Real Madrid La Decima Winners Team Pack

The 2014 UEFA Champions League Final took place on Saturday 24th of May at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, home to Benfica. The Final was contested by 2 team from the same city, as Real Madrid took on local rivals Athletico Madrid.

Although from the same city, the 2 teams are very different in their approach to the game and the clubs do not share the same ethos. Real Madrid are the big spenders, sparing no expense to acquire the worlds finest talent, proven by the acquisition of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal reportedly worth around 100 million Euros! Athletico prefer to mould their talent and promote youth,, with their squad assembled at a mere fraction of the cost of Real Madrid's. The final also pitted the wily veteran Carlo Ancelotti against the young upstart Diego Simeone. Simeone's side were indeed the underdog's depsite winning the Spanish La Liga title and finishing 3 points ahead of Real, as well as beating them 1-0 at the Bernebau and drawing 2-2 at home.

Diego Godin gave Athletico Madrid a first half lead, one which they held right up until the 93rd minute, as Sergio Ramos headed home to send the final into extra time! Gareth Bale left Spurs as his dream was to play at the very highest level and to do so playing for Real Madrid, his dream became reality as he scored to put Madrid 2-1 up, with Marcelo and a last minute penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo to make it 4-1 at the final whistle.

This victory ended Real's 12 year to for their 10th Champions League title, they had finally completed La Decima, a feat which SoccerStarz commemorated by releasing this 19 figure team pack. The team pack features the manager Carlo Ancelotti, the full starting 11 which was Casillas, Carajal, Ramos, Varane, Coentrao, Khedira, Modric, Di Maria, Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema, 2 of the substitues used which were Marcelo and Isco, along with 3 unused substitues, those being Alonso, Illaramendi and Arbeloa, all played a part in the campaign. The 1 substitute who appeared but is not featured in the team pack is Alvaro Morata, very much a squad player during his time at Real Madrid and his omission is no surprise and i do not feel it detracts in any way from the appeal of the product. The pack features 3 figures on a BLACK base, those being Ancelotti, Jese and Carvajal, the other 16 figures are on a GREEN base. The SoccerStarz of Jese and Carvajal in 2013/14 home kit are EXCLUSIVE to this team pack and not availalbe any other way. Both were released as part of the 2014/15 Collection but in 2014/15 kit of course.

The Real Madrid La Decima Team Pack was limited to just 750 pieces, with each pack including the 19 Collector Cards. Despite many of these SoccerStarz being released as 13/14 blister packs, the Collector Cards actually had the 12/13 figure images on them, so this team pack was the only way to obtain these 13/14 version Collector Cards. The Team Pack was also accompanied by an individually numbered certificate of authenticity, further enhancing the products collectibility. A superb piece and a must for any SoccerStarz collection, with the original retail price being around £45-55