium. Madrid were leading most of the rounds before the game and only needed a draw to clinch the title. Once the 1983–84 season had ended, Di Stéfano again said goodbye to Real Madrid. Twenty-one years later he went through the same experience. His contract ended on 30 June 1984 and Luis de Carlos decided not to re-sign him due to the failure to achieve sporting success. On 12 December 1984,
Emilio Butragueño Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the ''La Quinta del Buitre'' a ...
became a European household name with an unforgettable performance against
Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
at the Bernabéu. The Belgians were coming off a 3–0 first leg win in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and had the next round of the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
in sight, but Butragueño crushed their hopes with a three-goal performance (the others by Valdano woand Sanchís) and Real Madrid won convincingly 6–1, progressing on aggregate. Real Madrid's first two UEFA Cup titles were won back-to-back—the first in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
against Hungary's Videoton (3–0 at Sóstói Stadion and 0–1 at Chamartín) and the second over 1. FC Köln in
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
(5–1 at the Bernabéu and 0–2 at the
Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
).


The Mendoza Era (1985–1995)

After two brief stints as a director and an election-time defeat to Luis de Carlos, Ramón Mendoza's became president of Real Madrid in 1985, ushering in the dawn of a new era in the history of the club.


''La Quinta del Buitre''

''"La Quinta del Buitre"'' was the name given by Spanish sport journalist Julio César Iglesias to the five homegrown Real Madrid players who were at the core of the team that dominated Spanish football in the 1980s. The name, meaning "Vulture's Cohort" in English, was derived from the nickname given to its most charismatic member,
Emilio Butragueño Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the ''La Quinta del Buitre'' a ...
. The other four members included
Manolo Sanchís Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo (; born 23 May 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a sweeper. A part of the famous ''La Quinta del Buitre'' which stemmed from the Real Madrid youth academy, he was the only of its five members to sp ...
, Martín Vázquez, Míchel and
Miguel Pardeza Miguel Pardeza Pichardo (born 8 February 1965) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He was part of Real Madrid's generation of footballers known as ''La Quinta del Buitre'', but spent the better part of his care ...
. Sanchís and Martín Vázquez were the first to play for the first team of Real Madrid, making their debut at
Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
on 4 December 1983 under coach
Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...
. Both played surprisingly well, with Sanchís scoring the game's winner. A few months later, on 5 February 1984, Butragueño debuted in an away match at
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
. ''El Buitre'' was an instant sensation and scored twice. Pardeza was added to the first team that same season and Míchel followed at the start of the next. With ''La Quinta del Buitre'' (reduced to four members when Pardeza left the club for
Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
in 1986), Real Madrid had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe during the second half of the 1980s, winning, amongst others, two UEFA Cups and five Spanish championships in a row. Their record was only blemished by their failure to win the European Cup, and their continued abject defeats against the far superior
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
side of the time. Martín Vázquez went to play for
Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
in 1990, later returning to Madrid in 1992 only to leave again in 1995 for
Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...
. Butragueño left the club in 1995 and Míchel in 1996, both joining
Atlético Celaya The Club Atlético Celaya was a Mexican football club from Celaya, Guanajuato. The club was formed in 1994 when the two second-division clubs Atletico Cuernavaca (Morelos) and Escuadra Celeste de Celaya (Guanajuato) merged. Another team, Atléti ...
in Mexico. Sanchís was the only member of ''La Quinta'' to play his entire career with Madrid. By winning the Champions League twice (in 1998 and 2000), he accomplished what ''La Quinta'' had failed to achieve in its glory days. He retired in 2001 as the last active member of the famous cohort at the age of 37.


The Sanz era (1995–2000)

After ten-and-a-half years in office, Ramón Mendoza handed in his irrevocable resignation on 20 November 1995. He was relieved by Lorenzo Sanz, who held recourse to Club by-law 49 to get elected as heir to Mendoza by the 11 directors who continued on the Board of Directors following the transfer of power. On 20 May 1996,
Lorenzo Sanz Lorenzo Sanz Mancebo (9 August 1943 – 21 March 2020) was a Spanish businessman who was the 14th President of Real Madrid and a former owner of Málaga CF. Early life He was born in August 1943 in a humble family in Madrid, being the eldest ...
presented
Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
as new head coach of Real Madrid. The Italian trainer landed in Madrid borne out by his five successful seasons with Milan (with whom he won the 1994 Champions League) to replace
Arsenio Iglesias Arsenio Iglesias Pardo (born 24 December 1930) is a Spanish former football forward and manager. Nicknamed ''O Bruxo de Arteixo'' ("The Wizard of Arteixo"), his professional career, which spanned more than four decades, was closely associated t ...
, who managed the team on a temporary basis after coach
Jorge Valdano Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosopher ...
resigned. Although winning the league, however, Capello left Madrid after just one season, saying years later did so because he did not settle at Madrid as well as he would have wanted; he returned to Milan. Replacing Capello was the German
Jupp Heynckes Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (; born 9 May 1945) is a German retired professional footballer and manager. The majority of his player career was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won many nati ...
, who led the team to win the much-awaited Champions League/European Cup title, the team's last having come in 1966. In the
Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, held at the
Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...
on 20 May 1998, the ''Merengues'' conquered their seventh top European trophy with a goal by Pedja Mijatović against Juventus, who were the favourites on the night. Despite conquering Europe, Heynckes was fired at the end of the year and replaced by
José Antonio Camacho José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and manager. He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major titles, i ...
, who himself resigned just months later in July 1998 before the actual season even began. The team then hired
Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...
to take the reins of the squad, his first challenge being the
1998 Intercontinental Cup The 1998 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 1 December 1998 between Real Madrid, winners of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, and Vasco da Gama, winners of the 1998 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at a neu ...
. An extraordinary goal by Raúl in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
sealed a 2–1 end result for ''Los Blancos'' over Brazilian side Vasco da Gama. Hiddink, however, was fired just after less than a season, with the Welshman
John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for th ...
replacing him in February 1999. Nine months later, during the 1999–2000 season, Toshack was also fired, the seventh coaching change in just three years. Under the guidance of new manager
Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...
, Real Madrid claimed their eighth European Cup/Champions League title. The
Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, held at the newly built
Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...
in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, would host the competition's (including the European Cup era) first-ever Spanish final, pitting Madrid against
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
on 24 May 2000. The game Madrid comfortably defeat ''Los Che'' 3–0, with goals coming from Fernando Morientes,
Steve McManaman Steven McManaman (born 11 February 1972) is an English former footballer who played as a winger for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City. McManaman is one of the most decorated English footballers to have played for a club abroad and is ...
and Raúl.


