Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club, often known simply as Real Madrid, is a Madrid-based professional football team in Spain.

Since its founding in 1902, the Madrid Football Club’s home jersey has always been white.. King Alfonso XIII gave the club the honorary title real, which is Spanish for “royal,” and the royal crown on the symbol in 1920.

Since 1947, Real Madrid has held their home games at the 81,044-seat Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid has always been a member-owned and -operated organisation, in contrast to the bulk of European sports associations.

One of the teams with the most fans globally is Real Madrid. The club was predicted to have a value of $5.1 billion in 2022, making it the most valuable football team in the whole globe. With an annual income of €640.7 million in 2021, it was the second-highest-earning football club in the whole globe.

Along with Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, Real Madrid is one of the three founding members of La Liga that has never been demoted from the top flight.El Clásico with Barcelona and El Derbi Madrileo with Atlético Madrid are only two of the legendary rivalries that Real Madrid possesses. During the 1950s and 1960s, the club established itself as a dominant power in Spanish and European football, winning five consecutive and six total European Cups and making two more finals.

Madrid replicated this success at home, winning 12 league titles over a 16-year span. Some in the sport believe that this group, which included Francisco Gento, Raymond Kopa, Ferenc Puskás, and Alfredo Di Stéfano, was the all time.

In domestic football, the club has amassed 68 medals, including a record 35 La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Reys, 12 Supercopas of Spain, a Copa Eva Duarte, and a Golden Ball. Copa de la Liga. Real Madrid has a record 21 trophies in European football, including a record 14 European Cup/UEFA Champions League victories, two UEFA Cups, and a record five UEFA Super Cups. In international competition, they have won a record seven club world championships.

Real Madrid won the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit on May 20, 2004, and was named the FIFA Club of the 20th Century on December 11, 2000, with 42.35% of the vote. Additionally, on May 11, 2010, the IFFHS recognised the club as the Best European Club of the 20th Century.

In June 2017, Madrid achieved their goal of becoming the first team to win two straight Champions League titles. In May 2022, they captured a record-breaking fourteenth European Cup, giving them five titles in the previous nine years. In the most recent UEFA club rankings, Real Madrid is ranked fourth, behind Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Liverpool.

History:

A professional football team called Real Madrid Club de Ftbol is situated in Madrid, Spain. The team was founded in 1902 under the name Madrid Football Club, and on May 13, 1902, it faced FC Barcelona in the semi-final of the Campeonato de Copa de S.M. Alfonso XIII tournament, losing 3-1. From 1902 until 1940, Real Madrid competed against other neighbourhood clubs in a variety of area competitions that functioned as Copa del Rey qualifying events.

A founder member of La Liga, Spain’s first national league, the team joined in 1929. Real is one of just three teams—the other two being Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona—that has never been demoted from the top division of Spanish football as of 2022.

Real won the regional title 15 times and the Copa del Rey five times between 1902 and 1929. Real Madrid enjoyed a strong start in La Liga, placing second in the inaugural campaign and taking home the league’s first championship in 1932. Madrid’s eleventh-place result in the 1947–48 season still stands as the team’s lowest finish as of 2022.

During the 1950s, Real Madrid won the European Cup five times and La Liga four times. The decade of the 1960s, when Real Madrid won eight league titles, was the club’s most fruitful in terms of domestic championships. In 1962, it achieved its first league championship and national cup double.

Real Madrid’s status as a big club was cemented by their exceptional performance in the European Cup in addition to their local glory. They have won the title of champions of Europe a record fourteen times as of yet. Between 1956 and 1960, the club won the European Cup five times straightly with the assistance of Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, and other notable players.

This includes a stunning 7-3 Hampden Park final victory over the German team Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. In 1966, the side known as the Ye-Ye, which was made up entirely of players born in Spain, won the trophy for the club for the sixth time, defeating Yugoslavian club Partizan 2-1. They finished second in 1962, 1964, and 1981 as well.

