Five things to know about king slayers Real Madrid Femenino

Real Madrid men's football team are synonymous with magical nights in the Champions League.

The women's team Real Madrid Femenino, however, are now getting in on the action too.

Despite only forming in 2020, Las Blancas sealed a shock 1-0 away win in the Champions League (courtesy of a Claudia Zornoza goal) over Manchester City on Wednesday (8 September) to eliminate the English giants 2-1 on aggregate.

More impressively still, it is the Spanish side's first season of Champions League football.

But outside of a magic evening in Manchester, and a squad packed full of Olympic medallists and exciting talent, who are Real Madrid Femenino?

1: The takeover of CD Tacòn

Despite the long and rich history that Real Madrid boasts, it wouldn't be until 2019 that they made the decision to write a women's team into their story.

While many clubs will often build their women's clubs from scratch, Madrid went the non-traditional route of merging with an already existing club.

Independently formed Club Deportivo TACON would subsequently become the base from which the Spanish club would build, with president Florentino Perez citing the club's impressive youth system as one of the main reasons Madrid opted to merge with them.

The takeover was completed in 2020 and the team renamed Real Madrid Femenino would go on to finish second in the Primera Division behind eventual champions, and age-old rivals, FC Barcelona.

2: The first Galactica - Kosovare Asllani

Real Madrid are world-renowned for their Galactico signings, including the likes of Roberto Carlos, Cristiano Ronaldo to Zinedine Zidane.

When Madrid announced the takeover of CD Tacòn, their first Galática soon followed suit in super Swede Kosovare Asllani.

The former PSG and Man City forward has scored 39 goals for her country, and is well known to Olympic football fans having played a focal role in helping Sweden to silver medals at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as well as the team's third-place finish at the 2019 World Cup.

Her talent and experience are an invaluable asset to this developing team, and her signing sent out a seismic statement of intent to their rivals.

The 32-year-old also said it was a dream come true for her to pull on the famous white jersey.

3: El Classico reborn

Whether a club is newly founded or has been dominating the game for years, in Spain the rivalries run deep.

While matches between capital clubs Real and Atletico are always intense, there is still nothing in Spain quite like the Real v Barca derby in men's or women's football.

It doesn't matter that Real are the new kids on the block, there is no lack of heart and passion whenever the sides meet.

So far it's the Catalan club who have got the better of their encounters, putting four past Las Blancas twice last season.

4: Where do Real Madrid play their home games?

Real Madrid Femenino play their homes at the Alfredo di Stèfano stadium.

The ground was named after Real's legendary Alfredo di Stèfano who enjoyed a glittering career with Los Blancos, scoring 418 goals in 510 games.

It was also briefly home to Madrid's men's team while their new stadium is being build.

So far, it looks to be a happy new home for Madrid Fememino.

5: Olympic talent at the heart of a new dynasty

The signing of Asllani has proven pivotal for Madrid, but she's not the only Galactica in town.

Hugely-experienced Babett Peter commands the backline, having won over 100 caps for country Germany and helped the team to Olympic gold at Rio 2016.

The summer signing of Danish attacker Caroline Moller from Inter Milan shows that the club are also looking to build for the future.

The 22-year-old will benefit immeasurably from the mentorship of Asllani, and already looks promising across the front line with her ability to carry the ball and take on players one-on-one.

Also keep an eye out for Claudia Zornoza and Kenti Robles, who have already become fan favourites with the Las Blancas faithful. The former bagged the goal that saw them through to the group stage of the Champions League while the latter's strike in the first leg against City proved to be critical in progressing.