"Bro, do you even Madridismo?" - A Historical, Cultural & Philosophical Primer of Real Madrid CF

Today Real Madrid has been proclaimed champion of the Spanish league, number 35 in its history.

I am going to put some historical data of the decisive day in which Real Madrid was proclaimed champion of each of its 35 leagues (based on the information published today by the ABC Newspaper of Madrid). It must be taken into account that some of these days Real Madrid was already champion because hours before its rival for the title had already played and lost, in others Real Madrid won the game but had to wait a few hours for its maximum rival to play and in others, Real Madrid added the necessary points after playing a game postponed from previous days (as happened in the 11/12 season).

DAY IN WHICH THE TITLE WON

- Last Day: 7
- In the absence of 1 day: 11
- In the absence of 2 days: 7
- In the absence of 3 days: 3
- In the absence of 4 days: 4
- In the absence of 5 days: 3

RESULT IN THE DECISIVE DAY

- Wins: 29 (highlighting an 8-2 against Arenas Getxo in 1932/33 and a 6-0 against Betis in 1987-88)
- Ties: 5 (the first league in history was won by drawing 2 goals against FC Barcelona at the Les Corts stadium)
- Defeats: 1 (against Sevilla CF at the Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium by 2-1, but because Sporting Gijon did not win their match, Real Madrid was proclaimed league champion).

STADIUM WHERE THE LEAGUE WAS WON

- At home: 22 (21 wins and 1 draw) (71 goals for and 15 against)
- Visitor: 13 (8 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss) (24 goals for and 12 against)

RIVAL AGAINST WHICH THE TITLE WAS WON

- 4 times: Atlético de Madrid y Sevilla
- 3 times: Athletic Bilbao, Mallorca y Real Zaragoza
- 2 times: Real Valladolid y Espanyol
- 1 time: FC Barcelona, Alavés, Arenas Getxo, Betis, Cádiz, Córdoba, Deportivo Coruña, Granada, Las Palmas, Málaga, Osasuna, Real Sociedad, Valencia y Villarreal

PLAYERS WHO SCORED IN DECISIVE MATCHES

- 5 times: José Martínez “Pirri”. An incredible record since Pirri was not a striker despite having good goalscoring records. He scored on the decisive day of the 67/68, 71/72, 74/75, 78/79 and 79/80 leagues (12 years between his first and last goal in this type of match)
- 3 times: Di Stéfano, Puskas, Amancio y Benzema
- 2 times: Butragueño, Cristiano, Del Sol, Gordillo, Grosso, Hierro, Higuain, Hugo Sánchez, Lazcano, Míchel, Olsen, Raul, Luis Regueiro, Rial, Santillana y Velázquez
- 1 time: Amavisca, Ángel, Asensio, Breitner, Canario, M. Diarra, Féliz Ruiz, Gallego, Guti, Helguera, Hilario, Juanito, Macanás, Mateos, Mijatovic, Olivares, Ozil, Reyes, Robben, Roberto Carlos, Rodrigo, Ronaldo, Sanchís II, Solana, Valdano, Veloso, Wolff y Zamorano.

GOALS SCORED IN THE DECISIVE MATCHES:

- 6 goals: Di Stéfano y Pirri
- 4 goals: Puskas, Benzemá y Luis Regueiro
- 3 goals: Amancio, Butragueño, Del Sol, Míchel y Raul
- 2 goals: Cristiano, Gordillo, Grosso, Hierro, Higuain, Hilario, Hugo Sáchez, Lazcano, Mateos, Olivares, Olsen, Reyes, Rial, Rodrigo, Ronaldo, Santillana y Velázquez
- 1 goal: Amavisca, Ángel, Asensio, Breitner, Canario, M. Diarra, Féliz Ruiz, Gallego, Guti, Helguera, Juanito, Macanás, Mijatovic, Ozil, Robben, Roberto Carlos, Sanchís II, Solana, Valdano, Veloso, Wolff y Zamorano.

Luis Regueiro in the 1932/33 season and Alfredo di Stéfano in 1953/54 scored a hat-trick in the game that saw Real Madrid become champions

 

https://www.realmadrid.com/en/about-real-madrid/history/football-legends

I just went back to look at Real Madrid Legends page. Marcelo, Bale and Isco were added to the page, and I don't have an issue with that. However, I noticed Jese, Morata, Danilo, Didi, Owen, Coentrao, Kovacic, Kaka and Pavon were also included. I could make excuses of having Kaka, Didi and perhaps, Owen on the list because they were legends of the game outside Madrid. Pavon did play a number of games for us although not too good. His name was also associated with a policy of the club. He was in a way a part of our history..... not a good part of it. Kovacic, Danilo and Morata did continue to play at the highest level in European football, but still why? Jese never really played much in the top flight after his first professional season. Sneijder, Robben, Carvalho, Ozil and Robinho were missing. Personally, I would not include them, but as compared to Jese, they did much more in Madrid.

