50 Fun Facts About Real Madrid

In what year was Real Madrid founded, as Madrid Football Club?

A new board under Juan Padrós made it official on 6 March 1902; the 'Real' came later.

Which king granted the club the title 'Real' (Royal) in 1920?

His crown was added to the crest, removed under the Second Republic in 1931 and restored in 1941.

What colour is Real Madrid's traditional home kit?

Hence Los Blancos; the traditional away colours are all blue or all purple.

How many European Cup/Champions League titles had Real Madrid won by 2024, a record?

La Decimoquinta came against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, the sixth title in eleven seasons.

How many La Liga titles had Real Madrid won by the end of the 2023-24 season, a record?

Along with Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao they are one of three founding members never relegated.

Real Madrid won the first five European Cups in a row. In which years?

They were permanently awarded the original trophy and the right to wear the UEFA badge of honour.

What was the score of the famous 1960 European Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park?

Puskás scored four and Di Stéfano three in what many call the greatest final ever.

Which Argentine-born forward led Real Madrid's five-in-a-row team after a disputed transfer?

His signing was part of Santiago Bernabéu's 'revolution'; Barcelona still consider it stolen.

Which club president of almost 35 years oversaw the stadium's construction and the European Cup's birth?

He helped create the European Cup in 1955 with L'Équipe's Gabriel Hanot; FIFA declared three days of mourning when he died during the 1978 World Cup.

In what year was the Bernabéu stadium inaugurated?

The opening match was against Portugal's Belenenses; the initial capacity was 75,145, most of it standing.

What is the Bernabéu's seating capacity after the renovation completed in late 2024?

That makes it Spain's second-largest football stadium behind Camp Nou; it now has a retractable roof and pitch.

The Bernabéu alone has hosted finals of both the European Cup and which other competition?

It staged the second leg of the 2018 Libertadores final between River Plate and Boca Juniors after violence in Buenos Aires.

Which two international tournament finals were played at the Bernabéu?

It was the first European stadium to host both a Euro final and a World Cup final.

Real Madrid's 1966 European Cup-winning side was nicknamed after which band?

The 'Yé-yé' name came from 'She Loves You' after four players posed as the Beatles for Marca; the team was entirely Spanish, a first.

The 1980s home-grown generation of Butragueño, Míchel and Sanchís was known as what?

'The Vulture's Cohort' after Butragueño's nickname; they won five straight league titles with Hugo Sánchez up front.

Real Madrid ended a 32-year wait for a seventh European Cup in 1998 by beating whom?

Predrag Mijatović scored the only goal under Jupp Heynckes in Amsterdam.

Whose signing from Barcelona was Florentino Pérez's key election promise in 2000?

It launched the Galácticos era of Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham and Cannavaro; Figo later had a pig's head thrown at him at Camp Nou.

What was the name of Pérez's policy of signing a global superstar every summer?

'Zidanes y Pavones' was the companion idea of pairing stars with academy players.

How much did Real Madrid pay Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009?

A world record at the time; Kaká had briefly held the sterling record at £56 million weeks earlier.

How many goals did Cristiano Ronaldo score for Real Madrid, the club record?

In just 438 games; Raúl holds the appearance record with 741.

Who holds Real Madrid's all-time appearance record with 741 games?

Casillas holds the European record with 152 Champions League appearances for the club.

What is Real Madrid's youth academy called?

It has produced Raúl, Casillas and Carvajal and supplied more players to Europe's top five leagues than any other academy.

Which honour did world football's governing body give Real Madrid in 2004?

The Centennial Order of Merit recognised them as the greatest club of the 20th century.

Whom did Real beat 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon in 2014 to win 'La Décima'?

Sergio Ramos's 93rd-minute equaliser forced extra time; the BBC of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano scored 97 goals that season.

Real Madrid is the only club to have won three straight European titles twice. In which spans?

Zidane resigned five days after completing the second treble by beating Liverpool in Kyiv.

Which manager led Real Madrid to three straight Champions League titles from 2016 to 2018?

He had been Ancelotti's assistant when Ancelotti won La Décima in 2014.

