This will be Real Madrid’s eighth appearance in the Al Kass International Cup, having competed in the illustrious tournament every year apart from in its inaugural edition of 2012. Los Blancos boast a proud record in Doha that invites comparisons with the storied success of their senior side, having won the competition three years ago and finished runners-up in 2014 and 2016.

Real’s fabled youth academy is known as La Fabrica, or ‘The Factory’. In contrast to the homegrown philosophy of arch-rivals FC Barcelona, the Madridistas have tended to pursue a strategy of buying the world’s leading players for their first team, meaning that only the very best prospects make it through La Fabrica. Nobody would argue that Spanish goalscoring legend Raul is anything but the very best, and he is one of several ‘Galacticos’ to have come through the Real ranks, alongside Iker Casillas and Guti. Meanwhile, Juan Mata, Samuel Eto’o and Estaban Cambiasso are part of the conveyor belt of talent who have graduated from ‘the factory’ and gone on to achieve success elsewhere.

1 Guillermo Súnico Alonso
2 Diego Piñeiro Del Álamo
3 Ángel Granados Cruz
4 David Jimenez Corredor
5 Diego Jurado Flores
6 Alejandro Sánchez Sibacha
7 Mario Camero Pozuelo
8 Mario Martín Rielves
9 Marc Cucalón Pina
10 Nicolás Paz Martínez
11 Jaime Amaro Puertas
12 Marcos Moraga Rodríguez
13 Eric Gomez Alcon
14 Borja Alonso Cabrera
15 Yeray Lancha Pérez
16 David Pecellín Garcia
17 Ekaitz Redondo Borrajo
18 Gonzalo García Torres
19 Samuel Expósito Polo
20 Manuel Serrano Salazar