Real Madrid legend Hugo Sánchez had already begun to capture the imagination of European football’s elite long before his sensational move to the Bernabeu.
Spending his youth in native Mexico, he scored nearly a century of goals for UNAM and then spread his wings to play in North America. The Mexican soon headed for La Liga from NASL side San Diego Sockers in 1981, joining Atletico Madrid on loan and then as part of a permanent deal a year later.
Style Of Play
Sánchez was a prolific goalscorer, quick and mobile with incredible skill. He was known for his intelligence, positional sense, movement and anticipation in the area. An incredibly athletic striker, Sánchez was good in the air and also known for his ability to score acrobatic or flamboyant goals including spectacular shots and volleys, both inside or outside the area.
His trademark was to perform a celebratory somersault followed by a fist pump after each goal, rumoured to be in honour of his sister who was a gymnast. Sánchez is considered to be the first notable player to use the backflip as a form of celebration.
Whilst at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Sánchez he scored 82 times in just 152 appearances for the club across only three seasons. However, the Mexican had rightly attracted interest from some of the finest teams in Europe.
Joining Real Madrid
In the summer of 1985, Spanish giants Real Madrid made their move and Sánchez finally joined them from neighbouring rivals Atletico Madrid for a fee of around 4 million pesos or £180,000 today.
Interestingly, it was reported that because Atlético Madrid were reluctant to anger their fan base over a direct deal with fierce rivals Real, Sánchez was briefly transferred back to UNAM in Mexico with Real Madrid officially signing him from there. Following his signature, Sanchez was flown back to Spain and presented to 50,000 fans at the Bernabéu that July.
During his time in the Spanish capital he played alongside an elite group of players known as the La Quinta del Buitre or “Vulture’s Cohort” consisting of Emilio Butragueño, Manuel Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza.
He began exceptionally well at Real and showed the typical consistency in front of goal that those in the game had come to expect. During the 1985/86 campaign he scored 29 times in 49 games across all competitions. Madrid won La Liga, finishing 11 points ahead of Barcelona to secure their 21st title and even defeated FC Koln 5-3 to win the UEFA Cup.
The campaign triggered a run that saw him score 115 goals across the next three seasons with Los Blancos.
The One Touch Wonder Season
Perhaps Sanchez’s greatest achievement arrived during the 1989/90 season when he scored a career-best league 38 goals. He equaled Telmo Zarra’s 1950/51 Spanish league record goal tally with the total unmatched until Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed it following his 40 strikes during the 2010/11 season. His epic season even earned Sanchez the European Golden Boot which was awarded to the best scorer in Europe.
Impressively, the Mexican scored all 38 of his goals with one-touch finishes!
Despite each strike being executed in a single connection of the football, Sánchez still exhibited a wide range of skills, from clinical strikes to spectacular sharpshooting. He was most alive within goal poaching territory and yet prone to ‘wondergoals’ including his trademark overhead kick – or ‘chilena.’
Success After Success
With Real, Sánchez went on to win five consecutive league titles from 1985 to 1990 and also a Copa del Rey title in 1989 with victory over Valladolid. He also helped the club to a trio of Supercopa de España honours from 1988 to 1990.
During those five lucrative seasons, the Mexican forward claimed four-consecutive Pichichi trophies (awarded to La Liga’s top goalscorer) and became the only player in Spanish football history to achieve the feat.
He remains one of four players to win five ‘Pichichis’ alongside Alfredo Di Stéfano, Quini and Lionel Messi who has six.
In European Cup competitions, Sánchez scored 47 goals in only 45 matches on the continent. Yet he would never feature in a European Cup final.
Sanchez scored a total of 208 goals in 283 games across all competitions at the Bernabeu and remains seventh on the list of Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorers.
He is also the fifth highest scorer in La Liga history along with being the fourth highest scoring foreign player after Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
In 2004, Sánchez was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players with his time at Real Madrid cementing the Mexican’s status amongst the game’s greatest.
