Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, which opened with a capacity of 75,000, has a retractable roof. It was renovated several times. The venue was known as the Estadio Real Madrid Club de Fútbol before it became the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in 1955. The stadium is named after Santiago Bernabéu de Yeste. He was born in 1895. Santiago Bernabéu de Yeste played for Real Madrid. Later, he became the manager of the club. Santiago Bernabéu de Yeste served 35 years as the president of Real Madrid. The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu became a venue for several events, like concerts, football, political events and religious gatherings. World famous artists performed at the venue.

Major football tournaments

In 1957, the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu hosted its first final for the European championship for football clubs. It was the second edition of the tournament. Real Madrid won the tournament in 1957 after beating Fiorentina 2-0 in front of 124,000 spectators. In 1964, the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu hosted the second edition of the European championship for national football teams. Spain won the tournament after beating the USSR 2-1 in front of a crowd of 79,000. The USSR won the first-ever edition of the competition. The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu hosted the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, which was won by the national football team of the Italian Republic, commonly known as Italy. 90,000 people attended the final of the world championship for national football teams.

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol

The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, the first sports club in the world with 100 million followers on its main social media page. The club, nicknamed La Casa Blanca, Los Blancos, Los Merengues and Los Vikingos, was founded in 1902 under a different name. In 1980, Real Madrid became the first Spanish football club with 20 domestic top-flight football league titles. In 2010, FC Barcelona became the second one. In 2023, Real Madrid became the third club with 20 Spanish cup titles. Athletic Club became the first one in 1958 and FC Barcelona became the second one in 1983.

El Clásico

The rivalry between Real Madrid and arch-rivals FC Barcelona is among the most famous sports rivalries in the world. Any game between both football clubs is known as El Clásico. The two clubs are often identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism and FC Barcelona viewed as representing Catalan nationalism. In the 21th century, Real Madrid defeated FC Barcelona for the 100th time in competitive matches. FC Barcelona also defeated Real Madrid for the 100th time in competitive matches in the 21th century.

The European championship for football clubs

In 1956, Real Madrid won the inaugural edition of the European championship for football clubs. They defeated the French side Stade de Reims in the final of the tournament, which took place in the French city of Paris. Real Madrid won the first five editions of the European championship for football clubs. In 2014, Real Madrid became the first club to win the European football championship 10 times. They drew an average home attendance of 71,000 in that domestic league season. Real Madrid won their 10th European championship title after beating rivals Atlético de Madrid in the Portuguese city of Lisbon in front of 60,000 spectators.

The world championship for football clubs

Real Madrid CF won various world championship titles. In 1960, they won their first-ever world championship title after beating Peñarol from Uruguay in a two-legged tie. The first leg, which ended in a goalless draw, took place in Uruguay in front of a crowd of 71,000. The second leg, which ended in a 5-1 victory for Real Madrid, took place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in front of 90,000 fans. Real Madrid won their world championship title after defeating Vasco da Gama from Brazil in 1998. They won their third world championship title in 2002. In 2014, Real Madrid won the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in their history. They won the world championship for football clubs four times in the 2010s.

World famous football players

Some very expensive former Real Madrid players became known as Galácticos. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, David Robert Joseph Beckham, Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima and Zinédine Yazid Zidane are among those Galácticos. The French football legend Zinédine Yazid Zidane won a European championship title and a world championship title as a Real Madrid player. He also won European championship titles and world championship titles as the manager of Real Madrid.

A Portuguese football legend

The Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, became the first man with 100 million followers on his main social media page. He started his professional senior football career with Sporting Clube de Portugal. In 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester United Football Club, the first FIFA Club World Cup winners from the United Kingdom. He scored 84 goals in 196 Premier League games for Manchester United before he left the club in 2009.

Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid

In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro signed with Real Madrid, where he won several prestigious domestic and international trophies. Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League, the European championship for football clubs, three consecutive times between 2016 and 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo won three FIFA Club World Cup titles with Real Madrid. In 2014, he won his first one after beating the Argentine side Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro. Ronaldo won his second FIFA Club World Cup title in 2016 after defeating the Kashima Antlers from Japan. He scored three goals in the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup final. In 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo scored once in the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup final. He won the final after beating Grêmio from Brazil.

Cristiano Ronaldo after his Real Madrid career