INTRODUCTION 10 LET S GET REAL 36 14 MEMORABLE MATCHES TIMELINE March Apri 1916 v FC Barcelond June 21 1936 v Barcelona June 13 1943 v Borcelona May 18 1960 v Eintracht Frankfurt May 15 2002 v Bayer leverkusen April 20 2011 v Borcelond THE ARROW AND THE CANNON 20 SIX CUPS YEAH YEAH YEAH 26 FAMOUS FOOTBALLERS Ricardo Zamora Santiago Bernabéu Alfredo Di Stéfano Ferenc Puskás Luís Figo Cristiano Ronaldo FROM VULTURES TO GALÁCTICOS 30 Real Madrid Titles 44 Selected Bibliography 46 VWebsites 47 Index 48 DIM STARS BRIGHTENED AGAIN
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas
INTRODUCTION Soccer or football as it is known almost everywhere else in the world is truly a universal game Nowhere is the play more competitive than in Europe Almost every European country has its own league and generally that league has several divisions A typical season lasts eight or nine months from late summer to mid spring Every team in each level plays all other teams in its level twice once at home and once on the other team's pitch At the end of the season the bottommost teams in one division are relegated moved down to the next lower division with the same number of topmost teams from that lower division promoted to replace them Such a system ensures that a high level of competition is maintained and that late season games between teams with losing records remain important as they seek to avoid relegation Individual countries also feature their own tournaments such as England's FA Cup and Spain's Copa del Rey In theory these tournaments allow almost any team the opportunity to win the championship but in reality the best clubs dominate the competition An assortment of European wide tournaments complement individual nations league and cup play The most prestigious is the Union of European Football Associations UEFA Champions League Known as the European Cup until
WINNERS JEFA SUPER CUP 2014 fie pirates ρς Spain's Real Madrid has carved a place for itself among history's most successful football
