Cristiano Ronaldo with Ronaldo Lima in 2005

Cristiano Ronaldo greets Ronaldo Nazário de Lima before the start of Figo All Star 2005 charity football match at Algarve Stadium, in Faro in July 2005. Major football stars come together for another edition of the All-Stars Game, a fundraiser football match between the Luís Figo Foundation and the Ronald McDonald Youth Foundation, to finance the first Ronald McDonald House Charity in Portugal. Brazillian Ronaldo scored two goals as Luís Figo's team sealed a 2-1 victory.

Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raúl in 2010

Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raúl attended the UEFA Champions League trophy handover ceremony at Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid on April 16, 2010. Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo were playing their first season at Madrid while it was the last season when Raúl donned the Royal white jersey.

Juventus vs Inter Milan

Pavel Nedvěd and Luís Figo during the Serie A match between Juventus and Inter at the Stadio Olimpico on April 18, 2009 in Turin, Italy. Inter Milan finished on top of the table with 84 points while Juventus finished second with 74 points. 

Fernando Redondo

Fernando Redondo was transferred from Tenerife to Real Madrid in the summer of 1994 for a fee of $5 million. The Argentine personified elegance on the pitch during his six-year spell at the Bernabéu. He earned the nickname 'El Principe' (The Price) during his time in Madrid and won the domestic league and the Champions League each on two occasions as well as the Intercontinental Cup. He was named by Marca as a member of the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history" in 2013.

Andrea Pirlo and Kaká celebrate a goal against Empoli in 2004

In the 2003-04 season, AC Milan managed to claim its first league title for five seasons. The Rossoneri displayed an impressive performance throughout the whole season and won the Serie A by a margin of 11 points. Interestingly enough, the season rivals Roma had scored more goals and conceded fewer goals than Milan.

Paolo Maldini takes on Javier Zanetti in a Serie A match in 1999

While talking about individual battles in a classic rivalry between two football clubs, Paolo Maldini and Javier Zanetti would definitely feature on that list. Paolo Maldini, one of the greatest defender ever, served AC Milan for his entire playing career. From his debut in 1985 at the age of 16, the former Italian international made a record 902 appearances for AC Milan, winning 7 Serie A, 5 Champions Leagues, 1 Coppa Italia, 5 Supercoppa Italiana, 4 Super UEFA Super Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups and 1 FIFA Club World Cup. Maldini was also the Milan and Italy captain for many years and following his retirement in 2009, AC Milan retired his number 3 shirt in his honour.
Javier Zanetti, one of the finest defenders of his generation, arrived at Inter in 1995. In his 19 seasons with the Nerazzurri, he went on to make 858 appearances for them which is the highest by any Inter player. He won 16 trophies with the club: 5 Serie A, 4 Coppa Italia, 4 Supercoppa Italiana, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. Inter officially retired Zanetti's number 4 jersey in 2015 after he played his last game in May 2014.

David Beckham, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo Lima
with president Florentino Pérez

Florentino Pérez sold Real Madrid's 15-hectare training ground, Ciudad Deportiva, to the city and regional authorities to clear debt and pay for the star players in 2001. Four gigantic skyscrapers were built in that place and were nick-named after Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham.

Ferenc Puskás and Luis Suárez in 1960-61 European Cup clash

The 1960–61 European Cup saw the two bitter rivals, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, come face to face with each other in the first round. Real Madrid were the winners of the previous five editions but were knocked out by Barcelona 3-4 (2-2 and 2-1) aggregate.

Diego Maradona in Barcelona outfit at Camp Nou in 1982

Diego Maradona was transferred to FC Barcelona in 1982 for a then world record fee of £5 million. In 1983, he became the first Barcelona player to be applauded by archrival Real Madrid fans. In his brief two year stint at Camp Nou, Maradona won Copa del Rey, Copa de la Liga and Supercopa de España.

David Beckham, Raúl and Zinedine Zidane during an Adidas photo-shoot in China in 2003

Real Madrid embarked on a pre-season summer tour in Asia, for 18 days, to cash in on the worldwide appeal of their then new signing, David Beckham. The tour included exhibition matches played in Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok, which generated a revenue of €10 million. However, the preparation value of the tour was questionable despite the wide publicity, and said to have catered more to the needs of the club's marketing.

