| About |
Spanish giants Real Madrid, are up for their second appearance in the tournament. In 2007 they played hosts PSV in the groupstage, drew 1-1, before finishing third.
CF Real Madrid, was founded on March 6th 1902, doesn’t need a real introduction. The Spanish powerhouse has no less than 31 league titles, 17 Copa del Reys and 2 Uefa Cups. Another 9 Champions League titles make Real Madrid the record holder in Europe’s most important club competition.
This summer the club of chairman Florentino Perez made headlines several times. The club spent a record fee of 94 million euro’s on Cristiano Ronaldo and 67 millions on Kaka. This making the signing of Raul Albiol (15 million) and Karim Benzema ( 35 million) seem like childs play.
In Spanish football, a youth academy is indicated with the word “cantera”, which literally means quarry. Real Madrids present first team squad contains 7 players from their cantera, with goalie Iker Cassillas, midfielder Guti and attacker Raul being the most famous. Also former Spanish internationals like Michel and Emilio Butragueno originated from the Real Madrid academy. |