Whose transfer from Tottenham in 2013 was reported as a world-record fee?

He scored the winner in that season's Copa del Rey final against Barcelona and later a bicycle kick in the 2018 final.

Which club record did Real Madrid set in the 2011-12 La Liga season?

Cristiano Ronaldo also became the fastest player to 100 La Liga goals that season, beating Puskás's pace.

Which manager, appointed in May 2010, once led four Clásicos in 18 days?

He won the Copa del Rey against Barça in that stretch and left in 2013 by 'mutual agreement'.

Whose late goal won the 2022 Champions League final, Real Madrid's 14th, against Liverpool?

He scored again in the 2024 final against Dortmund; Carvajal headed the opener.

Which shirt, previously worn by Zidane, was given to Jude Bellingham in 2023?

Vinícius took the 7 of Raúl and Ronaldo, and Rodrygo the 11 of Bale.

From which club did Kylian Mbappé join Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2024?

It ended one of the most drawn-out transfer sagas in modern football.

Which former midfielder was appointed Real Madrid manager in May 2025?

He came from Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year deal; his first outing was the 2025 Club World Cup.

What financial milestone did Real Madrid reach in 2024?

Forbes also ranked them the world's most valuable football team.

What is the name of the Madrid derby against Atlético?

Real beat Atlético in two Champions League finals, in 2014 and 2016.

What was the score of the infamous 1943 Copa del Generalísimo semi-final second leg v Barcelona?

Barcelona had won the first leg 3-0; the match cemented Madrid's image as the team of the dictatorship and Barça as its victims.

What was thrown at Luís Figo from the Camp Nou crowd on his return with Real Madrid?

It became the enduring image of the Figo transfer.

Which two players' rivalry between 2009 and 2018 is considered the most competitive in Clásico history?

Both ended as their clubs' all-time top scorers, and Ronaldo leads the Champions League charts with Messi second.

What did Real Madrid's crest lose in 1931 under the Second Republic?

It was replaced by the mulberry band of Castile; the crown came back in 1941 and the stripe went bluer in 2001.

Which airline became Real Madrid's shirt sponsor in 2013?

Adidas has made the kit since 1998, on a deal worth about €64 million a season from 2015.

Where did Real Madrid play home games during the Bernabéu renovation from June 2020 to 2021?

It is the training-ground stadium at Valdebebas.

How many Club World Cup titles did Real Madrid have when they became outright record holders in 2018?

They beat Al Ain 4-1; in 2024 they also won the inaugural FIFA Intercontinental Cup against Pachuca.

Whom did Real Madrid beat in the 2000 Champions League final, the club's eighth European title?

An all-Spanish final in Paris, won 3-0 with goals from Morientes, McManaman and Raúl under Vicente del Bosque.

How long was Real Madrid's Spanish-record winning streak in 2014-15?

It beat Barcelona's Spanish record of 18 and fell two short of the world mark of 24 before a loss to Valencia.

Real Madrid's white shirt was chosen in 1902 in honour of which famous English amateur team?

Co-founder Juan Padrós had met the side on his travels; a one-year 1926 experiment with black shorts was dropped as bad luck.

Which English club provided the opposition when the Estadio Chamartín was inaugurated in May 1923?

The 22,500-capacity Chamartín was Real's home until the Bernabéu replaced it after the Civil War.

Who is second on Real Madrid's all-time appearance list with 725 games?

That total is also the club record for a goalkeeper; Manuel Sanchís Jr. sits third with 710.

Who were the opponents at the 2006 opening of the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium, a 1956 final rematch?

Real won 6-1 with goals from Sergio Ramos, Cassano, Soldado and Jurado at the training-ground venue.

Which 2007 film follows fictional striker Santiago Muñez after his move from England to Real Madrid?

The second film of the Goal! trilogy was shot with the club's cooperation and focused on how the move changed Muñez's life.

Along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, which club is the third La Liga founder never relegated?

Real is also one of only four Spanish clubs, with Barcelona, Athletic and Osasuna, still owned by its members as a registered association.