Real Madrid: Ranking the 5 best players of the ’90s

4. PREDRAG MIJATOVIC

Spanish Sports Journalist Julio Cesar Iglesias gave a special name to Real Madrid’s generation of players who played from the 1980s to the early 1990s. He called Real, ‘La Quinta del Buitre’ or the Vulture’s Cohort. Real boasted one of the best teams in Europe during the late 80s but in the early ’90s, Martín Vázquez, Emilio Butragueño, and Míchel transferred away from the club dismantling their attack. Thus, dismantling La Quinta del Buitre.

This is where Predrag Mijatovic’s role in the squad becomes important. He became a major threat in front of the goal for Real Madrid. In 117 official games for the club, he scored 44 which included the famous solitary goal and winner against Juventus that brought home the European Cup after an arduous wait of 32 years. That puts him forever on a pedestal in Real Madrid’s history.

Similar to Seedorf, a 1996 signing from Valencia, he won his first LaLiga title in the very first season under Fabio Capello’s management. And then followed a glorious run towards the seventh European Cup. A fast dribbler and deadly shooter, Mijatovic loved to win. He’d put everything out on the pitch for the club and wouldn’t be satisfied with anything other than a win. His transfer paid off in the exact fashion as the club management would have hoped. In three seasons with the club, he ended with four major titles that include a Spanish Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup as well.

An absolute Real Madrid icon, he has kept the association with the club as strong as ever. He served as the club’s sporting director between 2006 and 2009 and the club added two more LaLiga titles during his tenure. A real Madridista at heart, he is someone who transferred away from Real Madrid in 1999 but Real Madrid never transferred out of him!