Back in 2021, UEFA decided to abolish the away goal rule from all of its European tournaments. An interesting call, given it allowed the team with the most away goals to advance if both sides ended the tie with the same aggregate score in knockout stage matches. But imagine if this rule were still in effect. That’s exactly what Atlético Madrid might have been pondering over since last night after being knocked out by Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16.
28 seconds—that’s all it took for the Rojiblancos to level the aggregate score of the opening leg. It was a 2-1 loss for them at Bernabeu, where Rodrygo had opened the scoring for his side within 5 minutes. While Atlético’s new wonder signing, Julian Alvarez, came to haunt Real by striking a brilliant curler around the right side of the net, Brahim Diaz won it for his side to give them a slender advantage.
But an early strike from Connor Gallagher yesterday inside a minute after kick-off somehow ignited their hopes of finally going ahead. Even Diego Simeone‘s pre-match talk would have come true: “I believe in my players; I have faith in the team I have. I fully understand and appreciate the heart that my footballers possess, and I have no doubt that we will continue to strive for advancement in this Champions League because our objective is to reach the final,” stated the Argentinian boss.
However, when you face record 15x UCL holders, there’s no way it’s going to go down so easily. The whole game saw Carlo Ancelotti‘s side trying to find an equalizer at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. The football gods came close to granting their wish, as minutes after the hour mark, Real Madrid was awarded a penalty which ensued after Kylian Mbappe was deliberately brought down by Clement Lenglet. But the drama advanced further as Vinicius Jr ended up blasting it over the crossbar.
Hope had been restored within Atletico, but their challenge was far from being over. They still had another goal to score for making it into the last eight. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for them as the end of 90 minutes saw the match being pushed to extra time. Of course, an additional half-hour kept both sides separated on aggregate, taking the match to penalties.
Mbappe opened the shootout with a neat finish, with Alexander Sørloth leveling the score. While the second kick saw Jude Bellingham add another, Atletico fell short of luck. That’s because even though Alvarez was able to find the net from the spot, he slipped, leading him to touch the ball twice.
The following kick saw both Federico Valverde and Angel Correa making no mistakes. But the complete opposite happened during the fourth time as both Lucas Vazquez and Marcos Llorente missed. That, however, still kept Real at the front edge with a 2-3 lead. Finally, in the do-or-die fifth round, Antonio Rudiger had to come clutch and score the winning penalty to take his teammates into the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, to Atletico’s dismay, they have now been knocked out. Naturally, this result only adds to their history of poor records against their city rivals. Speaking of which, let’s take a deeper look at this rivalry.
Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid: Past Champions League records
The two sides have faced off against each other on 236 occasions, with the first-ever Madrid Derby occurring in 1906 (won by Real Madrid). Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, their head-to-head record favors Real Madrid, who have won 117 times against their cross-city rivals. On the other hand, Atlético Madrid have won just 59, while 63 matches have ended in a draw across all competitions.
Of course, this head-to-head record consists of all the iconic Madrid derbies that have taken place so far. Speaking of the ones pertaining to the Champions League, there have been a number of prominent clashes between these two sides. For instance, recall the 2014 edition, where both sides met each other for the first time in the final of the Champions League.
Diego Godin‘s early goal made it appear as though the Rojiblancos may finally win their first Champions League title. But when it comes to the UCL, expect unexpected surprises from Real Madrid. In the dying moments of the game, Sergio Ramos headed in the ball from a corner to give his side the late equalizer. But it didn’t end there; to make matters worse, extra time saw Real add three more goals, courtesy of Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Soccer Football – LaLiga – Atletico Madrid v Rayo Vallecano – Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain – January 31, 2024 Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone reacts before the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
And the 2016 Champions League final was a repeat of this very clash. The Rojiblancos displayed a scrumptious form throughout the tournament and headed into the final as the favorites. Not to mention their road to the final involved defeating the likes of FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Real Madrid, on the other hand, had a comparatively easier route to the final with knockout ties against the likes of a pre-Pep Guardiola Manchester City and Wolfsburg.
But one shouldn’t forget why the Los Blancos are called the Kings of Europe. Coincidentally, the match followed a similar pattern to 2014, though it was Ramos this time who gave an early first-half lead to Real Madrid. However, Atlético’s Yannick Carrasco came clutch to score the equalizer and take the game to extra time. Simeone’s side thought they could emulate a comeback like their arch-rivals, but boy were they wrong. The match was taken to penalties, which, unfortunately, the Atlético lost 5-3.
The two sides met each other yet again in the 2017 edition, but in the semi-finals this time. Believe it or not, Real just needed the opening leg to make it clear that they weren’t done tormenting their city rivals, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting the superb hat trick. Though the return leg saw the Atlético secure a 2-1 win, but it was too little too late.
Fast forward to today, and we again saw these two sides face off in the Champions League for the first time in nearly 8 years. But this time in the Round of 16. Notably, other than their March 4th UCL encounter, the last time Atlético and Real squared off against each other was in February.The Madrid Derby took place on La Liga Match day 23. That game saw both sides share the spoils with a 1-1 draw and Kylian Mbappe and Julian Alvarez were the two names on the scoresheet.
Interestingly, this season in the UEFA Champions League, Atlético Madrid finished higher than Real Madrid in the League Phase and secured direct entry into the Round of 16, as opposed to Real, who had to play in the Knockoff phase play-offs against Manchester City. Surprisingly, Atleti had an excellent home record this season, with no losses so far. But it is always worth remembering that no one can question the Los Blancos. After all, Ancelotti and Co. have a formidable record in the UCL. And now, with the latest win, they are on a path to glory even more!
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