Real Madrid

James Rodriguez used to be the guy that everyone couldn’t help but like. He was the breakout star of the 2014 World Cup. His goal against Uruguay, and subsequent celebration, showed he was a young man at once completely comfortable with his newfound stardom, and perfectly overwhelmed by it.

“He’s a star alright!” Jon Champion screamed that day, and there was no one in the world that would have dared argue with him. In Rodriguez, everyone saw the star they dreamed they could be.

Well this isn’t going to help stop any rumor mills. 

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale have been painted as rival teammates who don’t get along ever since Bale arrived at Madrid in the summer of 2013. 

It makes sense, considering they are superstars in a team defined by its image that has been shaped around Ronaldo for the past 5 years. Gareth Bale is younger than Ronaldo, incredibly talented, and a British star. All of which make Bale a threat to knock Ronaldo off his perch as the alpha of Madrid.

A moment's silence for Cristiano Ronaldo, if you would. Lost in the hullaballoo of all things Lionel Messi, the revival of Wayne “The Boy Wonder” Rooney and our own personal dreams of winning the Powerball jackpot is the sad tale of Cristiano Ronaldo's past week.

We’re just a few days into 2016, but what better way to ring in the New Year than by watching this video as a few Real Madrid players kick back and play against each other in FIFA 16?

January has arrived and with it the opening of the winter transfer window. The new economic realities of the Premier League television contracts mean that small English clubs have the financial muscle to meet and outbid offers from established European clubs.

It’s unlikely to have escaped your attention that earlier this week Real Madrid appointed club legend and archetypal galactico Zinedine Zidane as their new manager.

Commenting on Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stéfano once said, “he dominates the ball, he is a walking spectacle and he plays as if he had silk gloves on each foot.” Zidane, World Cup, European Championship and UEFA Champions League winner, took a little time out of his day to effectively demonstrate these observations on some unsuspecting French amateurs.

Although, during the last six weeks of 2015, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said he supported the permanence of Rafa Benitez as coach his club, just four days into 2016 Perez changed his mind. Now Zinedine Zidane is the new man in charge of Los Blancos.

So, The18 presents 18 facts about the life of Zidane, a former excellent player who is beginning his coaching career in a difficult moment for Real Madrid. If he fails will be Benitez and Perez’s fault, but any positive result would be his individual achievement.

On his way to a recent Real Madrid training, James Rodriguez reportedly led police on a 125 m.p.h. car chase, for whatever reason. This got us thinking about car chases, which, naturally, led to us thinking about The Fast and the Furious.

The we thought it would be fun to compare Real Madrid players to Fast and the Furious characters. So that's what we did.