SOCCER: Carvajal to leave Real Madrid as Bernabeu prepares farewell

Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal will leave the club at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on a glittering 23-year association that included six Champions League triumphs.

The Spanish right back, who joined the club when he was 10 years old, spent 10 seasons in the academy before leaving to play one season at Bayer Leverkusen in 2012.

He returned one year later to spend the next 13 seasons with Real's first team, collecting 27 trophies in one of the most successful periods in the club's history.

"Real Madrid C.F. and our captain Dani Carvajal have agreed to bring to an end a wonderful spell as a player at our club at the end of the current season," the club said in a statement on Monday.

Carvajal is one of only five players to have won six European Cups and was a central figure in Real's remarkable Champions League success over the past decade.

He made 450 appearances, scoring 14 goals, and in 2024 was named Man of the Match in the Champions League final, in which he scored to help Real win a record-extending 15th continental title.

In recent seasons, however, he has struggled to rediscover his rhythm after a devastating knee injury suffered in the dying moments of a LaLiga match against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2024.

For Spain, Carvajal earned 51 caps, winning the European Championship in 2024 and the Nations League in 2023.

Real president Florentino Perez described him as "a legend and a symbol of Real Madrid and its youth academy," adding: "This is and always will be his home."

The Santiago Bernabeu will pay tribute to Carvajal on Saturday during Real's final LaLiga match of the season against Athletic Bilbao.

-Reporting by Fernando Kallas;Editing by Toby Davis/Reuters