UEFA Champions League - 2019/20 SeasonMatch press kits

Having come close to a famous win at Real Madrid on Matchday 2, Club Brugge have another chance to get one over the 13-time European champions when the teams meet in Belgium on the final day of Group A, with victory certain to prolong the Belgian side's European season.

• Madrid will finish second in Group A behind Paris Saint-Germain, while Club Brugge currently occupy third place on three points, one ahead of Galatasaray, against whom they snatched a last-gasp draw on Matchday 6. Club Brugge will finish third if they beat Madrid, or if Galatasaray fail to win in Paris.

• Madrid have eight points, and had to come from 2-0 down to draw at home to Club Brugge in the second round of matches, Sergio Ramos (55) and Casemiro (85) salvaging a point after Emmanuel Bonaventure's first-half double had stunned the Santiago Bernabéu.

Previous meetings
• Club Brugge came out on top in the sides' only contests before this season, in the 1976/77 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round. After a goalless first leg in Spain, a match that was played in Malaga, the Belgian side went through thanks to a 2-0 home success.

Form guide
Club Brugge
• After being held 0-0 at home by Galatasaray on Matchday 1, their third successive goalless draw in the UEFA Champions League proper, Club Brugge ended that sequence with the 2-2 draw in Madrid. Their six-match unbeaten run in the group stage was emphatically ended by a 5-0 loss against Paris in Bruges on Matchday 3 – the club's heaviest at home in UEFA competition.

• Club Brugge then lost 1-0 in Paris, and looked set for a third successive Group A defeat when they trailed 1-0 at Galatasaray going into the final stages, but a goal two minutes into added time from Krépin Diatta snatched a draw, the visitors holding on despite losing Diatta and Clinton Mata to second yellow cards in the aftermath of the goal.

• Club Brugge have therefore failed to score in three of their five Group A games, and five of their last seven matches in the UEFA Champions League proper.

• Last season the Blauw-Zwart finished third behind Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid on six points, five ahead of Monaco. Having lost their first two fixtures, the Belgian club were unbeaten in their last four – the sole victory a 4-0 win at Monaco that represented their biggest away success in the competition. Club Brugge then moved into the UEFA Europa League, losing to Salzburg in the round of 32 (2-1 h, 0-4 a).

• Despite the win at Monaco – which ended a 13-year, 11-game run without a victory (D2 L9) – Club Brugge have won only three of their last 23 fixtures in the UEFA Champions League proper (D7 L13).

• This season Club Brugge got the better of Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round (1-0 h, 3-3 a) before a play-off victory against Austrian side LASK (1-0 a, 2-1 h). Their results on Matchdays 1 and 2 made it ten UEFA Champions League games without defeat (W4 D6), qualifying included, before the home loss to Paris.

• The 2-1 success against Salzburg last February ended the club's run of nine home European games without a win (D4 L5), since a 1-0 UEFA Europa League group stage defeat of Legia Warszawa in November 2015. They have since won two of their last four European matches in Bruges (D1 L1), the defeat by Paris ending a six-match unbeaten home run.

• Last season's 0-0 draw against Atlético made Club Brugge's home record against Spanish visitors W5 D3 L4; they have won only one of the last eight (D3 L4), a 1-0 defeat of Valencia in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg (1-3 aggregate). That is also their last victory against a Spanish club, home or away; their record since is D2 L4.

• Second in Belgium behind Genk in 2018/19, this is Club Brugge's seventh UEFA Champions League group campaign, and their third in four years. They have never progressed to the knockout rounds.

• Runners-up to Liverpool in 1978, Club Brugge remain the only team from Belgium to have reached a European Cup final.

Real Madrid
• Having been beaten 3-0 in Paris in their opening fixture before drawing with Club Brugge, Madrid then won 1-0 away to Galatasaray and 6-0 at home against the Turkish club, their biggest home win in the UEFA Champions League since December 2015. They let slip a two-goal lead in the final ten minutes to draw 2-2 at home to Paris in their most recent fixture, confirming themselves in second place behind the French club.

• The Spanish giants have lost three of their last eight UEFA Champions League matches – conceding three or more goals in each of those defeats, and 15 in that eight-game sequence.

