The history of Real Madrid in 10 moments

Real Madrid were named as the best club of the 20th century and have enjoyed a history of over 100 years, becoming one of the most important sporting institutions in the world.

The history of the club can be defined in 10 moments.

Foundation and early years

On March 6, 1902, the founding of the Madrid football club took place. In it, under the presidency of Juan Padros, the statutes of the club were approved, which played in these first years in different pitches across Madrid until the O'Donnell Stadium was established as the club's home in 1912.

As sport grew across Spain, and football was started to be more followed by fans, Los Blancos was one of the pioneering teams and helped with the creation of competitions such as the Copa del Rey, of which they won four of the opening six editions.

After being awarded the title of 'Real' by Alfonso XIII in 1920, the Estadio Chamartin was inaugurated in 1924 and nothing could stop the club's momentum.

Presidency of Santiago Bernabeu

Santiago Bernabeu was first a player and then president, but it was in his position in the director's box that he would go down in the club's history.

He was a visionary who took the club to feats never before imagined. In September 1943, he was elected president and after a slow start his decisions still started to bear fruit.

He made a huge effort to establish a competition between the best teams in Europe which resulted in the creation of the European Cup. Los Blancos won the first five editions, gaining great notoriety across the continent.

He signed a generation of footballers who made history in Madrid: Alfredo Di Stefano, Paco Gento, Ferenc Puskas and those who came after.

During his tenure, Bernabeu won 30 trophies until he died in 1978 and the club's stadium now bears his name.

Arrival of Di Stefano

In 1952, Santiago Bernabeu organised a friendly to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the club and he invited a team from Colombia: Millonarios. Alfredo Di Stefano played in that match, but shortly after a dispute broke out between his club and River Plate.

They both claimed to own his rights and this opened the door for Barcelona and Real Madrid to negotiate for his signature. He travelled to Spain to sign for Barcelona, but ended up joining Los Merengues.

He changed the course of history in the Spanish capital, becoming one of the club's greatest ever players.

The first six European Cups

Real Madrid ripped through Europe without mercy in the early years of the European Cup, winning the first five editions.

Five successive triumphs in the competition is an achievement that has yet to be repeated, and the team of Di Stefano, Gento, Hector Rial, Raymond Kopa, Puskas, Jose Maria Zarraga, Rafael Lesmes and Jose Santamaria won title after title.

After a number of lean years as the team was rebuilt, Gento was still around as the team won a sixth continental trophy in 1966.

The Quinta del Buitre

In the early 1980s there was a generation of footballers who defined the team once they progressed from Castilla to the senior team.

Headed by Emilio Butragueno, the group included Michel, Martin Vazquez, Manolo Sanchis and Miguel Pardeza. Journalist Julio Cesar Iglesias gave them the name Quinta del Buitre.

These players helped win two UEFA Cups and five successive Spanish LaLiga titles, although this brilliant generation could never win the Champions League.

The seventh, eighth and ninth Champions League trophies

Once the Butragueno era passed, Raul Gonzalez emerged with an explosive eye for goal. He was able to do something that the previous generation couldn't as he won the Champions League in 1998.

It ended a 32-year wait for the most prestigious European trophy, and then Los Merengues found their touch once more, winning three out of five editions with further success coming in Paris in 2000 and Glasgow in 2002.

The Galacticos

In 2003, Florentino Perez sanctioned the signing of David Beckham and a year later Michael Owen arrived. These blockbuster signings followed Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo Nazario, as well as the controversial arrival of Luis Figo in Madrid.

Perez constructed this team of Galacticos at a time when sports marketing was a business that was exploding. These signings brought huge economic benefits to the club, but they couldn't bring success on the pitch.

Many Saturday afternoons saw the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu baked in sunshine with fans watching some of the greatest footballers to play the game all playing together. Yet they couldn't get their hands on the Champions League, suffering incredibly painful knockout defeats in the mid-2000s.

The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo

Perez returned for another term as president in 2009, and he looked to make a statement immediately. He did so by signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a world record 96 million euros.

Ronaldo had established himself as the best footballer in the world at that time, guiding United to Champions League success in 2008, and Real Madrid felt they had signed the player who could end their barren run in Europe.

It would prove to be an astute signing as Ronaldo scored 451 goals in 438 games, which averages more than one per game, and he was the iconic figure behind one of the most successful eras in the club's history.

He broke every single goalscoring record in Madrid and placed himself on a level with Di Stefano, and his duel with Lionel Messi at the same time has probably been one of the most electrifying rivalries in sport.

La Decima

After years of failure in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti finally took Real Madrid back to the top of European football, winning the tournament in Lisbon in 2014.

It was a final that will be remembered even more due to the fact it came against local rivals, Atletico Madrid. La Decima had become an obsession for Los Blancos with the club having spent millions on players who couldn't quite get them over the line.

The actual match wasn't a spectacle to remember. An untidy error by Iker Casillas led to Diego Godin's goal and it was only Sergio Ramos' injury-time equaliser which spared Ancelotti's side.

Extra-time saw Atleti crushed emotionally and physically, they collapsed to a defeat where Real Madrid scored three further goals, and it was this European success which opened a door for the club to add even more hardware to their trophy cabinet.

Three successive Champions League trophies

Two years after Lisbon, Real Madrid were in the final of the Champions League once more. Zinedine Zidane had taken charge in January of 2016 and it was to be Atletico Madrid who stood in the club's way of European glory.

A penalty shoot-out in Milan was an agonising watch for supporters, but Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and scored the decisive penalty. This was Champions League number one for Zidane.

In 2017 it was Juventus who were the club's opponents in Cardiff, and this was a rather more one-sided affair with the Spanish giants winning 4-1.

In 2018, Zidane was living through a difficult time in the Spanish capital as his side struggled domestically, but somehow his team were in the Champions League final once again.

After becoming the first team to win the tournament back-to-back since AC Milan in the 1990s, Los Blancos would secure their third straight European trophy with a victory over Liverpool in Kiev.

A dull game was sparked into life by a horrific Loris Karius mistake which resulted in Karim Benzema's goal, before the German keeper would again parry a Gareth Bale shot into his own net.