PS: Elvir Baljić was also included. I thought he was a bust here, but he was before my time. Oscar Ruggeri was a big name who did not do much here. Of course, he was excluded. Hagi and Prosinecki were rightfully absent from the page. But why are Owen, Kaka and Didi here? Let's see if Hazard makes this list in the future. This page is a joke.

 

Both Berlusconi and Ronaldo love women, I know that too. Ronaldo never played on the wing, but Berlusconi wanted a "wingman" off the field. So that was the real reason why AC milan signed him from us. . But I don't think Cassano stabilized the team for that season. Capello was a great winning coach, but his style did not fit in the spirit of the club. He should be given credited for the 1998 Champions League title as well.


https://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2022/09/25/633071ccca47417c1c8b458c.html

 

Capello was a very good coach. Everything has to be looked through the prism of it's time. He had a successful playing career behind him, and in the 90's he was probably the biggest name in football management. Still a decent coach in the 00's but the game has moved on since a bit. I'll always have a soft spot for him because he brought in Davor Suker, and as a Croatian that's what got me supporting Real Madrid when I was a kid.

 

OUTFIELD PLAYERS WHO ENDED UP PLAYING GOALKEEPERS IN REAL MADRID

Sabino Barinaga was a striker for Real Madrid in the 40s of the last 20th century. During his years in the team from the capital of Spain, Barinaga won two Spanish Cups in 1946 (where he scored a goal) and 1947, and also won the only Eva Duarte Cup (predecessor tournament of the current Spanish Super Cup) that has won the Real Madrid in its history in 1947.

At the scoring level, he has two important milestones in the history of Real Madrid:

- In 1947 he scored the first goal in the history of the current Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (in those years still known as Nuevo Chamartín) in the friendly match that Real Madrid played against the Portuguese team Os Belenenses as the inauguration of the new stadium (victory by 3 -1 for the Spanish team).

- When he retired, he was the top scorer in the club's history with 93 goals, although he was soon surpassed by Pahiño who reached 125 goals with Real Madrid.

But if I'm talking about Barinaga today, it's because he was, at least as far as I know, the only outfield player in the history of Real Madrid to play goalkeeper twice in official matches.

The first time was on December 16, 1945 in a league match at the "Old Chamartín" against Atlético Madrid when the Real Madrid goalkeeper, Bañón, was injured before the break and Barinaga had to act as goalkeeper. In the second half, Bañón was able to rejoin the game and Barinaga continued playing as a striker. In total he spent about 20 minutes as goalkeeper where he did not concede any goal, the game ended with a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid.

The second time Barinaga had to become a goalkeeper was on March 6, 1949 (Real Madrid turned 47 on that day), also in a league match, although this time it was played at the Balaidos stadium against Celta Vigo. In the 43rd minute, Bañón was again injured and during the two minutes remaining until the break he was replaced by another outfield player, Macala, but in the second half the goalkeeper for the 45 minutes was Sabino Barinaga, who this time conceded two goals and his team ended up losing the match 3-1.

Photo of Barinaga as goalkeeper:



In addition to Macala and Barinaga, at least one other outfield player has ended up playing as Real Madrid's goalkeeper in a league match, I am referring to José Miguel González “Michel”. The right winger of Real Madrid made history in the Spanish club, winning 6 league titles, 2 Spanish Cups, 4 Spanish Super Cups, 1 League Cup and 2 UEFA Cups (scoring a goal in the final of the first one in 1985) in addition to scoring 130 goals during his 12 seasons at the white club.

Míchel played goalkeeper in the last minutes of the league match played against Tenerife at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on January 26, 1992 due to the expulsion of Paco Buyo. Real Madrid won that game 2-1 and the two goals were scored precisely by the player who ended up as goalkeeper, Míchel.



By the way, when Míchel left Real Madrid he ended up playing a season at Atlético Celaya in Mexico, well, he also ended up playing goalkeeper there in one game (the entire second half plus a few minutes of the first). He made at least 7 saves, although he conceded two goals and his team lost 0-2.

 

Capello is full of shit, we got Cassano in the winter window 05/06 before he arrived. So he just has an agenda against Ronaldo and tries to justify his actions. He was just too rigid to see past Ronaldo's happy go lucky sideshow which he always had, and actually use him to the team's benefit. If every coach in Ronaldo's career had nitpicked about his private life, instead of just letting him do his thing on the pitch, the sport would have been deprived of one of its greatest talents ever.

