When a child starts watching a sport, she/he begins to build a preference for a specific team. As time passes by, what once was a sport the child didn’t care much about becomes a key part of life.
There are a very few people in this world whose source of love for a sport is the sport in itself rather than a specific team. In my case, I started loving football because of the Spain national team and Real Madrid.
Now, the question beckons: how did I fall in love with these two teams? I will keep the Spain angle for another day and reveal the seven reasons that compel me to love Real Madrid…
#1 Raul
Raul Gonzalez Blanco. My source of love for Real Madrid and Spain and football in general. The most iconic Real Madrid player ever, taught me how to love something selflessly—such was his impact on me that I, 14 years later, still carry these principles in my life.
It was the World Cup of 2002. A familiar face was seen on TV as I remembered watching him play in a white costume a few months ago. That game was the Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen and that face was Raul’s.
I was only 9, so didn’t remember much of the Champions League final, but I clearly remember him running riot with Fernando Morientes against the defense of other teams at the World Cup. And before I knew it, I was a fan – one who adored him, worshipped him as a football God.
In a game marred with controversies, Spain bowed out of the World Cup after a shoot-out defeat to South Korea. However, what was the end of Spain’s campaign became the beginning for me. That tournament made me love Raul, and that was the onset of my love for Real Madrid.
#2 Show-stopping players
Raul. Roberto Carlos. Fenomeno Ronaldo. Zinedine Zidane. Luis Figo. Fernando Hierro. David Beckham. Cristiano Ronaldo. Marcelo. Iker Casillas. Karim Benzema. Luka Modric. Gareth Bale.
The list goes on and on. Real Madrid have had and still have some legendary players in their roster ever since becoming a superpower back in the 50s. In the 21st century, they have been the home to some of the greatest players to grace the game.
This, in turn, attracts fans to watch them as it is quite impossible to resist the temptation to follow a team with so many show-stoppers.
And it is not only the foreign imports that catch the eye of the fans as the academy of the Blancos have also produced some of their best players. In the current squad, Carvajal, Nacho, Jese and Kiko Casilla all hail from La Fabrica.
Whereas, the likes of Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, and Raphael Varane were bought in their teens and groomed to the players that they are today.
World class players have always formed the core of Real Madrid and it is one of the reasons why they have an…
#3 Entertaining playing style
The requirement to be a Real Madrid manager is not just to win, but to win in style. Fabio Capello’s Real Madrid won two league titles in a row and yet he was sacked. Not being able to progress past the round of 16 of the Champions League was one of the reasons, but he wasn’t a fan favourite mainly because his team lacked the attacking intensity that Madridistas crave.
Winning alone is never enough—just ask Vanderlei Luxembourgo—as victories with aura is always preferred in the capital. One can hear Madrid fans boo and whistle at side and back passes even when the team is winning.
That’s why coaches have always implemented an attacking approach. Even a supposedly defensive Jose Mourinho built one of the best counter-attacking sides in the world—a team that was a treat to watch.
Ancelotti took it a notch further by deploying di Maria in the center and making Real Madrid play some of the finest football in recent times. Currently, Zinedine Zidane’s team also emphasizes on an ultra-attacking approach—and Real Madrid’s reaction after Ramos’ red card against Barcelona is a testament to that.
#4 Unpredictability
Being a Real Madrid fan is like riding a boat on the waters made of unpredictable waves. The erratic movements give no peace to the fans and after years of being under such circumstances, we have gotten used to it.
Such is the magnitude of our adjustment that we do not like it when things go too predictably. We get somewhat of adrenaline rush from the uncertain.
What exactly does unpredictability mean? In one sentence: selling Angel di Maria after his and the club’s best season. This is the type of things that happen at the club. No player or manager is ever safe, regardless of how well he does.
It might sound weird, but this unpredictability is a part of being a Madridista that we have grown to be fond of.
#5 Remontadas
Remontada means comeback. Real Madrid are a club known for making great comebacks, and people have to see just a week back to understand what I am trying to convey.
Being 2-0 down from the first leg against Wolfsburg, the Blancos needed to do what no other club has been able to in the Champions League era—overturn a 2-goal deficit without having the advantage of an away goal.
And they did it.
This wasn’t the first time they did something like this. In fact, the Juanito era was filled with such comeback wins. The late Juanito—rest in peace—once famously said to an Inter player, ‘noventi minuto en el Bernabeu son molto longo (90 minutes at Bernabeu is a very long time).’
These words came after a 3-1 loss at the San Siro. In the second leg, Real Madrid won the game 2-0 and proceeded to the next round.
In the Clasico earlier this month, Real Madrid came back from a goal down to win the game 2-1, despite being a man down. This is the spirit that is synonymous to the Galacticos—and this is one of the reasons why I adore them.
#6 The jersey appeal
This is something Barcelona fans cannot say. We, however, can. Real Madrid has produced some of the finest jerseys in the world of football.
As they say, the simplest things are the classiest ones—and that is the case with Real Madrid as their simple stripes on plain jerseys have almost caught the eyes of the fans.
In recent memory, the gold-white combination home jersey oozed elegance. It was also a lucky one since wearing it, Real Madrid won their only league title, thus far, of this decade.
Similarly, every year, at least one set of their kits are praised for a sleek look. Most importantly, the jerseys give the fans…
#7 A feeling
When Alfredo di Stefano was asked what Real Madrid is to him, he replied: “I think it is a feeling.”
No-one could have put it better than the greatest Real Madrid player of all time. After writing six reasons, I will discard all of them for this 7th one and say that love is a phenomenon that can never be explained.
If one has ‘reasons’ to love something, then that love is no love—at least not an everlasting one. The reason for making this claim is simple. Words have boundaries, love does not. Hence, using something as limited as words to describe something eternal as love is like trying to fit the sky in an empty glass.
Love is just a pure feeling. And nothing else. Feelings have no reasons, they can’t be styled in words. Take di Stefano as an example. He clung on to life and didn’t let go of it till he saw his dear love win its 10th European Cup.
This is love. This is feeling. This is Real Madrid.
