The 1996–97 season was the

Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

's 66th season in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. This article shows player statistics and official matches that the club played during the 1996–97 season. For the first time since 1977–78, Real Madrid was not involved in any European competitions due to the previous season's lowest league finish in 19 years.

Summary

For the first time since the 1977–78 season, Real Madrid only played in the domestic competitions after having rejected the option to enter the 1996 Intertoto Cup. Madrid returned to domestic glory in the only season under the

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

's reign, who, after much conflict with club president

Lorenzo Sanz Lorenzo Sanz Mancebo (9 August 1943 – 21 March 2020) was a Spanish Businessperson, businessman who was the 14th List of Real Madrid CF presidents, President of Real Madrid and a former owner of Málaga CF, Málaga. Early life He was born in ...

, announced his exit already in mid-season, choosing to return to Italy (where he would eventually settle at his old club

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

). New signings

Predrag Mijatović Predrag Mijatović ( sr-cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin Association football, football administrator and former player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. At club level, Mijato ...

and

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian Association football, football administrator and former professional player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as the president of the Croatian Football Federatio ...

played alongside main striker

Raúl González Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

as well as

Clarence Seedorf Clarence Clyde Seedorf (; born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch former professional Association football, football manager and player. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He is currently working primarily remotely as ...

in midfield. Real Madrid was nearly on course to sign

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

-bound

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...

courtesy of his best form at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, but due to already featuring Raúl González as the club's main striker, Alan Shearer preferred to stay in England.

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

Carlos Secretário Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Secretário (born 12 May 1970) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played mainly as a right-back, currently a manager. In a 17-year career, in which he appeared in 341 Primeira Liga games and scored 12 ...

Christian Panucci Christian Panucci (; born 12 April 1973) is an Italian former footballer and manager. In his playing career he played as a defender. A versatile footballer, he began his career as a right-back, but was also capable of playing on the left; as he ...

, and mid-season arrival

Zé Roberto José Roberto da Silva Júnior (born 6 July 1974), commonly known as Zé Roberto, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a left wing-back or as a midfielder. He is most well-known for his time with Bayer Leverkusen and Bay ...

were also new signings in defense. In May 1997, Real Madrid began to slip due to injuries of key players despite having won 3 of 5 matches in that month. However as rivals Barcelona also slipped in early June after a loss against Hércules, Real took an advantage by crushing

CF Extremadura Club de Fútbol Extremadura was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1924, it played two seasons in La Liga, and held home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la Hera'', with a cap ...

5-0 in the same weekend. Real Madrid eventually won the

title with a record 92 points, after a 3–1 victory against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

on the penultimate round of the season (five points ahead of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

), and thus Fabio Capello became the first-ever Italian manager to win La Liga silverware. In the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, Madrid advanced to the round of 16 where they faced perennial rivals

, losing 4–3 on aggregate. The Catalans went on to win the tournament, setting up a

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

clash against Madrid.

Players

Squad information

Transfers

Winter

Reference:

Competitions

La Liga

League table

Results by round

Matches

Copa del Rey

Second round

Third round

Round of 16

Statistics

Player statistics

References

External links

Real Madrid 96–97 bdfutbol.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Real Madrid C.F. Season 1996-1997 Spanish football clubs 1996–97 season 1996-97 1996-97 1996 in the Community of Madrid 1997 in the Community of Madrid