Real Madrid's dominant Champions League history

Rudi Schuller

Real Madrid's dominant Champions League history image

While Real Madrid's recent dominance in the UEFA Champions League may seem like a new thing to younger fans, it's actually just the latest in a decades-long trend for the club.

In fact, Madrid is the most decorated team in the history of the competition, having claimed Europe's top club prize 12 times. No other club has won it more than seven times, and Madrid's three runners-up medals means that the Spanish giant has played in a final on 15 separate occasions.

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Madrid has won four of the past five tournaments, and if it is able to best Liverpool on May 26 it'll have the best five-year stretch in the competition since the club rung off five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960.

Real Madrid's Champions League history, by the numbers

12 titles

As mentioned above, Madrid is the only team to have won 12 European club championships. Los Blancos have achieved European supremacy in both incarnations of the competition, with six titles coming when the tournament was known as the European Cup and another half dozen occurring after UEFA rebranded the tournament as the Champions League in 1992. 

15 finals

When Madrid makes it to the championship match, the club usually comes out as the winner. Only three times has Madrid played in the deciding contest and not lifted the trophy, an astonishing rate of return given how frequently the team finds itself in the final.

5 straight championships

When the tournament was launched in the mid-1950s, Madrid immediately established itself as the force to be dealt with on the continent. No other club has rung off five straight championships, and the current edition of the team has won three of the last four and will be going for three consecutive titles on May 26.

120 goals for Ronaldo, and counting

Madrid is the gold standard of clubs in Europe's premier competition, and its current talisman is the embodiment of that dominance. Cristiano Ronaldo leads the 2017-18 Champions League with 15 goals, and has topped the scoring charts six other times throughout his storied career.

The Portuguese superstar is by far the most prolific goal scorer in the history of the competition, with 120 goals to his name so far.

Year-by-year Real Madrid results

Year Result
1956 Champion
1957 Champion
1958 Champion
1959 Champion
1960 Champion
1961 First round
1962 Runner-up
1963 Preliminary round
1964 Runner-up
1965 Quarterfinals
1966 Champion
1967 Quarterfinals
1968 Semifinals
1969 Second round
1970 Second round
1971 Did not qualify
1972 Did not qualify
1973 Semifinals
1974 Did not qualify
1975 Did not qualify
1976 Semifinals
1977 Round of 16
1978 Did not qualify
1979 Round of 16
1980 Semifinals
1981 Runner-up
1982 Did not qualify
1983 Did not qualify
1984 Did not qualify
1985 Did not qualify
1986 Did not qualify
1987 Semifinals
1988 Semifinals
1989 Semifinals
1990 Second round
1991 Quarterfinals
1992 Did not qualify
1993 Did not qualify
1994 Did not qualify
1995 Did not qualify
1996 Quarterfinals
1997 Did not qualify
1998 Champion
1999 Quarterfinals
2000 Champion
2001 Semifinals
2002 Champion
2003 Semifinals
2004 Quarterfinals
2005 Round of 16
2006 Round of 16
2007 Round of 16
2008 Round of 16
2009 Round of 16
2010 Round of 16
2011 Semifinals
2012 Semifinals
2013 Semifinals
2014 Champion
2015 Semifinals
2016 Champion
2017 Champion

 

Rudi Schuller