The Galactico/Pérez Era (2000–2006)


2000–2003

In July 2000,
Florentino Pérez Florentino Pérez Rodríguez (; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman, civil engineer, former politician, and the current president of Real Madrid as well as Chairman and CEO of Grupo ACS, a civil engineering company. He was also the first ...
was elected club president, vowing to erase the club's debt and modernise the club's facilities, though the primary electoral promise that propelled Pérez to victory was the signing of then-Barcelona star
Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-ti ...
. During the campaign, Pérez claimed he had an agreement with the Portuguese winger that would see Figo move to the Bernabéu should Pérez be elected. On July 16, Pérez won the election and indeed, eight days later, Figo was presented with the number 10 shirt for Madrid. Days later, surrounded by controversy, Real Madrid idol
Fernando Redondo Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (; born 6 June 1969) is an Argentine retired footballer. A defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute offensively and creatively, he turned professional playing for Argentinos Juniors and played one full ...
, who had openly supported Pérez's opponent
Lorenzo Sanz Lorenzo Sanz Mancebo (9 August 1943 – 21 March 2020) was a Spanish businessman who was the 14th President of Real Madrid and a former owner of Málaga CF. Early life He was born in August 1943 in a humble family in Madrid, being the eldest ...
, was sold to Italian giants Milan. During the summer of 2000, Real Madrid signed
Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently a youth coach and technical mentor at Chelsea, having formerly been the head co ...
,
Albert Celades Albert Celades López (born 29 September 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. A tactically astute player with a strong defensive mentality, he was best known for his stints with Barcel ...
,
Flávio Conceição Flávio da Conceição (born 12 June 1974) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Conceição enjoyed a successful career in Spain, where he played for two clubs—including Real Madrid with whom he won six ma ...
,
César Sánchez César Sánchez Domínguez (; born 2 September 1971), sometimes known as simply César, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In 20 La Liga seasons, he played 401 games, with Valladolid, Real Madrid, Zaragoza, Valencia a ...
,
Pedro Munitis Pedro Munitis Álvarez (born 19 June 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a forward, currently a manager. He was one of the shortest players in La Liga, and was best known for his fighting spirit. His professional career w ...
and
Santiago Solari Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga total ...
, although aside from Makélélé and Conceição, the rest had been signed prior to the election of Pérez. Expectations were high as ''Los Blancos'' began the 2000–01 season with the possibility of winning five trophies. The club, however, stumbled at the first test, losing the
2000 UEFA Super Cup The 2000 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 25 August 2000 between Real Madrid of Spain and Galatasaray of Turkey. Real Madrid qualified by beating Valencia in the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final, while Galatasaray had made it to the Su ...
by a score of 1–2 to 2000 UEFA Cup champions
Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...
. Later, an injury to
Fernando Morientes Fernando Morientes Sánchez (; born 5 April 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He played for a number of clubs during his career, including Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and Valenci ...
left Real Madrid without a centre forward, but manager Vicente del Bosque improvised by using youth team graduate
Guti José María Gutiérrez Hernández (born 31 October 1976), known as Guti, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager. During his career, he played almost exclusively for Real Madrid ...
in the role, with Real Madrid coping and making good start to both their
domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...
and European campaigns. They were, however, defeated 2–0 at the
Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
against rivals Barcelona and were later eliminated from the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
by lowly Toledo, as well as losing the Intercontinental Cup final to a
Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...
side led by
Martín Palermo Martín Palermo (; born 7 November 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Platense. Palermo played for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. A prolific goalscorer ...
and
Juan Román Riquelme Juan Román Riquelme (; born 24 June 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current vice-president of Boca Juniors, the club where he spent the majority of his playing career.Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
3–2, but recovered to win the tie after a 3–0 victory at the Bernabéu. This would then set-up a replay of the 1999–2000 Champions League semi-final against
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
. This year, however, Real Madrid would not reach the final, losing 1–3 on aggregate to the eventual champions. Despite the setback, on 26 May, Madrid would crown themselves champions of the first division with an emphatic 5–0 win over Alavés at the Bernabéu. Two goals by Raúl and one each by Guti,
Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five La Liga ...
and
Iván Helguera Iván Helguera Bujía (; born 28 March 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer. Playing as either a central defender or defensive midfielder, with both good defensive and offensive skills, he represented five clubs during his professi ...
would ensure victory and Real Madrid's 28th league title with two matches left to play. After reaching an agreement to re-zone and sell the Ciudad Deportiva, Pérez went on to sign Zinedine Zidane in 2001,
Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...
in 2002 and
David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
in 2003. The media began referring to the team as "''Los Galácticos''". The strategy, initially dubbed "''Zidanes y Pavones''", meant to integrate world stars and youth team graduates together on the squad. It is debatable whether the gamble paid off, as despite winning the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
and an Intercontinental Cup in 2002, followed by
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
in 2003, the club failed to win a major trophy for the next three seasons. Off the field, the ''Zidanes y Pavones'' policy resulted in increased financial success based on the exploitation of the club's high marketing potential around the world, particularly in Asia.


