The trick is to lose the Copa del Rey on purpose to reduce the number of games per season... Then play each game in the UCL as a final...

If work is slow tomorrow i might do some research into this 😂 If a PL team drops out of the FA & league cup, that feels like a LOT less games in a season. It also makes trebles even more impressive

Go look at Arsenal's Invincibles outside of the PL.

They beat Chelsea both times in the league and in the FA Cup that year but just couldn’t get it done in the CL.

This narrative would be a lot more valid if you could convince anyone that Madrid would purposely lose to Atleti, which would never happen in a billion years. Game went into extra time 2-2 and they scored twice, our only two fucking losses this year have been to Atleti.

Power of friendship

And papa Flo

🤨

i suspect perez is a member of free masosn, he has to has some kind of black magic shit

Ahhh.. Spanish friend.

Elite mentality, some luck and Elite players in every position 

And a portion of black magic

Some sort of dark arts, at least.

You can just say Vinicius

You mean Pintus' magic? 

I'm barely awake and thought I read "black players" hahaha

More than some luck. 2022 Madrid are the luckiest team I've ever seen. Got dominated by PSG, Chelsea & City in each round but kept finding a 10 min spurt to turn those games in their favour, whilst those teams missed chance after chance.

Why spend energy for 90mins when you can just win the game in 10... Are other managers just stupid?

U forgot to mention Thibaut Courtois. Probably the greatest performance by a goalkeeper in football history in a UCL final. Madrid were dominated by Liverpool and some guy named Thibaut Courtois kept blocking every shot from Liverpool. Even Klopp said it in his retirement speech from coaching liverpool, he suffered so much that day but it was only because Courtois kept stopping every shot, he knew his team dominated.

Courtois was mental that night Talking about legendary gk performances in a UCL final, it's worth mentioning that Helmut Duckadam of Steaua Bucharest saved all 4 penalties against Barça in 1986.

Missed those pre-Bossman small teams

Liverpool also were competing for trophies on all fronts that season. They won 2, lost the league by a point. They looked knackered by the time of the final. Not to mention the fuck up in Paris where some players own friends and families had issues with the authorities. And then Courtois on top of it had the game of his life.

The whole thing is actuall hilarious, IMO. Curtois made two great saves that night, that’s it. Rest were all easy saves for him. Same as va BVB just last week, people calling him MOTM and he said “just a few easy saves”. (His one really great move was forcing Adeyemi wide on the 1-on1) You see, fuck xG. It doesn’t tell you WHO is shooting and who is defending. It doesn’t tell you the context of the game. The current Madrid team are happy to absorb pressure and then beat you in transition. But if they go down 1-0, suddenly the game is different, they press, they take the ball, etc. Anyone who thinks a team winning 6 CLS in 11 years won it because of “luck” needs to watch again. Liverpool met Madrid 4 times in the CL during the Klopp years. They lost every time. And every time they pressed and it seemsd like Madrid was on the back foot - but if Liverpool scored, suddenly the game changed and Madrid took over. Every single time. If Liverpool didn’t score, Madrid just let them come at them… and then scored.

An intelligent comment at last

I don't think courtouis was anywhere near the cech performance in 2012.

Cech in 2012 was absolutely ridiculous.

Courtois plus mentality wins us these trophies, just look at 2024, Joselu comes off the bench to play out of his mind, Nacho seriously steps up as does Mendy, our younger players stepped up, when the going gets tough Madrid gets going

Men Liverpool dominated them so much in final ...

Madrid lets opponents bear the illusion of control. Clearly, some of the best teams in the world can’t bear the pressure of domination, control, and having a lead against Madrid, because as you said, they inevitably fold

It's not luck if you consistently do it.

It kinda is when the opponents consistently miss countless sitters

A Reddit sitter or an actual sitter?

Reddit sitters lmao they’re complaining that some of the best competition in the world misses when they’ve been isolated to a poor angle or risky touch by good defensive play, leading to a miss rather than a goal. They score when given an actual opportunity, but Madrid doesn’t give those often

Wouldn’t call it luck at all when they do it every game. Just good mentality.

They made the most dramatic comebacks in almost all of those matches. Legendary campaign, would be talked about for a long time.

And the best coach in the world.

This is also why Barcelona keeps crumbling under any sort of pressure.

They are the only team that purposely prepared their seasons to win the Champions League. The rest of the clubs in Europe focus mainly on the domestic league and see Champions League like an extra. Real Madrid "don't care" about winning la Liga if they can go for the CL. That's why in the last 20 years, they have lots of Champions League, only a few doubles, and zero trebles.

Madrid most certainly care about la liga lol but I would agree that the team and me personally favor winning the champions league.

They relatively care, that's why I used the quotes in "don't care". But if they are in a head-to-head to win La Liga, they won't put their 100% like Barça or Atletico do if they have a big Champions League match in 3 days. Real Madrid have won more Champions than leagues in the last 15 years. That should tell everything.

Partially incorrect. Replace LaLiga with CDR. Spanish cup is our top priority as well. Copa tho. We don't give an F

Isn't the Copa like the FA cup though?

