Chelsea and Real Madrid will meet for the eighth time on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
This’ll be the third consecutive season in which they’ve met in this competition, having previously clashed in a Cup Winners’ Cup Final and a UEFA Super Cup.
This article looks back at their four most memorable meetings.
📰 Table Of Contents
Real Madrid vs Chelsea: Head to head record
Chelsea wins: 4. Real Madrid wins: 1. Draws: 2.
Real Madrid vs Chelsea: European meetings
2022 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals: Real Madrid 5-4 Chelsea (on aggregate- after extra time).
2021 UEFA Champions League semi-finals: Chelsea 3-1 Real Madrid (on aggregate).
1971 Cup Winners’ Cup Final: Chelsea 1-1 Real Madrid- Chelsea 2-1 Real Madrid (replay).
2022: Real Madrid 2-3 Chelsea
Just last season, Real Madrid and Chelsea produced an incredibly entertaining Champions League quarter-final.
The tie appeared to be over when los Blancos left Stamford Bridge 3-1 winners, with Karim Benzema producing an astonishing hat-trick in the space of 25 minutes.
However, Chelsea were then on course for an historic remontada at the Bernabéu, with goals from Mason Mount, Antonio Rüdiger and then Timo Werner giving the Blues an inexplicable 3-0 lead.
Nevertheless, Rodrygo forced extra time late on, volleying home an amazing outside of the boot Luka Modrić cross, before Benzema snatched a 5-4 aggregate win early on in the additional half hour.
If this season’s rematch is half as good as that tie was, we’re all in for a treat.
2021: Chelsea 2-0 Real Madrid
This win was actually a case of revenge for Real Madrid, who’d seen their Champions League campaign come to an end at the hands of Chelsea 12 months earlier.
At an eerily empty Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano, the two played out a 1-1 draw, with Christian Pulisic and then that man again Karim Benzema on target.
Eight days later, Thomas Tuchel’s team booked their place in the final, courtesy of a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge, with Timo Werner and Mason Mount the scorers.
Of course, Chelsea would go onto be European champions a few weeks later, defeating Manchester City 1-0 at Estádio do Dragão.
Now led by Frank Lampard, they’ll be dreaming of another famous victory over Real Madrid that, who knows, could yet led to more continental glory.
1998: Chelsea 1-0 Real Madrid
Gus Poyet scored the winning goal as the Blues beat Real Madrid to lift the European Super Cup on this day in 1998! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/YVwZfgixo3
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 28, 2018
In the late 1990s, Chelsea were starting to establish themselves as a force in English football, winning the FA Cup in 1997 and the League Cup the following season.
In, what was, his first-ever managerial role, Gianluca Vialli had led them to victory over Middlesbrough at Wembley, less than six weeks after succeeding Ruud Gullit.
Then, the Blues got all the way to the Cup Winners’ Cup Final, overcoming Real Betis before a comeback victory over Venezia.
In the final in Stockholm, Gianfranco Zola was the only scorer as Chelsea claimed a famous victory over Stuttgart.
At the start of the following season, the Blues hoisted aloft their first UEFA Super Cup title, beating Real Madrid at Stade Louis II, with substitute Gus Poyet bagging a late winner for Vialli’s side.
This was seen as a real upset at the time, given that los Blancos had just won the Champions League against Juventus in Amsterdam.
This though merely continued Chelsea’s excellent record against Real Madrid, with this the club’s first meeting for 27 years.
1971: Chelsea 2-1 Real Madrid
The first time #Chelsea won European honours was against the mighty #RealMadrid in the European Cup Winners Cup back in 1971 🏆 Dave Sexton’s #Blues won the replay 2-1 courtesy of goals from John Dempsey and Peter Osgood #CFC pic.twitter.com/x54HzSJAoC
— 3Retro Football (@3retro_) April 6, 2022
Of course, Chelsea have been wildly successful in the last two decades, winning 21 major honours during Roman Abramovich’s 19-year ownership.
However, some older Chelsea supporters may point towards 1971 as evidence that their club hasn’t risen from nowhere.
52 years ago, having captured a first-ever FA Cup, the Blues featured in an official UEFA competition for the first time, setting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup aside.
In the Cup Winners’ Cup, Dave Sexton’s side beat Aris Thessaloniki, CSKA Sofia and Club Brugge before dumping out holders Manchester City by winning both legs 1-0.
So, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team who’d won a ridiculous six European Cups in the previous 15 years.
Peter Osgood looked set to secure a win in Piraeus, but Ignacio Zoco equalised in stoppage time.
After extra time, it was still 1-1 so, and this’ll seem crazy now, a replay was required at the same venue in Greece 24 hours later.
This time, Chelsea did leave with the cup, prevailing 2-1, thanks to goals from John Dempsey and Osgood, with Sebastián Fleitas’ late goal only a consolation.
All of this shows Chelsea have an extremely impressive record against Real Madrid, so can Lampard’s team pull off an almighty shock when the two meet again on Wednesday night?
