Real Madrid C.F. Football Formation

Lineup (3-4-3)

Iker Casillas (c) · Pepe · Fábio Coentrão · Sergio Ramos · Xabi Alonso · Ángel di María · Luka Modrić · Kaká · Cristiano Ronaldo · Mesut Özil · Karim Benzema

Real Madrid "Gálacticos XI" (2008 - 2012) - Second Gálactico era


Florentino Pérez to the presidency. Pérez again pledged to go on a spending spree to return the club to European and domestic competitiveness, notably with his vocal claims of an attempt to sign AC Milan's Kaká. Just 24 hours after his appointment, Manuel Pellegrini was unveiled as Juande Ramos' replacement as manager. After much speculation linking him to the club, Kaká was duly signed for a then world record fee of £57 million on 9 June 2009. On 11 June, Manchester United revealed they had accepted a shock offer of £80 million (a new world transfer record fee) for Cristiano Ronaldo. United gave Real until 30 June to complete the deal. On 26 June, Real Madrid and Manchester United signed the final agreement for the transfer of Ronaldo, which became effective on 1 July. That same day, it was confirmed that Olympique Lyonnais had accepted an offer from Madrid for Karim Benzema.

On 29 July 2009, it was announced that Real and Liverpool had reached an agreement for the transfer of Álvaro Arbeloa to the Spanish club. A fee of €4 million, the same amount Liverpool paid for the player in January 2007, had been agreed between the clubs and the player would sign a five-year contract with Real. On 4 August, Real Madrid and Liverpool again agreed terms for the transfer of Xabi Alonso to the Santiago Bernabéu. A fee of €34 million was to be paid by Real for Alonso. Other players that came to Real Madrid were Raul Albiol, Ezequiel Garay, Esteban Granero. Also Antonio Adan became third goalkeeper through the youth system.

In their first year the second era of galácticos failed to win any trophy. They were crushed 4-0 against Alcorcón on the Copa del Rey, then they were knocked out of the Champions League in the Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive year (losing to Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 on aggregate). They were also unable to win La Liga despite setting a club record 96 points. Once again, Real Madrid suffered from poor transfer decisions as Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, who were transferred to Internazionale and Bayern Munich respectively because they were considered surplus to requirements, each played key roles as their clubs reached the UEFA Champions League Final at the Santiago Bernabéu. Manuel Pellegrini was sacked and José Mourinho was appointed manager. Even before the 2009-10 season had concluded, the team was actively courting Mourinho, who had successfully managed Inter to a semi-final victory over Barça in the Champions League (Real Madrid fans were pleased that this denied Barça the opportunity to win the Champions League at the Bernabéu) en route to achieving a continental treble. Mourinho was released by Inter after a record breaking compensation package was agreed on 27 May 2010. Real Madrid continued the spending spree by signing players Ángel di María, Sami Khedira, Sergio Canales, Pedro León, Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Özil.

On 20 April 2011, the second galácticos era managed to obtain their first trophy in a 1-0 victory over Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the decisive goal in extra time. They also managed to get past the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in seven years, reaching the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions Barça where the first leg was marred by refereeing controversy. In La Liga they finished as runners-up to Barça, being defeated 0-5 in the 13th round, and drawing 1-1 in the 32nd round, thus achieving their first point in the last six matches against the Azulgranas.

In the 2011-2012 season, Real Madrid won its 32nd title under the management of José Mourinho with a record-breaking goal scoring figure, a record goal differece and most away wins among several other records in a single season in La Liga history. This included a 2-1 win over Barça at Nou Camp on 21 April, Barça's first home loss of the season, which extended Real Madrid's lead in the table to seven points with four matches left, and let Pep Guardiola to concede the league title. In the Champions League, the team reached the semi-finals where they faced Bayern Munich (managed by Jupp Heynckes, who had previously led Real Madrid to its 1998 Champions League title), losing the first leg 2-1 and winning the second leg at home 2-1 (with former Real Madrid player Arjen Robben converting a penalty to level the aggregate score). Bayern won 3-1 in the ensuring penalty shootout which saw spot kicks of galácticos Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká saved by Bayern's Manuel Neuer as well as a missed penalty by Sergio Ramos.

May 2011 saw the appointment of former galáctico Zinedine Zidane as General Manager of the club, replacing Jorge Valdano.

The second galácticos :
# Kaká (€65M from Milan) - joined in 2009
# Cristiano Ronaldo (€96M from Manchester United) - joined in 2009
# Karim Benzema (€30M from Lyon) - joined in 2009
# Mesut Özil (€12M from Werder Bremen) - joined in 2010
# Ángel di María (€25M from Benfica) - joined in 2010
# Xabi Alonso (£30M from Liverpool) - joined in 2009
# Fábio Coentrão (€30M from Benfica) - joined in 2011
# Luka Modrić (£33M from Spurs) - joined in 2012




Coach/Manager : José Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini.

Reserves include : Marcelo, Sami Khedira, Álvaro Arbeloa, Gonzalo Higuaín, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Sergio Canales, Pedro León, Ricardo Carvalho, Raúl Albiol, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Lassana Diarra, and Antonio Adán.