The Real Madrid legends who made us buy match tickets, part one

Real Madrid is one of the greatest clubs in the world and arguably the greatest in European competitions. We have been blessed to watch them play on the domestic and international stages every season. The Whites won the Champions League last term after beating Liverpool, whom they also defeated in the 2018 final.

It has been a remarkable decade for Madrid, who dominated the competition between 2016 and 2018. Some people believed they enjoyed that dominance because they had Cristiano Ronaldo in their squad, but they won it last term without him in the group. They have also been a dominant force in domestic football and won La Liga last season to prove they are a team no one should underestimate.

Madrid is a prestigious club, but the players who have donned their shirts make it so, and there are legends we cannot forget. In this article, we discuss some of them.

Zinedine Zidane

Having won the UCL and La Liga both as a coach and player, legends do not come close to Zidane. The Frenchman is one of the greatest players we have ever seen and we cannot forget how he dazzled with so much class in midfield.

He was the leading man of the Madrid side that won the Champions League in the 2001/2002 season. The following term, he led the Madridistas to win La Liga and continued to prove to be their best player by a mile. Having been surrounded by world-class talents like Raul and Ronaldo de Lima, Zidane ensured Madrid won the best trophies as custom demands.

His return as manager was met with excitement and exceeded our expectations, considering he had no prior senior managerial experience before taking the job. The ex-midfielder won two league titles and three Champions Leagues, among other competitions and will almost certainly return to the bench soon.

Ronaldo de Lima

If not for injuries, Ronaldo could have easily been considered the greatest footballer that ever lived. The Brazilian is one of the few players who turned out for Barcelona and Real Madrid and did well for both clubs. Interestingly, he never won a Champions League as a player, but we cannot forget what it was to see the Brazilian play.

Ronaldo was guilty of missing some goal-scoring chances he should take in matches, but on his day, no one could stop him. 

We cannot forget when he earned a standing ovation from Manchester United fans after bagging a hat trick and proved unstoppable in a Champions League game against the English side.

Injuries ravaged the striker, yet he still scored 83 league goals and 104 competitive goals in 177 games for Madrid.

As a member of one of the first Galacticos teams, Ronaldo’s group did not meet expectations, but on an individual level, the Brazilian was brilliant and will be remembered for some of the devastating performances he delivered for Madrid under the lights.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Love or hate him, Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers alive and takes the best care of his body. The Portuguese star probably has the greatest motivation to be the best among footballers ever and remains one man we can count on for goals.

He is now an icon, but his career took off when he left Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2009.

The Portuguese star was 23 when he made the move and would go on to spend nine years in the Spanish capital. When he left, he was Madrid’s record goal-scorer, with an astonishing 311 goals in 292 league appearances alone. In all competitions, Ronaldo broke the record for the most goals scored by a Madrid player with 450 goals in 438 matches.

The Portugal captain won 15 major trophies at Madrid, more than one per year and was the man most La Liga teams feared.

The ex-Manchester United man has the most appearance, most goals and most assists in the Champions League and enjoyed the best of his career when he played for Madrid.

Ronaldo has refused to retire and now plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr, but he will forever be a Madrid legend, and fans will always love him whenever he returns to visit, even though the manner of his exit wasn’t the best.

At over 30, Juventus still paid Real Madrid a record 100m euros to add him to their squad, making him the most expensive 30+ player ever. Madrid is more significant than any player, and the fans have seen some of the best talents around the globe play for their club. However, Ronaldo is an absolute legend and it would be very difficult to find a player like him who can come close to breaking some of the records he has set.

Some players made us leave our homes for games, but only a few made us buy Real Madrid tickets on Seatsnet as much as Ronaldo did.

Luca Modric

Modric went under the radar for several years until 2018, when he won the Champions League with Real Madrid and nearly won the World Cup with Croatia in the same year.

Everyone agreed he deserved to win the Ballon D’or, and he did as arguably the best player on the planet that year.

The midfielder has continued to prove to be arguably the best player of all time in his position, and at 37, Madrid still relies on him. Modric was little-known in the Premier League when he played for Tottenham, but at Madrid, he blossomed like most players. The Croatian has won three league titles, five Champions Leagues, four UEFA Super Cups, and five FIFA Club World Cups, among other trophies. Because of Modric, midfielders are now given the recognition they deserve even though previously, it was primarily goal-scorers who were recognised as essential contributors at clubs.

The midfielder is still going and could earn a new deal to keep him at the Bernabeu for the 2023/2024 season.

Karim Benzema

Benzema waited until 2022 to become recognised as the best player in the world after his undeniably superb 2021/2022 season. The Frenchman has been in Madrid since 2009, when he left his hometown club Lyon for the prestigious Spanish side looking to develop into a world-class player. Over the years, the likes of Kaka, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale also played for the club, and Benzema made himself one of the key men.

While the likes of Bale and Ronaldo earned praises as members of the famed BBC, Benzema did not win many awards. However, in the last three years, he has been the main man for the Spanish side, and his performance in the 2021/2022 season was simply too good to ignore.

He still plays for the Whites, but we can already consider Benzema a club legend and why not, after he won four league crowns, five Champions Leagues, and five Club World Cups, among other trophies.

He is one of the most senior members of the current Los Blancos squad and a player we expect to continue giving his best to the club. Madrid is arguably the best club in the world and will continue to create more legendary figures.

Our next article in this series will cover even more stars who have played for them that made us buy tickets.