Real Madrid News
Real Madrid kit will have ‘Intercontinental Champions’ crest next season – report
Real Madrid’s 2024/25 campaign was far from what the management and administration expected as Los Blancos failed to win either the UEFA Champions League, La Liga or the Copa del Rey.
Their season, however, was not trophyless for they did begin the season off strong with wins in the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
The former event was one of the first official games Los Blancos played in the campaign while the latter took place at the end of the calendar year in December.
Having won the event, however, Real Madrid earned special bragging rights as Intercontinental champions.
Crest to be donned
As relayed in a recent report by Footy Headlines, Real Madrid’s 2025-26 kit will have a special ‘Intercontinental Champions’ badge in the centre of the shirt to show off the club’s achievement and stature.
The men in white, in fact, are set to don the jersey even in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup later this month and it remains to be seen if the latest detail appears for the event in the United States or only appears for the formal start of the 2025/26 campaign.
Notably, however, the badge will be replaced by a ‘World Champions’ tag if Real Madrid go on to win the Club World Cup which begins in under two weeks. Either way, there will certainly be a badge on all three kits come August.
Earlier today, Los Blancos officially unveiled the home kit for the upcoming season but there was no such badge in any of the announcement photos.
The home kit design features yellow, black and grey accents with a brown colour logo for the sponsor. The badge is expected to nestle exactly between the Adidas logo and the Real Madrid crest.
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