1996 saw the appointment of Fabio Capello as coach by president Lorenzo Sanz. Real Madrid were named league champions during his brief reign, and a number of significant players joined the club to bolster a team that already included players like Raul, Fernando Hierro, and Fernando Redondo.

These players included Roberto Carlos, Predrag Mijatovi, Davor uker, and Clarence Seedorf. Real Madrid eventually won the seventh European Cup in 1998 under manager Jupp Heynckes after adding Fernando Morientes to the team in 1997. Mijatovi’s goal gave Real Madrid a 1-0 victory against Juventus in the final.

Real Madrid would go on to win once more in 2000, 2002 (with Vicente del Bosque as manager), 2014 (with Carlo Ancelotti), 2016, 2017, 2018 (with Zinedine Zidane as manager), and 2022.

In addition, Madrid has won the Intercontinental Cup/FIFA Club World Cup seven times. In those years, 1960, 1998, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, it defeated Pearol, Vasco da Gama, Olimpia Asunción, San Lorenzo, Kashima Antlers, Grêmio, and Al Ain.

Young Years:

Madrid’s first football fans were Institución Libre de Enseanza students. Several of them have Oxbridge degrees. They established a club in 1897 called Sky, which held performances at Moncloa on Sunday mornings. They divided into the New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Madrid Football Club organisations in 1900.

On March 6th, 1902, Madrid Football Club was legally created with the election of a new Board led by Juan Padrós. Padrós and his brother Carlos, who would both go on to lead Madrid as its president, invited other football fans to a gathering at the family business’s rear room, Al Capricho. The Padrós brothers believed that the new team should represent football as a mass sport that should be available to members of all social classes.

The Copa del Rey, the sole national competition at the time, was won by Madrid for the first of four successive times in 1905. Father Edward Power scored five goals in a 6-2 win for the Catholic priests’ Valladolid Royal English College side against them in 1907.

According to a 1957 quote from future club president Santiago Bernabéu, “the game changed the whole history of football in Spain by showing us how football should be played.”

Unprecedented achievement and Santiago Bernabéu (1943–1978)

Santiago Bernabéu was chosen to lead Real Madrid in 1943.During his tenure as president, the club was rebuilt during the Spanish Civil War, and he oversaw the construction of both its training facilities, Ciudad Deportiva, and present stadium, Estadio Real Madrid Club de Ftbol (now known as the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu). In the 1950s, former Real Madrid Amateurs player Miguel Malbo founded the youth academy, or “cantera,” of Real Madrid, currently known as La Fábrica. In 1953, he began a strategy of bringing in outstanding players from outside, Alfredo Di Stéfano standing out.

Quinta del Buitre and long-term achievement (1980–2000):

Real Madrid had lost control of the Liga championship in the early 1980s, but a fresh group of homegrown talents helped the team regain it. La Quinta del Buitre (“Vulture’s Cohort”), the moniker given to one of its members, Emilio Butragueo, was given to this generation by Spanish sports journalist Julio César Iglesias. Manolo Sanches, Martn Vázquez, Mechel, and Miguel Pardeza were the other four members; they were all football players who had attended the Real Madrid youth academy.

Era of Florentino Pérez:

In July 2000, Florentino Pérez was chosen to lead the club. He pledged to wipe off the club’s €270 million debt and upgrade its facilities throughout his campaign. However, the primary political pledge that propelled Pérez to victory was the acquisition of Luis Figo from sworn enemies Barcelona.

The club rezoned its practise field the next year and utilised the proceeds to start building the Galácticos team by recruiting a world-famous player every summer. These players included Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, David Beckham, and Fabio Cannavaro.

Era of Ramón Calderón (2006–2009):

After being elected club president on July 2, 2006, Ramón Calderón named Predrag Mijatovi as the new sporting director and Fabio Capello as the new coach. For the first time in four years, Real Madrid won the Liga championship in 2007, but Capello was fired at the conclusion of the season.