2003–04 season

The few days after capturing the 2002–03 league title were mired with controversy. The first controversial decision came when Pérez sacked winning coach Vicente del Bosque after Real's sporting director claimed that Del Bosque was not the right man for the job; they wanted someone young to shake up the team. The turning atmosphere continued when Madrid legend and captain Fernando Hierro left the club after a disagreement with management, as did
Steve McManaman Steven McManaman (born 11 February 1972) is an English former footballer who played as a winger for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City. McManaman is one of the most decorated English footballers to have played for a club abroad and is ...
. However, the club toured Asia in pre-season and introduced newly signed ''galáctico''
David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
. Pérez and his directors refused to renew Claude Makélélé's contract with an improved salary, upsetting Makélélé who asked for a transfer, eventually moving to
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. In the final days of the transfer window, Fernando Morientes also left the club, joining French
Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
side
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
on loan. Real Madrid, with newly appointed coach
Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, ...
, began their domestic league slowly after a hard-fought win over
Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...
. Doubts of the team were quelled, however, when Madrid won 7–2 at home over
Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...
. The second half of the season then saw the team giving playing time to youngsters and academy graduates, including Borja, Álvaro Mejía, Antonio Núñez and Juanfran, as Queiroz opted to rotate his squad. Real Madrid also topped their group in the Champions League, advancing to the quarter-finals after defeating Bayern Munich in the round of 16 2–1 on aggregate. However, Madrid's on-loan striker Fernando Morientes punished his team in the quarter-finals, as Madrid saw Monaco progress 5–5 on aggregate via the
away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...
and move on to the semi-finals. Madrid nonetheless kept their Liga form high, leading the table by eight point over second-placed Valencia in February. A poor run of form would await them, however, as they were beaten for the first time at the Bernabéu that season at the hands of
Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...
, 0–3. They recovered their points lead after a win at the
Vicente Calderón Stadium The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( es, Estadio Vicente Calderón ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907 and located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela distric ...
over city rivals
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
, but more disappointments quickly followed; they lost their final five league games at home to
Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
, Barcelona and Real Sociedad, and also lost away at both
Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...
and Deportivo de La Coruña. These defeats allowed all of Valencia, Barça and Deportivo to leapfrog them in the table and end the year in up the top three, respectively, as Real ended the season in a disappointing fourth. Their poor performances continued as they lost the final of the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
to Real Zaragoza. Shortly after the end of the season, Queiroz was sacked and replaced by ex-Real Madrid player
José Antonio Camacho José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and manager. He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major titles, i ...
.


2004–05 season

Camacho highlighted the team's poor defensive performances and persuaded Florentino Pérez to spend a total of €45 million on both Argentine defender
Walter Samuel Walter Adrián Samuel (; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with f ...
and English centre-back
Jonathan Woodgate Jonathan Simon Woodgate (born 22 January 1980) is an English football manager and former player who is currently the First Team Coach at EFL Championship club, Middlesbrough. Woodgate began his career at Middlesbrough but moved to Leeds United ...
from
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, respectively, but failed to sign
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
's midfield general
Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...
due to his boldness of asking for a ''Galáctico''-like paycheck in the likeness of Luís Figo's, Zinedine Zidane's, Ronaldo's and David Beckham's. The summer of 2004 also saw the sale of Cameroonian striker
Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...
, who had been previously loaned out to Mallorca, to archrivals Barcelona. In addition to the defensive additions, English striker
Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...
was bought from Liverpool, but the player never settled at Real Madrid. Somewhat ironically, Eto'o would go on to achieve great success with Barcelona in just his first season with the team. Camacho resigned as head coach because of his team's poor performances and was replaced by
Mariano García Remón Mariano García Remón (born 30 September 1950) is a Spanish retired football player and coach. A former goalkeeper, he is best known for his spell at Real Madrid, which he helped to six La Liga and three Copa del Rey trophies. He subsequentl ...
. García Remón's last game was a loss at the hand of
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
, where the eventual champions Barça were six points clear from their nearest rivals, and Madrid sitting in lowly fifth. Remón was replaced by
Vanderlei Luxemburgo Vanderlei Luxemburgo da Silva (born 10 May 1952) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is currently a free agent. A left wingback, Luxemburgo represented Flamengo, Internacional and Botafogo before retiring in 1980. ...
after the winter break, who then signed
Thomas Gravesen Thomas Gravesen (; born 11 March 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Gravesen played as a professional in Denmark, Germany, England, Spain and Scotland for Vejle Boldklub, Hamburger SV, Everton, Real M ...
from Everton to fill the hole in midfield. Madrid failed to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and in the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
, but under Luxemburgo, Madrid fought hard to earn second place with 80 points, four points behind Barcelona.


2005–06 season

The 2005–06 season began with several new signings, including
Júlio Baptista Júlio César Clemente Pereira Baptista (born 1 October 1981) is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder or a forward. He is the current manager of Valladolid B. Baptista is nicknamed "The Beast" du ...
(€20 million),
Robinho Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002, ...
(€30 million) and
Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national football team, Spain nationa ...
(€30 million). However, Luxemburgo was not able to find the right formula on the pitch, as Real Madrid's poor form continued and hitting rock bottom after a humiliating 0–3 loss at the hands of Barcelona at the Bernabéu. Luxemburgo would eventually resign and be replaced by
Juan Ramón López Caro Juan Ramón López Caro (; born 23 March 1963) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager. He managed Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Levante UD, Levante in La Liga, as well as RC Celta de Vigo, Celta and ...
, the former the manager of
Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in Primera Federación – Group 1 for the 2022–23 season. It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a cap ...
. A brief return to form came to an abrupt halt after losing the first leg of the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
semi-finals 6–1 to Zaragoza. Shortly after, Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League for a fourth successive year, this time by Arsenal. On 27 February 2006, Florentino Pérez resigned as club president. Real Madrid eventually managed to finish second in the league but did not pose a serious threat to defending champions Barcelona.