He is just jealous because Barça keep winning Copa del Rey in the last decade

Players staying at a discount. Best players wanting to go there. Few teams have that luxury

Dont forget the bling bling to refs after every game

…. And referees

As a Real Madrid fan I’d say 1. Talent, some of the greatest players ever had their primes coincide at Madrid during this period. I’d say there were at worst 3/11 players not top 5 in the starting lineup during UCL winning seasons 2. Great organisation, arguably the best president ever in Florentino Perez. His transfer policy is extraordinary, people talk about money and sure the club spent a lot but they sold a lot as well. Not only that the club is great when it comes to capitalising on market opportunities (Kroos, Camavinga) 3. Coaches, Zidane and Ancelotti coached 9.5 seasons of the last 11. Very few teams are able to keep such coaches that long. Both are quite flexible tactically and defined game plans to get the best out of the players (Marcelo, Carvajal, Isco etc.. under Zidane/ Vinicius, Bale, Valverde etc… under Ancelotti) 4. Luck, there is no great success that doesn’t involve luck

Don’t underestimate the draw of real, it’s arguably the biggest club in the world especially after the galactico era. So many talents grew up thinking of real as the pinnacle of club football.

Yeah, this is a big part of it. Pretty much every pro footballer views it as the final destination.

> …it’s arguably the biggest club in the world… Not arguably, it’s *indisputably* the biggest club in the world. No club has more trophies, and the few (only Man U?) that have more fans across the world do so mainly because of the status of English as lingua franca and the draw of the Premier League.

This is true. Though man Utd also had the Busby babes, 58 crash and rising to win the cup 10 years after, it added to the story. Supporting was different then, when the crash happened the country was devastated, not just united fans as they were well liked by other fans due to being a young, upcoming team

If we had average luck in these runs and just a little less mental fortitude, it would be 3 UCLs at most. But I'm not gonna complain.

Chuck Rudi after cama and kroos

Belief also is a powerful thing

For the most part they also know when to get rid of players, as mean as it sounds.

True. And they lose out on a lot of potential transfer money with this. Over 30s players get renewed one year at a time, so there's no resale value. And young players that get sold have a buyback clause inserted which massively reduces their sale price, in the off chance they want them back. But this option is rarely triggered. I can recall only Casemiro and Carvajal. They buy them back for more money than they sold them for. And if a player doesn't want to be there, they don't keep them against their will.

I’ll also add Legacy. Players know that Real Madrid is one of the clubs where your career can reach its absolute pinnacle.

Also we prioritize it we could care less about cope del Rey or la liga if we’re still in contention by mid season great but UCL is all we care about really

Never thought I’d read a sentence where “could care less” works ok, albeit accidentally

Real is obviously a world class team, but the main reason they keep stacking these CL trophies comes down to their mental resilience and not necessarily to their technical brilliance. The likes of City probably play more enterprising football, but what Real has in spades is a top tier winning mentality and an undying belief they're always going to win, no matter what. Factor in a little good fortune here and there and you've got a winning formula. They simply never look down on themselves.

It's a mixture of both. You see it's not just their mentality- it's also technical brilliance. When situation requires, suddenly Joselu becomes a positioning god, Valverde strikes the sweetest hit, Carvajal plays inch perfect crosses, Jude channels his inner R9, Vini beats defenders on will, kroos is always brilliant, Modric sprints 60 yards and wins the ball, Courtois becomes unbeatable.

that's true. I've never seen a team do that in any sport, it's like magic.

I agree with mental fortitude being the main piece of winning. Sure they have flashy players, and absolute beasts of the sport, but seemingly, nothing phases them. Remember they went down 2-0 to Liverpool last year (?) in 15 minutes. Did they give up or fight for a draw..... No. They reset mentally, utilized the team and plan, and stopped Liverpool while scoring 5, 5! In response. This is super similar to other dynasties in other sports, like the Patriots, the Yankees, and even Max Verstappen or Dale Earnhardt and their teams. They have elitism and mental fortitude in gobs throughout their head office, coaches, and most importantly: players (drivers). They also have driven leaders that demand excellence from everyone, thereby raising the level of everyone in passive ways as well as aggressively. For example, competitive players playing alongside the best in the business passively raises their level, while the coach aggressively pushes them, the head office demands of them, their contracts incentivize them and ultimately the player wants to win and achieve. We see this in other places, too: entrepreneurs, trend setters, and other business people have the same level of commitment and fortitude. How many thought Bezos answering phones and doing third party shipping in the late 90s and early 00s would lead to Amazon? He outlaughed the skeptics. And that, my friends, is why mentality is more important than talent or skill. Thanks for attending my Ted Talk.

Yes. City plays better football, but Real has unmatched confidence.

City play incredibly defensive and risk averse football. Real's football is far better and entertaining to watch.

Yeah I have no idea where this idea that City play amazing beautiful football comes from. City games are always a fucking snoozefest. I think people who don’t really actually watch football just remember Pep’s Barcelona being amazing to watch and just assume his city team is exactly the same for some reason

whisper it softly, but without messi and to an extent iniesta i don't think his barca would've been very exciting either. 'beautiful', perhaps, but not exciting. tiki-taka even in its hybrid forms is intrinsically quite low risk low reward unless you have a cheat code up front. city really are dull and repetitive though, give me klopp's liverpool anyday (i say this as a utd fan).

