Club legend
Alfredo Di Stéfano came back to the club as head coach in a high-expected movement after he was
La Liga champion managing
Valencia CF in
1971. The arrive of Di Stefano as the team head coach was delayed by then club President
Santiago Bernabeu -who died in 1978- after personal issues aroused since 1964 when the Argentine striker rejected his offer to retire with an administrative spot in the club and chose to play two more seasons with
RCD Espanyol. Finally, after a long turmoil lasting almost a year Incumbent Luis de Carlos won the reelection as President of the club on 9 October 1982 defeating the electoral campaign of challenger
Ramon Mendoza by more than 3,000 votes. Mendoza was linked by Cambio 16 magazine with Soviet Spy agency KGB, prompting to quit his position as vice-president on board of directors during Autumn. After a failed bid on
Allan Simonsen, De Carlos reinforced the club with low-profile players such as Dutch defender
John Metgod from
AZ Alkmaar English striker
Laurie Cunningham suffered injury issues during almost the entire campaign and was loaned out by the club to
Manchester United in April. The campaign is best remembered by the bizarre fact of five trophies closely lost, four of them in four closely contested finals (Supercopa, European Cup Winners' Cup, Copa del Rey and Copa de La Liga). Besides that, in
La Liga the squad finished in 2nd place a single point behind champions basque-side
Athletic Bilbao after losing 0–1 against former Di Stefano club
Valencia in the ultimate match at Mestalla Stadium. Madrid were leading most of the rounds before the game and only needed a draw to clinch the title. ==Squad==