Manchester City vs. Real Madrid head to head: Who has won most times in the Champions League?

The next chapter in the most recent Champions League rivalry starts tonight.
Text: Javier Escribano
Published 2025-02-11

Manchester City vs. Real Madrid. Real Madrid vs. Manchester City. The clash between these two teams has become a classic in the Champions League. This is now the fourth time in a row that these two teams meet at a knockout stage in the competition, but this time is earlier than usual, at the "play-off" before the round of 16, introduced this year with the new Champions League format.

"It's surprising that we're playing them in this playoff, but it's not UEFA's fault, it's ours. This match could easily be a semi-final or a quarter-final", said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, echoing Pep Guardiola's sentiment: " "We have not done quite well in the group stage so we deserve to be where we are".

In total, Real Madrid and Manchester City have faced each other six times since 2012 (each time with a two-legged match). The first time was at the group stage in 2012. However, the following times were always in the round of 16, quarterfinals or semi-finals. And in four of the five occasions, the winner (on aggregate) of the knockout went on to win the championship: Real Madrid won in 2016, 2022 and 2024 and went on to win the Cup, and Manchester City won in 2020 (Bayern won that year) and 2023 (City won their first Champions League).

Manchester City vs. Real Madrid head to head record: who has won more times?

But looking at individual numbers, who is taking the lead? Manchester City leads, but by a very short margin: 4 City wins, 3 Madrid wins, and 5 draws. Manchester City scored 21 goals (including a 4-0 thrashing in 2023), and Madrid 18.

Tonight, at 20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET, the first leg of the knockout play-off will take place at the Etihad Stadium. Next week, the second leg will be played at the Bernabéu. How do you think the score will look next week? The loser will be eliminated from the competition before reaching the round of 16...

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