Real Madrid Becomes Most-Followed Football Club In The World

Real Madrid might be quite far from their iconic form this season but have managed to add a feather to their crown, becoming the biggest football club in the world as per their social-media follower base.

According to data from the CIES Observatory, Real Madrid have currently 363 million followers, counting the numbers on four leading social media platforms– Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok.

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Spanish club football appears to have garnered a lot of popularity in recent times. While Madrid are leading the tally, their La Liga rivals Barcelona are not quite behind in the race. The Blaugrana are second on the list with 342 million followers.

Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain and Juventus follow the Spanish giants with 206 million, 187 million and 144 million followers to their names. On the CIES Observatory’s list, the other names among the top ten mostly include teams from the Premier League. But they were all short of 150 million followers.

Paris Saint Germain who are fourth, lost a significant follower base after Lionel Messi decided to leave the French capital upon his contract expiry on June 30.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who have just completed their treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and the most-hyped Champions League, are seventh in the standings with 131 million followers.

Thanks to their recent dominance in the Champions League, Real Madrid have certainly become a favourite among European football fans. But Los Blancos were comparatively quiet this season.

They failed to defend their La Liga title, losing it to arch-rivals Barcelona due to a series of disappointing performances in the second half of the league. Real Madrid also suffered a humiliating elimination from the Champions League, being defeated 5-1 by Manchester City in the two-leg semi-finals.

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Carlo Ancelotti’s boys though did not fail to add something to their decorated trophy cabinet, winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Madrid seem to have moved on from their dismal season as they have already announced their first signing of this summer transfer. The Spanish club was able to create a stir in the transfer market after they roped in Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund.

As per the deal, Madrid will initially pay €103 million for the 19-year-old midfielder, with future add-ons bringing the value close to €133.9 million, making Bellingham the most expensive British footballer of all time.