Real Madrid C.F.

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Spanish pronunciation: [reˈal maˈðɾið ˈkluβ ðe ˈfuðβol]; Royal Madrid Football Club), commonly known as Real Madrid, or simply as Real, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain.

Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the team has traditionally worn a white home kit since inception. The word Real is Spanish for Royal and was bestowed to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem. The team has played its home matches in the 81,044-capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in downtown Madrid since 1947. Unlike most European sporting entities, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club throughout its history.

The club is the most valuable sports team in the world, worth €2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) and the world's highest-earning football club for 2013–14, with an annual revenue of €549.5 million. The club is one of the most widely supported teams in the world. Real Madrid is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division, along with Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably El Clásico with Barcelona and the El Derbi madrileño with Atlético Madrid.

Cope

The cope (known in Latin as pluviale 'rain coat' or cappa 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour.

A cope may be worn by any rank of the clergy, and also by lay ministers in certain circumstances. If worn by a bishop, it is generally accompanied by a mitre. The clasp, which is often highly ornamented, is called a morse. In art, angels are often shown wearing copes, especially in Early Netherlandish painting.

History

There has been little change in the character of the vestment from the earliest ages. Then as now it was made of a piece of silk or other cloth of semicircular shape, which distinguished it from the earlier form of chasuble, as a chasuble had straight edges sewn together in front. Both are similar in form and origin to the Orthodox phelonion.

The only noticeable modification which the cope has undergone lies in the disappearance of the hood. Some early examples feature a triangular hood, which was intended to be of practical utility in covering the head in processions, etc., but over time the hood became merely ornamental, and is commonly represented by a sort of shield of embroidery, sometimes adorned with a fringe or tassel. The fact that in many early chasubles, as depicted in the drawings of the eighth and ninth centuries, we see clear traces of a primitive hood, strongly confirms the view that in their origin cope and chasuble were identical, the chasuble being only a cope with its edges sewn together.

Marco Asensio

Marco Asensio Willemsen (born 21 January 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for RCD Espanyol on loan from Real Madrid as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Mallorca

Born in Palma, Majorca, Balearic Islands to a Dutch mother and a Basque father, Asensio played youth football for hometown club RCD Mallorca. After being scouted by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, he made his senior debuts with the B-team in the 2013–14 season in Tercera División, despite still being a junior; on 27 October 2013 he made his first competitive appearance for the main squad, playing the last six minutes in a 1–3 away loss against Recreativo de Huelva for the Segunda División championship.

Again from the bench, Asensio played the last six minutes in a 0–0 home draw against CD Lugo. After impressing in his first games, he was promoted to the first team by manager José Luis Oltra.

On 16 March 2014 Asensio scored his first professional goal, netting the first in a 2–0 home win over CD Tenerife. He was made a starter under new coach Valeri Karpin, scoring against CA Osasuna, Deportivo Alavés and UE Llagostera within a month.

Karim Benzema

Karim Mostafa Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the France national team as a striker. He has been described as an "immensely talented striker" who is "strong and powerful" and "a potent finisher from inside the box".

Benzema was born in the city of Lyon and began his football career with local club Bron Terraillon. In 1996, he joined the biggest club in the city, Olympique Lyonnais, and subsequently came through the club's youth academy. Benzema made his professional debut in the 2004–05 season and appeared sporadically in his first three seasons as Lyon won three titles in that span. In the 2007–08 season, Benzema became a starter and had a breakthrough year scoring over 30 goals as Lyon won its seventh straight league title. For his performances, he was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 1 Player of the Year and named to the organization's Team of the Year. Benzema was also the league's top scorer and given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo. After another season at Lyon, in July 2009, Benzema moved to Real Madrid in a transfer fee worth over €35 million ($50 million), and signed a six-year contract. After struggling to establish himself in his debut season with the club, in the ensuing two seasons, Benzema reached prominence, scoring 32 goals en route to helping Real Madrid win the Copa del Rey in 2011 and the 2011–12 edition of La Liga. He has been named French Player of the Year thrice for his performances in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Super cup

A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the "curtain-raiser" to a season. It is played by two competition winners of the previous season. On a national level by the knock-out cup winner and the league winner. There are also continental super cups, like the UEFA Super Cup in football, which puts together two UEFA competition winners. Sometimes these are two-legged ties, with a match played at each side's stadium, but increasingly they are one-off fixtures at a neutral venue, such as a national stadium. Some Super Cups have even been staged in venues outside their home country, such as the Italian, French and Turkish games.

If the league champions are also the national cup winners, the winners may play a runner-up in one competition.

Football

National Supercups

The following nations have an active super cup competition:

Albanian Supercup

Algerian Super Cup

Andorran Supercup

Argentinian Super Cup

Armenian Supercup

Azerbaijan Supercup