Real Madrid were the team of 2024, winning the Champions League and LaLiga. Then, they went ahead and signed Kylian Mbappe for free in the summer, strengthening the world’s best team even further.
However, Real Madrid sit second in LaLiga as 2025 begins. They have pulled ahead of Barcelona in the weeks following their latest humiliating 4-0 Clasico defeat to the Blaugrana, but they have fallen behind a far more consistent and much stronger defensive side in crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid.
After sustaining brutal defeats to Barcelona and Liverpool, Real Madrid are no longer seen as THE dominant force in European football, but with a squad deep in attacking and midfield quality, Los Blancos are still expected to be in the mix for every major trophy when 2025 begins.
So let’s take stock of the current squad in the 2024/25 season, ranking all 23 team members of significance before the new year hits.
23. CB Jesus Vallejo
Jesus Vallejo is undoubtedly the worst player in the current Real Madrid squad, because the club has been desperate to get rid of him, even before he briefly revitalized his value in the 2021/22 season with some strong performances in the late stages of the Champions League knockouts.
Madridistas actually chanted for Vallejo to play in a LaLiga match against Deportivo Alaves, and they nearly blew a 3-0 lead, narrowly beating one of the lower-table sides 3-2. Vallejo has not played since.
22. LB Fran Garcia
Fran Garcia is one of Real’s worst players in the squad, but, funnily enough, he was arguably the best left back in the league for Rayo Vallecano before returning to Madrid as a senior player in the 2023/24 season.
Instead of supplanting an underwhelming Ferland Mendy as the first-choice left back, Fran is locked in a never-ending position battle with the Frenchman, as Los Merengues desperately look for any left back better than the two of them.
21. LB Ferland Mendy
A great defensive left back who can lock horns with any right winger in this world, even Mohamed Salah, Ferland Mendy is of anti-Madrid quality on the ball in the attack or even in his own half.
If Fran looks like he’s playing “hot potato” with the ball in his own half, then Mendy looks like he’s been handed a smoldering frying pan when the goalkeeper passes in the ball.
In the attack, he plays as if his cleats are simultaneously anti-gravity and made of lead, such as the gracelessness of his first touch and the mind-numbing way he tramples over the earth beneath his feet. His tenure as a starter at Madrid has been farcically long, yet because he can defend at a high enough level to play center back in a pinch, he’s a little bit more valuable than Fran. Just a little.
20. ST Endrick
After scoring an outrageous goal in the late stages of a Champions League match against German upstarts Stuttgart to seal another Real Madrid victory, Endrick was supposed to get his first senior start with the Merengues in one of the subsequent LaLiga encounters.
Well, 2024 is over for Real Madrid, and the Brazilian signing has yet to get his first start in Royal White. Endrick is brilliant beyond his years on the pitch and has the most enviable physical skill-set at the striker position in Brazil since the heyday of Ronaldo Nazario and then later his Inter Milan teammate Adriano.
Endrick is 20th by default. He can’t be ranked any higher when he hasn’t really done anything for Real Madrid yet. But his theoretical value his almost astronomical, which, as a forward, makes him immediately more valuable than three defenders who are clearly not of starting caliber.
19. CB David Alaba
Whether or not David Alaba remains starting-caliber is a complete unknown, as the Austrian international hasn’t taken the pitch in more than a year since tearing his ACL.
At the age of 32, it’s fair to wonder if Alaba will ever play meaningful minutes in a Madrid match, and since he was expected to return in October, the fact that he is still out does not bode well for his future.
But Alaba is one of the best defenders of his generation, a proven Champions League winner as a left back or center back with four UCL trophies to his name. Class is permanent and technical quality doesn’t die, so, until proven otherwise, we have to assume the versatile veteran can offer something to Madrid in 2025.
18. CB Raul Asencio
Raul Asencio has the potential to be special, as his first three starts have gone swimmingly well for the Merengues, even if manager Carlo Ancelotti frustratingly starts Aurelien Tchouameni instead and is trying Raul out as a right back.
