Real Madrid revival makes it a year to remember

Real Madrid and the national team's recovery from the depths of despondency have been the big talking points in Spanish football during the last 12 months. The Spanish giants bounced back from looking down-and-out in the Spanish championship race at the start of the year to claim a record 30th title in June and they lead La Liga once again as the year comes to an end.

It has been a remarkable turnaround since January when Real were lying third but chaos often reigned off-the-pitch, and sometimes on it.The turmoil was epitomised by David Beckham's decision to announce in mid-January that he was leaving Real for the American side Los Angeles Galaxy almost six months before the actual multi-million dollar move.

Real's bitter rivals Barcelona looked on the way to their third successive crown but former coach Fabio Capello steered the team back on course. Firstly, he took the brave decision to unload the under-performing and over-weight Brazilian superstar Ronaldo to Milan during the winter transfer window.

Secondly, in February, Capello swallowed his pride and recalled David Beckham just a month after saying that he would never play for Real again.Beckham then responded with some of the best football of his four years in the Spanish capital, which prompted his recall to the England side. Finally, with Ronaldo out of the way, Capello threw his weight behind the club captain Raul Gonzalez.

The dramatic changes lead to Real losing only once in their last 17 games.They topped the summer spenders among the European clubs when they splashed out around 118 millio euros on eight players, including high-profile signings like Gabriel Heinze from Manchester United and Arjen Robben from Chelsea.