Real Madrid

In this era in the club's history there is a date that stands out above the rest: 24 May 2014. That day, Real Madrid conquered Europe again, claiming their eagerly awaited Tenth. At the beginning of the decade the Whites won three titles under José Mourinho. The Portuguese manager left at the end of the 2012-13 campaign and Florentino Pérez appointed Carlo Ancelotti. In his first season in charge of Madrid he won the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.  In the first few years of this new decade three trophies were added to the cabinet by José Mourinho's Real Madrid. The most notable was the 2011-12 Liga title, which they won with a record-breaking 100 points, the highest score achieved in the history of the championship at that stage, and 121 goals. They also beat Barcelona to clinch a Copa del Rey and a Supercopa de España. In June 2013, Carlo Ancelotti fulfilled his dream of managing Real Madrid, arriving with a résumé that included a dozen or so titles and around 20 campaigns as a manager. The Italian, accustomed to the pressure of big teams like Juventus, Milan, Chelsea and PSG, heads an exciting project. In his first bid for a title, he claimed the Whites' nineteenth Copa, beating Barcelona in the final 1-2 with goals from Di María and Bale. On 24 May 2014 the Whites reclaimed the European Cup. With their 4-1 victory in Lisbon against Atlético they earned a tenth title for the club. Ramos, Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano sealed the win. In his first season, Ancelotti secured an unprecedented double in the history of Real Madrid: the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

A Little History:
 
After being officially founded in 1902, Real Madrid wasted little time in reeling off four Copa del Rey triumphs between 1905 and 1908. Their first Spanish Championship triumph arrived in the fourth edition of the competition in 1932, and they backed that up with another title the following year.
The 1950s and 60s was truly Real Madrid’s time. The Merengues walked away with 12 titles over the two decades, and also began their love affair with the European Cup. Indeed, they claimed the first edition in 1956, coming from 2-0 down against French club Reims to win 4-3 in true Real Madrid fashion. They could boast the unique talents of Alfredo Di Stefano who made his debut on 23rd September 1953, the actual day he arrived in the city with his wife and daughters to pass a medical.
Ferenc Puskas was another great of this era as Real set about crushing all competition. The duo scored hat-tricks in a 10-1 win over Las Palmas in 1959 and helped the club to multiple European Cups.
 
High Expectations:
 
Championship titles were on tap throughout the 70s and 80s, and it was such dominance that led FIFA to vote Real Madrid the most successful club of the 20th century.
Real Madrid are the only club to have a European Cup trophy on-site having won the title five years in a row.
 
Such an illustrious history naturally means high expectations in the pressure cooker environment of the Bernabeu. Supporters expect to see winning and entertaining soccer, and are not afraid to make their feelings known to the players if expectations are not being met.
Several managers have bitten the dust, despite winning trophies. In 1998, Jupp Heynckes was fired at the end of the season despite winning the European Cup. Even more shockingly, Real decided not to renew the contract of Vicente Del Bosque in 2003 after he had led the club to two European Cups and two Liga titles in four years.
Quick Facts:
 

• Founded: 1902
  
• Home Ground (Capacity): Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid (80,354)
  
• Nicknames: Merengues
  
• Home Colors: White
  
• Top Goalscorer All-Time: Raul Gonzalez (323 goals)
  
• First Division/La Liga Titles: (32) 1931–32, 1932–33, 1953-54, 1954-55, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1971-72, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1994-95, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2011-12
  
• Spanish Cup/Copa del Rey Titles: (18) 1904-1905, 1905-1906, 1906-1907, 1907-1908, 1916-1917, 1933-1934, 1935-1936, 1945-1946, 1946-1947, 1961-1962, 1969-1970, 1973-1974, 1974-1975, 1979-1980, 1981-1982, 1988-1989, 1992-1993, 2010-11
  
• European Cup/Champions League: (9) 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002
  
• UEFA Cup: (2) 1985, 1986
  
• Intercontinental Cup: (3) 1960, 1998, 2002
  
• European Super Cup: (1) 2002
  

 
The Team:
 

• Current Coach: Carlo Ancelotti
  
• Top Goalscorer 2012-2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (57 in all competitions)
  
• Captain: Iker Casillas
  
• 2012-2013 League Finish: 2nd
  

The first crest had a simple design consisting of a decorative interlacing of the three initials of the club, "MCF" for Madrid Club de Fútbol, in dark blue on a white shirt. The first change in the crest occurred in 1908 when the letters adopted a more streamlined form and appeared inside a circle.[54] The next change in the configuration of the crest did not occur until the presidency of Pedro Parages in 1920. At that time, King Alfonso XIII granted the club his royal patronage which came in the form of the title "Real Madrid", meaning "Royal".[55] Thus, Alfonso's crown was added to the crest and the club styled itself Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.[54] With the dissolution of the monarchy in 1931, all the royal symbols (the crown on the crest and the title of Real) were eliminated. The crown was replaced by the dark mulberry band of the Region of Castile.[14] In 1941, two years after the end of the Civil War, the crest's "Real Corona", or "Royal Crown", was restored while the mulberry stripe of Castile was retained as well.[19] In addition, the whole crest was made full color, with gold being the most prominent, and the club was again called Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.[54] The most recent modification to the crest occurred in 2001 when the club wanted to better situate itself for the 21st century and further standardize its crest. One of the modifications made was changing the mulberry stripe to a more bluish shade.[54] Real Madrid's first kit

Real Madrid's traditional home colours are all white, although before its foundation in the club first game against themselves they adopted a blue and a red oblique stripe on the shirt to differentiate the two teams (the club crest design has a purple stripe which isn't associated to this. It was incorporated the year they lost the royal crown, as it the traditional region of Castile colour); but unlike today, black socks were worn. Lastly, the black socks will be replaced by dark blue ones.[13][56] Real Madrid has maintained the white shirt for its home kit throughout the history of the club. There was however one season that the shirt and shorts were not both white. It was an initiative undertaken by Escobal and Quesada in 1925, the two were traveling through England when they noticed the kit worn by London-based team Corinthian F.C., one of the most famous teams at the time known for its elegance and sportsmanship. It was decided that Real Madrid would wear black shorts in an attempt to look like the English team but the initiative lasted only one year. After being eliminated from the cup by Barcelona with a 1–5 defeat in Madrid and a 2–0 defeat in Catalonia, President Parages decided to return to an all-white kit claiming that the other brought bad luck. Years later, Leeds United switched their blue shirt for a white one after marveling at Real Madrid's 7–3 Victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in Glasgow's Hampden Park.[57] By the early 1940s the manager changed the kit again by adding buttons to the shirt and the club's crest on the left breast (which have remained ever since). On 23 November 1947, in a game against Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano Stadium, Real Madrid became the first Spanish team to wear numbered shirts.[19] Real's traditional away colours are all blue or all purple. Since the advent of the replica kit market, the club has also released various other one colour designs, including red, green, orange and black. The club's kit is currently manufactured by Adidas whose contract extends from 1998.[58][59] Real Madrid's first shirt sponsor, Zanussi, agreed for the 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons. Following that, the club was sponsored by Parmalat and Otaysa before a long-term deal was signed with Teka in 1992.[60][61] In 2001, Real Madrid ended their contract with Teka and for one season used the Realmadrid.com logo to promote the club's website. Then, in 2002, a deal was signed with Siemens Mobile and in 2006, the BenQ Siemens logo appeared on the club's shirt.[62] Real Madrid's shirt sponsor from 2007 until 2013 was bwin.com following the economic problems of BenQ Siemens.[63][64] It is currently Fly Emirates.