 

Capello did not sign Cassano as you had said. He seldom used Cassano while he was here. They clashed numerous times. He had more problems with Cassano than Ronaldo. So using Cassano's relationship with Capello was a bad example. If Ronaldo partied and did well on the field, that should be fine. But by the beginning of the 2006-2007, Ronaldo was a shadow of himself for at least two seasons. The strike force of the team was already Raul and RVN. Capello was right to quickly sell him. He did win La Liga that season after many years of being trophy-less, and Ronaldo never regained his former self everywhere he went afterward.

 

Ronaldo was doing great at Milan before he tore his ACL again. He was a one of kind player that could produce regardless of his shape, as long as the coach knew how to use him and kept him happy, like Ancelotti did. Hes pretty much the perfect coach for someone like Ronaldo. Capello wanted to make Ronaldo thin and pressing, when he could just have worked with what he had and still got the results like many coaches before him.

 

When Florentino Pérez became president of Real Madrid for the first time (in 2000) he commissioned the preparation of a document explaining the club's values, reviewing its history and discussing the future of the entity. This document was known as the "Blue Book" and was given to new signings (football and basketball) and also to the players who belonged to the team at that time.

That document included a list with the 23 most important players in the club's history up to that time, which since it was from the year 2000 is the same as saying that for the club those were the 23 most important players of the 20th century. The list was as follows (in chronological order):

THE 23 MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS OF THE 20TH CENTURY CHOSEN BY REAL MADRID ITSELF

- Ricardo Zamora (1930-36). Goalkeeper. 152 games.
- Jacinto Quincoces: (1931-42). Defender. 205 games. Goals: 2
- Gaspar Rubio: (1928-30). Forward. 75 games. Goals: 72
- Miguel Muñoz: (1948-58). Midfield player. 275 games. Goals: 24
- Luis Molowny: (1946-57). Forward. 208 games. Goals: 103
- Alfredo di Stefano: (1953-64). Forward. 396 games. Goals: 308
- Ferenc Puskas: (1958-67). Forward. 262 games. Goals: 242
- José Emilio Santamaría: (1957-66). Centre back. 337 games. Goals: 2
- Raymond Kopa: (1956-59). Forward. 103 games. Goals: 30
- Paco Gento: (1953-71). Outside left. 600 games. Goals: 182
- Amancio Amaro: (1962-76). Forward. 471 games. Goals: 155
- Manolo Velázquez: (1965-77). Midfield player. 402 games. Goals: 59
- José Martínez “Pirri”: (1964-80). Centre back. 561 games. Goals: 172
- Goyo Benito: (1969-82). Centre back. 420 games. Goals: 3
- Vicente del Bosque: (1973-84). Midfield player. 339 games. Goals: 25
- Carlos Alonso "Santillana": (1971-88). Forward. 645 games. Goals: 290
- Juan Gomez "Juanito": (1977-87). Forward. 401 games. Goals: 121
- Uli Stielike: (1977-85). Midfield player. 308 games. Goals: 50
- José Antonio Camacho: (1973-89). Left Back. 577 games. Goals: 11
- Hugo Sánchez: (1985-92): Forward. 282 games. Goals: 208
- Emilio Butragueño: (1984-95). Forward. 463 games. Goals: 171
- José Miguel González “Míchel”: (1984-96). Midfield player. 559 games. Goals: 130
- Manolo Sanchis Jr.: (1983-2001). Centre back. 710 games. Goals: 40

In summary there is 1 goalkeeper, 6 defenders, 7 midfielders and 9 forwards.

From this list of 23, I think there may be more or less 18 immovable players and another 5 that could be exchanged for other players. For example, I think it's a big mistake that Fernando Hierro isn't on the list, he deserves it without a doubt. Others that could be there would be Paco Buyo, Ignacio Zoco, Fernando Redondo or Héctor Rial. A special case is Roberto Carlos and Raúl González since their sporting career is halfway between the 20th and 21st centuries (in any case, Raúl had already spent 6 seasons at Real Madrid in 2000, so it is possible that he could be among the 23 best in the club's history at that time).

In my opinion, this would be the ranking of Real Madrid in the 20th century (because of the aforementioned, I am not going to include Roberto Carlos and Raúl, despite the fact that I consider them 2 of the 10 best players in the history of Real Madrid):

1- Alfredo di Stefano
2- Paco Gento
3- Ferenc Puskas
4- Jose Martinez "Pirri"
5- Amancio Amaro
6- Jose Emilio Santamaria
7- Fernando Hierro

From here I have many doubts but it could be something like this:

8- Ricardo Zamora
9- Hugo Sanchez

10-12 Butragueno, Michel, Camacho
13-17 Sanchís Jr, Rial, Stielike, Santillana, Kopa (Kopa is in this block because he only played three seasons at Real Madrid, if he had played more he would be much higher).
18-22 Quincoces, Buyo, Juanito, Zoco, Redondo

I put the links where I got the information about the "Blue Book" (in Spanish):

https://www.relevo.com/futbol/liga-primera/libro-azul-real-madrid-descubierto-20221007125341-nt.html

https://www.relevo.com/futbol/libro-azul-primeras-leyendas-real-20221004213140-nt.html

 

Amancio Amaro “El Brujo” passed away yesterday, one of the best players in the history of Real Madrid and also one of the most important players in Spanish football. He was currently the Honorary President of Real Madrid, a position in which he succeeded Paco Gento.