Just 21, Raul is composed beyond his years of experience and outshined all of his defensive teammates, including Antonio Rudiger, in his starts. He has talent worth Madrid’s time cultivating.
17. GK Andriy Lunin
When Thibaut Courtois went down with an ACL tear last season, Real Madrid were far from doomed, thanks to the contributions of Ukrainian international Andriy Lunin, who already flashed world-class potential in the 2022/23 season with LaLiga already won.
Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world and has not yielded that status, but for several months last season, Lunin was staking his own claim to the “best in the world” title.
His signature performance came against Manchester City in the knockouts stages of the Champions League, as Real Madrid would not have avenged their 2022/23 defeat without the young man’s heroics in goal.
16. DM Aurelien Tchouameni
In theory, Aurelien Tchouameni should be an unquestioned top 10 player in the Real Madrid squad, and the club did invest at least 80 million euros in the Frenchman in 2022 immediately after winning the Champions League.
Tchouameni was tabbed as the Casemiro replacement, but he himself has been replaced after a woeful start to the 2024/25 season, which included a humiliating individual display in a Champions League loss to a struggling AC Milan side.
Now 24, there can be no excuses for Tchouameni, who was jettisoned out of the No. 6 role and has been even worse at center back, costing the team three goals in his last three LaLiga and Champions League appearances.
15. RB Lucas Vazquez
It may seem like Lucas Vazquez is a little high on this list since he’s often tabbed as a liability at right back, but if he had Eder Militao back as the RCB instead of Tchouameni, a lot of those goals attributed to Vazquez mistakes wouldn’t have happened in the first place with better cover.
Vazquez is an undersized wing back who can’t answer for defensive deficiencies in many cases. His job is to work hard to win the ball back, progress play, create chances, be an outlet, and run with three lungs.
He fulfills these duties passably well with occasional aplomb, including with a legitimate 8.5 out of 10 performance in Real’s most recent win over Sevilla.
14. CM Dani Ceballos
Dani Ceballos has earned an important role at Real Madrid over the past several weeks, going from someone destined to ride the pine on the bench – or even get transfer out of the club this summer – to a regular starter.
Statistically, Ceballos is one of the most impressive midfielders in Spain on a per 90 basis, and his ability to both win possession and get the ball up the pitch quickly with incisive, progressive passes has opened up so much of the game for his teammates, especially Jude Bellingham.
Ceballos has always been underrated, and since rising from the ashes as a forgotten former LaLiga standout during the 2021/22 season, becoming a legitimate Champions League hero, a role in the squad has always belonged to him. Now, he finally has it back.
13. RW Brahim Diaz
Brahim Diaz is the perfect wild card for the Real Madrid attack. A versatile, two-footed, and intelligent playmaker who can score and assist and isn’t afraid of doing the dirty work on (and off) the ball, Brahim is often a game-changer off the bench for the Royal Whites.
Here’s a fun stat for you: Through his entire career, including his first stint at the club, Brahim averages 0.70 goals and assists per 90 minutes throughout his Real Madrid career. These are the kinds of role players who win you championships.
12. CB Antonio Rudiger
Antonio Rudiger was one of five Real Madrid stars named to The Best XI of 2024 by FIFA, and his signature performance in shutting down Erling Haaland during the Champions League knockout stages last season will forever live in club lore.
Although the German international can be rash and mistake-prone, he is legitimately one of the best center backs in the world and adds something extra with his fire, intensity, and quality as a passer.
11. AM Arda Guler
Since Arda Guler is a backup player and a largely unproven commodity in the world of football, ranking him as the 11th-best player on Real Madrid above a top center back like Rudiger and other more proven players like Vazquez and Brahim may seem a little high.
But Guler fully deserves it and should be safely in the top 10 within two years. The Turkish international is a special, special player, as anyone who watched him at the Euros this summer can attest.
