Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Spanish pronunciation: [reˈal maˈðɾið ˈkluβ ðe ˈfutβol] Royal Madrid Football Club), commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. It was founded in 1902 asMadrid Football Club and has traditionally worn a white home kit since. The word Real is Spanish for royal and was bestowed to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem. The club established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s.
Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. The club is the richestfootball club in terms of annual revenue, generating €479.5million in 2011[4]and the second most valuable, worth €1.8billion.[5] Real Madrid holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably El Clásico with FC Barcelona. The team has played its home matches in the 85,454-capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid since 1947.
It is one of three clubs to have never been relegated from the top flight of Spanish football, along with Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. Domestically, Real Madrid has won a record 32 La Liga titles, 18 Copas del Rey, 9Supercopas de España, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la Liga.[6]Internationally it has won a record nine European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles and a joint record three Intercontinental Cups, as well as twoUEFA Cups, and one UEFA Super Cup.
| Full name | Real Madrid Club de Fútbol[1] |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Los Blancos (The Whites)Los Merengues (The Meringues)Los Vikingos (The Vikings) |
| Founded | 6 March 1902 as Madrid Football Club[2] |
| Ground | Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid (capacity: 85,454[3]) |
| President | Florentino Pérez |
| Manager | José Mourinho |
| League | La Liga |
| 2011–12 | La Liga, 1st |
| Website | Club home page |
Second Pérez and Mourinho era (2009–present)
On 1 June 2009, Florentino Pérez regained Real Madrid's presidency.[32][33] Pérez continued with theGalácticos policy pursued in his first term, buying Kaká from Milan,[34] and then purchasing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a record breaking £80 million.
José Mourinho took over as manager in May 2010.[35][36] In April 2011, a strange occurrence happened, for the first time ever, four Clásicos were to be played in a span of eighteen days. The first fixture was for the Liga campaign on 17 April (which ended 1-1 with penalty goals for both sides), the Copa del Rey final (which ended 1–0 to Madrid), and the controversial two-legged Champions League semifinal on 27 April and 2 May (3–1 loss on aggregate) to Madrid.
The first Clasico saw Cristiano Ronaldo get his first goal against Barcelona due to a penalty given to Madrid after a foul to Marcelo. The Copa del Rey final gave Real Madrid its first title under Mourinho with a header from Cristiano Ronaldo in extra time. The Champions League semifinal was perhaps the most controversial of the four, with the expulsion of Pepe in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, after an alleged "dangerous challenge" to Barcelona defender Daniel Alves. Alves was carried out in a stretcher "unable to walk", but after Pepe was shown red, Alves came running back into the field within seconds. After Pepe's sending off, coach José Mourinho was also sent off, receiving a fine and a five-match ban. This same match was also controversial in that Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets being captured on video saying what seemed like a supposed racial slur to Madrid left-back Marcelo. The second leg was not as controversial as the first, with perhaps the exception of an annulled goal to Gonzalo Higuaín, after Cristiano Ronaldo had "fouled" Javier Mascherano as a result of a foul to Ronaldo by Gerard
| Santiago Bernabéu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Broke ground | 27 October 1944 |
| Opened | 14 December 1947 |
| Architect | Manuel Muñoz Monasterio, Luis Alemany Soler, Antonio Lamela |
| Capacity | 85,454 |
| Field dimensions | 107 m × 72 m (351 ft × 236 ft)[51] |
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt partner |
|---|---|---|
| 1980–1982 | Adidas | None |
| 1982–1985 | Zanussi | |
| 1985–1989 | Hummel | Parmalat |
| 1989–1991 | Reny Picot | |
| 1991–1992 | Otaysa | |
| 1992–1994 | Teka | |
| 1994–1998 | Kelme | |
| 1998–2001 | Adidas | |
| 2001–2002 | None* | |
| 2002–2005 | Siemens mobile | |
| 2005–2006 | Siemens | |
| 2006–2007 | BenQ Siemens | |
| 2007– | bwin.com |
NEXT MATCH
- First Team
- Liga BBVA
- Match
- Betis - Real Madrid
- Date
- Saturday 24/11/2012
- Time
- 22:00
- Venue
- Benito Villamarín
- Liga BBVA