Due to his long career at the Chamartín club, he is surely, after Gento, the best winger in the club's history, surpassing other greats such as Míchel or Figo.

Amancio played 14 seasons in the team from the capital of Spain where he won 9 leagues, 3 Spanish Cups and 1 European Cup 2-1 against Partizán Belgrade and where Real Madrid's first goal in that final was scored precisely Amancio.

With the Spanish NT, he won the 1964 Eurocup and became the first player in the club's history (together with Ignacio Zoco) to win a continental or world team title while they belonged to Real Madrid. Previously, other players had played for Real Madrid, previously being world or continental champions, but they won those titles before joining the team from the capital of Spain:

- Julio César Britos: world champion in 1950, arrived at Real Madrid in 1953.
- Alfredo di Stéfano: Champion of America in 1947, he arrived at Real Madrid in 1953.
- Waldir Pereira “Didi”: World Champion in 1958, he arrived at Real Madrid in 1959.

Internationally, he was included in the ideal XI of the 1964 Eurocup and that same year he was awarded the Bronze Ball by France Football behind Denis Law and Luis Suárez. He is also one of the few players in the history of Spanish football to have won the Pichichi Trophy in the second division (with Deportivo Coruña in 1962) and in the first division (2 times with Real Madrid, in 1969 and 1970). He was also part of the FIFA team that in 1968 played a match at the Maracana stadium to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the first World Cup won by the Brazilian national team.

As a coach he did not have as many successes as a player but he has achieved something that no one else has achieved in the history of Spanish football, which is to be champion of the second division with a reserve team, in this case Castilla CF (a reserve team of Real Madrid).The unrepeatable "Quinta del Buitre" played in that Castilla CF team. Later Alfredo Di Stéfano and Amancio Amaro himself gave these players the opportunity to debut in the first division... and the rest is history.

R.I.P.

In Real Madrid


With the FIFA team


With Pele


With Clifford Luyk, the "Paco Gento" of the Real Madrid basketball section, 6 times European club champion.

 

Marcelo, speaking to ESPN's Mark Ainstein in the bicycle diaries:

Marcelo oozes Madridismo. Pure class, and he loved this club to his bones. I hope the younger generation learns the humility and responsibility that Marcelo cultivated from a young age. His son plays for the U-14 team. I hope the values he had passes on to the next great generation.

 

What a fullback he was.

I think Benz is just two trophies behind Marcelo in the “most decorated player” stakes.

 

Marcelo also arrived at the time when he was probably considered to be the least likely to succeed among the three young players who arrived in that window. Then, Drenthe arrived 7 months later as the newly crowned the Player of the Tournament at the European U21 Championship. Heinze also came that summer. I am curious how Marcelo thought of his situation at that point. Arbeloa also played as a leftback when he first arrived in 2009 The club then paid 30 million for Coentrao in 2011 which was then a huge sum for a fullback. But yet he emerged as one of the greatest fullback in our history.

 

I have probably seen all the Ronaldo at Madrid match comps that are on youtube, each one several times. I basically consider myself a Ronaldologist lol. But somehow this one slipped through the net:




And it reminded me how I will never stop being in utter awe about the fact that this man completely destroyed his knee, and then came back to be this inhumanly fast, powerful and coordinated.

Honestly, take four minutes out of your time to watch this one. Just in a different dimension from everyone else. There was never a more appropriate nickname for a footballer than "Phenomenon" was for Ronaldo.

 

THE BIGGEST DEFEATS OF REAL MADRID IN EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS

Real Madrid is the team with the best record in the world but it has also had its dark nights.
Today we are going to talk about the most painful European nights of our team, which we have had several XXX.

Real Madrid have lost 19 games in Europe by 3 or more goal difference:

- 12 for 3 goals
- 5 for 4 goals
- 2 for 5 goals

Obviously these 19 games have been hard times for the club, but what have been the most painful defeats for the madridistas?

