For those of you who don’t know, Real Madrid Castilla are the reserve team of Spanish giants Real Madrid. In Spain, unlike in England, reserve teams are allowed to enter the football league system, and Real Madrid Castilla currently compete in the third tier of Spanish football, they play at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium and they are managed by former Real great Raul Gonzalez. They cannot, however, ever play in the same league as the senior team, and they – like all reserve sides – are no longer allowed to enter the Copa del Rey.
Real Madrid Castilla can trace their roots back to 1930, and have been a feeder club for Real’s first team since 1948. The majority of their all time top scorers are recent players though, so I thought this still might make for an interesting video. I hope you agree, please do give us a like and subscribe if so, and I may well do a similar video for Barcelona B if this proves to be popular.
Here are Real Madrid Castilla’s top 7 scorers: Where are they now?
7. Cristo González – Huesca
In the case of ties, we will be going with the player who reached that tally with fewer appearances, and that rule means Cristo Gonzalez takes seventh place whilst Jese Rodriguez misses out. The most recent Castilla star in this seven, Gonzalez spent just two seasons with Real’s reserves, scoring 32 goals in 72 games. He made 4 appearances for Los Blancos’ first team, but departed this summer for Udinese, who immediately sent the 21-year-old on-loan to recently-relegated Huesca.
6. Mariano Diaz – Real Madrid
Mariano Diaz of Lyon celebrates his goal during the French Ligue 1 match between Stade Rennais and Olympique Lyonnais (OL, Lyon) at Roazhon Park on August 11, 2017 in Rennes, France.
The only current Real Madrid player in this seven, Mariano Diaz – better known simply as Mariano – is currently in his second stint at the Bernabeu. He was promoted to Castilla from Real Madrid’s C team, and he scored 32 goals in 44 games for Real’s B team. That earned him a promotion to the senior side, but after 4 goals in 15 games he was sold to Lyon in Ligue 1. He promptly bagged 21 goals in his first and only season in France, leading to Real exercising their buyback clause to hand Mariano departed star Cristiano Ronaldo’s number seven shirt. He could only manage 4 goals in 19 games back at the Bernabeu last season though.
5. Luis Garcia – Retired
Not to be confused with the Luis Garcia who won the Champions League with Liverpool, or the one who currently manages Beijing Renhe – yeah, there’s a few of them – the Luis Garcia who is Real Madrid Castilla’s third highest scorer of all time retired this summer. The scorer of 37 goals in 73 games for Real’s reserves, Garcia went on to spend his best years with Espanyol, as well as winning 7 caps for Spain. He retired this summer, aged 38, following four excellent seasons, 141 appearances and one promotion with Eupen in Belgium.
4. Emilio Butragueno – Retired
Emilio Butragueno of Real Madrid during the match between Arsenal Legends and Real Madrid Legends at Emirates Stadium on September 8, 2018 in London, United Kingdom.
A bonafide Real Madrid legend, no other player in this seven went on to enjoy the kind of success in the Real first team that Butragueno did, in fact few others have even outside of this seven. Emilio Butragueno scored 37 goals in 65 games for Real Madrid Castilla, inspiring the club to win the Segunda Division title for the only time in their history, before scoring a brace on his senior Real Madrid debut to kick-start an extraordinary eleven-year love affair. Butragueno was a diminutive, intelligent centre-forward with fine technique, and he ranks 10th in Real’s list of all time leading goal scorers. He retired in 1998, and has since served as a director of football, vice-president and as head of PR for Real Madrid.
3. Joselu – Alaves
From a player who twice finished in the top three of Ballon d’Or voting to one who looked out of his depth at Newcastle United, you can hardly accuse this seven of lacking a diversity of talents. German born former Spanish youth international Joselu scored a mightily impressive 40 goals in just 72 games for Real Madrid Castilla, and scored 2 goals in 2 games for Real’s senior side. He departed for Hoffenheim in 2012, before moves to Hannover, Stoke City, Newcastle United and most recently Alaves. The 29-year-old striker joined Alaves for £2.5 million in the summer, and he has since scored 2 goals in 4 games for the La Liga side.
2. Alvaro Morata – Atletico Madrid
Alvaro Morata of Atletico Madrid during the La Liga Santander match between Atletico Madrid v Celta de Vigo at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano on September 21, 2019 in Madrid Spain
Born in Madrid, once part of the Atletico Madrid academy, then the Real Madrid academy, Alvaro Morata played for Real’s B team and senior team, was sold, signed by Real again and is now on-loan back at Atletico Madrid, so it would be fair to say his ties to the Spanish capital were pretty strong. Morata scored 45 goals in 83 games for Real Madrid Castilla, the second most in history, before bagging 11 in 52 for the senior team prior to a transfer to Juventus. Having struggled to make the desired impact at Chelsea, Morata returned to Madrid with Atletico on an 18-month loan deal in January 2019, and he’ll join the club permanently next summer.
1. Roberto Soldado – Granada
Roberto Soldado’s career is a real tale of inconsistency. He scored goals for fun for Real’s reserve team, was ineffective in the first team, banged them in for Getafe and Valencia, looked awful at Tottenham and did okay at Villarreal and Fenerbahce. Soldado began his career with Real Castilla, and a tally of 63 goals in 120 games makes him their all time record goal scorer. Capped 12 times by Spain, Soldado returned to La Liga this summer from Fenerbahce with newly-promoted Granada. The 34-year-old has scored once in his first four games, that strike coming in a 4-4 draw with his former club Villarreal on his debut.
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