Where are they now? Real Madrid’s XI from the 2014 Champions League final victory over Atletico
It’s almost 11 years since Real Madrid won their 10th European Cup with a last-gasp victory over their city rivals Atletico Madrid in the Lisbon final. What became of that iconic team?
Carlo Ancelotti is back in the Madrid hot seat and has since delivered another two Champions League trophies since he returned for a second stint in 2021. After winning it in 2014, Madrid went on to win five of the last 10. Ridiculous, really.
Los Blancos are by some distance the most successful team in the history of European football, and their recent years of dominance kicked off with the fabled La Decima in 2014. It’s easy to forget that at that point they’d gone 12 years without winning it – an eternity for Real Madrid.
With another Madrid derby in the Champions League looming, we’ve revisited Don Carlo’s starting XI (plus subs) from their 4-1 extra-time win over Atleti. Here’s where they are today.
GK: Iker Casillas
Diego Lopez started almost every La Liga match in the 2013-14 season. But Casillas was drafted in for the Champions League that year, and Ancelotti kept his faith in the Madrid legend for the final.
The veteran ‘keeper’s best years were behind him by that stage, and he was at fault for Diego Godin’s opener in Lisbon, but he recovered well that night to win a third Champions League with his boyhood club – fourteen years after he started as a teenager in the 2000 final against Valencia.
He remained at the Bernabeu for one more year, winning the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup, but ultimately he departed on a flat note as Barcelona reasserted their dominance with a second historic treble in 2014-15.
Rather than hang up his gloves, Casillas went to Porto and continued playing for another four seasons, notching over 150 appearances for the Primeira Liga giants.
He eventually called time on his playing career in 2020, after almost a year on the sidelines following a heart attack he suffered during training.
Nowadays he’s back at Madrid, working as the deputy director general of the Real Madrid Foundation.
CB: Raphael Varane
The French defender remained at Real Madrid until 2021. He was a stalwart of the ‘three-peat’ achieved in subsequent years under Ancelotti’s successor (and then assistant) Zinedine Zidane, while his career peaked in 2018 with the World Cup.
In latter years he suffered a frustrating time with injuries, but he still won a League Cup and FA Cup with Manchester United after departing the Spanish capital.
Last summer he joined Cesc Fabregas’ Como but he decided to call it quits after another injury setback on his debut for the Serie A outfit.
“It was challenging at first, as football has been my life for so many years,” Varane said of his decision to retire at the age of 31.
“But I’ve embraced this new chapter with a sense of purpose.”
CB: Sergio Ramos
After 16 years and almost 700 appearances, the face of La Decima left Madrid after his contract expired in 2021.
Subsequent years have seen him turn out alongside Lionel Messi at PSG, where he won back-to-back Ligue 1 titles, before a romantic reunion with hometown club Sevilla last season.
A return to the Bernabeu was mooted amid Madrid’s defensive injury crisis in the first half of the season.
Ramos was a free agent at the time and spent six months without a club, but the 38-year-old has just signed up for a new adventure with Mexican side Monterrey.
LB: Fabio Coentrao (Marcelo, ’59)
Surprisingly enough, Coentrao was preferred to era-defining left-back Marcelo for the 2014 final.
The Brazilian would later wrestle back his claim as first-choice and would start his fair share of Champions League finals in later years.
Marcelo served as club captain when they won their 14th European Cup in 2022. He then returned to boyhood club Fluminense, where he won the Copa Libertadores in 2023.
The 36-year-old has recently announced his retirement.
Coentrao remained in Madrid until 2018, but he struggled to find regular opportunities in his later years.
The former Portugal international retired in 2021 after a stint back home with Rio Ave.
DM: Sami Khedira (Isco, ’59)
Xabi Alonso was suspended for this one, meaning Khedira shouldered a lot of the responsibility at the base of Madrid’s midfield.
And a few weeks later, he lifted the World Cup with Germany. Some summer that.
Khedira moved to Juventus the following summer after being displaced by Toni Kroos, and he won five successive Scudetto with the Old Lady before seeing out his career with a short and sweet stint with Hertha Berlin.
He’s kept a low profile since retiring but has done the odd bit of punditry work for ESPN.
Isco, meanwhile, is enjoying a wonderful renaissance at Real Betis after a few lost years of questionable form and fitness.
The playmaker played a starring role at the weekend as Manuel Pellegrini’s Verdiblancos came from behind to beat Madrid 2-1.
CM: Luka Modric
Still going, isn’t he?
Absolutely ridiculous longevity.
QUIZ: Can you name the 20 players with the most Champions League knockout stage appearances?
CM: Angel Di Maria
Man of the match that night, Di Maria was Madrid’s driving force from midfield as they went at Atleti and eventually got their rewards in the dying seconds.
That’s some way to make your final appearance. A big-money move to Manchester United never worked out (that would be understating it) but Di Maria bounced back with seven wonderful years at PSG, showing his class with a starring role in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph.
He’s retired from international football but is still going strong at the age of 37 with Benfica, and is closing in on Ronaldo’s all-time Champions League assists record.
FWR: Gareth Bale
Some way to cap off your debut season, eh?
A few months after his iconic match-winner against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final, Bale put Madrid ahead in the 10th minute of extra time.
Despite some issues with the fans over the years (Wales, Golf, Madrid anyone?), Bale remained in the Spanish capital for another seven years.
He scored 106 goals in 258 appearances and won a further three Champions League, his crowning moment coming in the 2018 final with that overhead kick against Liverpool.
The Welsh winger saw out his career in the Hollywood sunshine, winning a Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup double with LAFC in 2022.
Injuries had clearly taken their toll, though, and he decided to retire at the age of 33.
Bale’s done the odd media appearance since hanging up his boots, but he seems happy enough out of the spotlight. Find him on a golf course somewhere.
ST: Karim Benzema (Alvaro Morata, ’79)
It’s strange to think that there was a time when a manager would’ve brought off Benzema when Madrid were crying out for a moment of inspiration.
Benzema won out his battle with Gonzalo Higuain to start up top for Real Madrid, but it wasn’t until later in his career that he truly peaked.
Even after starring in the three successive Champions Leagues won under Zidane, Benzema arguably wouldn’t find his very best form until the departure of Ronaldo in 2018.
It took a season or so, but the Frenchman thrived when he stepped out of Ronaldo’s shadow. He was astonishingly good in Madrid’s 2021-22 Champions League title, for which he was rewarded with a well-earned Ballon d’Or.
“My decision to go to Saudi Arabia was also because I wanted to leave Real Madrid on top,” Benzema explained of his decision to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad in 2023.
…and I didn’t want to ever play against Real Madrid in my life.”
Meanwhile, Morata’s magical mystery tour of Europe has taken him to… Galatasaray (on loan from AC Milan). Sounds about right.
READ: The 7 players across world football who earn more than Erling Haaland
FWL: Cristiano Ronaldo
You might remember Ronaldo rubbing salt into Simeone’s wound with a fourth goal that night in Lisbon. After which he ripped his shirt off. Of course.
After joining Juventus in 2018, Ronaldo failed to add any further Ballon d’Or or Champions Leagues to his bulging trophy cabinet, but he did score shedloads in Serie A and won a couple of Scudetto for good measure.
A return to Manchester United turned sour and it’s been a while since Ronaldo won any silverware, but he seems happy enough – at the age of 40 – chasing down the milestone of 1000 goals (75 to go) while taking home more money than we can possibly comprehend.
READ NEXT: 7 former Real Madrid players currently thriving away from the Bernabeu: Isco, Asensio…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to play for Real Madrid & Atletico Madrid since 2000?