Real Madrid is the mountaintop for most football players. It's one of the few clubs you've gotta be deemed "worthy" to have the privilege of playing for them You've gotta be at the top of your game and put in maximum effort at all times otherwise another world class player will take your spot. The level of competition from within drives it all think of the prestige like playing for the Lakers or Yankees

Thomas Graveson has entered the chat

Julien Faubert is laughing at Gravesen in his sleep (on the bench). What a time for Real those years was

Sports management with a clear vision, Must football clubs are poorly managed Plus, they are so widely recognized as the pinnacle of the game that player recruitment is a pick and choose of the world elite talent

Florentino Perez is why. Seriously.

They actually have a good manager. Other teams just have money and someone that thinks he is Cruyff.

football is just different to all the other sports, money is important but its not the only factor

They are the richest club. Even with their fraudulent books and Prem domination, City don't surpass them.

They are barely into the top-10 in signings. That is also other good point. They only spend money when they have to.

I think partly this is a virtuous cycle than comes from good recruitment. They've been replacing a largely 2010s squad that at its time was probably about as expensive as it gets. I recon if you took 2014 or so as the starting point, they probably had the most expensive squad in the world.

Dios es del Madrid

Top players run their contracts down to go join RM cos they win a lot and they can earn big bucks.

The funny thing is they've only been the best team in Spain (via the league) 4 of the past 11 seasons, only 2 of the last 11 Copas del Rey. The European Cup is *their* tournament.

They have a history that attracts the biggest players. All the best players in the world want to player there, and so they always win because of that. Always a team with experience and also one of the best academy's into the world. On top of that they dominate the league as well which brings them money. But primarily its their elite history. Spain having a huge history in football and Madrid at the top of it. Madrid is football heritage and everyone wants to play there. Other clubs will lose their best players because of their aura of attraction.

Real's biggest advantage is their reputation. If they really want a player, they'll get him sooner or later. It's basically the final destination for every world class player (excluding Barca "legends") Because of this, they'll get those players usually much cheaper compared to their competitors (Sell your player to RMA for a relatively small price, or lose him 100% for free once his contract ran out). They also don't have to pay insane wages to convince world class players joining them. On top of that, this also makes their long term squad planning insanely easy. Long term planning is usually quite difficult because of all the external factors that you have no influence on as a club. Since RMA sits on top of the food chain, there aren't many external factors left that could cause them trouble.

Because Madrid is special But the reality is one man - Florentino Perez, love him or hate him, is the best football executive alive. He is basically the architect behind all of this. And he did have a failed spell in the 2000s with his Galactico 1.0. But he learned from his mistakes and became one of the best at running football operations. But he is getting old so we will see who replaces him eventually. The big thing is he turned that white shirt into an icon And he preached the idea that if you are the best, you play for Real. He basically brings the concept of the Yankees to Europe and created this club that has a special aura about it. Even though his first Galacticos failed, but the seeds he planted are seeing fruits now. Many of younger fans during those years have grown up, especially footballers, and would like to wear the iconic shirt one day. Zidane (for French players), Figo (for Portuguese players), Beckham and Owen (for English players) Ronaldo (for Brazilians), those were the idols, and they fostered this new generation of Mbappe, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Camavinga, Bellingham. Real Madrid is more than a football club, it is a brand, a culture and an icon.

Galacticos 1.0 was not a failed spell in my humble opinion. They underperfomed trophywise... but damn they painted themselves as the BEST ... attracting huge fan following. Like Rolling stones announcing a mid album yet becoming the talking point...

Yes. From a sporting perspective, it was a failure But from a commercial and branding perspective, it was a huge success. I have been a Madrid fan since 1998 and lived through all three eras. That Galacticos 1.0 was so much fun.

I feel like they brought Kylian not from a footballing perspective but rather to have more commercial success and keep the brand going

I think getting Haaland would be a football move. But unfortunately Perez thinks Mbappe has better star power. And Haaland ends up at City and it is really difficult to buy players off City

Mbappe is better than Haaland though

From a tactical standpoint, Haaland is more suited for the number 9 role which Real lacks. However with Mbappe, maybe Vini and Mbappe will rotate and roam from the left flank

Its a 90 minutes game and they win it at the 92nd lmao

Its a combination of for about 20% mentality. And 80% doing good buisiness. We are said to ruin football alot, but in fact we have among the lowest net spend in the top 16 of Europe. Real Madrid buys smart and sells at the right time Ronaldo is the best example i can give. We bought him for 100mil he delivered us 4 or 5 lost count Champions leagues. And then when he was still at the top, but aging we sold him for 100 mil. We literally spent 0 euro on Ronaldo, he gave us huge amounts of portrait rights and prices. Meanwhile our biggest competitor in Spain buys Lewandowski (a absolutely brilliant striker) when he was on the way down for 60 mil. That will most certainly be a net loss. He also doesnt have the club love some other guys that age might have. Like carvajal or nacho.

