8 April 2025
The historic champions of the continental competition boast an unparalleled record in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Since the tournament's format was changed in 1995, replacing the European Cup with the current Champions League, Real Madrid has become accustomed to reaching the quarterfinals. From 1996 to 2004, Real Madrid never missed a Champions League quarterfinal before facing a complication in this round.
Real Madrid's journey continued to stop at the round of 16, despite being the most decorated club at the time with nine European titles, as they never reached the quarter-finals for six consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2010, and never succeeded in being among the top eight in Europe, before breaking the jinx in 2011 under Jose Mourinho and qualifying for the quarter-finals with the Special One, when he led the team to the semi-finals after losing to rivals Barcelona.
Since Real Madrid succeeded in overcoming the round of 16 obstacle, and being in the quarter-finals for eight consecutive years, the quarter-finals have become an obstacle again, after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, as they were unable to overcome the round of 16 obstacle for two consecutive seasons, as they were eliminated in 2019 by Ajax Amsterdam, while in 2020 by Manchester City, but they returned to the round of 8, and won the title in 2022, enhancing their record with 14 titles. European Cup, and returned two years later in 2024 to continue their momentum and win their fifteenth title in their history after defeating Borussia Dortmund in the final.
Remontada Kings!
What's interesting about Real Madrid's record in the Champions League quarterfinals is that since 2016, the club has made a habit of qualifying after achieving a comeback. Real Madrid always lost the first leg, but the team, under French coach Zinedine Zidane, would come from behind in the second leg and successfully overcome their opponents and reach the semifinals.
It all began in the 2015-16 season, when Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat at the Volkswagen Arena and lost 2-0 to Wolfsburg. Cristiano Ronaldo, however, stepped up to the plate and led Los Blancos to a 3-0 victory, scoring a hat-trick to send Los Blancos to the semi-finals.
The same story happened again in the 2016-17 season, this time against a German team, when Real Madrid lost 2-1 away at the Allianz Arena. However, they came back in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu and won 4-2 after extra time to reach the semi-finals.
In the 2017-18 season, Real Madrid fans experienced the same thrill again when they lost the first leg to Juventus 3-0. However, they recovered from that defeat in the second leg with a 3-1 victory to reach the semi-finals and complete their journey to the final, where they won the title at the expense of Liverpool.
