Real Madrid vs FC Porto Tickets

As of the 2023/24 season, Real Madrid went into the UEFA Champions League with an astounding 14 titles to their name. The first six successes came in the European Cup era, and the following eight all occurred since 1998.

That total is quite unprecedented, with the next nearest team in the overall tally of trophies being San Siro side AC Milan, and they have seven wins to their name. This goes some way to showing just how dominant the Spanish side have been over the course of the tournament’s long and rich history.

The Santiago Bernabeu side won the first five editions of the European Cup before their run came to an abrupt end at the hands of arch-rivals FC Barcelona, who knocked them out in the First Round of the 1960/61 campaign.

Those wins came against French side Reims twice, Fiorentina, AC Milan, and Eintracht Frankfurt. That last success came after a famous 7-3 win over their German opponents, with Ferenc Puskas scoring four times and Alfredo Di Stefano grabbing a hat-trick in a game that was watched by over 127,000 fans in Glasgow.

Real Madrid then lost finals against Benfica and Inter Milan in 1962 and 1964 before they picked up their sixth title when they beat Partizan Belgrade in Brussels in 1966.

There then followed a thirty-year drought before German manager Jupp Heynckes led the team to victory in the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League Final, with a single Predrag Mijatovic goal saw the Spanish giants defeat Juventus in Amsterdam.

That was the first of three titles in the space of four years, with subsequent successes coming against Valencia in Paris and Bayer Leverkusen in Glasgow in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

The winning goal in that final was spectacularly netted by French legend Zinedine Zidane who then went on to manage Real Madrid and took them to three successive UEFA Champions League wins in 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18.

Each of these finals was markedly different. The 2016 final, against city rivals Atletico Madrid, took place in Milan. Sergio Ramos put the Spanish side ahead after 15 minutes, and Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco came off the bench to level with ten minutes left to play.

The match went to penalties, with Juanfran fluffing his key spot-kick, leading to Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winner.

The following year, in Cardiff, Real Madrid were in far more dominant control of the game, with Italian side Juventus bearing the brunt of their brilliance.

Ronaldo put Real Madrid ahead after 20 minutes, but Mario Mandzukic leveled just seven minutes later before Zidane’s side took control of proceedings in the second half.

Casemiro put Real ahead, and further goals from Ronaldo and Marco Asensio gave the La Liga side a comfortable 4-1 win. 2018’s finalists wereLiverpool, and things turned just after the half-hour when Ramos and Mohamed Salah tangled, leading the Egyptian star to go off injured.

In the second half, Karim Benzema put Real Madrid ahead, but Sadio Mane equalized just four minutes later. Then Welsh sub Gareth Bale came on to make a massive impact. He first scored a superb overhead kick to put his side ahead, and then he fired in a shot from 40 yards which keeper Loris Karius fumbled to give the game to Zidane’s side.

FC Porto have two European top-tier crowns to their name. Their first came in 1987 when they came from behind to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in Vienna, and their second came in 2004 with Jose Mourinho’s side putting AS Monaco to the sword.

FC Porto thumped the French principality side 3-0 in Gelsenkirchen, and these are heady heights the club has yet to match.

Real Madrid vs FC Porto Head-to-Head

Real Madrid and FC Porto have met in six different European campaigns. The first of these came in 1979/80, with Real Madrid edging their second-round clash on away goals. In 1987/88, the Spanish side once again beat their Portuguese opponents in the Second Round.

The Bernabeu side's ongoing dominance in this fixture continued in 1997/98 when they won twice in the group stage against FC Porto. Up to 2023, the clubs had played each other a total of 12 times in either the European Cup or the UEFA Champions League, with Real Madrid emerging triumphant on nine occasions.

Real Madrid vs FC Porto Connections

A number of high-profile players have lined up for both Real Madrid and FC Porto over the years; these include Eder Militao, Pepe, Danilo, Ricardo Carvalho, and James Rodriguez.

Another star to feature for both teams is legendary keeper Iker Casillas. The Spanish international amassed an astonishing 725 appearances for Real Madrid between 1999 and 2015, winning a huge haul of trophies in the process. These included five La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys, and three UEFA Champions League winners’ medals.

He then left for FC Porto in 2015 and played for four seasons at the Estadio do Dragao, playing 156 times and winning one domestic league title before he hung up his gloves.