thumb|[[Emilio Butragueño, El Buitre]]

is the moniker given by Spanish sport journalist Julio César Iglesias to the five homegrown Real Madrid players who were at the core of the team that dominated Spanish football in the 1980s. The name ("Vulture's Cohort") was derived from Emilio Butragueño's nickname ', the most charismatic and prominent player of the group. The other four members were Manolo Sanchís, Rafael Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza. All five players were graduates of Real Madrid's youth academy, La Fábrica.

Origin

The name originated from an El País article written by journalist Julio César Iglesias entitled "Amancio y la quinta del Buitre". Originally, the article's title was intended to be simply "La Quinta del Buitre", however Iglesias remembers that he decided to add Amancio's name after being advised by the paper's editors that writing a 90-line article about a group of kids, "'", would be excessive. However, that group of young players brought new stamina to the team and they were representatives of the new dynamic that the entire Spanish society was experiencing in those late 1970s and early 1980s.

By the time the article was published, all five players were part of Real Madrid's reserves team, Castilla, and the article had a major impact in order to attract the attention towards these young players. At the end of the season, Castilla finished as champions of the 1983–84 Segunda División, but by then only Míchel was still not incorporated into Real Madrid first team, with the other four having been transferred immediately after the article was published. Their record was only blemished by their failure to win the European Cup.

All the five players were part of Spain's squad during 1990 FIFA World Cup. In the last minutes of the game against Belgium, la "Quinta" was reunited on the pitch after the entry of Miguel Pardeza for Julio Salinas. It was the only time during World Cup Finals.

Martín Vázquez went to play for Torino in 1990. He made a return to Real Madrid in 1992, leaving the club again for good in 1995 (to Deportivo de La Coruña). Butragueño left the club in 1995 and Míchel in 1996. Both went to play for Club Celaya in Mexico.

Sanchís was the only member of La Quinta to never play for a club other than Real Madrid. By winning the Champions League twice (in 1998 and 2000), he also managed to accomplish what La Quinta had failed to achieve in its glory days.

Manchester City president Ferran Soriano, commenting on the supposed "luck" surrounding Real Madrid's 2022 Champions League victory, said: "People don't remember that in the 80s and 90s [Real] had a fantastic team, one of the best in history, with [Emilio] Butragueno and La Quinta, and they could not win [the European Cup]. Milan eliminated them every year. So they were somewhat lucky now, but they were also very unlucky for years."

Notes

:1.Translated from Spanish: