Top 10 Biggest Real Madrid Players
The 10 Greatest Players in the History of Real Madrid
Real Madrid is, arguably, the biggest club in the world. Of course, they've had some of the best players ever don the famous white jersey. But who has been the greatest of them all?
Real Madrid have made several players right from the esteemed Real Madrid youth setup and have created legends from formidable transfer moves across the last 100 years. The Los Blancos boast of the world’s finest alma mater which will put every other football club to shame.
10) Roberto Carlos
The Brazilian is the most capped foreign-born player for the Los Blancos. Carlos has scored 71 goals in 584 games across all competitions. Carlos was considered as one of the greatest left-backs in the world alongside Italian legend Paulo Maldini.
He was the part of the infamous Galacticos setup which consisted of other big names such as David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo Lima. His trackbacking quality was so supreme that former Real Madrid manager Vicente del Bosque said, “He can cover the entire left wing on his own.” Carlos won four La Liga titles and three Champions League titles in 1998, 2000, and 2002.
9) Amancio Amaro
The move of Amaro to Real Madrid almost did not happen if not for the intervention of Santiago Bernabeu. He was brought to Madrid with an astronomical fee involved and went on to become the finest strikers to have graced the Real Madrid shirt.
Amaro won 6 La Liga titles in his first 6 seasons at the club, and later managed to win three more league titles as well. Amaro netted 119 goals in 344 fixtures across all competitions. However, Amaro’s greatest individual moment in the club was when he scored the all-important equaliser with a solo effort in the 1966 European Cup final against FK Partizan, to guide the Los Blancos to their 6th European title.
8) Ronaldo De Lima
The Brazilian Ronaldo was part of the Galacticos setup at Real Madrid. He was joined by the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, and Luis Figo. Lima scored 83 goals in just 127 matches. He won the La Liga in his first season at the club and also received the Pichichi in his second season for his exceptional goal-scoring record.
One of his greatest individual performances at the club was a hattrick against Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford which invited the fans from both the ends stand in ovation and honour the Brazilian.
7) Francisco Gento
One of the earliest of Real Madrid Legends, Gento was signed up by the Los Blancos just three days after he played for Racing Santander against Real Madrid in the 1952-53 season. Gento was a striker and attacking midfielder who liked to play on the left side of the pitch. He was the only player to have been in the squad for the first six European Cup titles from 1955 from 1966.
Gento scored 128 goals for Real Madrid in 428 appearances. He also won a record 12 La Liga titles with Real Madrid.
6) Iker Casillas
Casillas is one of the few proper sons of the soil for Real Madrid. The Spanish goalkeeper graduated right from the youth setup in Real Madrid to script himself as one of the greatest goalkeepers to guard the goal for the Los Blancos.
Casillas became Real Madrid’s highest capped goalkeeper in 2009 as he leapfrogged Paco Buyo’s record of 454 matches. Casillas got the captain’s armband in the 2010-11 season and captained his side till his departure in 2015. Casillas also won the IFFHS award for the best goalkeeper for the record 5th time in the 2012-13 season. The Los Blancos won the 2014 Champions League under the captaincy of Iker Casillas, which was also his fourth Champions League title with Real Madrid.
6) Raul
Raul started his playing career from the esteemed Real Madrid youth setup. The Spaniard operated as a striker and netted 228 goals in just 550 appearances. Raul broke into the first team of Real Madrid when he was just 17, breaking the record of being the youngest player to make a senior team debut for the Los Blancos. Real Madrid won three Champions League titles during Raul’s stay at the club before he moved to Schalke 04.
He also took over the captaincy of the club in 2003 when Fernando Hierro left the club. He was also the first ever player to score 50 goals in the Champions League and the first to make 100 appearances in the European Competition.
5) Ferenc Puskas
After denying to return to Hungary after the European Cup in 1956, Ferenc Puskas joined Real Madrid after a transfer limbo and a two-year ban from UEFA. Puskas went on to score four hat tricks in his first season in the La Liga. During eight seasons with Real Madrid, Puskas managed to net 156 goals in just 180 La Liga fixtures. Puskas also finished Europe’s top goal-scorer on four consecutive occasions from 1960 to 1964.
Puskas also played an additional number of 39 games and scored 35 goals for Real Madrid in the European Cup.
3) Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane is arguably the most complete Real Madrid man in the club’s history. The Frenchman joined the club during the era of the Galacticos and was one of the biggest signings of the club till date. Zidane weaved magic in his first season at the club as he scored the winner in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions League final.
He won the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2003 after leading Real Madrid to the 2002-03 La Liga as well. Zidane was also voted as the best European footballer in the previous 50 years by the fans in UEFA’s Golden Jubilee.
Zidane’s legacy as a player at the club made him return to the club as an academy coach before taking over as the Head Coach in 2016.
2) Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo joined the Los Blancos on a record world transfer fee in 2009 worth 80 Million Pounds. The Portuguese weaved magic with his feet and is not only one of the club’s, but the world’s most decorated scorer of the ball. His signature was so massive that more than 80,000 fans thronged the Santiago Bernabeu to witness the arrival of the Portuguese.
His first title at the club was the 2011 Copa Del Rey. He also became the first player to score 40 goals in a single La Liga season. The Portuguese won the European Golden Boot with Real Madrid, becoming the first ever player to win the award in two different leagues.
Ronaldo’s tenure at Real Madrid witnessed a complete bloom when he won consecutive Ballon D’ors in 2013 and 2014. He also was part of the teams which won the Champions League in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top goal-scorer of the club with 311 goals in just 297 fixtures as well.
1) Alfredo di Stefano
The Argentine legend is close to a myth and a legend at Real Madrid. Everything Real Madrid achieve and do today has an indirect implication from the glory days in the 60s of the club under the captaincy of Alfredo di Stefano.
Stefano’s first season at the club in 1953 allowed Real Madrid to win the Spanish League after a gap of 20 years as the Argentine ran away on the charts as the league’s top goal-scorer. Real Madrid won the 1955-56 European Cup as Di Stefano carried his teammates to a 4-3 win in the final.
Stefano was part of the European Cup winning sides in the 1957, 58, 59, and 60 as well before moving to Espanyol to put curtains to his playing career.
The list will never end at just 10 when it is Real Madrid on the agenda. There are numerous other big super stars of the sport who have graced the grass of the Santiago Bernabeu in the mighty Real Madrid colours throughout history.
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