Why Madrid’s La Decima dream may not happen this May
Real Madrid will not win their much-coveted tenth UEFA Champions League trophy because they knocked out the title holders.
If statistics from previous games in the competition are to be believed, Real Madrid’s 5-0 aggregate score line win over last season’s winner, Bayern Munich will be their undoing.
The 2013-14 UEFA Champions League is the 59th season of Europe’s premier club football competition, but only on 10 occasions (28 per cent) have the team who defeated the current champions won the trophy. In 26 seasons (72 per cent), the conqueror of the champions bit the dust along the way.
The remaining 22 editions have no effect on the computation; because on those occasions, the champions successfully defended their titles or only got stuck in the final (except for Olympique Marseille who were disqualified in 1994 for match-fixing and Chelsea who didn’t make it past the group stage as champions in 2013).
This year’s final is billed for the Estadio da Luz in Portugal, so advantage Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid? Before you say yes, see the breakdown below.
Year: 1960
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Conqueror: Barcelona (4-3 aggregate win in the first round)
Fate of conqueror: Barcelona lose 3-2 to Benfica in the final
Year: 1963
Defending champions: AC Milan
Conqueror: Real Madrid (4-3 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Real Madrid lose 3-1 to Inter Milan in the final
Year: 1966
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Conqueror: Inter Milan (3-0 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Inter lose 2-1 to Celtic in the final
Year: 1967
Defending champions: Celtic
Conqueror: Dynamo Kyiv (3-2 aggregate win in the first round)
Fate of conqueror: Kyiv lose 3-2 on aggregate to Gornik Zabrze in the second round
Year: 1968
Defending champions: Manchester United
Conqueror: AC Milan (2-1 aggregate win in the semifinal)
Fate of conqueror: Milan lose 4-1 to Ajax in the final
Year: 1970
Defending champions: Feyenoord
Conqueror: UTA Arad (1-1 on away-goal-rule in the first round)
Fate of conqueror: Arad lose 6-1 on aggregate to Red Star Belgrade in the second round
Year: 1973
Defending champions: Ajax
Conqueror: CSKA September Flag (2-1 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: CSKA lose 5-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the quarter final
Year: 1976
Defending champions: Bayern Munich
Conqueror: Dynamo Kyiv (2-1 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Kyiv lose 2-0 on aggregate to Borussia Monchengladbach in the semifinal
Year: 1980
Defending champions: Nottingham Forest
Conqueror: CSKA Sofia (2-0 aggregate win in the first round)
Fate of conqueror: CSKA lose 6-1 on aggregate to Liverpool in the quarter final
Year: 1981
Defending champions: Liverpool
Conqueror: CSKA September Flag (2-1 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: CSKA lose 7-4 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the semifinal
Year: 1982
Defending champions: Aston Villa
Conqueror: Juventus (5-2 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Juventus lose 1-0 to Hamburg in the final
Year: 1983
Defending champions: Hamburg
Conqueror: Dinamo Bucuresti (5-3 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: Dinamo lose 2-1 on aggregate to Liverpool in the semifinal
Year: 1985
Defending champions: Juventus
Conqueror: Barcelona (2-1 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Barcelona lose 2-0 on penalties to Steaua Bucharest in the final
Year: 1986
Defending champions: Steaua Bucharest
Conqueror: Anderlecht (3-1 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: Anderlecht lose 7-2 to Bayern Munich in the quarter final
Year: 1987
Defending champions: Porto
Conqueror: Real Madrid (4-2 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: Real Madrid lose 1-1 on away-goal-rule to PSV Eindhoven in the semifinal
Year: 1988
Defending champions: PSV Eindhoven
Conqueror: Real Madrid (3-2 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Real Madrid lose 6-1 to AC Milan in the semifinal
Year: 1990
Defending champions: AC Milan
Conqueror: Olympique Marseille (4-1 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Marseille lose 5-3 on penalties to Red Star Belgrade in the final
Year: 1991
Defending champions: Red Star Belgrade
Conqueror: Sampdoria (Red Star Belgrade came second in Group A)
Fate of conqueror: Sampdoria lose 1-0 to Barcelona in the final
Year: 1992
Defending champions: Barcelona
Conqueror: CSKA Moscow (4-3 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: CSKA come last in Group A behind Marseille, Rangers, and Club Brugge
Year: 1998
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Conqueror: Dynamo Kyiv (3-1 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Kyiv lose 4-3 to Bayern Munich in the semifinal
Year: 2002
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Conqueror: Juventus (4-3 aggregate win in the semifinal)
Fate of conqueror: Juventus lose 3-2 to AC Milan in the final
Year: 2003
Defending champions: AC Milan
Conqueror: Deportivo La Coruna (5-4 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Deportivo lose 1-0 on aggregate to Porto in the semifinal
Year: 2004
Defending champions: Porto
Conqueror: Inter Milan (4-2 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: Inter lose 5-0 to AC Milan in the quarter final
Year: 2005
Defending champions: Liverpool
Conqueror: Benfica (3-0 aggregate win in the second round)
Fate of conqueror: Benfica lose 2-0 to Barcelona in the quarter final
Year: 2006
Defending champions: Barcelona
Conqueror: Liverpool (2-2 on away-goal-rule in the first knock-out round)
Fate of conqueror: Liverpool lose 2-1 to AC Milan in the final
Year: 2007
Defending champions: AC Milan
Conqueror: Arsenal (2-0 aggregate win in the first knock-out round)
Fate of conqueror: Arsenal lose 5-3 to Liverpool in the quarter final
Year: 2010
Defending champions: Inter Milan
Conqueror: Schalke 04(7-3 aggregate win in the quarter final)
Fate of conqueror: Schalke lose 6-1 to Manchester United in the semifinal
I like this use of statistics to pass across a point. Guess we'll see how well CR7 can defy Statistics.