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