Real Madrid obtained a great result in the first leg of the Last 16 Round of the Champions League beating (3-1) Napoli at Santiago Bernabéu. However, as Zinedine Zidane said after the game, the tie is not over and Los Blancos will suffer at San Paolo.
Every single Napoli player said after the game that Los Blancos will have to fight a lot in Napoli to go through the last stage and the coach, Maurizio Sarri, warned Real Madrid: “We don’t have to send any message. In the second leg, San Paolo will be hell. If we are able to do something big in the first 10 minutes, the answer of the supporters will be amazing. It’s going to be a tough game for them, but also for us”, Sarri said after the game.
Zidane happiness wasn’t complete because Los Blancos couldn’t keep a clean sheet and now they have to travel to Napoli knowing that a 2-0 result will mean the elimination of the tournament. If we have a look at the history of Real Madrid, Los Blancos shouldn’t be very calm with this results.
History of Results in Europe
Real Madrid got 8 times in their history a 3-1 result in the first leg. Surprisingly, they only went through in four times. The last time Real Madrid obtained a 3-1 in Europe was in 2002-03, when Los Blancos faced Manchester United. That time, Spanish giants went through with Ronaldo Nazario’s show at Old Trafford.
Actually, Real Madrid obtained this result 4 times in Champions League, obtained the qualification three times -twice against Manchester United and one against Barcelona- and being eliminated once by Grasshoppers in 1978-79.
However, in UEFA Cup Real Madrid got knocked out of the competition the three times they won 3-1. It was against PSV, Kaiseslautern and PSG. Los Blancos went through against the Hungarian team Ujpesti Dozsa in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
All Real Madrid supporters remember also the tough game Real Madrid had to play in Germany in 2014 after thrashing Borussia Dortmund (3-0) in the first leg. Los Blancos were losing 2-0 and the tie seemed to be over until Casemiro came in into the pitch to guarantee the possession and the victory.
