For the fourteenth time in its history, Real Madrid have won the Champions League. It was against Liverpool last Saturday, and seeing Real win this final once again brought back some memories. We may know Real’s record, but we don’t necessarily know its history very well. I’ll let you discover some info on the club that always smashes everyone in the Champions League (and it gets boring by the way).
1. The club was founded in 1902 by two brothers from Barcelona (it’s not a joke)
Yes, we must establish the truth from the start, that is to say now: Real was largely founded by Carlos and Juan Padros who were both born in Barcelona. The two brothers, in addition to being both presidents of Real when it was created in 1902, have greatly contributed to the development of Spanish football. Indeed, we owe them the “Copa Del Rey”, the King’s Cup, which is still today the Spanish championship. The championship was so named because the two brothers had for the first time succeeded in organizing a national football competition on the occasion of the coronation of Alfonso XIII.
2. The rivalry with Barcelona dates back to the Franco era
If Barça and Real hate each other so much, it is obviously not only for sporting reasons, but also for political reasons which were exacerbated during the Franco era. Madrid is the symbol of the centralizing state when Barcelona is part of the republican camp, and over the years even symbolizes regionalism. The nationalists (led by Franco) shot the president of Barça in 1936, accused of being an opponent of the government. This is the origin of the hatred that the Barcelonans have for the people of Madrid (and vice versa), and even if of course politics is no longer the subject that creates tensions between the two clubs, now you will at least know where it comes from .
3. The origin of the nickname “merengue” is really shitty
Merengue in Spanish means “meringue” and the people of Madrid are nicknamed like that simply because their jersey has always been white. That sucks, you are disappointed and me too.
4. It was the King of Spain who decided to add “Real” to the name of the club
As for the origin of the name you will not be too shocked to learn that Real Madrid is called like that because it is the club of the city of Madrid. But why “Real”? Why not Madrid FC as is the case in most cities? It was the King of Spain Alfonso XIII himself who gave this name to Real Madrid. In 1920 he therefore decided to add the name “real” for “royal” and added a crown to the coat of arms. These royal attributes will be removed during the Second Republic, then restored with Franco.
5. In 1956, Real won its first European Cup of Champion Clubs against Reims (you read that right)
In 1956, Real began its small (long) way in Europe by winning for the first time in its history the European Cup of champion clubs (the Champions League roughly) against ààààà…REIMS! Yes, we too often forget the Rémois when we quote the French clubs which have made European finals, and yet they have made one. In addition to that it was at the Parc des Princes, and it was a good match because the final result was 4 goals to 3. Really the Stade de Reims did not go that far from a European title.
6. We owe the Galacticos era to Florentino Perez who actually wanted to save the club
The era of the Galactics, the era when one and the same club had Zizou, Beckham, Ronaldo (the real one, R9), or even Robinho in its team. Yes this era did exist, we owe that to Florentino Perez who wanted to save the future of the club. In the 90s, Real had big financial difficulties, and no longer won European titles. Perez, who was president of the club, therefore decides to buy the biggest international stars for astronomical sums (at least for the time) which is a very risky strategy since Real did not have much money, c So it was all or nothing. Fortunately for them that was all, the Galacticos were able to regain the Champions League, but also the Spanish championship. All these victories make it possible to make up for the debt that the club had been dragging on for a few years.
7. Real don’t have an owner
Real does have a president, who is moreover democratically elected (he has to campaign and everything) but the club belongs to the Socios, which today number 90,000. It is one of the few clubs (Barça is also part of it) to belong to its supporters/shareholders, the Socios, who can for example elect the president, or validate the club’s budget. Yeah, it’s not the same atmosphere as the big Russian or Qatari owners who don’t have a soul (ok, I’m abusing it)…
8. In 2016 Zidane became coach of Real (we know that) without having ever trained a professional team (we say that less)
Zizou was manager of Real until last year, when Ancelotti replaced him. After being an emblematic player, he also becomes an emblematic coach when he had never coached a professional team before, which had not been the case at Real since 1994.
In short, we therefore have a Zidane without much coaching experience who nevertheless manages to raise the club. He won his first Clasico at Camp Nou, when Barça were leaders in the championship. After that, he won three consecutive Champions Leagues in 2016 (his first year as a coach), 2017 and 2018.
9. It is the football club that generates the most revenue in the world
Ok, this point is perhaps not the most surprising, knowing that Real is the biggest club in Europe in terms of awards. However, it was not necessarily the club that generated the most income, in particular competition from the big English clubs. But with their Champions League victory over Liverpool, Real have moved up and are now worth around $5.1 billion, so if you want to buy him back you’re going to have to work a little guys.
10. The first big star of Real is not R9 (even if we respect him enormously) but the Argentinian Alfredo Di Stéfano
In 1950, Real experienced its golden age with Alfredo Di Stéfano. With the Madrid club, the Argentinian won five Champions League, an Intercontinental Cup and eight Spanish championships. Individually, he also won two Golden Balls in 1957 and 1959. Yes, long before the Galacticos, there was Di Stefano who made the club’s European reputation.
11. Bonus: It’s the club that put PSG in its place and we still have it in our throats
To end in style, why not recall a little the course of Real during this Champions League. It’s not something you don’t ignore because like me, you’ve probably followed everything, but I like to rub salt in the wound. So how have Parisian supporters been? Did you digest the remontada? anyway it wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last, the comebacks are a bit of Real’s special.