Yes, he needs to refine his game in order to start regularly with so many class attackers in Madrid, but how many 19 year olds are ready to start for Madrid? Remember, Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Junior themselves weren’t sure things for Real at that age either.
Going back to Brahim’s numbers, Guler is averaging an astounding 0.95 goals and assists per 90 in a Real Madrid kit after notching an already impressive 0.98 per 90 in the Turkish top flight for Fenerbahce.
10. CM Luka Modric
Ageless wonder Luka Modric is a living legend and still one of the best all-around midfielders on the planet, particularly from a creative perspective. A leader who elevates his game on the biggest stage, Lukita is still the guy Carlo Ancelotti calls up first when he needs a safe pair of hands when everything is on the line.
Modric continues to work tirelessly in the middle of the park for Merengues, and the fact that he isn’t the best midfielder in his club simply speaks to the quality of talent at Real Madrid in 2025.
9. CM Eduardo Camavinga
It’s time for Eduardo Camavinga to take his first true step to superstardom, because, when healthy, there isn’t a box-to-box midfielder more dynamic or more destructive then the former Rennes phenom.
Camavinga was shutting down PSG when he was just 16 and dominating the best midfields in the world in the most pivotal minutes of Champions League knockout clashes before he turned 21.
Real Madrid have a truly special talent in Camavinga, who is so good that he plays left back at a much higher level than either Ferland Mendy or Fran Garcia, who were both, at one point in their careers, arguably the best player at the position in LaLiga.
8. RB Dani Carvajal
There is no argument, however, that, when healthy, Dani Carvajal is the best player at his position in LaLiga, and he was so good in the 2023/24 season that he could have won the Ballon d’Or.
Now, obviously, Carvajal wasn’t actually going to win the award over Rodri or Vinicius Junior – or even midfielders Toni Kroos and Jude Bellingham, for that matter – but the fact that he was seriously in the conversation as a right back tells you all you need to know.
Carvajal’s torn ACL has been a gaping loss for Real Madrid, as he is the definition of irreplaceable and the lovable bulldog of this elite team.
7. CB Eder Militao
After two torn ACLs, a cynical mind may be wondering if Eder Militao will still be the best center back in the world, but that was his level before the first of his awful knee injuries occurred in 2023.
Militao quickly made Raphael Varane a thing of the past after his 2021 breakout during spells on the sidelines for both Sergio Ramos an Varane, who would end up leaving the club that summer.
Gifted with the ball at his feet and one of the best pure defenders on the planet with his tight marking and recovery speed, Militao can still build a legacy at the position that, in modern times, only Ramos and Fernando Hierro can surpass. That’s how good the Brazilian is.
6. RW Rodrygo Goes
Maybe Rodrygo Goes gets a boost for being an attacking player, but if you want to dispute how valuable a world-class forward can be, Exhibit A is definitely going to be Rodrygo’s game-winning brace against Manchester City in the 2021/22 Champions League semifinals that is the single greatest comeback in the history of the competition – and maybe even in professional sports, given the sheer improbability of scoring two goals in THAT span of time against THAT opponent.
Rodrygo is captain clutch, capable of producing his best displays under pressure. He is Mr. Champions League in Madrid, bringing his “A” game under the brightest of lights.
Dancing through defenders and unselfishly tracking back in defense, Rodrygo is a strong creator and, when coming in off the left side, a strong finisher. The goals evade him on the right, but even without a 15-goal season, the 23-year-old is undeniably a world-class forward.
5. CM Fede Valverde
Fede Valverde has steadily improved in each successive season to crack the top five of the current Real Madrid squad, which is quite a prestigious honor at just about any point in Merengue history, but especially in a period in which the club has won two Champions League in three years over the likes of the (then) mighty Manchester City.
With his scorching bombs from the blue, impossibly energetic defensive shifts, burgeoning leadership, and underrated chance creation, Valverde is the definition of a do-everything midfielder who has become the envy of every other club in world football.
