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The draw for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 threw up not one but two huge monster clashes featuring teams from the same country. In Germany, reigning Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen and the current runaway table toppers Bayern Munich will meet on the continental stage for the first time. Meanwhile, Madrid’s two resident giants, Real and Atletico, will battle in European competition for the first time in some eight years.
The two upcoming showdowns got us thinking about years gone by and previous intra-country contests that have taken the Champions League by storm. Not only have such clashes come to fruition on a regular basis, but sometimes the same teams somehow continually find a way to each other year after year.
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
While the upcoming battle for the Spanish capital might be the first contest between the two in eight years in the Champions League, it’s certainly not their first meeting ever. This time around, the bookies and sports betting providers favor Real. The latest crypto sports betting odds make them a 1.59 favorite to progress to the quarterfinals, as well as a 5.50 favorite to win the tournament outright.
Between 2014 and 2017, the two Madrid giants met in the UCL knockout rounds in four straight seasons, delivering one of the great rivalries of modern times.
It all began back in 2014 when Diego Simeone led his gritty, unheralded Atletico Madrid squad to a shock La Liga title success, beating rivals Real and Barcelona to the crown. But unsatisfied with just claiming domestic dominance, El Cholo also led Los Rojiblancos to the UEFA Champions League final for the first time. Who would be waiting for them? None other than their city-sharing Los Blancos rivals.
And it looked as though they might cap their fairytale season with the famous Big-Eared trophy when Diego Godin gave the underdogs a shock first-half lead. They held onto their slender advantage until the 94th minute, and just when it looked as though the trophy was theirs, Sergio Ramos popped up with a last-gasp equalizer to take the contest to extra time. In the extra period, Atleti’s exploits from the tiring campaign finally caught up with them, and goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and Cristiano Ronaldo ensured that Real Madrid finally claimed La Decima after a 12-year obsession.
Over the next three years, the two clubs would meet three more times, and on every occasion, it was Real who emerged victorious. In 2015, Javier Hernandez’s last-gasp winner secured Los Blancos a 1-0 aggregate victory. The following year, the two clubs met in the final again, with Ronaldo sweeping home the decisive spotkick to secure their 11th Champions League crown via a penalty shootout. A year later, the rivalry was finally put to bed when Real secured a dominant 4-2 aggregate victory, and the two clubs haven’t met on the grandest stage since.
Liverpool vs Chelsea
Throughout the late 2000s, continental clashes between Liverpool and Chelsea were the talk of the footballing world. In 2005, Rafa Benitez led one of the weakest Reds teams in history to the Champions League semi-finals, defeating Italian giants Juventus, on the way. In the final four, they met Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, a team that had romped to Premier League glory in record-breaking fashion that season.
Liverpool, meanwhile, was way down in fifth, but their Spanish tactician in charge had a plan. He was going to make things as difficult for the Blues as possible. And it worked. The first leg at Stamford Bridge finished goalless. In the second leg at Anfield, Luis Garcia’s controversial ghost goal secured a 1-0 victory. Unsatisfied with that, Benitez would also lead his side to the title, famously coming from 3-0 down at halftime to defeat AC Milan in Istanbul to secure the crown.
The following year, they met in the group stages, playing out two drab goalless draws. But the rivalry was injected with a new lease of life in 2007 when the English heavyweights met in the semifinals again. And once again, much to Mourinho’s dismay, it was Liverpool who progressed, winning a penalty shootout at Anfield thanks to heroics from goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
But unlike the rivalry in the Spanish capital, the Reds wouldn’t have it all their own way. In 2008, the two teams met in the semifinal for the third time in four seasons, this time under unheralded manager Avram Grant. And the Israeli boss would provide just the tonic to end Chelsea’s Merseyside nightmare.
Both games in the two-legged tie ended 1-1, forcing extra time. This time, though, the deciding clash was at Stamford Bridge, and a raucous Blues fanbase was the 12th man that Chelsea needed to get them over the line. Goals from Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were enough to seal the deal, punching their tickets to Moscow and finally ending their hoodoo.
In 2009, the two teams met once more, this time in the quarterfinals. A late Didier Drogba brace sealed a 3-1 win for the Blues in the first leg at Anfield, their first win on away territory throughout the entirety of the feud. In the return leg, Liverpool knew they needed to score three goals to have any hope of progressing. They bagged two of them within 15 minutes, and mission impossible looked to be on.
Unfortunately for them, Chelsea rallied. They scored three quickfire goals in the second half to take the tie away from the Reds. The game then descended into chaos, with goals flying in with regular aplomb and eventually finishing 4-4 on the night, with the Blues progressing 7-5 on aggregate.
