# 1990–91 Real Madrid CF season

The 1990–91 season was Real Madrid Club de Fútbol's 89th season in existence and the club's 60th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football.

## Summary

In the summertime, Welsh head coach John Benjamin Toshack asked for several changes, including the transfers of Bernd Schuster to local rivals Atlético Madrid and defender Oscar Ruggeri, together with midfielder Martín Vázquez, to Torino FC. Meanwhile, President Ramon Mendoza, after a failed bid for Liverpool's John Barnes, reinforced the club with Gheorghe Hagi, Predrag Spasić (after Gheorghe Popescu rejected an offer from Mendoza) and Villaroya. Following a losing streak sinking the team down to the 6th place in the league, Mendoza fired Toshack on 25 November 1990 and appointed club legend Alfredo Di Stéfano as a new head coach. The team clinched the Supercopa de España, defeating FC Barcelona but the situation in the league was worsened with lost matches against Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona.
During February, forward Hugo Sánchez suffered his first injury, and the squad was eliminated in the Copa del Rey round of 16 by Atlético Madrid. Then in March, with a high risk of failing to qualify for next year's European competitions, the team was defeated by Russian side Spartak Moscow at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the European Cup quarter-finals, shattering the chances of Alfredo Di Stéfano to stay as a coach and he resigned after the elimination. After one game with Ramón Grosso as an interim manager, the club appointed Radomir Antić as a new permanent head coach.
Surprisingly, despite the chaotic situation and Hugo Sánchez out for the rest of season since 25 April, Antic managed the squad to reach the third spot in the league standings and the right to play in the 1991–92 UEFA Cup. His notable successes included matches won against Atlético Madrid and Barcelona in the final rounds of the season.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ESP | Buyo |
| — | GK | ESP | Pedro Luis Jaro |
| — | GK | ESP | Julen Lopetegui |
| — | DF | ESP | Chendo |
| — | DF | ESP | Fernando Hierro |
| — | DF | ESP | Manuel Sanchis |
| — | DF | ESP | Jesús Ángel Solana |
| — | DF | ESP | Francisco Villarroya |
| — | DF | YUG | Predrag Spasić |
| — | DF | ESP | Miguel Tendillo |
| — | DF | ESP | Víctor Torres Mestre |
| — | MF | ESP | Juan Maqueda |
| — | MF | ESP | Adolfo Aldana |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ROU | Gheorghe Hagi |
| — | MF | ESP | Míchel |
| — | MF | ESP | Santiago Aragón |
| — | MF | ESP | Rafael Gordillo |
| — | MF | ESP | Luis Milla |
| — | MF | ESP | Joaquín Parra |
| — | MF | ESP | Paco Llorente |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Emilio Butragueño |
| — | FW | MEX | Hugo Sánchez |
| — | FW | ESP | Sebastián Losada |
| — | FW | ESP | Alfonso Pérez |
| — | FW | ARG | Juan Eduardo Esnáider |
| — | FW | ESP | Ismael Urzaiz |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Gheorghe Hagi | Steaua București | |
| MF | Luis Milla | FC Barcelona | €2,1 million |
| DF | Predrag Spasić | Partizan | |
| GK | Pedro Luis Jaro | Málaga CF | |
| DF | Maqueda | CD Logroñés | |
| MF | Santiago Aragon | CD Logroñés | |
| MF | Francisco Villarroya | Real Zaragoza | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| FW | Bernd Schuster | Atlético Madrid |
| MF | Martín Vázquez | Torino FC |
| DF | Oscar Ruggeri | Velez Sarsfield |
| FW | Aguilá | CD Logroñés |
| GK | Agustin | CD Tenerife |
| DF | Esteban | Real Zaragoza |
| DF | Llorente | CD Tenerife |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Juan Eduardo Esnáider | Ferrocarril Oeste | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |

## Competitions
### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Barcelona (C) | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 74 | 33 | +41 | 57 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 52 | 28 | +24 | 47 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 63 | 37 | +26 | 46 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Osasuna | 38 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 45 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Sporting Gijón | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 44 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
* ↑ Atlético Madrid qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as champions of the Copa del Rey.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | W | W | D | D | D | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 2 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches
### European Cup
#### First round
#### Quarter-finals
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

During the 1990–91 season, Real Madrid used 26 different players comprising five nationalities. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | European Cup | European Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ESP | Buyo | 33 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ESP | Chendo | 43 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ESP | Tendillo | 31 | 3 | 20+4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| | DF | ESP | Sanchis | 34 | 2 | 30+1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | YUG | Predrag Spasić | 24 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ROU | Gheorghe Hagi | 33 | 4 | 25+4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ESP | Míchel | 44 | 9 | 35+1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | MF | ESP | Fernando Hierro | 41 | 8 | 33+2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| | MF | ESP | Aldana | 38 | 4 | 13+18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| | MF | ESP | Villarroya | 44 | 1 | 32+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | FW | ESP | Butragueño | 41 | 23 | 35 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | GK | ESP | Pedro Jaro | 14 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ESP | Solana | 33 | 0 | 23+3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | MF | ESP | Maqueda | 27 | 2 | 19+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | MEX | Hugo Sánchez | 23 | 18 | 19 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| | MF | ESP | Santi Aragon | 24 | 1 | 13+4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | MF | ESP | Rafael Gordillo | 16 | 2 | 8+4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ESP | Losada | 16 | 7 | 6+6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| | FW | ESP | Paco Llorente | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ESP | Alfonso Pérez | 10 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ESP | Luis Milla | 6 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ARG | Juan Esnáider | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ESP | Joaquin Parra | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ESP | Torres-Mestre | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ESP | Ismael Urzaiz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | GK | ESP | Lopetegui | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/t/t1990-912.html