While Barcelona and Sevilla, the other title contenders, played Gimnàstic de Tarragona and Villarreal, respectively, on June 17, Real took on Mallorca at the Bernabéu, winning the championship. Real was down 1-0 at the break, while Barcelona had jumped out to a 0-3 lead in Tarragona.

Period after Florentino Pérez (2009–present):

In the midst of the fury about the team’s collapse, Florentino Pérez was reinstated as Real Madrid’s president on June 1, 2009. With the purchase of Kaká from Milan for a then-record-breaking (in British pounds sterling) cost of £56 million and Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for an additional record-breaking sum of £80 million, Pérez continued the Galácticos philosophy followed in his first term. In the summer of 2009, Real Madrid spent more than €261 million, and the assembled team was instantly called the Second Galácticos.

Ground:

The team transferred to the Campo de O’Donnell in 1912 after switching between a number of venues, and it stayed there for 11 years. Following this time, the team relocated for a year to the Campo de Ciudad Lineal, a little stadium with a seating capacity of 8,000. Following that, Real Madrid began holding home games at the Estadio Chamartin, which opened on May 17, 1923, with a match against Newcastle United.

Real Madrid celebrated its first Spanish league championship in this stadium, which held 22,500 spectators. The Chamartin was not large enough for the club’s goals, according to president Santiago Bernabéu, who was elected in 1943. A new stadium was built and opened on December 14, 1947.

The capacity has fluctuated a lot, reaching its high in 1953 at 120,000. Since then, there have been many expansions that somewhat offset a number of cutbacks brought on by modernizations (the final standing areas were eliminated in 1998–1999 in response to UEFA rules that had forbade standing during matches in European tournaments).

There are currently 81,044 seats available. In Europe, Real Madrid is the team with the fourth-highest average attendance, after only Manchester United, Barcelona, and Borussia Dortmund.

The 1964 UEFA European Championship final, the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, the 1957, 1969, 1980, and 2010 European Cup/Champions League finals have all taken place at the Bernabéu.

The 10 line of the Madrid Metro features a stop with the same name as the stadium. The Bernabéu was granted Elite Football Stadium status by UEFA on November 14, 2007.

The Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium, which honours club great Alfredo Di Stéfano, was officially opened on May 9, 2006, in the Real Madrid City, where Real Madrid typically practises. Real Madrid and Stade de Reims met in the inaugural game, which was a replay of the 1956 European Cup final. Sergio Ramos, Antonio Cassano (2), Roberto Soldado (2), and José Manuel Jurado all scored for Real Madrid in the 6-1 victory.

The location is currently a part of Ciudad Real Madrid, the team’s training complex outside of Madrid in Valdebebas. The 5,000-capacity stadium serves as Real Madrid Castilla’s home field.

With the building of an additional deck as part of the most recent refurbishment, the Santiago Bernabéu’s capacity will rise by about 4,000, to slightly over 85,000. A retractable canopy, a retractable pitch, and a 360-degree screen will also be added, along with a ten-meter height increase.

The stadium renovation began in 2019, and it was originally scheduled to open in 2022. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine severely disrupted supply chains, forcing the club to push back the stadium’s opening to 2023.

Support:

The number of season ticket holders at the stadium, which is limited to 65,000, often fills the majority of the seats during home games. A socio, or club member, must first purchase a season ticket in order to do so. The club has more than 1,800 peas (official, club-affiliated supporters’ groups) in Spain and other countries in addition to its members.

In terms of overall average attendance, Real Madrid ranks second in Spanish football and regularly draws over 74,000 spectators to the Bernabéu. Real Madrid, one of the most popular teams worldwide, became the first sports organization (and first brand) to reach 100 million Facebook fans in April 2017.

The so-called Ultras Sur fans, or just Ultras, are Real Madrid’s most ardent supporters. They are well-known for their far-right political views, similar to those of Barcelona’s ardent followers, Boixos Nois. The Ultras Surs have formed an alliance with various right-wing organisations, most notably Lazio Irriducibili supporters, as well as with left-wing organisations.