The Calderón Era (2006–2009)


2006–07 season

On July 2, 2006,
Ramón Calderón José Ramón Calderón Ramos (born 26 May 1951) is a Spanish lawyer who is the former President of Real Madrid. He got his Law Degree in the University of Navarra, Spain in 1974 and he worked in London, England, as a lawyer, in 1975 and 1976. A ...
was elected as club president and subsequently appointed
Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
as the new head coach and Predrag Mijatović as the new sporting director. As new manager of Real Madrid, Capello signed
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
-winning captain
Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento. A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at Napo ...
and Emerson, both from
embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
Juventus, for a total sum of €23 million;
Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...
from
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
for €15 million;
Mahamadou Diarra Mahamadou Diarra (born 18 May 1981) is a Malian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He served as captain for the Mali national team. Club career OFI Crete Diarra started his professional career at Greek club ...
from
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
for €26 million; and on a last minute trade-loan
José Antonio Reyes José Antonio Reyes Calderón (; 1 September 1983 – 1 June 2019) was a Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger and also as a forward. He made his debut for Sevilla aged 16 and signed for English club Arsenal in Ja ...
, with Júlio Baptista going the other way after a disappointing stint at Madrid. However, Calderón failed to sign Milan's
Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...
, Arsenal's
Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when h ...
and Chelsea's
Arjen Robben Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (football), winger. He was known for his Dribbling#Association football, dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long ...
, as he had previously promised. Nonetheless, during the January transfer window, he did manage to sign
Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...
left back
Marcelo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
(€6.5M), River Plate forward
Gonzalo Higuaín Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El Pipita'' or ''Pipa'', Higuaín was a prolific striker, known for his eye for goal, strong physique, and o ...
(€13M) and
Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...
midfielder
Fernando Gago Fernando Rubén Gago (; born 10 April 1986) is an Argentine professional former player and football manager of Racing Club. During his 16-year club career, limited by multiple serious injuries, Gago played as a defensive midfielder and deep-ly ...
(€18M). On 16 January 2007, Calderón made some very unfortunate comments about the behaviour of some players in the squad and the Santiago Bernabéu fans, which has put the club in a delicate situation. One of the players that Calderón criticised was David Beckham, who, in January 2007, agreed to a deal to play for the
LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...
of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS) at the end of that season. Among others to criticise Beckham was manager Fabio Capello, who at the time vowed never to select Beckham for the team again, although he later withdrew his words. At the end of January, striker Ronaldo left the club for €7.5 million for Milan. On 9 February 2007, Capello allowed Beckham back onto Real's starting 11 in an away match against Real Sociedad. Beckham played well and scored the equalizing goal in the match, a 2–1 triumph. On 24 February 2007, the Madrid Derby between Atlético and Real at the Vicente Calderón finished in a 1–1 draw, with goals coming from
Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...
and Gonzalo Higuaín for Atlético and Real respectively. On 7 March 2007, Real Madrid failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, stifled by Bayern Munich's strong home performance. Despite winning the home leg 3–2, they lost 2–1 at the
Allianz Arena Allianz Arena (; known as Fußball Arena München for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with a 70,000 seating capacity for international matches and 75,000 for domestic matches. Widely known for its exterior ...
in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and were eliminated on an away goals tiebreaker. Bayern also scored the fastest goal in the Champions League during that match, after Roberto Carlos lost the ball after kick-off, which led to
Roy Makaay Rudolphus Antonius "Roy" Makaay (born 9 March 1975) is a Dutch former footballer and a coach who is currently first team coach at Rangers. As a striker, he was known for his goal-scoring ability as a result of his "aerial prowess and quick driv ...
scoring in ten seconds. On 10 March 2007, Real Madrid contested the '' Clásico'' against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid took the lead three times after two goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and one from Sergio Ramos, but were pegged back by a hat-trick from
Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
, including an injury-time equaliser. Despite the sending off of
Oleguer Oleguer Presas Renom (born 2 February 1980), known simply as Oleguer, is a Spanish former footballer. Primarily a central defender, he could also operate as a defensive right-back. During his career he was mostly associated with Barcelona, wit ...
, the ''Clásico'' ended 3–3. Real Madrid managed to find their form consistently for the first time all season as they managed to win seven out of eight of the final twelve games, including a 2–1 home win over Valencia on 21 April 2007 and another 3–2 home win over Sevilla on 6 May 2007. Calderón then went on to say that if the team keep up their great play, he was confident Real Madrid will win the league title and end their four-year wait for a major trophy on June 17. On 12 May 2007, despite not having Robinho and Beckham on the pitch (due to separate yellow cards given in the previous match against Sevilla), Real Madrid took over first place in the La Liga for the first time all season by defeating
Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...
4–3, coming back from 1–3 first half deficit. ''Los Blancos'' were able to avoid a 3–3 draw thanks to an 89th-minute goal by Gonzalo Higuaín. The Sunday after, Barça dropped points with a 1–1 draw to struggling Real Betis. By virtue of their superior head-to-head record, Real Madrid sat at the top of the Liga table with four crucial matches left to play. The following Sunday, Real managed to beat
Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...
2–3 at the
Nuevo Colombino Estadio Nuevo Colombino is a multi-purpose stadium in Huelva, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Recreativo de Huelva. Football was first introduced to Spain in Huelva and it still hosts the annual ...
. With the score tied at 2–2, Real Madrid looked set return the lead back to rivals Barcelona until Roberto Carlos scored at the end of the match from a Fernando Gago assist and the squad left Huelva with just three games left to play against, in order, Deportivo, Zaragoza and Mallorca. On 26 May 2007, Real Madrid put in another excellent performance to defeat Deportivo 3–1 at the Bernabéu. This victory made it six wins in a row for Real Madrid, with goals from Sergio Ramos, Raúl and Ruud van Nistelrooy securing the win. On 9 June, Real played their penultimate league fixture against Zaragoza at
La Romareda Estadio La Romareda is the home stadium of Real Zaragoza, in Zaragoza. It was inaugurated on 8 September 1957, with a game between Real Zaragoza and CA Osasuna (4–3). The official capacity is 33,608, with an average attendance of around 20,000 ...
. The match began badly when Real Madrid were forced to change their starting lineup mere minutes before the start of the match when young defender Miguel Torres suffered an injury during warm-up, tearing his hamstring. In the game, Zaragoza led Real 2–1 near the end of the match, while Barcelona were also winning against Espanyol 2–1. Real's title challenge looked to be over. A late Van Nistelrooy equalizer, however, followed by a last minute
Raúl Tamudo Raúl Tamudo Montero (born 19 October 1977) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. An icon at Espanyol, he captained the club for almost a decade, playing nearly 400 official games, winning two Copa del Rey and ...
goal for Espanyol, sprang Real Madrid's title hopes back into their favour. Sevilla were also held 0–0 away against Mallorca, which meant that a win at home against Mallorca would effectively secure ''Los Merengues'' their 30th Spanish league title. The title was won on 17 June, where Real faced Mallorca at the Bernabéu, while Barcelona and Sevilla faced
Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...
and
Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...
, respectively. At half-time, Real were 0–1 down, while Barcelona had surged ahead into a 0–3 lead in
Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
; however, three goals in the last half-an-hour secured Real Madrid a 3–1 win and their first league title since 2003. The first goal came from José Antonio Reyes, who scored after a good work from Higuaín. An own goal followed by another delightful goal from Reyes allowed Real to begin celebrating the title. Thousands of Real Madrid fans began going to
Plaza de Cibeles The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become a symbol for the city of Madrid. It sits at the intersection of Calle de Alcalá (running from east to west), Paseo de Recoletos (t ...
to celebrate the title.