Football Pedigree. You can’t buy that.

Mental toughness- look at this year’s quarter final game against Man City. Madrid was extremely defensive and hardly had the ball but every other team in the world would have fallen apart after Man City scored the goal in the 76th minute. Real Madrid kept playing defensively and withstood the rest of the 15 minutes with what seemed like an additional 20 minutes of injury time. Kept the same thing going for another 30 minutes of extra time until they went to penalties.

They put fear in the enemy team heart’s. They never give up and have an amazing winning aura. Obviously they have a great squad and a luck has been a factor.

The gap wasn't that wide up until 15 years ago. There were teams like AC Milan an United that consistently won the UCL and to be honest Real was on quite a dry spell. Then something happened, more or less when they signed Ronaldo CR7. They started winning consistently, and so now basically they are "used" to UCL semifinals, finals etc. TLDR They are an exceptional whose players are now used to victory and that makes it easier.

1. **Mentality:** You know how teams are happy with making it to the competition and play, others are proud to reach the final stages, Real Madrid season is considered horrible if they don't win the Champions league. It's the trophy they always aim for every season... In 2022, the team were going to be crowned champions of Spain.. they had a wonderful season, but in the semi finals, Man City was winning, leading by 2 goals up to the 80th minutes.. You wouldn't blame the Real Madrid players for going like " Oh well, it's Man City, the strongest team in Europe, and we had a beautiful campaign so far, we put up a fight and we already have a title... " but no these guys scored 2 goals in 2 minutes and were playing like their lives depended on the title.. that's how much it means for them to fight for the Champions league.. and they are hungry for more which is scary. They pulled off a masterclass defensive game this season against a terrifying Man City for 120 minutes in El Etihad stadium, conceding only one goal and then winning the game with penalties.. 2. **Quality and experience:** Real Madrid have 4 players who won the title 6 times ( Kroos, Carvajal, Modric and Nacho ).. They have the experience to manage these games and not panic. These games can be very difficult mentally, but not for these guys.. and now they are passing that experience to the young ones ( Vini Jr, Camavinga, Rodrygo, Valverde.. who already won 2 at young ages ). Those who think Real Madrid is just lucky are dumb.. You can think you're winning if you're leading, you park the bus, leading by one or two or three goals, and in freaking 3 minutes, Real Madrid can storm you with 3 goals and take you to extra time or penalties.. because they can ! They have have great goalkeepers ( Courtois and Lunin ) who can keep them in the game and amazing defense ( Carvajal, Mendy, Rudi and Nacho ). If they are leading, it's very difficult to take it away from them. To win against Real Madrid in Champions league, you have to do it like Man City in 2023.. bury the most of the chances you get and play the full 90 minutes without letting up for even a minute. 3. **Team management:** Honestly in the last few years, the team management of Real Madrid is far better than any of the teams you mentioned ( minus Man City maybe ). Perez got Rudiger, best CB in the world right now for free, got Alaba for free, and now Mbappé for free too. Also the board is making sure that the team never ever relies heavily on just one player, kind of like Barcelona's mistake of always depending on Messi.. and look at them now after he left.. Barcelona wasn't even able to make it past the group stages for two seasons after he left. Real Madrid let go of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Kroos, Casemiro, Benzema.. and they are always up there fighting for the titles in the last years. PSG is thinking buying stars in every position will give them the title. Liverpool players lacks consistency. Bayern is good but they are stuck in a 'German rigid' system and they are less open to foreign players, probably due to language barrier, unlike Spain and England. City is the only one that can compete with Real Madrid. 4. **The manager, Carlo Ancelotti:** The man won it as a player and also as a manager, 5 teams. He is Mr Champions league. He won it in the two eras of Real Madrid ( in 2014 ) and now twice ( 2022, 2024 ). Not every coach has his experience in the competition.

>Bayern is good but they are stuck in a 'German rigid' system and they are less open to foreign players, probably due to language barrier, unlike Spain and England. That was maybe the case before, Bayern at the moment doesn't suffer merely from "German rigidity", but outright incompetence and a succession of outrageous decisions by their board. Otherwise I would put faith in their well-known ability to miraculously bounce-back after horrible seasons like they did from 2012 to 2013 and 2019 to 2020, but considering they are having already big problems in this transfer window and have gotten a new, young coach, I wouldn't bet on them for the next season. They must go through painful and, god-forbid, protracted rebuilding spell.

Wow well said mate

> Despite having seemingly no financial advantage compared to other juggernauts of club football (The Manchesters, Liverpool, Bayern, PSG, etc), they have been the best team in the world more than 50% of the time since 2012. 1. They compete with the other teams financially. 2. It's no coincidence that you're looking at this from 2012 onwards, because before that Real Madrid went on a long spell were they didn't do well in the CL. Like failing to get past the Round of 16/Quarter Finals.