They have used racist slurs at opposition players on several times, and UEFA has looked into them for it. The Ultras were asked to leave the Bernabéu, and Florentino Pérez took it upon himself to give the general public those seats instead. However, several of the Bernabéu faithful disagreed with this choice since it would lessen the exciting atmosphere of games.

When asked about Pope Francis’ support of San Lorenzo, the opponents in the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Madrid captain Sergio Ramos responded, “We observed Marrakesh’s fans’ affection during the semi-finals, and it seemed like we were playing at home.

That encapsulates how outstanding this squad is. Madrid is both God’s and the world’s team “. Golfer Sergio Garca, who was asked to take the ceremonial kickoff for El Clásico at the Bernabeu wearing his green jacket from winning the 2017 Masters, is one of the club’s well-known fans.

Dress:

Throughout the course of the club’s existence, Real Madrid has worn a white shirt as part of their home uniform. There was one season, though, when the shirt and shorts weren’t identically white. Juan Padrós took the initiative in honour of Corinthian F.C., an English team that he had encountered on one of his travels and was one of the most renowned teams at the time known for its grace and sportsmanship.

Real Madrid’s decision to wear black shorts was made in an effort to mimic the English team, which had also served as the inspiration for Madrid’s original white kit. However, the initiative only lasted one year.

The official away colours of Real are either all blue or all purple. The club has also released a number of other one-color designs, including red, green, orange, and black, since the development of the replica kit market. Adidas has a contract to make the club’s uniform that began in 1998.

Zanussi, who agreed to be Real Madrid’s first shirt sponsor, agreed for the 1982–1982, 1983–1984 and 1984–1985 seasons. After that, Parmalat and Otaysa sponsored the team before a long-term contract with Teka was inked in 1992. Real Madrid terminated their agreement with Teka in 2001, and for one season, they promoted the club’s website with the Realmadrid.com logo.

Finance:

Real Madrid began working toward its goal of becoming the richest professional football club in the world during Florentino Pérez’s first term as president (2000–2006). In 2001, the club surrendered a portion of its practise fields to the city of Madrid and transferred ownership of the remaining land to Repsol YPF, Mutua Automovilistica de Madrid, Sacyr Vallehermoso, and OHL.

The sale eliminated the club’s debts, enabling it to acquire the most expensive players in the world, including David Beckham, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, and Zinedine Zidane. The training grounds had previously been rezoned for development, which raised their value. Subsequently, the city acquired the property.

The question of whether the city overpaid for the land, to be viewed as a type of public subsidy, was the subject of an investigation by the European Commission.

Real Madrid’s €270 million in debt was paid off with the sale of the training facility for office space, which also allowed the club to go on an unparalleled spending binge that attracted star players to the team. The sale’s proceeds were also used to build a cutting-edge training facility outside the city.

Although Pérez’s strategy increased the club’s financial success by taking advantage of its strong marketing potential around the world, particularly in Asia, it drew criticism for putting too much emphasis on the Real Madrid brand and not enough on the team’s performances.

Real Madrid was regarded by BBDO as the most valuable football brand in Europe by September 2007. At €951 million (£640 million/$1.285 billion), it was the second-most valuable club in world football in 2008, after only Manchester United, which was valued at €1.333 billion (£900 million).

Real Madrid had the most turnover in football globally in 2010. Real Madrid’s administration declared plans to launch the club’s own themed park by 2013 in September 2009.

According to a Harvard University research, Real Madrid “is just one of the 20 most significant brand brands where the executives and players are well-known. Regarding the level of support for the club throughout the world, we have some amazing statistics.

Real Madrid is followed by an estimated 287 million people globally.” Based on data from the 2008–09 season, Forbes estimated Real Madrid’s value to be about €992 million (US$1.323 billion) in 2010, placing them second only to Manchester United. Real Madrid came in first place, according to Deloitte, with a recorded revenue of €401 million during that time.