2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons

On 25 August, Real Madrid kicked off the season in a derby against city rivals Atlético Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. It was a highly entertaining display from both sides but Real managed to win 2–1, with goals from Raúl and
Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he sta ...
for Real, while
Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest playe ...
scored for Atlético. It was a great start for Real as they showed skill and that they were adapting to the new style of play new manager
Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...
had brought in. On 28 August, Sevilla's
Antonio Puerta Antonio José Puerta Pérez (; 26 November 1984 – 28 August 2007) was a Spanish professional footballer who played solely for Sevilla. Mainly a left midfielder who could also operate as an attacking left-back, he died on 28 August 2007 affec ...
died after three days in the hospital. The Santiago Bernabéu Trophy, which Real Madrid was about contend for against
Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
, was cancelled in honour of Puerta. On 2 September, Real Madrid managed to win 5–0 against Villarreal at
El Madrigal EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
, with two goals from Sneijder, one from Raúl, one from Ruud van Nistelrooy and one from Guti. Real extended their winning streak to three after they beat
Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
at home before earning a well-deserved 1–1 draw against Real Valladolid, with
Javier Saviola Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández (; born 11 December 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented both Barcelona and Real Madrid, also having notable spells with Benfica and Olympiacos, and was na ...
scoring the equalizer three minutes from final time. Four days later, Real remained unbeaten as they beat Real Betis 2–0 at the Bernabéu, with goals from Raúl and an amazing
bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...
from Júlio Baptista. Real continued their unbeaten run under Schuster by beating
Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...
0–1 away to ensure ''Los Blancos'' remain at the summit of La Liga. Real began their European campaign well, defeating German side
Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...
2–1 at home thanks to goals from Raúl and Van Nistelrooy and topping their group over
Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...
, Werder Bremen and
Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
, respectively. However, they lost in the first knockout round against
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
, 4–2 on aggregate. On 9 December 2008, it was announced Bernd Schuster had been sacked as manager, and that ex-
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
manager
Juande Ramos Juan de la Cruz "Juande" Ramos Cano (born 25 September 1954) is a Spanish former footballer and manager. After playing and managing at an amateur level, Ramos led Rayo Vallecano to promotion to La Liga, followed by reaching the quarter-finals o ...
would replace him. That season ended up being one of the most disastrous in the club's history: Real was knocked out of the Champions League at the round of 16 stage for the fifth time in a row, losing to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
0–5 on aggregate, crashed out of the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
to third tier side
Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...
, and was embarrassed by Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu with a humiliating 2–6 loss, which all but confirmed the league title for Barça that went on to win the
treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...
. Madrid then lost their final four league games to cap off the disastrous campaign.


Second Florentino Pérez era (2009–present)

