Real Madrid is one of the most successful and popular football clubs in the world. It was founded in 1902 and joined the Royal Spanish Football Federation in 1909. It has won a record 34 La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Rey trophies, and 13 European Cups/Champions League titles. Some of its legendary players include Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and Sergio Ramos. Real Madrid plays its home games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which has a capacity of over 80,000 spectators. Its main rival is FC Barcelona, and their matches are known as El Clásico.
The current coach of Real Madrid is Carlo Ancelotti. He is an Italian coach who signed the contract that will keep him at the club for the next three seasons in June 2023. He is in his second spell at the club, having previously coached Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015, winning one UEFA Champions League, one Copa del Rey, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. He is one of the most successful coaches in European football history, having also won titles with AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich
The history of Real Madrid’s crest is very interesting. It has changed several times over the years, reflecting the club’s name, status and identity. Here are some of the main facts about the crest:
-The first ever Real Madrid crest in 1902 had MCF initials interlacing in white color with dark blue background used on a white shirt. MCF initials stood for Madrid Club de Fútbol.
-In 1908, the crest underwent a minor change which saw the format of the three letters change into the pattern which is still used to this day.
-In 1920, when King Alfonso XIII granted the club his royal patronage, the title "Real Madrid," meaning "Royal" was formed, Alfonso’s crown was added to the crest and the club styled itself as Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.
-The crown, and the Real title, would be removed during the Spanish Civil War, but the badge would then feature a purple band across the design which symbolised Castile, the region in which modern Madrid is situated.
-When the war ended in 194, the crown returned and designers began producing Real’s badge in more color. It was primarily gold, with the purple Castile band still present, and would remain that way until 1997, when gold became yellow and purple became blue.
-The final update came in 200, with the ‘M’ widening, the Castile band shortening and the crown being raised slightly above the ring, rather than resting on it.
-As a global brand, Real have removed the Christian cross from the top of the crown in certain countries which could take issue to its presence, continuing with the simple crown instead.
The Real Madrid team squad is composed of 25 players, who play in different positions such as goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward. Here are some of the main players in each position:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin1
Defender: David Alaba, Antonio Rüdiger, Nacho Fernández, Daniel Carvajal, Ferland Mendy1
Midfielder: Aurélien Tchouaméni, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric1
Forward: Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Karim Benzema