Real Madrid fans are a bit depressed after Los Blancos were surprisingly defeated by Schalke 04 last Tuesday in the second leg of the last-16 round of the Champions League. However, Carlo Ancelotti men have a good motive to be happy: The last time they conceded four goals at the Santiago Bernabeu in the European competition they ended up winning the title.
That precedent dates back to February 29th 2000 and it was also against a German team: Bayern Munich. That night, the Bavarians visited the Santiago Bernabeu for a second group stage clash –with the previous format of the competition there were two group stages– and they left Madrid with a convincing victory: 2-4.
However, Los Merengues were able to recover from that blow and ended up lifting their eight European Cup beating Valencia in the Paris final 3-0. Moreover, Real had the pleasure of knocking out the reigning European champions at that moment Manchester United in the quarter finals and take revenge from Bayern Munich in the semifinals.
Will history repeat itself 15 years later? It is said what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and Los Blancos, despite their unexpected poor run, are still alive. You should never doubt a champions with its pride wounded. Iker Casillas is the only man who remains in the squad since that season and he can truly tell his team-mates how a Champions League can be wined despite suffering such a blow.
