The first Real Madrid “Galactico” golden era squad is arguably the greatest club side in this book, and in all history. Beginning in 1953, club president Santiago Bernabeu embarked upon a strategy of signing world class players from abroad, subsequently building the world’s first truly international side. The most prominent signing was Alfredo di Stefano, and he was joined by the likes of Ferenc Puskas, Francisco Gento, Hector Rial, Raymond Kopa, Jose Santamaria and others. While their rivals Barcelona where the team to beat in the early to mid 50’s, it was Real Madrid who primarily dominated the second half of the decade.  They won the La Liga title for the first time in 1954, and retained the trophy the following year. In 1955, Bernabeu acted upon an idea proposed by a French sports journalist and created an exhibition tournament of teams invited from around Europe. This tournament would eventually become known as the UEFA Champions League. During this period, it was known as the European Cup, and Real won an incredible and unprecedented five of these consecutively, in 1956, 1957, 1958,1959 and 1960. For perspective, it’s been since 1990 that any team has even managed to win more than two in a row.

 

In the final of the inaugural competition, Madrid wrote their name in the history books by beating Stade de Reims 4-3. A 2-0 win over Fiorentina in the next edition was followed by a 2-3 defeat of AC Milan the following year, a 2-0 win again over Stade de Reims in 1959 and culminated in an epic 7-3 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 final. This particular match is widely considered to be the greatest football game ever played. After this victory, Real Madrid was permanently awarded the original European Cup trophy and earned the right to wear the UEFA Badge of Honour. Goals came from everywhere – 112 in total across their 5 European Cup campaigns. As if that wasn’t enough, they then claimed the first ever Intercontinental Cup with 5-1 defeat of Uruguayan side Penarol in 1960, plus they won five Primera Division titles in a row from 1961 to 1965, and collected the Copa del Rey in 1962.

 

In 1963, while on a tour in Venezuela, Alfredo di Stefano was kidnapped by the revolutionary group Armed Forced of National Liberation. He was forced at gunpoint from the Hotel Potomac in Caracas and spent two days as a hostage before being released unharmed, with no ransom paid. The day after his release he played against Sao Paulo FC and received a standing ovation. Weirdly, di Stefano and his kidnapper, Paul del Rio, now a famous artist, were reunited at the premier of Real: The Movie in 2006.
 
Most Barcelona fans are of the opinion that Franco had a large part to play in Real’s successes in this era, and while it’s true that the club was backed by the wealthy upper class and enjoyed the benefits of special permits that allowed them to easily acquire foreign stars, the fact is that Franco was in power from 15 years before this era so the thought that Franco lavished favours upon the club and ensured that they were succesful is questionable.

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The constant cascade of successes saw Real Madrid crowned as the “king of kings”. In terms of players, the team was an embarrassment of riches. Di Stefano, possibly the greatest player of all time, started in attack, but dropped to the midfield and even got back to organise the defence. Then there was Gento, one of the best left wingers in history and they were joined by the legendary Puskas when he defected from communist Hungary. The brilliant Frenchman Kopa was on the right wing, and Santamaria was rock in defence. In addition, there was Luis del Sol, one of Spains best ever players. Together, these players formed the first Galacticos, although the term itself wasn’t coined until the Florentino Perez era of Real Madrid in the early 2000’s. This was without doubt a team of superstars, and the Galacticos ideal continues to define Real Madrid to the present day. In some ways, Real’s team of the early 50’s to early 60’s bears a few similarities to that of the aforementioned 1999 to 2003 era, however, the former was much better balanced, much more successful and will be forever remembered as, more than likely, the greatest team of all time.

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Star player: Alfredo di Stefano, DoB 4 July 1926, Buenos Aires, Argentina, nickname: The Blonde Arrow

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Di Stefano is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time. He was instrumental in Real Madrids domination of the European Cup in the 50’s. While born in Argentina, he mostly played internationally for Spain, but he also played for Colombia as well as Argentina. Nicknamed Blonde Arrow, he was a powerful forward, combining great stamina, tactical versatility and vision. He is Real Madrids second highest league goalscorer of all time, netting 216 goals in 282 matches with the club. In 2003, he was chosen as the Golden Player of Spain, the most outstanding player to ply his trade in the country in the past 50 years. Players such as Pele, Sandro Mezzola and Luis Suarez have described di Stefano as “the most complete player in the history of the game”. For most clubs he has played for, he was part of their respective greatest teams ever. For example, he played for River Plates “La Maquina” team as a 17 year old, was heavily involved in Millionarios’ El Dorado era and of course, this all time great Real Madrid side. Tragically, di Stefano never played in a World Cup. Argentina did not enter the 50 and 54 tournaments, and while he was playing for Spain, they failed to qualify for 58, and he was injured for 62. Di Stefano hung up his boots aged 40, and was named honorary president of Real Madrid in 2000. A stadium that is part of the clubs training complex is named after him. Di Stefano died in July 2014 aged 88.