Short answer: they’re the best team. Longer answer: They have the best players in the world, because of the Madrid Aura. Madrid is the dream of all players. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m the best because I play at real. I play at real so I have to be the best. They have the best coaches in the world, who demand much from young talents. If you can’t meet the expectations, you’re out. Third, they are extremely efficient. They don’t need five opportunities or three to score a goal, they need one. They are extremely ruthless. Vinicius is the perfect example of that. One opportunity, goal. Fourth, you need to take a look at Florentino Perez. Not only does he ensure financial stability for real for many years now, he also always wants to get the best guys. And he does get them. So, in the end, it is the fact that they have the best players and the special aura.

they (and Barcelona) negotiate their own La Liga TV rights away from the rest of the league, getting a much more favourable deal. It's why the same 2 clubs occupy the top 3 spots every single year. Lack of real national competition means their players can play at a lower intensity, and save themselves for European competition.

That's not why. Explain then why does psg performs so poorly at UCL if there is even less competition at the French league compared to Spain? I would argue is the exact opposite. La liga and premier league are the hardest leagues, with the best quality, that's why you often see either an English or Spanish team winning the conference league, Europa league and champions league. Because they are used to high intensity, they are well trained.

lower intensity/lack of competition? lol you should watch madrid away games. Madrid has won more UCL in the last 10 years than national leagues.

Big factor

I'll get down voted into oblivion because the average poster in this sub genuinely knows fa about football

as if the premier league has competition, man city won 4 straight in a row, that shit don't happen in la liga

Is there an equivalent team in American sports who has been dominating in any type of sports? How do they do it in America?

so in american football there is actually a salary cap space, meaning the giant teams (dallas cowboys) can't just outpay all the best talent and win financially. the closest comparison is probably basketball, but in the last 20 years the team that has won the most championships is the lakers with 5. Baseball is also comparable, the last 20 years the red sox have won the most world series is the boston red sox with 4. also in these examples, the value gap between the juggernauts (yankees is 7.1 billion) to even the 10th most valuable franchise (st. louis cardinals 2.5 billion) is larger than in football(soccer).

I mean, the Patriots and the Chiefs have basically been dominating the same as Real Madrid in their dynasty years.

true but in american football quarterback by far the most valuable position on the field, and both of these teams had the best quarterback in the league during their dynasty runs (Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes). great coaching and other great players also made a difference, but american football is highly dependent on the quarterback position, whereas in football a single position doesn't carry a team. if talent is an argument to be made, man city and arsenal both have arguably more talent (they are both more valuable squads). psg and munich not far behind, so positional talent relative to the other big teams doesn't seem to be a huge factor to madrids dominance

You can't just look at football by the way of who has the most "valuable" squad. The asking price of a player doesn't really mean shit when it comes down to it

Not comparable, Patriots have won 5 Superbowls in 24 years, in that same time Madrid has won 8 Champions Legue. New England has won only with Belichik and Brady, Real Madrid won with Raul and Del Bosque, then with Ronaldo and Ancelotti, then Zidane and Ronaldo, then again with Ancelotti-Benzema, Ancelotti-Vinicius; and with the leadership of Floper of course, but they also won everything with Bernabeu. There’s nothing comparable in any sport

It's like the Yankees in the 1920s-50s, they buy all the best and all the best want to go there.

Due to drafting system and salary caps, and on the other hand no relegation, everything’s way different over there It’s just as soulless tho as top level European football nowadays

there's two clips that stuck with me for years. although it's about PSG vs Barcelona, but I think it encapsulates perfectly what the difference is between a winning team and a losing team, i.e., mentality. check out [this part](https://youtu.be/QoPFinNzLU4?si=XajSDmyPrOjOqzFq&t=136) of the first clip and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-34CXloO5g) second clip (turn on subtitles). what you need to know about this clip is what the situation at that moment is. PSG and Barca already played one round in the Champions League in Paris, and PSG won 4:0. a huge win, and almost certainly that they go through, right? this conversation happens just before the second match, and as they're saying, the only way they could possibly lose is if Barca scores 6 goals on them. totally unrealistic right? well, the second match ends 6-1 for Barcelona and PSG is out. one of the biggest surprises and upsets in recent football history. why do I think this is significant and not just a funny coincidence? listen to the topics they're talking about and how. all they're talking about is their own losses and how other teams turned similar situations around. they're not hyping each other up, there doesn't seem to be any confidence. they're even spending time talking about the impossible situation of actually still losing the tie. I strongly believe that a winning team does not have conversations like that before a huge match. call me football romantic or call this just a random coincidence, but I am convinced that this random chat actually shows the exact mentality that makes a team like PSG lose against teams with a stronger mentality.

I think it's safe to say only Barcelona fans and people who watch highlights can only give Barcelona-Psg 6:1 as an example for winning mentality. Most people remember this game as a robbery from the referee. Still fact, PSG don't have an ability to win a key game.

I hated that PSG. But that game was a.shame for the sport.... It was a robbery........... What an example

In the last five years they have gotten the best goalkeeper, (debatably) the best center back, and potentially the best player in the world on free transfers. They don’t even have to try to compete. Barca used to be their foil, but now that Barca is barely treading water, there is zero competition for them to get the best players.

They are worth almost as much as the Dallas Cowboys. Where did you get your information? They’re not a broke underdog.

But OP is saying so are the other big teams, some even oil teams like PSG or City, but RM still dominates. They’re not calling them a poor team.

