From Real Madrid academy stars to Galacticos and European champions, we rank the Blancos' best-ever
10. Luis Figo
Real Madrid were going to complete the most star-studded football team in Europe since the one they'd assembled in the 1950s: and they didn't care whose toes they stepped on.
Luis Figo arrived from Barcelona as the most controversial transfer of all time. But he was worth every penny of the eye-watering £40m or so – and worth all that drama. It wasn't just the incredible ability to beat a man, lay on the perfect assist or find space where there was none to be found, either: he never hid. He was a truly leader that aspired to carry his new teammates and they loved him for it. In five years in Madrid, he won two league titles and the Champions League.
9. Ferenc Puskas
'The Galloping Major' had already had one career before he wound up in Spain: a career in which he'd scored 358 goals for Budapest Honved in 350 games and dazzled as part of the Magnificent Magyars.
Ferenc Puskas reinvented himself at Real Madrid, however. He still had his velvet touch, his ability to bamboozle defenders and an unreal set-piece ability but alongside his new superstar teammates, he was happy to supply, too. He won three European Cups – and scored a hat-trick in a final that Los Blancos lost: he also scored four hat-tricks in his first season.
8. Santiago Bernabeu
He's best remembered as a president (and, err, a stadium) but without Santiago Bernabeu the player, Real Madrid would look very different today.
Bernabeu joined the club at the age of 14 and after breaking into the first team, it wasn't long before he captained them as a senior figure. In 79 official matches, he scored 68 times, leading from the front with physical strength and the kind of leadership that he'd later give to the club off the pitch.
Better, more talented players would follow, of course – though that goal record and commitment could certainly argue Bernabeu as deserving to be in the upper reaches of any list – but there has arguably never been a more important player in the club's history.
7. Raul
Raul bridged a gap between the talent-producing Real of the 80s and the home for superstars in the 2000s. He was both at once: despite his first coach, Jorge Valdano calling him limited technically.
But what Raul may have lacked in natural genius, he more than made up for in sheer confidence. He scored even when Real Madrid were woeful in the league – and ended his time at the Bernabeu with six titles and three Champions League. David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo arrived: but neither could take the no.7 shirt off of him. Raul was always the King of Madrid.
6. Paco Gento
Some believe him to be the greatest left-winger of all time. If we're going off trophies, it's no contest.
Paco Gento won six European Cup titles at Real Madrid, with his speed and precision a vital ingredient in making Los Blancos the incredible threat they were in transition back then. The Spaniard was nicknamed the ‘Storm of the Cantabrian’ for his bustling style and in 18 years at Real, he barely changed gear. In 600 games for the club, he played for the first five European Cup wins before captaining the "Ye-Ye" side of 1966 to the trophy.
5. Iker Casillas
For 25 years, Iker Casillas set the benchmark for goalkeeping in Spanish football. He joined Real Madrid at the age of nine years old and in 725 games for the club, he was a beacon of consistency and composure between the sticks for club and country.
San Iker was a showman, too, able to produce saves that looked beautiful on camera and not allowing his fellow Galacticos to hog all the attention. He became the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a Champions League final, still holds the record for the most Champions League clean sheets – he won the trophy three times – and later racked up 1,000 matches in the professional game. Not bad considering he wasn't the tallest, either.
His departure from the Bernabeu was heartbreaking and not at all fitting for one of Real's greats – but in the ashes of him leaving, tributes from rivals highlighted just what a figure he'd been for Los Blancos. He's one of the greatest keepers of all time.
4. Sergio Ramos
Sergio Ramos was born to lead Real Madrid. Brash, brazen and brilliant in equal part, the centre-back commanded the Merengues' defence first from right-back before moving into the centre and coming to define the position in fans' eyes.
Not only was Ramos an exceptional defender with pace, physicality, aggression and aerial prowess, however, he would chip in at the other end with goals. He left Real with 101 in all competitions – some of them penalties – and typified the never-say-die attitude that was forged in the Champions League-winning sides of the 2010s.
He left with his name a part of 22 trophy successes, having racked up almost 700 games in white. For some, he is the ultimate Real hero: flawed, of course, but always playing his heart on one of those rolled-up sleeves.
3. Zinedine Zidane
It was eight years that Zinedine Zidane's record of being the most expensive footballer on Earth stood. He made every penny count when he swivelled and walloped home Roberto Carlos's cross in the 2002 Champions League final.
Zizou is the Galactico: a player of grace and delicateness, yet capable of true fiery power whenever he flicked the switch. He was a myth of a man to those growing up in the 2000s. He could transform football matches on his own and though his time at Real Madrid was one of tactical flux, he sparkled like few others ever had done in that brilliant white shirt.
That he came back to manage the Threepeat side only cemented him as a Merengues favourite. As a player, though, he's one of the most talented human beings to ever touch a football – and he completely defines everything that Real Madrid hold dear as a football club.
2. Alfredo Di Stefano
It was a man from Buenos Aires who made Madrid "Real". 'The Golden Arrow' was some footballer: and managed to set the direction of an entire institution.
Alfredo Stefano was a total footballer, too: strong, lean and skilful was stamina that few had seen in that era. He had incredible vision, too – though he liked the spotlight curving towards his dashing runs: he completed 11 seasons in Merengues colours, scoring over 300 goals in just under 400 games. In the first five European Cup finals, Di Stefano scored in each.
The undisputable superstar of eight league titles and five European triumphs, Di Stefano embodies the glamour and the mystique that become associated with the club. It's not just thanks to him that so other stars flocked to the Spanish capital in the 50s: it's thanks to him that they continue to, to this day.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
No one has ever played at 100% of their physical capacity quite as often as Cristiano Ronaldo. No one has ever had his blend of physicality, speed, touch and movement – and no one has ever scored more goals. For Real Madrid, or for anyone.
By the time he'd departed the Bernabeu, CR7 had 450 in fewer games than that. Every season he was at Real, he scored over 30 goals a season: twice, he hit over 60. He wasn't a man, he was a machine. He gradually earned a reputation for single-handedly propelling this team to glory, whether or not they were playing well or not.
Because aside from everything he had physically, Ronaldo arguably had the most driven mentality of any footballer to ever pull on Los Blancos colours. 15 titles in eight years – and a bag full of memories of overhead kicks, El Clasico strikes, impossible finishes, hat-tricks and moments of magic – cemented him as the greatest player in the club's history. According to some, he's the best-ever…
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