There are a number of games that I would rule out and they are all the ones that have been lost in the group stage of the Champions League, since on all those occasions Real Madrid managed to get through to the playoffs, so despite the defeats received, they are games that historically "have not been relevant", these parties were:

- Champions 99/00: Bayern Munich 4-1. In addition, in the match at the Bernabéu the Germans prevailed with another win, 2-4 but, as fate would have it, Real Madrid eliminated Bayern precisely in the semifinals on their way to their eighth Champions League.
- Champions 04/05 Bayer Leverkusen 3-0
- Champions 05/06 Olympique Lyon 3-0
- Champions 18/19 CSKA Moscow 0-3. The first time in history that they lost at home by 3 goals difference.
- Champions 19/20 PSG 3-0

Of the remaining 14 games, there are a number of them that, although Real Madrid lost by many goals, at the end of 180 minutes (or 210 in some cases) the Madrid team managed to pass the tie. Here we have two cases:
A) those that Real Madrid lose the first leg and come back in the second leg, in this block we have some of the most important and remembered matches of the Chamartín club
B) Those who win in the first leg and in the second leg end up thrashed, but still manage to qualify for the next round.

A) Defeat in the first leg of the tie:

- European Cup 75/76 Derby County 4-1. The first great comeback in the history of Real Madrid, after extra time and 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Santillana was the hero of the Madrid comeback.

- UEFA Cup 84/85 Anderlecht 3-0. After losing in Belgium by three goals, Real Madrid won 6-1 on the day that Emilio Butragueño became famous throughout Europe. Real Madrid ended up being champions of the competition.

- Uefa Cup 85/86 Borussia Monchengladbach 5-1. The biggest comeback in the club's history by winning at the buzzer 4-0 and again with Santillana as the hero of the match. Again, Real Madrid was champion for the second consecutive year in this competition.

B) Defeat in the second leg of the tie:

- European Cup 55/56 Partizan Belgrade 3-0. First major European defeat for Real Madrid, who qualified for the next round after having won 4-0 in the first leg. The second leg, in Belgrade, was played on completely frozen ground.

There are only 10 games left, in all these qualifiers Real Madrid was eliminated and I am going to try to order them from the least painful to the most painful with a totally subjective perception based on what those defeats meant at that time for Real Madrid, how the I lived (of course in the games I saw live) and how I see those games / qualifiers over the years.

From 6 to 10 I would put:

- Champions 08/09 Liverpool 4-0. Due to the 4 goal difference, they should be higher up on the list, but seen with perspective, Liverpool was far superior to Real Madrid and also, in the first leg, the Whites had already lost 0-1 at home, so the tie was very difficult.

- UEFA Cup 92/93 PSG 4-1. After winning 3-1 at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid, after a horrible game, conceded the fourth goal that classified the French in injury time.

- Champions 18/19 Ajax Amsterdam 1-4. This match could be higher in the list because it is the biggest defeat at home in European competitions and also Real Madrid had won 1-2 in Amsterdam and was the favourite, however for being a "Real Madrid in transition" (despite being the current European champion) I place this game in the block 6-10.

- European Cup 86/87 Bayern Munich 4-1. Real Madrid had just won 2 Uefa Cups with incredible comebacks and great wins at home (Inter, Köln, etc.) and many of us thought that the 4-1 win against the Munich Olympics Stadium would not be a problem when it came to moving on to the final. We were wrong, and the team completed its 21st season consecutive without winning the European Cup.

- Champions 12/13 Borussia Dortmund 4-1. In Spain we thought, once we had seen the semifinal matches, that there would be a Real Madrid-Barcelona final, but it was not like that, Bayern swept FC Barcelona 7-0 and Real Madrid came close to coming back at the Bernabéu but the 2- 0 in the second leg was insufficient and for the eleventh consecutive year Real Madrid did not qualify to play a Champions League final.

From 3-5 I would put:

- European Cup 64/ 65 Benfica 5-1. First year without Di Stefano and the first time that Real Madrid conceded 5 goals in European competition. In addition, Real Madrid was the current runner-up in Europe, so there was a good level in the team, a team that the following year would win the sixth European Cup. In the second leg, Real Madrid won 2-1 and was eliminated.

- Uefa Cup 81/82 Kaiserslautern 5-0. First time that Real Madrid lost 5-0 in Europe. Real Madrid came from winning 3-1 in the first leg and in the second leg everything went wrong. Before the break the team was already with only 9 players on the field and losing 2-0, at minute 55 they were already 4-0 and at minute 65 the team was left with 8. Night to forget.

- Champions 22/23 Manchester City 4-0. City was tremendously superior to a team that, although it is true it was the current European champion, seemed to be a step below the English.

