Champions League

A closer look at Liverpool's head-to-head record against Real Madrid

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 07 November 2022

Sports Mole takes a closer look at Liverpool's head-to-head record against Real Madrid as the two Champions League finalists prepare to reunite in the last 16.

Less than a year on from doing battle on the biggest European stage, Liverpool and Real Madrid will renew hostilities in the last 16 of the 2022-23 Champions League.

The Reds were consigned to a draw against one of the group winners after finishing second in Group A, with Los Blancos topping Group F to set up a tie with Jurgen Klopp's side.

The last-16 tie acts as a repeat of last season's final, where Vinicius Junior won the game for the Madrid giants, but the encounter was marred by the disgraceful events that fans were subjected to outside the Stade de France.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Liverpool's head-to-head record against Real Madrid ahead of the last 16, with the first leg taking place at Anfield in February before a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu in March.

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates scoring against Liverpool's Loris Karius on May 26, 2018 © Reuters

Liverpool and Real Madrid will meet for the 10th time in Europe's premier competition when they lock horns in the first leg of the last 16, and Los Blancos have enjoyed the better of this fixture since the Reds' early dominance faded.

The two continental giants first did battle in the final of the 1980-81 European Cup, where an Alan Kennedy winner secured a 1-0 success for Liverpool en route to their third title in the tournament.

Not until the 2008-09 Champions League last 16 would Liverpool and Real Madrid do battle once more, and that campaign marks the only previous time that the two sides have met at this stage of the competition.

That year, Rafael Benitez famously led Liverpool to a 1-0 first-leg win at the Bernabeu before the Reds demolished their Spanish counterparts 4-0 at Anfield, making it three wins from three against Los Blancos.

However, Liverpool have failed to win any of their six subsequent meetings with Real Madrid in the Champions League, drawing once and losing five since that 4-0 Anfield triumph 13 years ago.

Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun (R) celebrates his goal during their Champions League soccer match against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid February 25, 2009 © Reuters

The Reds and Los Blancos were paired together in the 2014-15 group stage, and Brendan Rodgers's side lost 4-0 on aggregate - going down 3-0 on Merseyside before a 1-0 Bernabeu defeat.

Then came the infamous 2017-18 final in Kyiv, where Gareth Bale made headlines for all the right reasons and Loris Karius for all the wrong ones, as Zinedine Zidane led Real Madrid to their third successive Champions League title with a 3-1 win.

The same scoreline would be repeated when Real and Liverpool faced off in the 2020-21 quarter-finals, as the Madrid club won 3-1 at their temporary home of the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano before making it through to the semis after a goalless draw at Anfield.

Most recently, Liverpool sought a slice of revenge on Real Madrid for the 2018 final in the 2022 showpiece event in France, but Carlo Ancelotti would make history by leading Los Blancos to a 14th European Cup crown.

As a result, Liverpool head into the last 16 having only scored two goals in their last six meetings with Real Madrid - one for Mohamed Salah and another for the now-departed Sadio Mane.

Furthermore, out of the teams that they have faced at least five times in the Champions League, they have only fared worse against Chelsea, with a 20% win rate versus the Blues compared to 25% against Los Blancos.