Real Madrid has an unblemished history in the finals of Champions LeagueSince UEFA renamed the competition in the mid-1990s, the Whites have won seven out of seven finals, being an infallible machine at the moment of truth. The semifinals of the tournament, however, have been an Achilles heel for a club that has reached this round in 10 of the last 12 editions. The Whites have made a total of 15 appearances in the semis, being the team that has reached this round the most times, ahead of Barça and Bayern on 12, Chelsea on 8 and Juventus and Manchester United on 7.
The whites signed in the period understood being the absolute record of the competition in terms of consecutive appearances. Some of them ended with the ‘Orejona’, but others were very painful to the point that the departures of Mourinho and Ancelotti in their first season can be blamed on disappointing results in this round. In the case of this season it seems that Carletto has the position saved after claiming the League title five days in advance.
Real Madrid accumulates in the semifinals of the Champions a balance of seven qualifiers won and seven lost -equal with Barça in this number- being the defeat against Chelsea last season the last precedent. The whites were unable to beat the ‘blues’ that would later end up being crowned European champions. Now things seem to have changed against Manchester City who eliminated them in the 2019-20 season in their last Champions League match in the round of 16 of the competition.
With all this data on the table, Real Madrid will try to continue a cycle that was abruptly interrupted by the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018. Fewer and fewer of the Champions League winners in kyiv remain in the starting eleven, with Carvajal, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric and Benzema standing out. Ancelotti has great experience in this round, having played in the Champions League semi-finals up to ten times with teams like Juventus, Milan and Real Madrid.
The player with the most appearances in the Champions League semi-finals is a Cristiano Ronaldo who has played 21 games throughout his career with 13 goals in his account. The Portuguese has not reached this round, curiously, since he left the white club. In the end, the Santiago Bernabéu team knows that their duel with City is an early final. the rest seems easy peasy according to the statistics.