The first two places for me are clear and stand with some clarity above all the games we have seen so far:

2- European Cup 79/80 Hamburg 5-1. Real Madrid have been eliminated 7 times in Europe after wasting two lead goals from the first leg, 4 of them with a 3-1 first leg:
- Champions 78/79 Grasshopper (2-0 in the second leg)
- Uefa Cup 71/72 PSV (2-0 in the second leg)
- Uefa Cup 81/82 Kaiserslautern (5-0 in the second leg)
- Uefa Cup 92/93 PSG (4-1 in the second leg)

One of them with a 4-2 in the first leg:

- Champions 03/04 Monaco (3-1 in the second leg)

And two after winning 2-0 in the first leg (which with the higher value of the goals scored away from home was a better result for Real Madrid than 3-1 or 4-2):

- Cup Winners Cup 74/75 Red Star Belgrade (2-0 in the second leg and 6-5 on penalties)

- Champions 79/80 Hamburg 5-1 (2-0 in the second leg):
Well, this game against Hamburg is the biggest comeback that Real Madrid has suffered in the European Cup/Champions in its entire history, since they had won by two goals difference and had not conceded any in their stadium, which makes a 2-0 in a better result, for example, than the 3-1 or 4-2 that we have seen before). And the most serious thing is that the final of that year was played at the Santiago Bernabeu, at home, and where the Real Madrid fans would have been in the majority since it must be remembered that in the final between Nottingham Forest and Hamburg there were only half of the Bernabeu tickets were sold. If Real Madrid had reached that final, they would have played almost like they were at home.

1- European Cup 88/89 Milan 5-0. Black night with capital letters, surely the most painful defeat (as well as the most bulky) in the history of Real Madrid. That generation of Madrid players won in 6 seasons 5 consecutive League championships, 1 Spanish Cup and 2 Uefa Cups, but lost 3 consecutive years in the semifinals of the European Cup. In the first leg the result was 1-1 and in the return Milan de Sacchi and the Dutch defeated Real Madrid on a historic night. That game was the death certificate of that Real Madrid as a candidate to win the European Cup, the Spanish team took 9 years to reach a semifinal of the highest European competition but with another generation of players

In any case, there have been other eliminations of Real Madrid in European competitions that, although they have not been the result of having conceded many goals, are thorns in the heart of Real Madrid. I will put two of them as an example:

- European Cup 60/61 FC Barcelona 2-1. In the first leg at the Bernabéu the result was a 2-goal tie, in the second leg they were defeated by the minimum, but Real Madrid had 4 goals disallowed in that match. That was the first European elimination for Real Madrid in its entire history (after having won 5 consecutive European Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup and 2 Latin Cups).

- European Cup 87/88 PSV 0-0. In the first leg at the Bernabéu the result was a 1-goal tie and in the second leg Real Madrid failed to score and lost due to the “visitor goal” rule. That edition seemed destined for Real Madrid to win after eliminating Maradona's Napoli, Porto (current champion of the competition) and Bayern Munich (current runner-up). The Spanish were clearly favorites but they could not beat the Dutch and many great players would never win the European Cup after the disappointments of 1987, 1988 and 1989 such as Butragueño, Míchel, Buyo, Hugo Sánchez, Schuster, Santillana, Juanito, Camacho, Gordillo, Martin Vazquez, etc.

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...ich-latest-transfer-details-reaction-and-more

I always don't respect bleacher report. And it has nothing to do with this report. They applauded Bayern Munich for buying Xabi Alonso for 7.5 million while selling us Kroos for higher fees in 2014.

"Toni Kroos moved in the opposite direction for a fee of £20 million earlier this summer. Given that Alonso's fee was substantially less, one might argue Der FCB are in a stronger position now than they were at the start of the summer.
Bundesliga writer Jonathan Harding notes that Alonso joins as the superior version of Kroos."

I have nothing against Xabi Alonso. He was great. Without Kroos going to our direct direction, Perez might have given them a good deal. In reality, we traded a 32 year old midfielder for a player 9 years younger for about 14 million. Xabi Alonso lasted 3 more seasons over there, and Kroos became a better player than Xabi Alonso during that period. We would have gotten nothing if Xabi Alonso stayed beyond 2014. It would be nice to see him to retire in white, but I preferred seeing the four CL trophies Kroos won for us. Moreover, Kroos had proven himself in Munich. He was not an emerging player we never heard of and gambled with the "switch". I actually thought Xabi Alonso was a much better player, but their position would be set for the next 7 to 8 years.

 

Yesterday Real Madrid elected a former player of the club as honorary president for the fourth time in its history.

After Alfredo di Stéfano (2000-14), Francisco Gento (2015-22) and Amancio Amaro (2022-23), it is the turn of José Martínez “Pirri”, Real Madrid midfielder from 1964 to 1980. Without a doubt one of the best defensive midfielders in the history of Real Madrid and one of the most outstanding players in that position worldwide during the period 1965-75. He was nominated five times for France Football's Ballon d'Or, finishing twice in the top 10.

Pirri played for 16 seasons for Real Madrid where he won 10 Spanish Leagues, 4 Spanish Cups and 1 European Cup. Despite often playing close to the defense, throughout his career at Real Madrid he managed to score 172 goals, making him the 9th highest scorer in the club's history and the 10th player with the most games played for Real Madrid. After his time as a footballer he was even Head of Real Madrid's medical services and also its General Manager.