Yeah but Man U is almost worth the same as them. Barca liverpool man city bayern all close. like even in 2017, real madrid was the 3rd most valuable team behind barca and man u. so it is pretty close compared to the other big teams that should be able to contest them more in UCL

team value doesnt say much imo around that time barca payed for some expensive transfers that did not fit the club at all

They have *it*. They’ve had *it* for 80 years.

Financial advantage only goes so far at the top level of football. It’s not just about having money, but also about how you actually spend that money. This isn’t to say that Madrid haven’t made mistakes in the recent years (100+ Million on Hazard was a blunder), but if you look at each transfer (in/out) in the last 6 years (post Ronaldo), you find a clear long term plan.

Success begets success. When you start winning, you attract and can afford expensive players. You start winning a lot, you get the best ones. You win a ton, and you have the best players with the elite mentality that they expect to win. Success begets success

Mental toughness, talent And realistically Madrid just have the biggest pull in world football, they manage to draw world class players like no other club

The early success made Real Madrid THE CLUB that players know can turn them into superstars and also do them huge pr marketing

Mentality, they know they'll win it whereas the rest hope to.

Because it’s a tournament and therefore anything can happen. So mostly luck. Wouldn’t happen in a “super league” format

Standards. They win it and are instantly talking about the next one while we've got supposed big clubs in England celebrating losing because they get a high points total.

Didn’t the patriots go through the same thing?

Main reason is outstanding squad planning. There are teams like Barcelona and Chelsea who have bought a new starting XI every transfer window. Real madrid has a core of players who have played together for 10 years. That is a massive advantage. During their galatico era they didnt win anything. So Florentino Perez, the club president changed the philosophy significantly and focused on buying young players with lot of potential. Madrid hasnt bought a player in footballers prime aged 25-27 since Luka Modric over 10 years ago. Thats unheard of. For this reason the squad has remained very similar in key areas for almost a decade with the key players like, Kroos, Modric, Carvajal, Bale, Benzema, Nacho, Lucas Vazquez all playing together. This is very rare in modern football. Real Madrid had some rough periods to get to this point where they are. Its not a surprise that their squad looks so good right now. But remember that when they signed many of these players werent what they are now. Vinicius was ridiculed a lot, Modric voted as the worst signing in his debut season. Kroos discarded by Bayern, Rodrygo took a long time to start playing better as well. Contrary to popular belief this Real Madrid doesnt sign superstars anymore. They make them by investing in promising talents all over the world. The future is also looking bright. The tactic is very much the same and they have already secured a core for the team that will play together for the next ten years.

We just signed Mbappe

He is an exception. And he was supposed to join years ago.

Kross was not discarded. Kross was so important in Munich that he wanted the highest salary,.they discussed a lot, sometimes yelling and he searched for greener fields.

Agreeing with most of the comments, but at 15 CL trophies we can probably let this 'luck' factor go... 1 or 2, yes, but making Carvajal and Nacho 6 times winners pretty much debunks 'luck' as a factor.

They won 5 straight champions league in the 50’s when most people didn’t even know what football was.

Are u kidding. Football was already huge in the 50s in Latin America and Europe. Just look at the attention the World Cups got back then.

Probably the closest modern equivalent in American sports is the New England Patriots. It's a bit different with Real because they have so much history, and there isn't the one single player like Brady or coach like Belichick who led them through the whole dynasty... But somewhat similar in the sense of...well off club in a large market, top players and coaches, but often not necessarily the clear cut favorite. Both were generally very good for a long time, and had some sort of intangible black magic that allowed them to pull out miracle wins and 50/50 games for years.

Because we keep the faith until the end...and the power of friendship lights us up lol

Madrid have it in their DNA. It's unbelievable. They can be dominated, play like shit and they hang on for dear life. You don't put 3-4 past them and don't finish them off while you have on the ropes you know the script. Dortmund should have scored at least 2 even 3 in the first half. They didn't as a Madrid hater and La Liga regular follower I stopped watching the final at halftime. I knew what was going to happen when Dortmund didn't put away those chances. City, Bayern could have won against them also. They weren't the best side by far in those 3 matchups. The rest is history. Always the fucking same

Actual leadership in the team will do wonders for a team. And yeah, literally the power of friendship goes a long way. Never giving up, sticking up for your teammates, making runs for your teammates added to all of that quality is the recipe for success. I don't know if you have seen that video of Fede Valverde running around like crazy 2-0 up vs Dortmund, but THAT is the difference between Madrid and other teams.

I don't know what you mean when you say equal in value.

The biggest difference is the manager and the ability to take your chances when they're offered. Carlo Ancelotti somehow is able to create teams that are experts at doing more than what anyone has expected. At Chelsea, at Everton and now at Real Madrid.

Since you follow American sports, how did the Pats and Chiefs achieve something similar in the NFL?🫤

Black magic

You follow American sports but don’t realise Real Madrid are basically the Chicago Bulls of the 90s or the New England Patriots of the 2000s?

