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The last 7 teams to win on penalties in the Champions League – & what happened next

Arsenal’s victory over Porto on spot-kicks in March 2024 was the first Champions League tie that went to penalties in almost eight years – but how did previous shoot-out winners fare?

The galvanising impact of triumphing in the most dramatic fashion has often served as inspiration for sides to take a tilt at European glory Equally, some sides have been drained by their marathon exploits and exited the competition soon afterwards with a whimper.

We’ve taken a look at the last seven victors of Champions League shoot-outs and how they fared afterwards.

Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (2015-16)

The second all-Madrid final in three seasons was something of a damp squib in the San Siro, with the two heavyweights slugging their way to a 1-1 draw.

Juanfran would miss Atletico’s fourth penalty, hitting the post, thus allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to seal Real Madrid’s 11th Champions League title with a 5-3 shoot-out win. He celebrated in a characteristically diffident manner.

Madrid went on to retain the Champions League for the following two seasons, entering the annuals of greatest European teams of all-time despite your da being convinced they were no good.

Ronaldo has scored against 38 different opponents in the Champions League.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Real Madrid’s top 20 Champions League goalscorers?

Atletico Madrid v PSV Eindhoven (2015-16)

Atletico suffered heartbreak in the 2016 final, but battled their way to the showpiece match with victories over PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich.

Their triumph over PSV came after two gruelling goalless draws in the last 16, with Diego Simeone’s side squeezing through 8-7 after an unusually long shoot-out.

Atleti still haven’t reached the Champions League final since 2016, but remain competitive at home and in Europe.

Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen (2014-15)

Mid-2010s Atleti were proper sh*thouse bastards, weren’t they? A throwback. Capable of beating you with skill or skullduggery. Grown-up football, none of this sanitised Guardiolaball everybody plays now.

Needing to overcome a one-goal deficit from the first leg in Germany, Simeone’s men cancelled out Leverkusen’s lead through Mario Suarez and held their nerve to win the shoot-out 3-2 at the old Vicente Calderon.

Unfortunately, they’d run into Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and lose 1-0 on aggregate. Galling.

Chelsea v Bayern Munich (2011-12)

Forget waltzing your way to glory, this is the way to win a trophy.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Chelsea’s XI from the 2012 CL final against Bayern Munich?

Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (2011-12)

Overshadowed by Chelsea’s improbable win over Barcelona in the other semi, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid produced two of the highest-quality football matches you’re ever likely to see.

After winning the first leg 2-1 thanks to a late Mario Gomez strike, Bayern quickly found themselves 2-0 down in Madrid thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo double.

Arjen Robben clawed a goal back from the spot and two stacked sides arm-wrestled their way through the rest of the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos all missed in the shoot-out, allowing Bastian Schweinsteiger to send Bayern through. The German infallibility at penalties rang true once more. For three weeks, at least.

APOEL Nicosia v Lyon (2011-12)

One of the laments of the modern-day Champions League is that the odds of a team from Cyprus reaching the quarter-finals are longer than Joey Barton praising the Lionesses.

But APOEL Nicosia broke all convention by topping a group containing Zenit St Petersburg, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk before toppling a still-decent Lyon on penalties in the last 16.

Alexandre Lacazette was one of two OL players to miss their kick, while APOEL took four perfect penalties to spark wild scenes in the Cypriot capital.

They were outclassed by Real Madrid in the quarters, but who cares? We’re never likely to see anything similar again.

Arsenal v Roma (2008-09)

Fifteen years before their penalty triumph over Porto, Arsenal experienced similar jubilation after a nail-biting tie against Roma.

Travelling to Rome with a one-goal lead, Arsene Wenger’s side were pegged back by an early header from Juan and failed to make much headway against a team led by the legendary Francesco Totti.

The writing looked on the wall after Eduardo missed Arsenal’s first spot-kick, but the Gunners responded with seven perfect penalties before Max Tonetto blazed the decisive penalty into orbit.

Arsenal beat Villarreal in the quarter-finals before losing to a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Manchester United. They haven’t reached the semis since.


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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Champions League final goalscorer since 2000?