2017–18 Real Madrid CF season
The 2017–18 season was Real Madrid Club de Fútbol's 114th season in existence and the club's 87th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. It covered a period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018. Despite finishing a distant third in the league that season, Real Madrid won four trophies out of six possible, including an unprecedented third consecutive Champions League title, which made them the first team to achieve the feat since Bayern Munich in 1976 and the first club across europe's top 5 leagues to do it twice. This was also Madrid's fourth European Cup in five years, and their 13th overall. The three-peat winning manager Zinedine Zidane resigned shortly after the season concluded; he would return by the end of next season. Additionally, it was notably considered being Cristiano Ronaldo's final time staying with Los Merengues after 9 years spent winning 15 trophies altogether. Ronaldo had been the second Portuguese striker by the club's history since Luís Figo. This season was the first since 2006–07 without Pepe, who departed to Besiktas. Summary Pre-season Théo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos joined Madrid on 5 and 14 July 2017. Pepe went to Beşiktaş after his contract was up after the last season. James Rodríguez and Fábio Coentrão were loaned to Bayern Munich and Sporting CP respectively. Mariano Díaz was transferred to Lyon. On 21 July, Álvaro Morata moved to Chelsea. Two days later, Danilo left Madrid and joined Manchester City. August On 8 August 2017, Madrid won the 2017 UEFA Super Cup, beating Manchester United 2–1 with goals from Casemiro and Isco. On 13 August 2017, Madrid won the away leg of the 2017 Supercopa de España, defeating Barcelona 3–1 with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Marco Asensio and an own goal. The match was controversial, as several referring mistakes affected the teams. First, Barcelona was awarded a questionable penalty on Luis Suárez, which Messi converted to equalize in the 77th minute, and then, after Real scored their second via substitute Ronaldo, who shot into the top right corner from the edge of the box in the 80th minute, Cristiano was booked for removing his shirt as part of the celebration; two minutes later, he was booked again by the referee for allegedly diving when he collided with Samuel Umtiti in the box, which resulted in a second yellow card and Ronaldo being sent off, therefore getting suspended for the second leg. He was later given a five-match suspension after replays showed him push the referee in frustration for the red card. The latter penalty in hindsight derailed Madrid's season start and cost them points in La Liga. Real's last goal was scored in the 90th minute in similar fashion to the second, as Asensio shot into the top left corner following an assist from Lucas Vázquez. Three days later, on 16 August 2017, Madrid clinched the title, after a 2–0 home win (5–1 on aggregate) with goals from Asensio and Karim Benzema. Goals from Gareth Bale, Casemiro