The last 5 teams to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League – what happened next?
Arsenal fans can start dreaming of the club lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time in their history after their brilliant, statement quarter-final victory over Real Madrid.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners arguably produced the best performance over two legs of any side in the last eight, having produced two superb displays to defeat the holders home and away.
But what are the omens for their chances of going all the way? Real Madrid have – somewhat ridiculously – won five of the last 10 Champions Leagues. What happened in the years they didn’t?
We’ve taken a closer look at the last five teams that knocked Los Blancos out of the Champions League and how far they went in the end.
Juventus (2014-15)
The Old Lady denied us the mouth-watering prospect of a first-ever El Clasico European final in 2014-15 – what would’ve been a heavyweight bout for the ages, with Luis Enrique’s Barcelona chasing a treble and Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid looking to become the first side to retain the trophy in the modern Champions League era.
Madrid had survived a scare against Schalke and once again knocked out Atletico en route to the semis in 2014-15. Cristiano Ronaldo scored home and away against Max Allegri’s side in a season in which he scored a career-best 61 goals in all competitions.
But La Fabrica graduate Alvaro Morata proved a thorn in his former club’s side on his finest hour and scored three over the two legs, as Allegri’s Juventus booked their place in the final at Madrid’s expense.
The Spain international scored once again in the final against Barcelona, levelling things up just before the hour mark after Ivan Rakitic’s early opener.
Juve produced a competitive display in Berlin’s Olympiastadion that night but they couldn’t live with the quality of Barca’s front three – and further goals from Luis Suarez and Neymar sealed a second treble for the Catalans.
Ajax (2018-19)
While Madrid didn’t retain the trophy in 2014-15, they went on to achieve the historic feat of a threepeat under Zinedine Zidane between 2015 and 2018.
But there were big changes after their victory over Liverpool in Kyiv in 2018, with Zidane walking away and Ronaldo leaving for Juventus.
And from there they unsurprisingly struggled, ending up a distant third in La Liga while outclassed by Erik ten Hag’s exciting young Ajax side in the Champions League at the Round of 16 stage – the first time they’d failed to make the semi-finals in almost a decade.
Madrid actually beat Ajax 2-1 in Amsterdam – against the run of play – in the first leg, but the Eredivisie outfit made their superiority show with an unforgettable 4-1 mauling at the Bernabeu.
Ajax then knocked out Ronaldo’s Juventus in the following round and were seconds away from a place in the final. It’s six years later and we still can’t get over Lucas Moura doing an absolute madness for Tottenham that night.
Manchester City (2019-20)
Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Manchester City juggernaut finished the 2019-20 Premier League campaign a distant second, but they must have believed it was finally going to be their year in Europe after a pair of impressive, well-deserved 2-1 victories over Real Madrid at the Round of 16 stage.
Europe went into lockdown between the two legs and The Etihad rematch wouldn’t take place for nearly six months.
In the strange, one-legged post-lockdown behind-closed-doors mini tournament, City somehow came unstuck with a 3-1 defeat to rank outsiders Lyon – best remembered for Raheem Sterling missing a costly sitter for the ages.
Chelsea (2020-21)
The full, proper “lockdown season” – played almost entirely without spectators – saw a stuttering Chelsea side replace Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel in January 2021.
From there, the German coach’s tactical tweak to a back three worked wonders and the Blues were unrecognisable, suddenly flying. They beat Atletico Madrid home and away in the Round of 16 and saw off Porto before two exceptional displays against a Madrid side with Zizou back in the dugout.
N’Golo Kante ran the show at both the Bernabeu and Stamford Bridge as Tuchel’s Chelsea ran out deserved 3-1 winners.
The World Cup winner was once again superb in the final against City, with Chelsea upsetting the odds in front of a limited 14,000 fans with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Guardiola’s men.
READ: One-man army of ants Kante needs his own verbs after Real Madrid display
Manchester City (2022-23)
We’re starting to lose count of how many times Man City and Real Madrid have contested knockout clashes in recent years.
Guardiola’s men got the better of Madrid in 2020 and 2023, while Los Blancos eliminated them in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
This was Guardiola’s City arguably at their very best. After sweeping past both Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, they were fantastic against Madrid in the semis – romping home to an emphatic 4-0 thrashing at The Etihad after grinding out a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital.
Inter Milan (dark horses for 2025?) provided them their toughest test in the Istanbul final, but City ultimately got the job done to complete their treble with a narrow, often nervy, 1-0 victory.
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