Madrid the masters of Europe

Over the next few weeks uefa.com will be charting the history of all clubs through to next season's UEFA Champions League from the third qualifying round onwards. Here we look at Spanish champions Real Madrid CF.

Voted the team of the 20th century by FIFA, Real Madrid CF have already made their mark on the 21st - lifting the European Champion Clubs' Cup for a record ninth time after winning the UEFA Champions League final in 2002.

Royal blessing
Founded in March 1902 and originally called Madrid Football Club the team took their now legendary all-white colours from the London Corinthians and continued the English connection by appointing an Englishman, Arthur Johnson, as their first coach. The club's name was changed to Real Madrid in June 1920 after King Alfonso XIII gave his official blessing to the club, allowing them to use the regal title.

Trophies galore
Regional success had been immediate for the club and they already had a bulging trophy cabinet when the national league started up in 1928. Madrid won their first Spanish title in 1931/32 and 28 more have followed since, most recently in 2003. They have also won 17 of the 36 Spanish Cup finals they have contested.

Bernabéu opened
Their first fenced-in pitch was opened in 1912 and in 1947 a new stadium was built and named after club president Santiago Bernabéu, who spent 66 years at Madrid after joining as a player in 1912. This ushered in a new era in the 1950s and saw the team dominate the early years of European club football. Bolstered by the arrival of world stars such as Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskás, Madrid won the first five European Champion Clubs' Cups (between 1956 and 1960), adding a sixth in 1966 (after being runners-up in both 1962 and 1964). Indeed, so impressive is their record that Madrid have only twice failed to qualify for European competition - in 1977/78 and 1996/1997.

Frustrating wait
However, despite winning eight Spanish league titles in the 1960s, five more in both the 1970s and 1980s and three in the 1990s, Madrid fans had to endure a frustrating 32 years between their sixth European Champion Clubs' Cup success in 1966 and their seventh, in 1998. In that time they lost seven European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finals, two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals (in 1971 against Chelsea FC and in 1983 against Aberdeen FC) as well as the 1981 European Cup final against Liverpool FC. The fans' only consolation during that barren run in Europe was back-to-back UEFA Cup final triumphs in 1985 (against Videoton FCF) and 1986 (against 1.FC Köln).

Centenary celebrations
Madrid have bounced back in style in recent years, winning three out of five UEFA Champions League finals between 1998 and 2002 - 1-0 against Juventus FC (1998), 3-0 against Valencia CF (2000) and 2-1 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in their centenary year of 2002).

World record transfers
The club have never been afraid of splashing out on the best players and have twice paid world record transfer fees, firstly for Luis Figo in August 2000, and then for Zinedine Zidane, who cost €70m in the summer of 2001. As if that was not enough, Madrid signed Brazil's FIFA World Cup-winning striker Ronaldo in a deal worth €45m in August 2002 and England captain David Beckham for €35m in July 2003. Meanwhile, Raúl González is an example of the home-grown talent that continues to be nurtured at the Bernabéu.