The Underrated Academy Of Real Madrid

At the end of the January transfer window, out of the 20 teams in the Primera Division, only four -  Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona and Zaragoza – did not contain one player in their squad who had graduated from Real Madrid’s cantera. It’s quite an astonishing accomplishment to see 16 teams containing at least one player instilled with Los Blancos philosophy, and apart from Zaragoza, the other three have known beliefs of developing their own talent. Yet talk across Europe the talk is that Barcelona’s La Masia is the greatest academy, but with these numbers of players in Spain alone, can Real have an argument that there’s is just as good?

Real Madrid have a history of great players from Ferenc Puskas to Hugo Sanchez, yet some of the most important have been graduates from their academy such as the famous La Quinta del Buitre, translated as “The Vultures Squad”, who were five homegrown players that were key to Madrid’s dominance in the 1980’s; which won five La Liga’s, two UEFA Cup’s and a Copa Del Rey in that decade.

Butragueno Is One Of The Greatest To Emerge From The Academy

How Will Real Madrid Function Without Higuain?

Since taking over at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite a monumental slip-up against Barcelona, everything has been going rosy for Jose Mourinho. He has implemented a 4-2-3-1 system which the team have adapted to with ease. As the season has progressed, so have Real, who are playing some of the best football in the league; an added bonus for president Florentino Perez, who after sacking Manuel Pellegrini, accepted that winning is the most important policy. The Portuguese coach however has not been one for rotation, and after finding a first X1 he can trust, has been reluctant to alter the first team players. However a back injury to the ever reliable Gonzalo Higuain has left Mourinho in a dilemma. How will he replace the Argentine?

For the past three seasons Higuain has cemented the poacher spot in the team, and a return of 63 goals in his last 101 games had made it difficult for Karim Benzema to displace him. Higuain has mastered how to play the role. He has the ability to hold the ball up to bring others into play, he drifts out to the wings to create space for Cristiano Ronaldo to drive through the centre and also has the persistence of playing on the shoulder of the last man, which helps to stretch the oppositions defence, freeing space for Madrid to squeeze forward.

Benzema and Kaka have a Real Madrid lifeline.