Record and Statics:

Ral, who appeared in 741 first-team games for Real Madrid between 1994 and 2010, holds the record for the most appearances. Manuel Sanchis, Jr., who has played 710 times, is second with 725 appearances. Iker Casillas is third with 725 appearances.

With 725 appearances, goalkeeper Iker Casillas holds the record. Cristiano Ronaldo is Real’s most-captured international player with 189 appearances. With 176 appearances for the club, Sergio Ramos has earned the most caps.

With 450 goals in 438 games, Cristiano Ronaldo (2009-2018) holds the record for most goals scored by a Real Madrid player. Six other players—Alfredo Di Stéfano (1953–1964), Santillana (1971–88), Ferenc Puskás (1958–66), Hugo Sánchez (1985–92), Karim Benzema (2009–present), and Ral—have all amassed more than 200 goals for Real (1994–2010).

In addition to being Real’s all-time leading scorer in La Liga history with 311 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo also holds the record for the most league goals scored in a single season (48 in 2014–15).

Di Stéfano’s 49 goals in 58 games held the record for the most goals scored in the European Cup for decades until Ral surpassed it in 2005. Cristiano Ronaldo now holds the record with 105 goals for Real Madrid and 140 overall. On December 3, 2003, when playing Atlético Madrid in a league match, the Brazilian Ronaldo scored the club’s quickest goal in history (12 seconds).

According to records, 83,329 people attended a Real Madrid play at home in 2006 during a Copa del Rey game. Currently, 81,044 people can be accommodated at the Santiago Bernabéu. The team had the highest average attendance in European leagues in the 2007–2008 season at 76,234.

Real has also broken other milestones in Spanish football, including the most consecutive seasons won and the most domestic titles (35 as of 2022–22). (five, during 1960–65 and 1985–90). The club has the longest home unbeaten streak in La Liga with 121 games (from 17 February 1957 to 7 March 1965).

The club also holds the record for the most UEFA Champions League/European Cup victories (14), as well as the most appearances in semi-finals. Cristiano Ronaldo now holds the record for most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League with 140 (141 including qualifiers), 105 of which came when he was a Real Madrid player.

With 15 straight appearances in the European Cup (before it became the Champions League), from 1955–1956 to 1969–1970, the team holds the record. A 22-game winning streak in all competitions during the 2014–15 season, a Spanish record and fourth in the world, is one of the club’s on-field records. With ten games, the team tied the Champions League record for longest winning streak.

By scoring in 73 straight games in September 2017, the team matched the record of the Brazilian team Santos, which featured Pelé.

After paying £80 million ($94 million) for Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo in June 2009, the club surpassed its own record for the biggest transfer fee ever paid in football history. The previous largest transfer price ever paid was €77.5 million (100 billion lire) for Zinedine Zidane’s switch from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001.

This record (in pounds sterling) was briefly broken in June 2009 when Real Madrid and Milan agreed to pay €67 million (£65 million) for Kaká. With a transfer fee estimated to be close to €100 million, Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur reportedly set a new world record in 2013.

The world record transfer price of €100,759,418 for Bale’s move was confirmed in documents that were released in January 2016. When Real Madrid acquired Eden Hazard from Chelsea for an estimated €115 million in 2019, they matched their previous record for a signing. On July 10, 2018, Juventus acquired Cristiano Ronaldo for a club-record €117 million.

Video games

Real Madrid has made numerous video games featuring football appearances, most notably in the FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer series. Seven times in total, Real Madrid players have been featured on the covers of both books.

Real Madrid and Spanish video game producer Virgin Play partnered in 2007 to create games with the club’s official licence. Real Madrid: The Game, developed by Atomic Planet Entertainment and published by Virgin Play’s publishing division V.2 Play in May 2009 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Windows, Wii, and Nintendo DS exclusively in the European markets Virgin Play released their products in, would end up being the only title released under the agreement (due to Virgin Play’s liquidation in September 2009). The game included a career option that combined simulation and role-playing with football action in an arcade setting.