Black magic is the general consensus

Favour, good players, winning mentality and futbol

While this is less common in NA sports due to the way salary caps have been implemented, it still happens a fair amount with even larger spending restrictions. I am not sure why it would be viewed as crazy surprising. Just look at the NE Patriots or GS Warrior most recently. While Real has dominated the biggest competition, they have had some down seasons league wise (Barcelona have obviously won quite a few). This speaks to some of the luck involved (Dortmund were 5th in Germany and made the finals).

Because Geld schießt keine Tore.

Heavy shirt

Intangibles, and good players.

Devilry, black magic and a lot of team experience in high pressure situations

buying talented players and some referee mistakes

A mix of an incredible team, an incredible set of back room staff, some black magic, some dodgy refereeing, and most of all a bloody great mentality.

A mix of good players, good management, elite mentality and a lot of luck sometimes. They were almost dead a lot of times on the last years and somehow they were able to do some hail Mary's and overturn the situation . Let's not forget they crossed a long desert before Mourinho arrives. Mourinho (who was very controversial) change the mind of the players and left the seeds that allowed the following coaches to win the Champions after a long desert cross where was hard to them to reach quarter finals.

Being effective in all aspects. Name something you would need to make the best team in the world. Money? They have it. Scouting, players, managers, youth, reputation. Now granted, they aren’t the best in the world in really any aspect except maybe scouting, but as the combined to a whole if you were to score them, they score top.

They had players that peak at the right time. They knew how to rebuild. Tactics changed when they became predictable

bro, real madrid has the biggest cape space in the world, they're the most profitable club in the world, and they can sign whoever the fuck they want, you clearly didn't search this enough

club has a big reputation/popularity and because of that all the major players want to play for them, the difference between real madrid and clubs like psg, city and chelsea is that real is a big club because of it's own merits and not because some billionaire bought the club to lander money

EPL clubs have their focus on the league title, while RM (just like Bayern Munich btw) have their focus on the UCL - also because its the only way to be recognized internationally since their league is fairly irrelevant nowadays. Its very unlikely that they would have won the EPL 6 out of 11 if they were there. Not even sure once, esp. considering their relatively poor league performance in these past years (with very few exceptions).

Juju and black magic

Because of friendship

They are an excellent team no doubt. As others have stated, scheduling, mentality etc plays a part… but weather plays a surprising part in this. Imagine spending a whole season playing in Manchester vs a whole season playing in Spain. Where would you go if you were an elite player? What about recovery and performance in perfect weather vs constant rain and cold?

Everyone here is talking about all the soft factors and ignoring the obvious. It all comes down to money. The major difference between club football and American sports is there is no salary cap in club football. Real Madrid can afford to pay the highest wages (barring maybe Manchester city). Sure players in interviews say it’s their dream to wear the white bla bla bla, and there’s some truth to that, but they also will get paid the most at RM (barring again maybe Manchester city, where a player would probably prefer RM because of the prestige). Shit you make more money on the bench at RM than you would starting for some clubs 😂 Anyway, magine if the Yankees were able to just buy the best player in every position and field that team every season. They wouldn’t win every World Series but they would win it very often.

>Despite having seemingly no financial advantage compared to other juggernauts of club football  To put simply, things are not what they seem.

Remember that Real Madrid is also the most successful Basketball team in Europe with 11 titles and 10 times runner up. This year they lost the final and last year they won the title. So there's something in the club culture.

don't overthink it. Football is inherently romantic as much as it is chaotic. that's why.

Power of paying the referees

All players want to play at RM so it’s like a positive feedback loop or some shit. IDK, I’m not a science man.

DNA

Winning tradition, winning mentality. Players, fans, and Florentino.

The belief they will win (which is also shared by their opponents), power of manifestation is real

it helps that real madrid even before they started winning their last 6 UCL titles were already considered to be the pinnacle of football royalty in terms of prestige. if they get an extremely good player into their squad, he's probably gonna stay as long as he's needed. can't say that about many other clubs if there are any at all.

It's a cup competition. Luck of the draw 

They're brilliantly run.  When they realized they lost the financial advantage with the entry of oil money into football, they pivoted to saving up for huge signings while mostly signing and developing wonderkids.  I'd bet my last dollar they're one of the best teams for analytics and scouting in the world, but don't broadcast it to the world. They're also a team that's leaned towards managers that excel in knockout tournaments.  They're not particularly system obsessed like a City of Arsenal, so they adapt well to their opponents and have the talent to dismantle defensive sides. Plus they're not sentimental with their older players.  They move past vets whose best days are behind them pretty often, with the exception of those midfielders whose roles aren't physically dependent. They sold off Ronaldo, Varane, Casemiro and Benzema before any of them were finished, because they know when a player's reputation and paycheck have started to exceed their value on the pitch.

