10 Greatest Number 9s in Real Madrid’s History [Ranked]

Real Madrid remain one of, if not the biggest, club in the world. Legendary winners of the first five European Cup Finals, with the final at the Bernabeu in 1957 and at Hampden Park in 1960, both drawing in attendances of more than 120,000 fans.

Over the years, Madrid have had a veritable who’s who of the greatest players in the game’s history. Among these legendary players there has been no shortage of wonderful players to have worn the number nine jersey, from Cristiano Ronaldo – who initially wore nine on his back, before taking the number seven shirt – to Alfredo Di Stefano, widely regarded as one of the greatest to have ever played the game, who was a key part of the side who won those first European Cups, but who ranks as the best players to have worn the number nine jersey for Real Madrid?

10

Davor Suker

Real Madrid career span: 1996-1999

The perception that Real Madrid have dominated Europe forever isn’t actually true. After winning the European Cup in 1966, they had to wait 32 years to win it again, by which time Croatian craftsman Davor Suker was at the club. He actually only played the last minute or so of the 1-0 1998 final win over Juventus, but as a number nine he was part of the team that got the Spanish giants back to winning ways when it came to La Liga and the Champions League. Blessed with a sublime touch and vision to go with it, he scored three La Liga hat-tricks in the title-winning season of 1996/97.

9

Emilio Butragueno

Real Madrid career span: 1984-1995

Although very much a club legend, but mostly a number seven, El Buitre, which translates as the Vulture, as Butrageuno was known at the club for his predatory instincts in front of goal, did have a season in the number nine shirt of the famous white jersey. This was in the 1984/85 season, when Madrid got back to winning ways in Europe by winning the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) for the first time in the club’s history, beating Hungarian side Videoton 3-1 over the two-legged final. They retained the trophy the following season. Butrageuno could either play as a centre forward, a second striker, or out wide. He scored 14 in his season wearing the nine jersey. Although not prolific, El Buitre was and is hugely influential – today he is the club chairman.

8

Raymond Kopa

Real Madrid career span: 1956-1959

More often deployed as a number seven, French international Raymond Kopa did play the 1958/59 season as Real Madrid’s number nine. This was the season Barcelona pipped them to the league title by four points, but this was also the year that Kopa won his third consecutive European Cup with Real Madrid, as they beat Reims, the side they beat in the final in 1956 when Kopa was still a Reims player. Although not prolific, Kopa was one of the greats of his time, winning the 1958 Ballon d’Or and being runner-up the following year to his team mate Alfredo Di Stefano.

7

Ivan Zamorano

Real Madrid career span: 1992-1996

Chilean Ivan Zamorano joined Real Madrid from Seville and was a very popular and influential figure for Madrid, combining beautifully with Michael Laudrup, he was the focal point for goals at the Los Blancos, as they finally wrestled the La Liga title off of old rivals Barcelona, who had won the league for four straight years prior to Madrid winning it in 1995, with Zamorano ending the season as top goal scorer in the league with 28 goals. The highlight of that season was no doubt his first half hat-trick against Barcelona, in a game Madrid won 5-0, with Zamorano laying on the other two goals.

6

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid career span: 2009-2018

Cristiano Ronaldo’s ranking would be very different if this was judging the impact he has had on Real Madrid in general, but this is purely about number nines, a number Ronaldo wore for Madrid for just a single season in 2009/10, taking it from Argentina international Javier Saviola. After this season, he remained number seven for the side. Of course, it’s quite impossible not to include Ronaldo in any list that appraises any facet of attacking play at Real Madrid. His period as a number nine was none too shabby, with a more than reasonable goals to games ratio, giving a hint of the mammoth number of goals to come in the years that followed, to make him Madrid’s all-time top goal scorer.

5

Carlos Alonso Gonzalez

Real Madrid career span: 1971-1988

Perhaps not as well known as most on this list because Carlos Alonso Gonzalez, known as Santillana, didn’t play in the fifties and sixties, when Real Madrid cemented their position as the biggest club in the world with their six European Cup wins, nor did he play in the last 25 years, when the club reaffirmed itself as a serial Champions League winners. His time was between, but what a time it was when it came to scoring goals. Overall, he scored 284 Madrid goals in more than 600 games over a period of 17 years. Although he did at times wear the numbers eight and eleven, he did wear number nine for several seasons, with 23 La Liga goalsduring the 1979/80 season, in which Madrid won their third consecutive La Liga title. They won the double that year. Although his two goals in the European Cup semi-final were not enough to prevent defeat to Hamburg, he did get a goal in the 6-1 Copa Del Rey Final victory against Castilla.

4

Ronaldo

Real Madrid career span: 2002-2007

Ronaldo Nazario burst onto the global stage at Barcelona having impressed at PSV Eindhoven. It was at Inter Milan he suffered career threatening knee injuries, but he managed to return to score both Brazilian goals in their two-nil 2002 World Cup Final win. It was then he transferred to Real Madrid. Undoubtedly the most talented player of his generation, he scored over one hundred Madrid goals before his powers to sparkle on a week-by-week basis began to fade. British fans of a certain age will recall how he left Manchester United fans at Old Trafford clapping his brilliance in 2003, as he scored a breathtaking hat-trick against the English side in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. On his day, Ronaldo was simply devastating.

3

Hugo Sanchez

Real Madrid career span: 1985-1992

Hugo Sanchez had a knack of scoring spectacular, acrobatic volleys during his time at Real Madrid. Such feats were often credited to his time spent as a gymnast as a youngster. Although commonplace now, in the 1980s and early 1990s, Sanchez would celebrate a goal by doing a back flip. This is a man who is often referred to as Mexico’s greatest ever footballer. He also won a great deal of silverware at the Bernabeu, with five La Liga titles in a row. Trusted to take spot kicks, up until Cristiano Ronaldo came along, Sanchez held the record of most La Liga penalty kicks scored with 56.

2

Karim Benzema

Real Madrid career span: 2009-2023

Although he initially wore the number eleven shirt, Karim Benzema would don the number nine for 13 seasons during an incredibly successful period for the club. It wasn’t just the staggering number of goals that he scored for Real Madrid, which for the record is 354, putting him second only to Cristiano Ronaldo as the club’s all-time top goal scorer, he was also on hand to deliver with goals at vital moments, like scoring a hat-trick against PSG, having been trailing the first leg of that last 16 Champions League tie, to the miracle against Manchester City in 2022, when with scoring the penalty in the ninety-fifth minute to take the club through to the Champions League Final, a tournament Benzema won five times with Real Madrid as their number nine.

1

Alfredo Di Stefano

1953 to 1964

Alfredo Di Stefano was and is, where Real Madrid’s history is concerned, the main man. No, he didn’t score as many goals for the club as Cristiano Ronaldo, nor did he outscore Benzema or Raul – who wore number seven – in the all time club history books, but when debating numbers nines at the club alongside achievements and legacy, you simply cannot look past the tough Argentine. As well as being a centre forward, he was a leader and with his skill, strength and vision it’s said he could have played anywhere. On top of this, he was the driving force behind the five consecutive European Cup wins between 1956 and 1960, scoring in each of those finals, the last in which he got a hat-trick, taking his goals in European Cup Finals to seven. Quite simply, an all-time great.

Stats via Transfermarkt.