Most valuable football clubs in the world right now

Real Madrid (€2.920b)

Real Madrid created history by winning the third consecutive Champions League title

The best football team of the decade, period. Zinedine Zidane's men created history by beating Liverpool and lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy for the third time in a row. They have clinched five titles in the past two seasons, a haul that includes two Champions League trophies.

Real Madrid are valued at €2.920 billion; they are the second most-valued football club around the globe. But surprisingly, their financial gains seemed to have dwindled according to KPMG's five-metric model. They have registered a loss of 2% in their EV as compared to the previous year.

In spite of increasing their operating revenues by 8%, Real Madrid's EV has worsened because of experiencing a decrease in the model's key parameters. Their quadruple in season 2016-17 came at a heavy cost; Los Blancos saw an increase in their staff costs up to 61%. Also, having the highest payroll in the world that includes staff plus player wages (€400m) is a major factor in the decline of their EV.

As a result, they are one of the only six clubs amongst the Top 32 who have registered a downfall in their EV this year.

Real Madrid's social media statistics are as follows:

Facebook - 107.8 million

Twitter - 49.4 million

Instagram - 57.3 million

Real Madrid's total fan base of 214.5 million on social media makes them the most followed footballing institution on the Internet. They have increased their fan-following by 9%. They have gathered the highest number of unique followers (18.1 million), which is equal to the entire population of the Netherlands.

A major part of their fan base is down to the players; Real Madrid have six players on the list of the top 20 most-followed footballers on the list. The followers of Cristiano Ronaldo, Krim Benzema, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos and Toni Kroos account to nearly 600 million, which is amazingly half of India's population and three times more than the club's total fan base on all three platforms.