Bet on Real Madrid CF

Betting on Real Madrid is something you can’t avoid since they are one of the best teams in the world. Because love ’em or hate ’em, there is only one team that can rightfully call itself the best in the world.

The somewhat younger generation is familiar with the insane (and unique) record of three consecutive Champions League Trophy wins! The somewhat older generation knows that Real Madrid won the European Cup 1 no less than 5 times(!) in a row in the 1950s. In total, the Cup with the Big Ears went to the Royal 14 times. This makes them the undisputed Kings of the Champions League and club of many world stars. We’ll go down that list.

But you can understand why we say that betting on Real Madrid is simply inescapable.

History of the club

Real Madrid has been the most successful club in European competitions for 70 years. However, Real Madrid’s history goes a little further and deeper than that, of course. In 1897, a number of students (including from Oxford and Cambridge) founded the soccer club (Sociedad) Sky Football. Three years later, there was discord within that club and the new club Nueva Sociedad de Football was founded.

Two years later, the Madrid Football Club was founded by Julián Palacios and brothers Juan Padrós and Carlos Padrós – the Padrós bros – among others. The club’s goal was to make soccer accessible to all walks of life. In 1905, only three years after its founding, the club already won the Spanish Cup by beating Athletic Bilbao in the final. Betting on Real Madrid soon proved to be a good idea.

Renaming to Real Madrid and first successes

Indeed, the first years were very successful. Because between 1905 and 1908, Madrid Football Club won the Copa del Rey four times in a row. They also became four times champions of the Campeonato Regional Centro. In addition, the club was also one of the founders of the Real Federación Española de Fútbol, the Spanish Football Federation, in 1909.

The club was renamed Real Madrid (Royal Madrid) by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 and also received a crown in its logo. Real won the regional championship no fewer than 14 times between 1905 and 1929. In 1929, the first Spanish league was created. Real Madrid led the first season from start to finish. However, a loss against Athletic Bilbao in the final round of play allowed FC Barcelona to win the first national title. In 1932 and 1933, Real Madrid did win the title.

Football under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship

On 14 April 1931, after the advent of the Second Spanish Republic, the club had to revert to being Madrid Football Club. At the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, the club was allowed again to be called Real Madrid by dictator Francisco Franco. In 1943, according to many Spaniards, it became clear that Real Madrid was the dictator’s club. They had lost 3-0 to FC Barcelona in the first match of the semi-final Copa del Generalísimo (renamed the Copa del Rey).

However, the return in Madrid ended in a battle and an 11-1 win by Real Madrid. FC Barcelona’s players were constantly pelted by spectators, they were sent off the pitch for nothing and simply gave up the match. Then the idea arose that Real Madrid was the team of the dictatorship and FC Barcelona the victim. That’s also when the rivalry between the two clubs arose. Where ‘rivalry’ is putting it mildly. To this day, it causes some to bet passionately on Real Madrid and others to bet with perhaps even more passion against the Royal.

Great successes under Santiago Bernabéu

In 1943, Santiago Bernabéu, former player from 1911-1926, was appointed president of Real Madrid. Under his watch, the club was rebuilt after the Civil War. The Estadio Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (from 1955 the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu) was built. A youth academy was set up in the early 1950s, but Bernabéu started attracting top players from abroad from 1953 onwards. The first and most famous purchase was 27-year-old Alfredo di Stéfano.

With the arrival of Di Stéfano and others came the great successes. Real Madrid dominated La Liga from 1953 to 1969 with no less than12 national titles. However, many football experts easily spoon-feed the fact that between 1956 and 1960, Real Madrid won the first five editions of the European Cup I, the forerunner of the Champions League. Did we mention that it pays to bet on Real Madrid every now and then?

In 1962 and 1964 they lost the final to Benfica and Internazionale respectively, in 1966 they won for the sixth time. Di Stefano was no longer there that last title, but the other great player Ferenc Puskas was. Big helmsman in those days was Miguel Muñoz: he had won the European Cup I three times as a player and was coach from 1960-1974.

