Life at Real Madrid was a nightmare.

Former Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka has sensationally revealed his brief time in the Spanish capital.

Anelka completed a shock move to Los Blancos ahead of the 1999/2000 season, after scoring 17 league goals in the previous campaign as Arsenal won a Premier League and FA Cup double.

His form for the Gunners alerted Real Madrid to his rise as one of the best young strikers in Europe.

However, despite high hopes of replicating that in Madrid, the former France international struggled to show his best.

Anelka has frequently criticized the media’s intrusion into his life in Spain (as he failed to score a goal in his first five months at the club) before leaving after just one season.

He returned to Paris Saint-Germain before the 2000/01 season, the club he left Arsenal for in 1997, and spoke about his problems in Madrid as part of a new Netflix documentary, Anelka: Misunderstood.

Wenger, Henry, Drogba, Petit, Pogba and – *of course* – Nicolas Anelka, talking about Nicolas Anelka? Yes. Très bon. Anelka: Misunderstood arrives on Netflix on August 5. pic.twitter.com/dg1xXIbBbT

— Netflix UK and Ireland (@NetflixUK) July 22, 2020

“I understood what it meant to be a star when I arrived at Real Madrid and I hated it,” he said.

“After being greeted at the airport by fans and journalists, I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ This is too difficult. It was the beginning of a nightmare.

“I felt a lot of pressure from the beginning. Every day in the Spanish press there was an article or a photo about me.

“I would have liked to score more, but I didn’t have the opportunity and I wasn’t up to the task. Too many things happened. In part, I regret it. The players always want to play for Real Madrid.

“There were too many sacrifices to make and I was too young to understand it.”

Anelka left Madrid with seven goals scored in all competitions in 1999/00, but did claim a UEFA Champions League winner’s medal as he started in Real Madrid’s 3-0 final victory over Valencia.