Because 'value' is difficult to correctly asses. English clubs are arguably overvalued, as are French ones due to them being the playground of international billionares and sheiks. This massively distorts what is the real market price for some players and clubs. For example, a big factor that distorts value is how much players themselves want to go to a certain place. Real Madrid is a favorite of many players. This means Real Madrid gets them CHEAPER but also that, since this is usuall their 'prime' transfer (when they are at peak of their value), that they are undersold. Basically if you have a top talent player in focus and they want to change a club it is usually not going to take the maximum amount to buy them since they will tend to DEMAND themselves to go to Real Madrid or just do what Mbappe did and wait until they are free agent. Mbappe being a free agent and signing for Madrid means his value is not evaluated correctly. Another are guys like Modric and Carvajal. They are difficult to evaluate. Players that are late bloomers are notoriously hard to evaluate. Modric is probably the best value Real ever got for a single player. They bought him for a modest price yet he performed for such a long time on a level that is usually evaluated at 100m or more. Today guys like Modric, Kroos, Carvajal are arguably undervalued due to their age. Compare Modric and newbie Arda Guler. His price is a lot higher then Modric but that is missleading. You would put Modric because despite his age, he is reliable in hardest games. Another issue is difficult to measure things like 'power of friendship'. You can compare that with teams like Belgium, Brazil and Netherlands who have extremely expensive players underperform, almost consistently. How do you account for 'this coach has full trust of his players' or 'the coach usually selects a good tactic' or 'these players are enjoying themselves'. This is a big factor that you don't really have a proper way of measuring.

Then have connections

Florentino Pérez

Real Madrid is the richest club in the world. Its revenue is at least 1.5 times all the other clubs you mentioned except City and Utd. Utd is a terribly run club. City is a well run club, and they compete every year. Oftentimes, whoever wins between City and RM wins the CL. The other clubs you mentioned can not compete because they dont have as good players as RM and City because they can not offer the salary. This the reason mostly.

You don’t follow American sports that closely: the Patriots played in nine Super Bowls, more than any other NFL franchise, and won a league-record six (tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers). They also had 19 consecutive winning seasons, 17 division titles (including 11 consecutive from 2009 to 2019), 13 AFC Championship Game appearances (including eight consecutive from 2011 to 2018), and the only undefeated 16-game regular season in 2007.[9] The Patriots appeared in half of all Super Bowls played during Brady's 18 seasons as the primary starter[a] and won two-thirds of those they played in.

Mentality.  A lot of teams are beaten before a ball is kicked, they see that white jersey and hear the champions league anthem and a little bit of confidence gets knocked. At that level, a little confidence can go a long way Add to that Madrid have the belief that they will win the champions league every year.

They are mostly equal with English clubs, all of which are massively overrated due to some weird obsession with "EPL is the best league in the world"

Tactics exist

I've got 15UCL but a treble ain't one.

I think their scouting and infrastructure are underrated. Historically, they became known for their superstar teams and buying established talent. But that is easier said than done, they seem to be able to buy talent for the long run or short run, and the future with an unbelievable success rate. They are willing to take risks too, they bought Vinicius Jr who everyone expected would be a talent. But thinking that and putting up the money to back that opinion is two different mentalities. They also did the same with Rodrygo and Endrick. Heck I'd say they also take risks buying someone like Joselu, on paper his career had been very middle of the road compared to Madrid would usually have, yet this year he was the player who got them to the final. They know what position they want to target and they will fully back that, they wanted Bellingham and just paid whatever it took to get him. They wanted M'Bappe, and they knew he would want to go. Players know they clubs mentality and the expectation is to win.

Tbh they have been helped by refs a lot

On behalf of Mo's shoulder, it's because they are cunts

Uefa is one of the most corrupt organizations on earth. Real’s success has little to do with sport merits.

That they already have the best youngsters, players and management that makes them better than everyone else.

6 of the Last 11 The first 4 of the batch, they have one of the GOATs, a very underrated striker, a great team and luck to win it the CL. They are literally one of the best teams in the world with the team consistently showing up. It's very hard to beat a great team in 2 games while they have an elite mentality in finals as well. The last 2, they've had a bit more of luck but still a lot of the same traits as above(except the GOAT). But they replaced it with Really GOOD players in Vini, Jude, Rodrygo, etc. While the opponents: Manchester United: Has not perfromed since SAF era Manchester City: Only been elite in the last 6 years, yet only made 2 finals in that span, been beaten by Madrid 2x as well Bayern: Always been up and down in the CL ever since Hansi Flick left. Theyre very good team but always come short somehow PSG: This one is confusing tbh. They just never get it done somehow. PSG is the anti Madrid. They never get the W in this tournament

Refs and luck

Madrid's basically a cult by this point.

Real Madrid and Ancelotti/Zidane got so much disrespect for just being a fantastic team of top quality footballers. There’s no obvious tactical signature to identify them with or other trendy feature to their game to make it easy to pin their success down to one or two things and that can make both media and fans (especially those that fancy themselves as analysts or influencer types) disregard their more traditional qualities. Great mentality both individually and as a group. Excellent players who produce moments of real quality. Hard work throughout the team despite the status of the players. That’s a more flamboyant version of what Germany used to be at the international level.

In 13/14 real madrid won the UCL thanks to Ramos in the last minutes of the goals. In 15/16, ronaldo for sure because of comeback against Wolfsburg, thanks to ronaldo hatrick. In 16/17, Real madrid thanks to offside goals againsts Bayern Munich. In 17/18, Probably best overall since Real beat Psg, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Liverpool to win ucl. I have seen every ucl game from Real madrid from 2012 until 2019.