The Dutch trio of AC Milan: Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, and Frank Rijkaard

The Galacticos line-up featuring Ronaldo Lima, Roberto Carlos,
David Beckham, Luís Figo, and Zinedine Zidane

The Syrian football team before a match in Turkey in 1947

Xabi Alonso playing for Basque Country

Franz Beckenbauer and Bobby Moore
posing with pistols

Claude Makélélé, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo Lima
in 2003 UEFA Champions League

Mario Balotelli clashes with Cristiano Ronaldo during the knockout
stage of UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford in 2009

England's captain Gerry Francis with Bobby Moore and Pelé
of Team America in 1976

The Bicentennial Cup Tournament took place in 1976 in the USA. England, Italy, Brazil and Team America (a side composed of NASL star players) participated in the tournament. Brazil emerged as the champions.

Ronaldo Lima and Roberto Carlos tussling for the ball in an El Clásico in 1997

Luís Figo, David Beckham and Raúl in 2001

The 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year award saw Luís Figo win by a margin of 12 points. The Portuguese racked up 250 votes while David Beckham came second with 238 votes. Raúl stood third with 96 votes.

Real Madrid defeated Stade de Reims in the
first ever European Cup final in 1956

The 1955–56 European Cup, the first ever season of UEFA's premier club football tournament, was participated by 16 teams. Real Madrid defeated Servette 7-0 on aggregate in the first knockout round. Real Madrid faced a tough challenge from Partizan in the quarter finals. The Los Blancos won 4-0 at home but were beaten 3-0 at Belgrade. The capital side then faced AC Milan at home in the first leg of semi final, which ended 4-2 in the favour of Real Madrid. At Milan, Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 loss but nonetheless qualified to the final on 4-3 aggregate. 

The final was played at Parc des Princes in Paris between Real Madrid and Stade de Reims. The match started brightly for Reims, with Michel Leblond and Jean Templin scoring to make it 2–0 inside ten minutes, but by half time Real levelled the scores, through goals from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Héctor Rial. The French side took the lead again on 62 minutes through Michel Hidalgo, but Marquitos and Rial scored in the 67th and 79th minutes respectively to win the cup for Madrid.

Italy in 1990 World Cup

Walter Zenga, Paolo Maldini, Fernando De Napoli, Riccardo Ferri, Giuseppe Bergomi;

Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Giannini, Roberto Donadoni, Salvatore Schillaci, Gianluca Vialli, Luigi De Agostini

Laurie Cunningham poised to cross the ball in an

El Clásico in 1980.

Laurie Cunningham was the first Englishman to play for Real Madrid. He is one of the very few players to have received standing ovations from El Clásico opponents. Cunningham died in a car crash in Madrid in 1989, at the age of 33.

Lionel Messi wearing the Atlético Madrid jersey in a charity match played
in Newell's stadium, Argentina in 2009

Enrique Cerezo, the president of Atlético Madrid, said that the only way to see Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero in the same shirt is either with Argentina or with Atlético. Within four days, Messi played in a charity match in Rosario wearing Atlético Madrid's red and white stripes.

Young Cristiano Ronaldo in CF Andorinha

Carles Puyol playing in Catalan colours against Argentina
in 2009

Born in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida, in Catalonia, Carles Puyol made six appearances for the Catalonia national football team. He played his first match for Catalonia in 2001.

Portugal skipper Nelo with the SkyDome
Cup trophy in 1995.

The SkyDome Cup was a tri-nation tournament played between the hosts Canada, Denmark, and Portugal.
The first match was played between Canada and Denmark, which resulted in a 1-0 win for the Danish side with a goal by Højer Nielsen. Canada played their second game against Portugal, which resulted in a 1-1 draw, with goals from António Folha and Alex Bunbury. The winner was decided in the final game, played between Denmark (who only needed a draw) and Portugal. Paulo Alves scored late in the game, thereby winning the tournament for Portugal.

(from left) Fernando Hierro, Juanito Rodríguez, Emilio Butragueño and Tomás Reñones. 

Real Madrid vs Atlético Madrid | 1992/1993