Real Madrid: Part Two

More was to come. Raymond Kopa was recruited from the vanquished French side the following season, adding a further jewel to the team which rolled to another European Cup title. And another in 1958. And another in 1959, the season which marked the addition of Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskás to the team. Oh, and let’s not forget that two more Spanish League titles were accumulated during this stretch. The magical run culminated in the 1960 European Cup final, where Eintracht Frankfurt were utterly crushed 7-3 in front of 127,000 fans at Glasgow’s Hampden Park.

There really is no comparison within the game for this stretch of comprehensive dominance at the highest level. And not just a dominance of results but a dominance achieved with such style and swagger that the players of that era have reached mythical status. The template for footballing greatness had been set. It has hardly even been approached in the ensuing years.

But like all good things, this magical era had to come to an end. Real Madrid were eliminated by arch-enemy Barcelona in the 1960-61 European Cup and, though they reached three European Cup finals during the 1960s (winning one of them), they would continually struggle under the weight of massive expectations. Domestic success became almost a given (14 titles in 20 years) but it wasn’t until 1981 that the club again reached the European Cup final. The disappointment continued as the match was lost 1-0 to Liverpool.

Just a few years after that loss the next great generation of Real Madrid players emerged, the Quinta del Buitre – the Vulture’s Cohort. Emilio Butragueño (The Vulture) was the centerpiece of this team, Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza his trusted lieutenants. This group led the team through another period of success, including five consecutive League titles, two UEFA Cups and a Copa del Rey. But the greatest prize remained just beyond their reach.

In the late 1990s, the third great era of the club opened, this one marked by extraordinarily expensive players and, at long last, extraordinary success. The European Cup (by now renamed the Champions League) was finally regained after a 31-year wait –a Predrag Mijatovic goal being enough to defeat Juventus in the 1998 final. A string of superstars arrived – Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham – to complement the homegrown icon Raúl. Two more Champions League trophies were achieved in rapid succession, the club’s best stretch in Europe since the Golden Era.

This high-priced strategy seemed to run off the rails in the mid-2000s however as the club went three seasons without a single trophy, its worst stretch in over half a century. Presidents, coaches and players have passed through a rapidly revolving door. But even the club’s most bitter rivals understand that the rough waters will soon be weathered, the ship righted and a return to the pinnacle of the game achieved. The legend can only grow.

When not supporting his beloved DC United, Jeremy Rueter edits albionroad.com, a football encyclopedia.