On 1 June 2009, Florentino Pérez regained Real Madrid's presidency amid the outrage over the club's decline. Pérez continued with the ''Galácticos'' policy pursued in his first term, buying
Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...
from
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
for a record-breaking (in pounds sterling) sum of £56 million, and then breaking the record again by purchasing
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
from
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
for £80 million. The 2009–10 season, however, was a transitional one as Madrid again finished second in the
league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
, although this time amassing 96 points, the club's record at the time, and went out of the Champions League at the hands of
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. The season was marred by Cristiano Ronaldo's injury, that sidelined him for seven weeks, although he still topped the goalscoring charts with 33 goals, and Madrid became the highest scoring team in La Liga, with 102 goals. Real Madrid also had the misfortune to become the runners-up with the highest points total in the history of Europe's top five leagues, until surpassed by Liverpool's 97 points in 2018–19.
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...
took over as manager in May 2010. In the 2010–11 season, the rebuilt Madrid successfully fought on all fronts, going toe to toe with a brilliant
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
side which some regard as the greatest team in football history. Ultimately, Madrid finished second in the
league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
, with 92 points and four behind their perennial rivals, defeated them in the Copa del Rey final, and lost to Barça in the Champions League semi-finals, where Real progressed to for the first time since 2002–03. Moreover, from 16 April through 3 May, a rare occurrence happened when, for the first time ever, four '' Clásicos'' were to be played in a span of just 18 days. The first fixture was in the league campaign on 16 April (which ended 1–1 with penalty goals for both sides), the second one was in the Copa del Rey final (which was won by Madrid 1–0
a.e.t. Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
, bringing them their first trophy in the second ''Galáctico'' era) on 20 April and the third and fourth ones in the two-legged Champions League semi-finals on 27 April and 3 May (Barcelona won on aggregate with a 2–0 away victory and a 1–1 home draw). The matches in the Champions League proved the most controversial, as multiple refereeing decisions were harshly criticized by Mourinho and Madrid players who accused
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
of favoring the Catalan side. Namely,
Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms *Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira, ...
's red card in the 61st minute of the first leg was questioned, after which Barcelona scored two goals, with Mourinho being ejected and subsequently banned for the second leg for protesting, and several controversial offside calls were made, as well as Real having a goal disallowed in the second leg, when the score was tied 0–0. Madrid again became the highest scoring team in La Liga, with 102 goals, repeating its output from the previous season, with Ronaldo scoring 40 and winning the
European Golden Shoe The European Golden Shoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture of a football boot. ...
. In the 2011–12 season, Real Madrid won
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
for a record 32nd time in its history, also finishing the season with numerous league records set, including 100 points amassed in a single season, a total of 121 goals scored, a goal difference of +89, 16 away games won, and 32 wins overall. They also competed in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
for the 15th successive season, losing in the semi-finals to
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
on
penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...
(after a 3–3 aggregate tie) in a heartbreaking fashion. Madrid entered the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
as the defending champions, but lost 3–4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals to Barcelona. In the same season, Cristiano Ronaldo became the fastest player to reach 100 goals scored in Spanish league history. In reaching 101 goals in 92 games, Ronaldo surpassed Real Madrid legend
Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...
, who scored 100 goals in 105 matches. Ronaldo set a new club mark for individual goals scored in one year (60) and became the first player ever to score against all 19 opposition teams in a single season. Real Madrid started the 2012–13 season by winning the
Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
, defeating Barcelona on away goals. However, the super cup turned out to be their only trophy of the season, despite being close to win them all. Real finished runners-up to Barça in
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
, accumulating 85 points, and reached the semi-finals of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
for the third year in a row, where they were eliminated by
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...
3–4 on aggregate. Madrid also entered the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
in the round of 32, going on a memorable run to the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, which saw them defeat Barcelona in the semi-finals (including an emphatic 3–1 victory at
Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
) before losing to
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
1–2
a.e.t. Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
in a heartbreaking fashion. Real Madrid faced the ''Blaugrana'' six times throughout the season, coming away with three wins, two draws, and one loss. A major transfer of the season was the signing of
Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an attack ...
from
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
for a fee in the region of £33 million. After a loss to Atlético in the Copa del Rey final, Pérez announced the departure of José Mourinho at the end of the season by "mutual agreement".


