Real Madrid make history with landmark Champions League win against Atletico | OneFootball

Real Madrid put themselves within touching distance of the Champions League quarter-finals with Tuesday's win over city rivals Atletico, but equally hit a new milestone in the competition.

Madrid still have to go to the Metropolitano next Wednesday, but their 2-1 aggregate lead is an important advantage at the halfway stage of the tie. The first leg win, an improvement on last month's derby draw in the same fixture in La Liga, was decided by Brahim Diaz early in the second half.

It was Madrid's 498th game in the 70-year history of the European Cup and Champions League, excluding qualifiers. What's more, it was their 300th win in the competition, making them the very first team to reach that landmark number of victories.

Of the other 198 fixtures, the club has drawn 85 and lost 113.

The next most wins from a single club in the elite European competition is Bayern Munich's 237, which means that Madrid are way out in front compared to the rest of the continent.

Real Madrid have played 498 European Cup/Champions League games / Aitor Alcalde/GettyImages

While each of their five consecutive trophy lifts in the competition's infancy between 1955 and 1960 only required seven games to be played, the more modern Champions League format has ramped up the number of fixtures, and therefore the number of wins possible.

Despite dominating Europe at various points in the past, Madrid have taken things to a new level over the last 15 years. Across 14 seasons between 2010 and 2024, the club reached at least the Champions League semi-finals on 12 occasions. That has meant playing at least 12 games each campaign. More games, means more opportunities to pick up wins.

Madrid's record tally of 15 European Cup and Champions League triumphs puts them well ahead overall. Even just in the 21st century alone, they have lifted the trophy eight times, which is more than the second-most successful team in the entire history of the competition (AC Milan's seven).