More dominance in La Liga, double UEFA Cup

Under president Bernabéu, Real Madrid continued its dominance in La Liga in the 1970s. The club won six national titles in that decade, but could no longer take European prizes. In 1971, they lost the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup to Chelsea. Ten years later, Real Madrid was back in the final of the European Cup I, but Liverpool was too strong. Moreover, in 1978, the club had lost its president Bernabéu, who had died that year after 35 years of presidency.

In 1984, another European prize was finally added to the trophy cabinet. After two years without a prize under coach Alfredo di Stéfano, Real Madrid actually won the UEFA Cup (today’s Europa League) that year. In the third round, they had recovered another 3-0 defeat against Anderlecht with a 6-1 victory at home. In the semi-finals, a similar escape: 2-0 loss against Internazionale and 3-0 win at home. The final was won over Hungarian Videoton. A year later, Real Madrid did the same thing: they won the UEFA Cup for the second year in a row.

From Quinta del Buitre to Champions League

It was also the beginning of a new period of success for Real Madrid. Five players from their own youth, nicknamed La Quinta del Buitre, formed the backbone of the team. The nickname derives from player Emilio Butragueño. Added to this were players like goalkeeper Francisco Buyo, defender Chendo and Mexican striker Hugo Sanchez. After the UEFA Cup double, that strong Real Madrid won La Liga five times in a row. Three of those titles came under coach Leo Beenhakker between 1986-1989. Who has since gone through life as Don Leo. And undoubtedly contributed to Dutch punters placing more bets on Real Madrid.

After the national title in 1996-1997 under Fabio Capello, Real Madrid rewarded itself the following season with finally the title all fans had been waiting for. Jupp Heynckes led the club to the Champions League final, in which The Royal won over Juventus. Players such as Predrag Mijatovic, Davor Suker, Raúl, Fernando Hierro, Fernando Redondo and also Clarence Seedorf were the tastemakers.

Heynckes resigned immediately after that season and, after interlopers Guus Hiddink and John Toshack, Vicente del Bosque became Real Madrid coach in 1999. With especially the veterans of the 1998 Champions League win, he won the tournament with the club in 2000.

Los Galácticos under Florentino Perez

After the 2000 Champions League, Florentino Perez became president of Real Madrid for the first time. He probably thought back to the days of Santiago Bernabéu, as he started making at least one grand purchase every summer. These players became known as Los Galácticos. The most famous were Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo (the Brazilian), Luis Figo, David Beckham and Fabio Cannavaro. They won the Champions League in 2002 and La Liga in 2003, but after that the trophy cabinet would catch dust for three years. A unique one in fact. Although we suspect it will not have detracted much from the amount of bets on Real Madrid.

Perez resigned in 2006, but returned in 2009. He continued where he left off by spending dough. The likes of Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo came over for exorbitant sums. Dutch trio Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were allowed to leave immediately in 2009, Ruud van Nistelrooij left a year later. José Mourinho came in 2010, but won ‘only’ one title and one Copa del Rey in three seasons. He was unlucky to find himself in the middle of the era of one Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

La Décima and three in a row with Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo

In 2014, Carlo Ancelotti would eventually reap the rewards of Perez’s acquisition policy. Including the newly recruited Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo (known as BBC), Real Madrid finally won La Décima. The tenth European Cup they had been waiting for for 12 years. With Ancelotti, Real also won the Copa del Rey, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

However, not much later, Ancelotti would be “outclassed” by his former assistant and Galáctico, Zinedine Zidane. Between 2016 and 2018, the Frenchman led Real Madrid to three Champions League wins in a row, one national title, the UEFA Super Cup twice and the Club World Cup twice. As passionately as you might want to bet on Real Madrid, no one predicted those successes. Except perhaps for a few old Madrilenians on a bench in the sun.

However, Ancelotti would once again show why he too is such a top coach. Without Cristiano Ronaldo, he won the Champions League and La Liga, among others, with Real Madrid in 2021-2022.