''La Décima'' and Champions League three-peat

On 25 June 2013,
Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...
succeeded Mourinho to become the manager of Real Madrid on a three-year deal, with Zinedine Zidane named as one of his assistants. On 1 September 2013, the long-awaited transfer of
Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...
from
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
was announced. The transfer of the Welshman was reportedly a new world record signing, with the transfer price approximated at €100 million. In Ancelotti's first season at the club, Real Madrid fought on all three fronts for the continental treble. Despite leading in the league campaign on multiple occasions, Madrid ultimately finished in third place (level on points with
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and three behind cross-city rivals
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
), collecting 87 points in total and scoring a record 104 goals. By that time, ''Los Blancos'' had already secured the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
– against rivals Barcelona – in April, with Bale scoring the winner. The major breakthrough came in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, where Real returned to the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
after 12 years, having beaten defending champions Bayern Munich 5–0 on aggregate in the semi-finals. In the final, they defeated then-recently-league winners Atlético Madrid 4–1
a.e.t. Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
to clinch their tenth European Cup (first since 2002) and become the first team to win ten European Cups/Champions League titles, an achievement known as "''La Décima''". Real's attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano, dubbed the BBC, finished the season with 97 goals. After winning the 2014 Champions League, Real Madrid signed goalkeeper
Keylor Navas Keilor Antonio Navas Gamboa (born 15 December 1986), known as Keylor Navas, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Costa Rica national team. He was named CONCACAF Men's G ...
, midfielder
Toni Kroos Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Kroos plays mainly as a central midfielder, but has also been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in his career. He is kn ...
, and attacking midfielder
James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Colombia national team. He has been praised in the past ...
. In August, Madrid won the
2014 UEFA Super Cup The 2014 UEFA Super Cup was the 39th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League ...
against Sevilla, the club's 79th official trophy. During the last week of the 2014 summer transfer window, Real Madrid sold two players key to the previous season's successes:
Xabi Alonso Xabier Alonso Olano (, ; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his hom ...
to Bayern Munich and
Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder. Di María began his career with R ...
to Manchester United. This decision by the club was surrounded by controversy, with Cristiano Ronaldo stating, "If I was in charge, maybe I would have done things differently," while Carlo Ancelotti admitted, "We must start again from zero." After a slow start to the 2014–15 season, Real Madrid went on a record-breaking 22-match winning streak, which included wins against Barcelona and
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, surpassing the previous Spanish record of 18 successive wins set by
Frank Rijkaard Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan and represented the Netherlands national team side ...
's Barça in the 2005–06 season. In late December, Real Madrid won their first
Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
, defeating
San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
2–0 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. The winning streak came to an end in their opening match of 2015 with a loss to Valencia, leaving the club two short of equalling the world record of 24 consecutive wins. Madrid was in contention for both the
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
title and the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
until the very end but ultimately came up short, finishing with 92 points in the league, two behind treble-winning Barcelona and losing to
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
2–3 on aggregate in the Champions League semi-finals. Ronaldo finished the season scoring 48 league goals, winning his fourth European Golden Shoe, and 61 goals in all competitions, breaking his record from 2011–12. Overall, despite playing an attractive attacking football and being the highest scoring team in Europe with 118 league goals, several heartbreaking defeats meant that Real finished the season with two trophies out of six possible, which contributed to the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti on 25 May 2015. On 3 June 2015,
Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under-1 ...
was confirmed as the new Real Madrid manager for the 2015–16 season, signing a three-year contract. Real Madrid remained unbeaten in the
league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
until a 3–2 loss at Sevilla on the matchday 11. This was followed by a 0–4 home loss in the first ''Clásico'' of the season against Barcelona. Perhaps, his reign is best remembered by multiple lopsided wins achieved both in La Liga and the Champions League (6–0 vs
Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...
, 8–0 vs
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
, 10–2 vs
Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...
and others). In the Copa del Rey round of 32, Real accidentally fielded an ineligible player
Denis Cheryshev Denis Dmitriyevich Cheryshev (russian: link=no, Денис Дмитриевич Черышев, p=dʲɪˈnʲis ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈtɕerɨʂɨf; born 26 December 1990) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for c ...
in a 3–1 first leg away win against
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
. Cheryshev was suspended from the previous season for three yellow cards (when he was representing a different team) but played the game nonetheless due to an accounting mistake by Madrid officials. Real was disqualified from the 2015–16 Copa del Rey two days later by the competition judge despite protests from president Pérez. In the meantime, Real comfortably topped their UCL group with 16 points and a +16 goal difference. Benítez was relieved of his duties on 4 January 2016 following allegations of unpopularity with supporters, displeasure with players and a failure to get good results against top teams. Benítez's departure was announced along with the promotion of Zinedine Zidane to his first head coaching role. Under Zidane, Madrid managed to turn the odds in its favor, ultimately winning the Champions League, something no one expected. The notable results include a 2–1 away victory over reigning treble winners Barcelona, who were on a record-breaking winning streak, a fantastic comeback against
Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...
in the Champions League quarter-finals (after losing the away game 0–2, Madrid erased the deficit and won 3–0 at home, courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick), as well as a 12-game winning streak to conclude the league campaign, meaning Real finished second, with 90 points and just one point behind champions Barcelona, coming agonizingly close to clinching the title and overcoming a 12-point deficit in the process. Finally, on 28 May, Real Madrid's eleventh Champions League title was won thanks to a 5–3 penalty shoot-out victory over rivals Atlético Madrid after a 1–1 draw in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, with the achievement being termed "''La Undécima''". Real Madrid began their 2016–17 campaign, which was to be Zidane's first full season in charge of the club, with a victory in the
2016 UEFA Super Cup The 2016 UEFA Super Cup was the 41st edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. ...
against Sevilla. On 10 December 2016, Madrid played their 35th-straight match without a loss, which set a new club record. On 18 December 2016, the club defeated Japanese outfit
Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
4–2 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the
2016 FIFA Club World Cup The 2016 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba YunOS Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament ...
. With a 3–3 draw at Sevilla in the second leg of the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
round of 16 on 12 January 2017, Madrid progressed to the quarter-finals with a 6–3 aggregate victory and extended its unbeaten run to 40 matches, breaking Barcelona's Spanish record of 39 matches unbeaten in all competitions from the previous season. Their unbeaten streak ended after a 1–2 away loss against the same opposition in
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
three days later. The team then was knocked out of the Copa del Rey by
Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...
3–4 on aggregate. These slips, however, did not affect the overall trajectory of the season. In May, Madrid won the league title for a record 33rd time, their first title in five years, accumulating 93 points in the process. On 3 June 2017, the club's victory over
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
in the
Champions League final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...
resulted in Real Madrid becoming the first team to successfully defend their title in the UEFA Champions League era, and the first to win consecutive titles in the competition since
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
in
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
and
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, when the tournament was known as the European Cup. Real Madrid's title was its 12th, extending the record, and its third in four years. The achievement is also known as "''La Duodécima''". The 2016–17 season was the greatest campaign in terms of trophies won (four out of possible five) in the history of Real Madrid, an achievement that would be later equalled in the 2017–18 season. Real kicked off the 2017–18 campaign by winning its second consecutive and fourth overall
UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...
in a 2–1 victory against
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
. Five days later, Real Madrid beat Barcelona at the
Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
3–1 in the first leg of the
2017 Supercopa de España The 2017 Supercopa de España was the 34th edition of the Supercopa de España, an annual two-legged Association football, football tie contested by the winners of the previous season's La Liga and Copa del Rey competitions. The tie was played in ...
and then defeated Barça 2–0 in the return leg, ending their 24 consecutive match scoring record in ''El Clásico'' matches and winning the second trophy of the season. On 16 December 2017, Real beat Brazilian club Grêmio 1–0 in the
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
and became the first team to retain the trophy. On 24 January 2018, Madrid was knocked out of the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
at the quarter-final stage by
Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...
on
away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
. The team's
league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
campaign was also a disappointment as Real collected only 76 points and finished third, 17 points behind champions Barcelona. Madrid fared far better in the Champions League, once again progressing to the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
where they defeated
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
3–1 to become the first club to win three straight titles in the Champions League era, as well as the first team to win three consecutive titles in the European Cup/Champions League since
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. The trophy also marked Madrid's fourth win in five years and their eighth consecutive semi-final appearance. On 31 May, only five days after winning the final, Zidane announced his resignation as Real Madrid manager, citing the club's "need for change" as his rationale for departing. Madrid ended the season with four trophies out of possible six. Zidane's and Ronaldo's departures marked the end of the ''Second Galáctico Era'' that yielded four Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, two Supercopa de España, three UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cup titles. The team was instrumental in ending Barcelona's dominance, despite the ''Blaugrana'' boasting arguably the greatest collection of talent in history, and overshadowed the Catalans on the European stage. Real Madrid was also somewhat notoriously unlucky in its league campaigns throughout these nine years, finishing runners-up with 96, 92 (twice), and 90 points, as well as on 87 points in third place, just three off the league winners.


