HERE ARE SOME REAL MADRID FACTS THAT SOCCER FANS SHOULD KNOW

On March 6, 2015 Real Madrid celebrated another landmark as the club ushered in its 114th year. With over a century of football, history, triumphs, records, controversies, dramas and star players, there has certainly been no shortage of highlights to choose from to commemorate the club’s 113th anniversary.

With that in mind, Goal compiles 113 interesting facts you may or may not know about Real Madrid.

1. The first direct incarnation of the club was known as Football Club Sky formed in 1895. In 1900, the club split into New Foot-ball de Madrid and Club Espanol de Madrid. The latter club’s president Julian Palacios eventually led a breakaway to help create Sociedad Madrid FC on March 6, 1902.

2. Madrid CF’s first two official club presidents were both Catalans. Joan Padros Rubio presided over the board from 1902 to 1904 and was succeeded by his brother Carles Padros Rubio from 1904 to 1908.

3. Three years after Madrid FC was formed, the club won its first official title after defeating Athletic Club to lift the Copa del Rey in April 1905.

4. Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano became the first player to win the Pichichi award four times in a row from 1956 to 1959. He has five wins in total.

5. Although an attacking midfielder, Zinedine Zidane wore the No. 5 shirt in his five seasons as a Madrid player.

6. Madrid has never won the treble. But the team has achieved the double (either La Liga plus Copa del Rey or La Liga and the European Cup) six times in the past.

7. Madrid’s all-time top scorer is iconic former No. 7 Raul with 323 competitive goals, 228 of them in the league, which is also a club record. But Cristiano Ronaldo, who inherited the shirt from Raul in 2010, is closing in on his former teammate. The Portuguese currently has 291 goals for the club.

8. Real’s biggest defeat in La Liga was against Espanyol when the side lost 8-1 in 1929-30.

9. The club’s largest win in the European Cup was a 9-0 victory over Danish side Boldklubben 1909 in 1961-62.

10. Madrid has won the European Cup/Champions League more than any other team, finally claiming La Decima by beating city rival Atletico in Lisbon last May.

11. The club’s biggest victory in any competition was against Barcelona as Los Blancos thrashed the Catalans 11-1 in a Copa del Rey (known then as Copa del Generalisimo) semifinal back in 1942-43.

12. Ferenc Puskas scored a total of 12 goals in the 1959-60 European Cup campaign, the most goals a Madrid player has scored in a single season in the old format of the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Champions League record for all teams in 2013-14 with 17 strikes en route to the trophy.

13. The first ever Clasico was played on May 13, 1902. Barcelona defeated Madrid 3-1 in a friendly match.

14. Between 1961 and 1980, Los Blancos were so dominant in Spain that they won 14 La Liga titles in 20 seasons. Between 1961 and 1990, Madrid won 19.

15. Miguel Munoz is the club’s longest-serving coach, totaling 15 years and 604 competitive matches. He won 14 titles during that span.

16. January signing Martin Odegaard will become the youngest player ever to feature in the Champions League if he features for Los Blancos in their second-round clash against Schalke next week.

17. On Dec. 17, 1922, Real Madrid saw Juan Monjardin become the club’s first Spanish international when he played in a match against Portugal.

18. Madrid’s longest-standing player is club captain Iker Casillas, who has won 18 trophies for the club. Paco Gento holds the Real record with 23 titles for the Spanish side.

19. The first-ever competitive Clasico was on May 19, 1902 in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, which Barcelona won 3-1. It was also to be Madrid FC’s first official game. Madrid has also won the Copa on 19 occasions.

20. FIFA named Real Madrid the ‘Best Club of the 20th Century’.

22. The club’s 22-match winning streak at the end of 2014 was a new Spanish record. It ended with a 2-1 defeat at Valencia on Jan. 4.23. David Beckham (who wore the No. 23) won just two trophies in his four-year spell at Madrid, claiming the Spanish Supercopa right at the beginning of his time at the capital club, and adding La Liga in his very last game for Los Blancos.

24. Raul’s final competitive game in the famous white shirt was on April 24, 2010 in the 2-1 La Liga win at Real Zaragoza.

25. Striker Karim Benzema has scored two goals or more on 25 occasions for Real Madrid.

26. Real Madrid players have won the Pichichi award a total of 26 times, a record in the league. The club’s first La Liga top scorer was Manuel Olivares in 1932-33 when he netted 16 goals in 14 games. The last was Cristiano in 2013-14.

27. Raul was born on June 27, 1977 and started out in the youth team at Atletico. However, he ended up without a club as Atletico closed down its youth system due to huge debts in 1992 and its city rival took full advantage. Two years later, he was already appearing in Madrid’s first team.

28.  Angel Di Maria was the first player to score a goal for Madrid in a red shirt, the team’s away kit in 2011-12. A red-colored shirt had only been used on three previous occasions, but Los Blancos had never managed to score.

29. Madrid received the ‘Real’ (royal) title on June 29, 1920 from King Alfonso XIII.

30. Vicente del Bosque spent 30 years in total at Real Madrid (first team and reserve team). He won nine trophies as a player and seven as a coach.

31. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 31 goals in the Primera Division last term to claim his second Pichichi prize. Alfredo Di Stefano holds the Madrid record with five, while Hugo Sanchez also won five (including one at Atletico) and Ferenc Puskas has four (all with Real). Athletic Club legend Telmo Zarra leads overall with six.

32. Madrid went unbeaten on the way to its first league title in 1932, winning 10 games and drawing eight in an 18-round campaign, finishing three points ahead of runner up Athletic Bilbao.

33. Real is now chasing its 33rd Liga title, having won a record 32 so far – the last of which came under Jose Mourinho in 2011-12.

34. Zinedine Zidane retired after the 2006 World Cup at the age of 34, having spent the last five seasons of his career at Real Madrid. The attacking midfielder is best remembered for scoring the stunning volley which gave Los Blancos their ninth Champions League title in 2002. He is now coach of Madrid’s B team, Castilla, having worked as an assistant to Carlo Ancelotti in 2013-14.

35. Santiago Bernabeu was Madrid’s club president for almost 35 years from Sept. 1943 to June 1978. During his tenure, Los Blancos won six European Cups, 16 La Liga titles, 6 Copas del Rey, and one Intercontinental Cup. He is also credited with revolutionizing Real, starting with the signing of Alfredo Di Stefano.

36. Santillana, who is the club’s fourth-highest all-time top goal scorer, retired from football in 1988 at the age of 36.

37. Madrid’s first-ever European Cup match was a 2-0 win over Servette on Sept. 8, 1955.

38. Hugo Sanchez scored 38 goals in La Liga in 1989-90 to tie a Pichichi record set by Athletic Bilbao great Telmo Zarra in 1951 and which stood until the 2010-11 season.

39. Ferenc Puskas was almost 39 when he played his last season for Real in the 1965-66 campaign.

40. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new La Liga record in 2010-11 by netting 40 goals in a single season, beating the long-standing mark held by both Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sanchez.