Real Madrid will know they can take nothing for granted as Atalanta come to Spain looking to overturn a 1-0 first-legdeficit in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie. Catch the action live on SuperSport with live streaming on DStv and Showmax.
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The first leg was the teams' first meeting and Madrid's 100th match in the Uefa Champions League knockoutrounds, making them the first club to reach that landmark.
Atalanta played the majority of the game with ten men afterRemo Freuler's 17th-minute red card, although it took until four minutes from time for Madrid to make their numericaladvantage count thanks to a Ferland Mendy goal – his first in Uefa club competition.
Madrid recovered from taking only one point from their first two games to finish first in Group B, winning three of theirnext four matches including a 2-0 home victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 6 that sealed theirprogress as section winners.
Atalanta won three of their six Group D games this season, sealing a knockout berth with a 1-0 win at Ajax in theirfinal fixture. A 5-0 home defeat by Liverpool on Matchday 3 – Atalanta's heaviest European loss – was instrumental inplacing them second behind the English club, although they turned the tables with a memorable 2-0 success atAnfield.
FORM GUIDE
REAL MADRID
Madrid collected six of their ten points in this season's group stage against Internazionale, who they beat 3-2 athome and 2-0 away. They took only one point from their first two Group B games, losing 3-2 at home to ShakhtarDonetsk before late goals from Karim Benzema (87) and Casemiro (90+3) rescued a 2-2 draw at Mönchengladbachon Matchday 2. The wins against Inter were followed by a 2-0 loss at Shakhtar, but Mönchengladbach were thenbeaten by the same scoreline in the final round of group games.
Madrid therefore finished first in their group for only the second time in the last five seasons but for the 17th time inall, second only to Barcelona (21).
Spanish champions for a record-extending 34th time in 2019/20, this is Madrid's 25th Uefa Champions Leaguecampaign – a joint record along with Barcelona. They have qualified for the knockout rounds in all of their 25 seasons,also a competition best.
This is the 13-time champions' 51st European Cup campaign, more than any other side.
In 2019/20, Zinédine Zidane's side were runners-up in their section behind eventual finalists Paris Saint-Germain,finishing on 11 points, five fewer than Paris. Their campaign came to an end in the round of 16 as they lost 2-1 homeand away to Manchester City.
Having reached the semi-finals or better for eight successive seasons between 2010/11 and 2017/18, Madrid havetherefore lost in the last 16 in each of the last two campaigns, bowing out against Ajax in 2018/19. That ended a run ofeight straight last-16 victories; their overall record at this stage is W9 L8.
Madrid have won 11 of their last 12 games against Italian clubs, the exception a 3-1 home defeat by Juventus – whothey had beaten 4-1 in the 2017 Uefa Champions League final in Cardiff – in the 2017/18 quarterfinal second leg.Madrid nevertheless squeezed through having won 3-0 in Turin.
That defeat by Juve is Madrid's only reverse in their last eight home games against Italian visitors (W6 D1).
That 2018 tie against Juventus is Madrid's last two-legged contest with a Serie A side; their overall record in suchcontests is W13 L9. They have won the last three, against Juve, Roma (2-0 a, 2-0 h) in the 2015/16 round of 16 andNapoli at the same stage in 2016/17 (3-1 h, 3-1 a), after a run of eight consecutive two-legged knockout lossesagainst Italian opposition.
Madrid have won only five of their last 11 Uefa Champions League matches (D2 L4). They have lost seven of theirlast 18 (W8 D3).
Despite this season's victories against Inter and Mönchengladbach, Madrid have won only three of their last ninehome European games (D2 L4).
Benzema's goal on Matchday 2 means he has matched the record of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in scoringin 16 successive Uefa Champions League campaigns.
Madrid lost on aggregate the last time they recorded an away first-leg win in Uefa competition, against Ajax at thisstage of the Uefa Champions League two seasons ago (2-1 a, 1-4 h). That was only their second defeat in the 35thUefa competition tie in which they won the first leg away from home, and the first since losing to Odense in the1994/95 Uefa Cup third round (3-2 a, 0-2 h).