Seriously, every single manager on this planet dreams of having a player who is as passionate, as unselfish, and as all-around amazing as Fede. He is his own man, of course, but he is the closest answer “old-timers” will get to the question, “What if Steven Gerrard had joined Real Madrid?”
4. GK Thibaut Courtois
Ever since that fateful match against Club Bruges in which Thibaut Courtois got sick at half time and followed up that up with a blinder against Galatasaray in Istanbul, the Belgian international has been the best goalkeeper in the world, bar none.
Even after tearing his ACL, he came right back and shut down Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Final. Courtois is a cheat code, and, like so many Real Madrid legends before him, he brings his best when it matters most.
And yes, Courtois is already a legend of the club. He has made the topic of the best goalkeeper in club history an actual debate against Iker Casillas, which is a reality nobody could have predicted a decade ago.
Courtois may have been challenging Manuel Neuer as the world’s best at one point in his Chelsea career, and after worries that he was an unnecessary signing and an outright bust in comparison to three-peat hero Keylor Navas, Courtois has cleanly surpassed the Costa Rican icon.
3. CF Kylian Mbappe
With 10 goals to start his Real Madrid career heading into the new year, Kylian Mbappe hasn’t been a failure to start his career with the Royal Whites, and there is a laundry list of attacking players with weightier transfer fees who did less in a significantly longer period of time.
The best is yet to come from a man who is expected to rule the Santiago Bernabeu and any ranking list of the best players in the Madrid squad in the future. For now, he is the third fiddle to two players with just as legitimate of a claim to being the world’s very best footballer, and there is absolutely no shame in that.
But remember, Mbappe can do things at a physical and technical level that everyone else can only dream about, and that includes his teammates. Of course, they have their own strengths that Mbappe can only dream about, too. The focus for Mbappe will be how to continue to hone his weaknesses and how to allow his strengths to shine to their fullest – and consistently. His idol Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, was so great because he was so consistently great.
2. CM Jude Bellingham
The best player in LaLiga last season in his first year in Madrid, Jude Bellingham only just turned 21. He had a signature moment at the Euros this summer with a tournament-saving bicycle kick at the death, and without Jude, England wouldn’t have had a prayer at reaching the Final, where he was quite honestly the best player on the pitch.
Because Bellingham is a superstar at such a young age and plays for both a polarizing club and country that are easy for outsiders to hate, he is branded as arrogant and is frequently torn to pieces by the media.
He is so good that he is the victim of his own greatness, with many expecting him to score every game even though he is a midfielder whose class lies in his leadership, professionalism, and willingness to do everything a traditional midfielder must do – and do it very well, at that.
The fact that Bellingham can outscore strikers in his own league as a playmaker is a bonus, and it certainly proved to be a decisive bonus for Real Madrid in LaLiga last season.
1. LW Vinicius Junior
As star-studded as Real Madrid is, there is no mistaking that Vinicius Junior, named the best player of the year in FIFA’s The Best awards, is the face of the club in 2025.
The Brazilian international has 8 goals and 5 assists so far in LaLiga this season despite battling injury, and he has a way of taking over games in a violently explosive manner that leaves defenders grasping for answers – and often resorting to nefarious means to try and stay afloat against the seismic activity caused by Vini Jr.’s relentless legs.
He carries the ball, creates chances, takes defenders on, and cuts inside from the left better than any player in this world, and he plays on the same team as two of his biggest challengers to each of those titles – Mbappe and Rodrygo.
The cliche says that iron sharpens iron, and, if that’s the case, Vinicius Jr. is made the sharpest of them all by the competition within his own squad, and after the Ballon d’Or snub this year, there is just that extra motivation for Vini Jr. to cook the entire world in an inferno of their own making. You know, as if the guy who plays this sport with such unbridled passion and joy needed any extra extrinsic motivation.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at kparvizi19[at]gmail.com.