Real Madrid’s Quinta Del Buitre – The Vulture’s Cohort.

A story of five great talents led by El Buitre (Emilio Butragueño), produced by Real Madrid's famed La Fabrica & their impact on Real Madrid in the mid to late 1980s.

#PausaHistoria [THREAD]

Real Madrid never really recovered from the European Final loss to Liverpool at le Parc des Princes in 1981. They struggled for form in the subsequent 1981-82 season and then again in the 1982-83 & 1983-84 seasons under club legend, Alfredo Di Stéfano.

But it was also during this time Real Madrid’s B team, Real Madrid Castilla had one of its most successful seasons ever, winning the Segunda in 1983. Thousands of Real Madrid fans went to watch Castilla games because of just how exciting the talents playing in Castilla were.

In 1983, Julio César Iglesias, a journalist, coined the term Quinta Del Buitre to describe the 5 “generational talents” coming through La Fabrica. Butragueño, Sanchís, Rafael Vázquez and Míchel were from Madrid and the 5th member of the group, Miguel Pardeza was from Huelva.

Since Real Madrid’s form was so poor in the league, Di Stéfano decided to call up the "Quinta" from La Fabrica and they played through the 1983-84 season. While the five were exciting, Real Madrid didn’t do much better and lost the league to Barcelona.

Di Stéfano left immediately after the end of the season, but La Quinta del Buitre were just getting started. Buoyed by the signing of the legendary Hugo Sanchez, Real Madrid went on to win the league. Hugo top scored that season with 22 goals and Butragueño contributed with 10.

The “Quinta” were reduced to 4 after Huelva born Pardeza transferred to Real Zaragoza, but Real Madrid began a period of frightening dominance in La Liga winning 4 more league titles to add to the one already won on the trot.

While Butragueno was the more charismatic and possibly the most talented of the “cohort”, Rafael Martín Vázquez and Míchel controlled and dominated in midfield while Manolo Sanchis was a rock in defense and continued to be even post the late 1980s dominance.

That Real Madrid team were ultra attacking with the focus on outscoring opposition rather than shutting them down. They often played with no holding midfielder & while they were dominant in Spain and were probably one of the best teams in Europe, they never won a European Cup.

5 La Ligas, a Copa Del Rey and 2 UEFA Cups later, the Real Madrid team of 1980-1985 remains one of the greatest in Real Madrid and La Liga history. It left a lasting impact on Florentino Pérez’s infamous "Zidanes y Pavones" philosophy albeit with mixed results.

To this day, not winning the European Cup during that golden period leaves what is a lingering feeling of regret. Di Stefano once said “They played well.. they didn’t win the European Cup”. In 1998, Sanchis would finally captain Madrid to a Cup. He remains the only one to win it.