This is the eighth time Madrid have won the away first leg 1-0 in Uefa competition, and the first since they beatVitesse in the 1992/93 Uefa Cup third round (1-0 h). They last won a European Cup first leg 1-0 away againstPoland's Górnik Zabrze in the 1988/89 third round (3-2 h).
Madrid's record in four Uefa penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
- 5-6 v Crvena zvezda, 1974/75 European Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinal
- 3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round
- 1-3 v Bayern München, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League semifinal
- 5-3 v Atlético de Madrid, 2015/16 Uefa Champions League final
ATALANTA
Atalanta's record in Group D this season was W3 D2 L1, all three of those wins coming away from home – atMidtjylland (4-0), Liverpool (2-0) and, decisively, Ajax (1-0). In Bergamo, they drew 2-2 with Ajax – a game in whichthey had been two goals down – and Midtjylland (1-1) either side of the 5-0 loss against Liverpool.
Atalanta have won their last five European away games, scoring 14 goals and conceding three, and eight of the last12 (D1 L3).
Debutants in 2019/20, this is Atalanta's second successive Uefa Champions League appearance after they finishedthird in Serie A last season.
Initially it appeared as if the Bergamo club's first taste of the competition would prove brief, Atalanta losing their firstthree UEFA Champions League matches last season, against Dinamo Zagreb (0-4 a), Shakhtar Donetsk (1-2 h) andManchester City (1-5 a). However, a point at home against City on Matchday 4 (1-1) proved the catalyst for aremarkable revival, the Italian side beating Dinamo 2-0 at home and Shakhtar 3-0 away to snatch second place in thegroup behind City.
Even better was to follow in the round of 16, Atalanta beating Valencia 4-1 at home and 4-3 away with Josip Ilicicbecoming the first player to score four times away from home in a Uefa Champions League knockout match in thelatter fixture.
Atalanta looked set to continue their magical run thanks to Mario Pašalic's first-half goal in their quarterfinal againstParis Saint-Germain in Lisbon, but the French side struck twice in the closing moments to end their adventure.
This is only Atalanta's 52nd European match and their eighth campaign in continental competition. They reached theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals in 1987/88 and the Uefa Cup quarterfinals three years later.
The Italian club have lost only seven of their last 30 European games (W14 D9).
Last season's tie against Valencia is Atalanta's only other experience of Spanish opponents.
This is the first time Atalanta have lost the home first leg in Uefa competition.
Atalanta have yet to feature in a Uefa penalty shoot-out.
LINKS AND TRIVIA
Zidane played in Italy for Juventus between 1996 and 2001. He faced Atalanta four times during that spell (W2 D1L1), scoring twice in a 3-1 win 1997/98.
Have played in Spain:
- Luis Muriel (Granada 2010/11, Sevilla 2017–18)
- Mario Pašalic (Elche 2014/15 loan)
- Muriel faced Madrid twice with Sevilla, his team losing 5-0 in Madrid and winning 3-2 at home.
- Pašalic's Elche lost 5-1 away and 2-0 at home to Madrid during his season in Spain.
- Rafael Tolói and Casemiro were team-mates at São Paulo in 2012.
International team-mates:
- Luka Modric & Mario Pašalic (Croatia)
- Toni Kroos & Robin Gosens (Germany)
- Andriy Lunin & Ruslan Malinovskyi (Ukraine)
- Freuler scored in Switzerland's 3-3 Uefa Nations League draw against Toni Kroos' Germany on 13 October 2020.
- Freuler also found the net in a 1-1 draw against a Spain side captained by Sergio Ramos on 14 November 2020.
- Ruslan Malinovskyi scored Ukraine's goal from the penalty spot in a 2-1 Uefa Nations League defeat against Kroos'Germany on 10 October 2020.
- Ramos converted two penalties in Spain's 3-3 friendly draw with Russia on 14 November 2017; Aleksei Miranchuk