Following Ronaldo's departure

On 12 June, Real Madrid named
Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid ...
, the head coach of the Spanish national team, as their new manager. It was announced that he would officially begin his managerial duties after the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
. However, the Spanish national team sacked Lopetegui a day prior to the tournament, stating that he had negotiated terms with the club without informing them. The club then began aggressively re-shaping the squad in the summer of 2018, which included the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus for a reported €117 million. Madrid began their 2018–19 campaign by losing to Atlético Madrid 2–4
a.e.t. Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
in the
2018 UEFA Super Cup The 2018 UEFA Super Cup was the 43rd edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League ...
. After a disgraceful 1–5 loss to Barcelona in ''El Clásico'' on 28 October which left Real Madrid in the ninth place with only 14 points after 10 games, Lopetegui was dismissed a day later and replaced by then Castilla coach,
Santiago Solari Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga total ...
. On 22 December 2018, Real Madrid beat
Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...
by a 4–1 margin in the
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. With their win, Real Madrid became the outright record winners of the Club World Cup with four titles. They are considered to have been the world champions for grand total of seven times because
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
officially recognizes the Intercontinental Cup as the predecessor of the
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
. They also extended the record for most consecutive titles with their third in a row. Solari won 10 out his first 13
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
matches, but the team started to struggle again soon after that. First, they were knocked out of the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
at the semi-final stage by Barcelona, losing 0–3 at home on 27 February 2019 after a 1–1 away draw in the first leg. Then there was another ''El Clásico'' a few days later, this time in the league, and Madrid against lost a home game to Barça, 0–1. Finally, on 5 March 2019, Real was thumped by
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
1–4 (3–5 on aggregate) in a home game, crashing out of the Champions League at the round of 16 stage after eight consecutive semi-finals appearances. On 11 March 2019, Real Madrid dismissed Solari and reinstated Zidane as the head coach of the club. Madrid went on to win five, draw two and lose four remaining league matches under Zidane, finishing third with 68 points, 12 losses and a +17 goal difference, making it Real's worst points total since 2001–02 and worst goal difference since 1999–2000. The club won one out of five possible trophies in one of the most disastrous seasons in its modern history. The 2019–20 season seemed a promising one, as Madrid went on a spending spree in the summer of 2019, signing
Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...
,
Luka Jović Luka Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Лука Јовић; born 23 December 1997) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Fiorentina and the Serbia national team. Early life Jović was born in Loznica, FR Yugoslavia. He was rais ...
,
Éder Militão Éder Gabriel Militão (; born 18 January 1998) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for the La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazil national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back or defensive midfielder. Mili ...
,
Ferland Mendy Ferland Sinna Mendy (born 8 June 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the France national team. Early and personal life Born in Meulan-en-Yvelines, France, Mendy is of Senegalese d ...
,
Rodrygo Rodrygo Silva de Goes (; born 9 January 2001), simply known as Rodrygo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazil national team. He began his career with Santos, where he played ...
,
Reinier Reinier is the Dutch form of the Germanic masculine given name ''Raginheri'', composed of the two elements ''ragin'' ("advice") and ''heri'' ("army"). It is equivalent to Scandinavian ''Ragnar'', German '' Rainer'', French '' Rainier'', and Spanis ...
and other players for a total of more than €350 million. On 12 January 2020, Madrid beat cross-city rivals Atlético Madrid in a penalty shootout in the
Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
to win their eleventh title. On 6 February 2020, Madrid was eliminated by
Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...
in the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
quarter-finals, losing 3–4 at home. After a three-month hiatus due to the
COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
in March 2020,
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
was restarted in June and Madrid won ten games in a row to capture the team's 34th league title, collecting 87 points in total. Madrid played the postponed second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
in August, losing 1–2 (2–4 on aggregate) at the
Etihad Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
and being eliminated at the first knockout stage for the second consecutive year. As such, Real ended the season with two trophies out of possible four. From La Liga's resumption in June and until the end of the 2020–21 season, Madrid temporarily played home fixtures at the
Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon name Alfred (name), Alfred and a common Italian language, Italian, Galician language, Galician, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given na ...
, while the Santiago Bernabéu underwent extensive renovations.


Further domestic success and ''La Decimocuarta''

Zidane left a second time on 27 May 2021 after going trophyless that season, with Carlo Ancelotti returning to coach the team for the 2021–22 season. On the domestic front, he delivered two trophies out of possible three, winning
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
and the
Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
. As such, Ancelotti won all six available top trophies at Madrid. In the Champions League, Madrid produced one of the most memorable runs of all time, defeating pre-tournament favorites
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
, defending champions
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, Premier League champions and heavy favorites
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, all in dramatic fashion, and setting up the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
against Liverpool, who were once again widely considered as favorites, in a rematch of their 2018 encounter. A lone Vinícius goal sealed the 14th European Cup for ''Los Blancos'', their fifth in nine years, and Ancelotti's second in charge. Real also claimed their fourth ever European double (after 1956–57, 1957–58, and 2016–17). Despite Real Madrid's status as the most decorated team in European Cup / Champions League history, they were considered underdogs in this season's campaign, rated no higher than seventh prior to the start of the group stages in September 2021 (after, in order, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City,
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
, Chelsea, Liverpool, and
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
). Prior to the start of the
knockout phase A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
in February 2022, they were again seventh, behind Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, in addition to having been considered underdogs to all of the teams they faced thereafter. As such, Madrid's run can be considered among the most improbable ones in modern Champions League history.


Notes


References


External links


Real Madrid history on the official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Real Madrid C.F. Real Madrid CF History of association football clubs in Spain