After turning La Liga’s title race into a procession, losing twice all season, winning Supercopa de Espana, Real Madrid completed 2023-24 with a record-extending 15th Champions League title. It requires synchronisation of numerous moving parts for a season to be this successful, especially when at different times Real Madrid were not at their best. Saturday’s 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Wembley final was emblematic of that.
Real were clearly second before the interval. But for Julian Brandt’s first touch and Karim Adeyemi’s composure letting them down, the Germans could have led 2-0 by the 21st minute. Having done his bit to thwart Adeyemi, Thibaut Courtois, back in the Real goal after a long spell of injury, then kept out Marcel Sabitzer’s attempt from range. “I am proud but disappointed and empty,” said Dortmund manager Edin Terzic.
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“The decisive thing was that we did not concede in the first half,” Toni Kroos told TNT Sports after his final club game. That and two goals in nine second-half minutes helped resilient Real find a way to win. That’s how Real do it, said Dortmund defender Mats Hummels. Not for the first time this season. Manager Carlo Ancelotti attributed it to the “tradition of the club and the quality of the players,” and because Dortmund “left us alive”.
In no particular order, the following contributed to Madrid’s successful season: the calming presence of Ancelotti – so serene on way to a fifth European title that he made Zinedine Zidane, who had carried the trophy to the pitch, look boisterous – and that of Toni Kroos, the squad’s strength in depth that helped deal with long-term injuries to several first-team players, 24 goals including six in the Champions League for Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham’s breakout season.
What can get buried in all this is the contribution of Castilla or the club’s reserve side where young talent is groomed. Real and their youth team in the same sentence could sound strange at a club famous for Galacticos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard, the sale of Claude Makelele and the impending arrival of Kylian Mbappe. But it is the continuation of a long tradition. Four Castilla players in the squad at Wembley was proof of that.
And what better way to shine a light on a club’s youth system that having one of your own give the lead. Dani Carvajal did that with his flicked header in the 74th minute. Tested by Adeyemi, Carvajal did finish second best at times but as Real grew in the game, the right-back got to Kroos’ corner-kick ahead of Niclas Füllkrug and sent a powerful header that a diving Hummels couldn’t prevent from going in. Carvajal, who also had an acrobatic attempt that tested Dortmund goalie Gregor Kobel, has scored six goals this season and made five assists.
When he was 10, Carvajal and club legend Alfredo de Stefano were the first to lay stones at the club’s training centre. He was sold in 2012 and as he bedded-in at Bayer Leverkusen, Real realised what they had missed. So, they triggered a buy-back clause and got him back in 2013. Along with Kroos, Luka Modric and Nacho, Carvajal now has six Champions League winners’ medals.
“Every time we get one, it’s harder to take it away from us. I’m really happy because I played all six in the starting XI in the team of my life. It’s a dream for me,” said Carvajal.
In Nacho, Real had a homegrown skipper who spent 13 years at the club lift the trophy, his 25th. Along with Modric and Kroos, Nacho and Carvajal are part of Real’s leadership group under Ancelotti. Also part of the Castilla squad of 2011-12, when they won promotion to the second division in Spain, were Lucas Vasquez and Joselu. When Real Madrid played Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final, Joselu was in the stand as a fan. On loan from Espanyol this term, his goals against Bayern Munich rescued Real in the semi-final when all seemed lost.
According to The Athletic, Real’s academy has 364 players, male and female, across age-groups. In 2021-22, the report says, Real spent €25 million (that is as much the club spent on Kroos in 2014) on the academy. And earned €36m, mostly from player sales. The Athletic’s report says 55 players in 2023-24 La Liga had been part of Real’s youth set-up. Vinicius Jr, whose 83rd minute goal off a Bellingham assist following Ian Maatsen’s error, too played for Castilla, once managed by Zidane and now Raul, club legends both. Vicente del Bosque, who had a storied career as Real player and manager and guided Spain to the 2010 World Cup title, worked 20 years at the academy.
The current batch of academy graduates (or canteranos as they are called) in a successful European campaign continues a tradition that can be traced back to the 1950s when Real won the first five European Cups. Carvajal, Nacho, Vasquez and Joselu may not be as famous as the quintet of the 1980s that had Emiliano Butragueno when Madrid won five successive league titles and two UEFA Cups from 1984 to 1990 but in a squad studded with big names, they have certainly played their part this season.
