The 25-year-old, who signed for £13.4m from Newcastle United in August 2004, came on as a substitute four minutes from time at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Though he only touched the ball a few times he was given a rousing reception by the home fans who have been impressed with his commitment to the club and his grasp of the Spanish language.

Woodgate said: "It has been a very hard year for me but finally I have made my debut so I am delighted."

He added: "I need to play a lot more with my team mates but right now I am really pleased. I only can say thank you to the fans for their reception - I do not have words to say what I felt."

The England defender also won the praise of Madrid coach Wanderley Luxemburgo, who was pleased to see how much the moment meant to Woodgate when he came on to the pitch for Ivan Helguera.

"We were trying to fire him up. We are trying to build a team here and if he looked emotional that is what we wanted," Luxemburgo said.

Woodgate had ended a 16-month injury lay-off last week when he played for Real's youth team.

The club have now arranged a practice game so he can continue to build up his confidence ahead of Real's first League match of the season against Cadiz on 28 August.