But in Pirri's long career, one fact stands out above all others: he is the first player in the Club's history to receive the "Laureada del Real Madrid", the highest distinction awarded by Real Madrid and which only 8 people have received in the entire history. Pirri received it for playing in a Spanish Cup final against FC Barcelona with a broken clavicle and a 40º fever. After this recognition, in 1971, in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup against Chelsea, Pirri broke his arm again but still played in the extra time and also the second game of those final.

For me, José Martínez "Pirri" is one of the 10-12 best players in the history of the club and surely also one of the 10-12 best players in the history of Spain.

Given his age and career, I think it was a very wise decision by the club to appoint Pirri as honorary president of Real Madrid and I hope that he can represent us for many years.

With a broken clavicle in the Spanish Cup final


With a broken arm in the European Cup Winners' Cup final against Chelsea


With Del Bosque and Netzer


And another image of Pirri as a Real Madrid player

 

Previous generations where just built different.

 

I have put together a Real Madrid historical XI with players who played a maximum of 3 seasons for the club, a minimum of 25 games in all competitions and who are not currently active. They are all players who, despite playing for a short time at Real Madrid, left a good memory in the “White House.”

I must admit that I have made some "trap" when it came to placing the players since on the left I have placed Breitner and Del Sol who, although they were players who stood out in that position, they did not do so as much at Real Madrid, but since this is just a game I think I can afford the license. Of course, the biggest "trap" has been to place Cañizares as goalkeeper since he actually played 4 seasons in the club, but I have done it because based on the previously mentioned criteria I have not found a guarantee goalkeeper but Cañizares played only 55 games as a Real Madrid player, I think I can choose him (Gaspar Rubio was also in 4 different seasons at Real Madrid, but not complete ones).



There have been other players who have been close to being part of the XI such as Robben, Suker and mainly Jankovic, a player of whom I personally have great memories from his 2 seasons at Real Madrid of the Quinta del Buitre.

Two players who, despite being “two historic players,” did not succeed at Real Madrid were Owen (Golden Ball) and Didi, who was one of the best players of his time and who did not succeed at the club (he only played 19 games).

Other important players were Netzer, Sneijder, Kovacic, Quique Flores, Müller, Wolff, Metgod, Karembeu, Hagi, Prosinecki, Ruggeri etc.

Of course, the most important player in the history of Real Madrid of those who were there for a maximum of 3 seasons is without a doubt the Frenchman Raymond Kopa, for the second place there will be debate but the first does not allow discussion.

 

On February 6, Miguel Ángel González, one of the historic goalkeepers who has defended the Real Madrid shirt, passed away.

Miguel Ángel is a goalkeeper who is probably little remembered among younger fans, but for fans of the 70s and 80s he is a goalkeeper who left a great memory at Real Madrid.

He has several interesting records with the team for (almost) his entire life:

- 18 seasons at Real Madrid, something that only Gento and Sanchis Jr have achieved.

- Only Real Madrid goalkeeper to be chosen as the best player in the Spanish league by winning the Don Balón trophy in 1976, the year in which he also won the Zamora Trophy as the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded in the League.

It is true that during his 18 years at Real Madrid he was not the undisputed starter since in many of those seasons he had as a partner another of the great goalkeepers in the club's history: Mariano García Remón.

Miguel Ángel's record includes 8 Spanish Leagues, 5 Spanish Cups, 1 League Cup and 2 UEFA Cups.

To give an example, he was the goalkeeper in some legendary Real Madrid matches such as:

- 1975 Spanish Cup Final (Real Madrid 0-0 Atletico Madrid): for many specialists this was his best game with Real Madrid. Furthermore, that was the first match in history in which Real Madrid won a penalty shootout and it also won a title, the aforementioned Spanish Cup. That victory marked Real Madrid's last double in the Spanish Cup (1974-75).

- That same year, 1975, he was the goalkeeper of the first great comeback in the history of Real Madrid in the European Cup, the legendary 5-1 victory against Derby County that came back from 4-1 in the first leg.

- Uefa Cup 84/85: Real Madrid 6-1 Anderlecht, Miguel Ángel also played in these legendary comebacks.

For those who did not know this goalkeeper, we could say that he was similar to Paco Buyo (by the way, both were Galician), very agile and spectacular goalkeepers who based their quality mainly on their reflexes, they were both very fast.

For me he could easily be a top-5 in the history of Real Madrid along with Casillas, Zamora, Buyo and Courtois.

With the Spanish NT he did not succeed as much as with Real Madrid, but in the World Cup in Argentina-78 he left behind one of the best saves in history in the match between Spain and Austria.

R.I.P

 

With the recent victory of Real Madrid Basketball in the final of the Spanish Cup, the Madrid entity has reached 200 official titles if we add the national and international titles of the football and basketball sections. Football contributes 102 and basketball 98.

