Jose Mourinho is back at Real Madrid. And that means it's worth revisiting the side that made him worth bringing back — the 2011-12 squad that bulldozed La Liga with 100 points and 121 goals, a record that still stands as arguably the greatest league campaign in Spanish football history.
Thirteen years on, the players who delivered that title have scattered across the globe — some into management, some into retirement, one still scoring at 41. Here's where they all ended up.
The ones who never really left the game
Iker Casillas (GK, 37 appearances, 14 clean sheets) — The most decorated goalkeeper in Spanish history left Real Madrid in 2015 as the club's second-highest appearance maker of all time. These days he's a pundit and club ambassador. He also made his feelings about Mourinho's return perfectly clear earlier this year, posting on X that he did not "want him at Madrid." Not exactly a warm welcome.
Álvaro Arbeloa (RB, 26 appearances) — After finishing his playing career at West Ham, Arbeloa worked his way up through Real Madrid's academy ranks — Under-14s, Under-19s, B team — before landing the first-team job following Xabi Alonso's mid-season exit. It didn't go well. A spell marked by internal chaos, including some very literal in-fighting at the club, ended with Arbeloa heading to Fulham as their new Premier League manager.
Sami Khedira (CM, 28 appearances, 2 goals) — His influence at Real Madrid faded once Modrić and Kroos arrived, and he eventually moved to Juventus in 2015 — only to face his old club in the 2017 Champions League final, which Madrid won 4-1. After retiring in 2021, he built a media career as a commentator and analyst. This season, he's back in the dugout as part of Mourinho's new coaching staff.
Xabi Alonso (CM, 36 appearances, 1 goal) — Arguably the most fascinating post-playing career of the lot. Alonso took Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga title in 2023-24, which earned him the Real Madrid job in 2025. It lasted half a season. A very public fallout with Vinícius Júnior during El Clásico ended it. He's now Chelsea's manager heading into 2026-27.
The ones still playing — somehow
Sergio Ramos (CB, 34 appearances, 3 goals) — Five La Liga titles. Four Champions Leagues. A 2022 Ballon d'Or for Benzema that Ramos helped make possible. At 40, he hasn't officially retired, but his most recent move was fronting an investment group's bid to buy a controlling stake in Sevilla — a deal that later collapsed.
Pepe (CB, 29 appearances, 1 goal) — Still kicking lumps out of attackers well into his 40s at Porto, Pepe finally stopped playing competitively at 41. In May, he turned out for Real Madrid in a Legends Cup match against Barcelona in Miami. Some players just don't stop.
Cristiano Ronaldo (LW, 38 appearances, 46 goals) — He scored 60 goals across all competitions in 2011-12. He's 41 now and still scoring for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. His 2026 World Cup was less triumphant — a double against Uzbekistan got people briefly excited, but Portugal's campaign, built heavily around an aging Ronaldo, disappointed. New national team manager Jorge Jesus has left the door open for him to continue internationally.
Karim Benzema (ST, 34 appearances, 21 goals) — The Frenchman scored 32 times in all competitions that season, which was particularly satisfying given Mourinho had compared him unfavorably to a cat the year before. His best work came after Ronaldo left in 2018 — he became Madrid's main man, claimed the 2022 Ballon d'Or, and finished his Bernabéu career as the club's second-highest scorer with 354 goals, behind only Ronaldo's 450. He's now at Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Ángel Di María (RW, 32 appearances, 7 goals) — Left Madrid for Manchester United in 2014, excelled at PSG where he remains their all-time assist leader, and was still playing at Benfica as recently as 2025. Now 38 and back at boyhood club Rosario Central.
The others
Marcelo (LB, 32 appearances, 3 goals) — Seven La Liga titles. Five Champions Leagues. 25 trophies in total. Only Nacho, Dani Carvajal, and Luka Modrić won more honors in a Real Madrid shirt. He retired in 2024 after spells at Olympiacos and Fluminense. His teenage son, Enzo Alves, is now in Real Madrid's academy.
Mesut Özil (AM, 35 appearances, 4 goals) — Second only to Messi for La Liga assists in 2011-12 with 19, Özil was the creative engine behind that record-breaking campaign. He later wrote that Mourinho called him a "crybaby" and a "coward" during a locker room confrontation. He moved to Arsenal for a then-record £42.5 million in 2013, won three FA Cups, and has been retired since. His recent viral body transformation videos suggest he's been busy.
Mourinho inherits a very different squad in 2026. But the template from 2011-12 — high intensity, tactical discipline, and goals from everywhere — is presumably still the blueprint. Whether the players are there to execute it is a different question entirely.
