The 2003–04 season was
Real Madrid CF
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
's 73rd season 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' ...
. This article lists all matches that the club played in the 2003–04 season, and also shows statistics of the club's players. The club played the season wearing their classic white home and teal blue away kits.
Season summary
In spite of the arduous pre-season, the team got off to a good start. They won 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 ...
against Mallorca with a 3–0 victory on 27 August in the second leg, avenging their loss to the same side in the
2002–03 Copa del Rey
The 2002–03 Copa del Rey was the 101st staging of the Copa del Rey.
The competition started on 28 August 2002 and concluded on 28 June 2003 with the final, held at the Martinez Valero in Elche, in which Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is th ...
. By the time half of the season had passed, Madrid topped the league table and was still in contention 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 footb ...
and
Champions League trophies. However, the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on away goals by
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...
and finished as runners-up in the domestic cup, losing to
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 tribut ...
after extra time. They also lost their final five La Liga matches and finished in fourth place, which gave
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
the title. It was the last time that Real Madrid finished below second place until the
2013–14 season, which brought a long-awaited ''
La Décima''.
Transfers
In
Total spending: €35,000,000
Out
Total income: €16,000,000
Squad
Left club during season
''(transferred 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 const ...
in August 2003)''
Pre-season
The team embarked on a summer tour in Asia, for 18 days, to cash in on the worldwide appeal of their new signing,
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 f ...
. It included exhibition matches in Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok, which alone earned the club €10 million. This was compared by popular contrary with the tour with the first visit of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
to the United States in 1964. Although lucrative and generating wide publicity, the preparation value of the Asia was questionable, considering that the long 2003–04 season which lay ahead. It was exhausting for the players, due to endless rounds of publicity engagements and restrictions on the players' freedom of movement (due to the team hotel being besieged by fans). Most players admitted that they would have preferred a low-profile training camp and/or to have been home in Spain for the pre-season, instead of playing meaningless show matches against low quality opponents. The Asia tour has been said to have catered more to the needs of the club's marketing than to its players' preparations.
Pre-season
Results
2003 Supercopa de España
La Liga
Classification
Results by round
Matches
Copa del Rey
Round of 64
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
UEFA Champions League
Group stage
Knockout phase
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Statistics
Players statistics
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Real Madrid C.F. season
Spanish football clubs 2003–04 season
Real Madrid CF seasons