Madrid - Arabstoday
Jose Mourinho\'s men are closing in on another mark in their pursuit of the Primera Division crown - and could travel to Camp Nou next week as the all-time topscorers in La Liga.Emilio Butragueno caused quite a stir last month. \"This is the best Real Madrid team in the history of the club,\" the former Spain striker said. \"The numbers speak for themselves.\"Butragueno starred for Madrid in the 1980s and early 1990s, in a team thought to be the second best in the club\'s history (after the great side of the 1950s which claimed five consecutive European Cups) and which became affectionately known as La Quinta del Buitre, in reference to the side\'s five homegrown heroes, made up by the striker himself, Michel, Martin Vazquez, Manolo Sanchis and Miguel Pardeza.The one considerable thorn in the side of that Madrid outfit was failure to capture the biggest prize of all: the European Cup. In La Liga, however, La Quinta del Buitre racked up five successive titles between 1986 and 1990. And they saved the best until last.In 1989-90, under John Toshack, Madrid stormed to the title by a massive nine points (back then, teams were awarded only two for a win) over Valencia, with Barcelona in a distant third. But that campaign has since been remembered for two other reasons: the 38 goals netted by Hugo Sanchez which leveled Telmo Zarra\'s long-standing Pichichi record and the 107 strikes scored by Madrid to set a new mark in Spanish football.Both of those records remained when Jose Mourinho arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2010, but Cristiano Ronaldo raised the bar with 40 league goals last season (a total he has already leveled again this term) and Madrid are now poised to smash their all-time record as well.With six games still to play in La Liga, Los Blancos have netted 104 goals and the 1990 high of 107 could well be beaten on Saturday night as Real host Javier Clemente\'s struggling Sporting Gijon at the Bernabeu.The once-magical mark of 100 has been broken for each of the last three Liga campaigns. Pep Guardiola\'s brilliant Barcelona side netted 105 times in 2008-09 and scored three less last term, while Manuel Pellegrini\'s Madrid managed 102 in 2009-10, although that wasn\'t enough to save the Chilean his job or win the title as Real trailed the Catalans by three points.