Rivals and the magic of El Clásico

In the Spanish league, La Liga, FC Barcelona have been one of Real Madrid’s biggest rivals for decades. Not surprising of course, as they are the best clubs in Spain. However, in addition to this, Atlético Madrid has also always been engaged in a fierce battle with Real Madrid.

Athletic Bilbao also used to be seen as a rival, as they were successful in the first half of the 20th century. However that was then. In European football, Bayern Munich and Juventus in particular can be seen as the biggest rivals and clubs that Real Madrid often face.

The magic of El Clásico

Did you know that Real Madrid has been voted the best club of the 20th century by UEFA? It is an achievement for a club that has had a difficult history, with three (!) name changes due to political regime changes.

For Real Madrid fans, the most memorable El Clásico was that of 1943, when Barcelona were beaten 11-1! If only we could have made bets back then! El Clásico is considered the greatest rivalry in football, not least because of the political situation between the Catalans and Madrid.

After the Champions League final, it is the most watched football match worldwide. The wins between the teams in El Clásico are roughly evenly distributed, so betting on this match is very interesting! If you decide to bet, approach it mostly neutrally. Also, choose the right bet on Real Madrid… or FC Barcelona.

The match always has something special, especially when a player ‘betrays’ one team by switching to another. You could say that the whole season depends on this match, but then we would leave out Atletico Madrid and Sevilla as serious contenders for the title.

By the way, did you know that El Clásico was reserved for matches in La Liga? Nowadays, the term is used for any encounter between Real Madrid and Barcelona, including those in the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. We are of the old school. What’s more, we use the term only for league matches. Sometimes you just have to admit colour. Not just when betting on Real Madrid.

Real Madrid club icons

The first club icon was of course former player and president Santiago Bernabéu, about whom we have already told a lot. Under his presidency, Real Madrid was thus already king of Europe in the late 1950s. Bearing players at the time were Alfredo di Stéfano, José María Zárraga, Marquitos, Rafael Lesmes, José Santamaría, Ferenc Puskas and Francisco Gento. The latter, Gento, incidentally, was the only one to win the six first European Cups (1956-1960 and 1966) as a player.

Miguel Muñoz is mentioned separately because he won the European Cup three times as a player and won many titles including another European Cup as a coach from 1960-1974. Among others, Manuel Bueno, Antonio Betancort, Ignacio Zoco, Amancio and Manuel Velázquez won many national titles under Muñoz in the 1960s.

1980s and beyond

In the mid- and late 1980s, Real Madrid thus won the UEFA Cup twice and La Liga five times in a row. The best-known players during this time were Emilio Butragueño, Hugo Sanchez, Míchel, Manolo Sanchís, Rafael Martín Vázquez and Francisco Buyo.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Real Madrid won the Champions League three times. This included Fernando Hierro, Fernando Redondo, goal scorer Raúl, Guti, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Iker Casillas and, a little later, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and coach Vicente del Bosque. Brazilian Ronaldo was just too late to win the Champions League in his illustrious career.

In the last 15 years, of course, we are looking at players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos, Gonzalo Higuain, Pepe, Marcelo, Nacho, Raphaël Varane, Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal, Isco, Casemiro and Toni Kroos.

Looking back at Real Madrid season 2021/2022

You can hardly get much better than last season if your name is Real Madrid. Under Carlo Ancelotti’s leadership, the club became convincing national champions. It won the Champions League as well as the Supercopa de España (and the UEFA Super Cup early this season). Only the Copa del Rey was missing. It was especially enjoyed by the Karim Benzema – Vinícius Júnior duo up front.

Looking ahead for Real Madrid season 2022/2023

Real Madrid have said goodbye to players like Casemiro and Isco, but still have a whole army of top players left. Think Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema, Vinícius Júnior, David Alaba, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo and Toni Kroos. They have been joined by Aurélien Tchouameni and Antonio Rüdiger.

They should play Real Madrid football to many new prizes, under the guidance of still Carlo Ancelotti. The Champions League will be top priority, but trouncing FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid in La Liga is always tasty too. In betting on football, you have one or two opportunities to bet on Real Madrid every week. And with so much scoring ability, you too can score well with the right bet!