The breakdown is as follows:

- National Leagues: 71 (35F + 36B)
- National Cups: 49 (20F + 29B)
- National Super Cups/Eva Duarte Cup: 24 (14F + 10B)
- National League Cups: 1 (1F)
- European Cups: 25 (14F + 11B)
- European Cup Winners' Cups: 4 (4B)
- Uefa/ Korac/ Uleb Cups: 4 (2F + 2B)
- Intercontinental/World Cups: 13 (8F + 5B)
- European Super Cup: 5 (5F)
- Latin Cups: 3 (2F + 1B)
- Ibero-American Cups: 1 (1F)

The milestones are the following:

- 1st Title: 1905 Spanish Football Cup. 3 years from the founding of the club to winning the first national title.
- 25th Title: 1957 Spanish Basketball Cup. 52 years of waiting.
- 50th Title: 1965 Spanish Basketball Cup. 8 years of waiting.
- 75th Title: 1974 Spanish Football Cup. 9 years of waiting.
- 100th Title: 1985 Spanish Basketball Cup. 10 years of waiting. Here a curious fact occurs, the 1985 Spanish Cup was played in 1984 and the 1984 Spanish Basketball Super Cup was played in 1985, which is why the 85 Cup was won before the 84 Super Cup, curiosities...
- 125th Title: 1994 Ibero-American Football Cup. 10 years of waiting.
- 150th Title: 2012 Spanish Basketball Cup. 18 years of waiting.
- 175th Title: 2017 Spanish Football Super Cup. 5 years of waiting.
- 200th Title: 2024 Spanish Basketball Cup: 7 years of waiting.

If we only take football into account, the milestones were:

- 1st Title: 1905 Spanish Cup. 3 years from the founding of the football section to winning the first national title.
- 25th Title: 1961 Spanish League. 56 years of waiting.
- 50th Title: 1987 Spanish League. 26 years of waiting.
- 75th Title: 2008 Spanish League. 21 years of waiting.
- 100th Title: 2022 Club World Cup. 14 years of waiting.

And if we only take basketball into account, the milestones were:

- 1st Title: 1951 Spanish Cup. 20 years from the founding of the basketball section to winning the first national title.
- 25th Title: 1968 Spanish League. 17 years of waiting. Real Madrid won the league several days in advance and that is why it is the 25th title of the section since if it had been won on the last day the 25th title would have been the European Cup that was also won that season and whose final was played a few days before the official end of the league championship.
- 50th Title: 1980 Spanish League. 12 years of waiting.
- 75th Title: 2013 Spanish League. 33 years of waiting.

The 200 titles mentioned above are only national and international, if we add the regional tournaments the figure would increase to 265 (26 in football and 39 in basketball) and to 277 if the 12 Christmas Basketball Tournaments that were organized under the protection of the FIBA.

These 200 titles are for football and basketball, but Real Madrid has had many other sections at the club level throughout its history where it has won numerous titles (of course, never international, only regional and national).

The most successful section, apart from football and basketball, was volleyball, which won 7 leagues and 12 cups.

For example, in 1972, 1976, 1979 and 1980 Real Madrid won the three leagues of football, basketball and volleyball, and in 1972 we even did poker since they also won the baseball league.

In team sports nothing was ever won at an international level (except football and basketball) but in individual sports some triumphs were achieved outside of Spain, highlighting 2 European boxing championships (Fred Galiana and Young Martin), a record of 1,500 meters indoor in athletics (José Luis González) and the jewel in the crown, Manolo Santana's Wimbledon in 1966.

 

Among the Spanish players, only two are Catholics (Kepa and Ceballos). Nachos, Lucas, Joselu and Fran Garcia are Protestants. This number is unusual for a Catholic Spain. Meanwhile, Dani is Jewish while Brahim is Muslim.

 

For the tenth time in history, Real Madrid has managed to eliminate the current champion of the European Cup/Champions League. It is the team that has achieved this milestone the most times in the history of the competition, surpassing the 5 times of Juventus and the 3 of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dinamo Kyiv, Cska Sofia.

Furthermore, by eliminating Manchester City, Real Madrid has prevented the English from becoming the second team in history to eliminate them from the Champions League/European Cup in two consecutive seasons. Until now the only team that has achieved it is Sacchi's Milan in the 1988/89 and 1989/90 seasons.

PSG also managed to eliminate Real Madrid in two consecutive seasons but in different tournaments: in 1992/93 (Uefa Cup) and 1993/94 (European Cup Winners' Cup).

By the way, in 6 of the previous 9 times that Real Madrid eliminated the current champion, they ended up being crowned champion of the competition.

Now Bayern Munich awaits in the semifinals, the most repeated duel in the history of European competitions between two teams that have played in 27 finals of the top European competition and that, incredible as it may seem, have never faced each other in a final.