• Last season Madrid finished first in their section ahead of Roma, Viktoria Plzeň and CSKA Moskva, picking up 12 points from their six matches. A team then coached by Santiago Solari won 2-1 at Ajax in the round of 16 first leg, but bowed out 5-3 on aggregate after a 4-1 home defeat.

• Last season was the first since 2009/10 in which Madrid had failed to reach the semi-finals or better. This is the 13-time champions' 50th European Cup campaign, more than any other side.

• This is the third time in four seasons Madrid have finished second in their group.

• Madrid won three of their four European away matches last season and have triumphed in 15 of their last 24, losing just five.

• Rodrygo's hat-trick against Galatasaray on Matchday 4 was the 12th scored by a Real Madrid player in the competition, one fewer than record holders Barcelona. He is only the fifth Madrid player to achieve the feat – after Raúl González, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo (7) and Karim Benzema (2) – and, at 18 years 301 days, the second-youngest UEFA Champions League hat-trick scorer after Raúl, who was aged 18 years 113 days when he scored his solitary treble against Ferencváros in 1995/96.

• This is Madrid's first trip to Belgium since a 1-1 draw at Genk in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League first group stage. A 2-0 win at Anderlecht in October 2001 is their only away win against a Belgian side in their last eight games (D1 L6), although they are unbeaten in five matches (W3 D2) against Belgian clubs, home and away.

• Third in Spain in 2018/19, this is Madrid's 24th UEFA Champions League campaign – a joint record along with Barcelona. They have qualified for the knockout rounds in all of their 24 seasons, also a competition best.

Links and trivia
• International team-mates:
Simon Mignolet, Brandon Mechele, Hans Vanaken & Thibaut Courtois, Eden Hazard (Belgium)

• Has played in Belgium:
Thibaut Courtois (Genk 1999–2011)

• Courtois spent only one season as Genk's No1, keeping 14 clean sheets in their 2010/11 Belgian championship success.

• Hazard has never played for a Belgian club, but has five appearances against them in UEFA competition, including Madrid's 2-2 draw with Club Brugge this season. He scored in LOSC Lille's 4-2 second-leg win against Genk in the UEFA Europa League play-offs in August 2009, having also featured in the first leg, and appeared twice against Gent in the group stage of the same competition the following season.

• Has played in Spain:
Federico Ricca (Málaga 2016–19)

Latest news

Club Brugge
• The 5-0 loss to Paris on Matchday 3 is Club Brugge's only home defeat of the season (W8 D4); they have won their last three home matches.

• Club Brugge have won 13 of their 17 league games this season (D3 L1); their 13-match unbeaten start to the Belgian league season (W10 D3) was ended by a 2-1 defeat at Antwerp on 10 November. They came from behind to win 2-1 at Sint-Truiden on Saturday, Éder Balanta and Federico Ricca scoring their first goals for the club.

• Club Brugge have scored 38 league goals in 2019/20 and conceded only seven, keeping 11 clean sheets; the defeat at Antwerp is the only time they have let in more than one in a league game this season.

• Hans Vanaken has found the net in three of Club Brugge's nine UEFA Champions League fixtures so far this season, all in the qualifying phase. He has also struck nine times in the league, getting the only goal in a home win against Mouscron on 30 November.

• On 4 December Club Brugge won 4-2 on penalties at Oostende in the last 16 of the Belgian Cup, going through after a 1-1 draw.

• Matej Mitrović has not played since 2 November due to an ankle injury.

Real Madrid
• Eden Hazard's next appearance in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, will be his 50th.

• Rodrygo is the youngest scorer in this season's UEFA Champions League, having been 18 years 301 days when he scored his Matchday 4 hat-trick against Galatasaray.

• Madrid have lost just one of their last 15 games in all competitions (W10 D4); they were 2-0 winners at home to Espanyol on Saturday, becoming the first team to reach 1,700 Liga victories.

• The 1-0 loss at Mallorca on 19 October is Madrid's sole defeat in this season's Liga (W10 D4).

• Madrid have scored two or more goals in each of their last six matches, and have found the net 25 times in their last nine games.

• Karim Benzema has scored nine goals in his last eight games, including one against Espanyol.

• Dani Carvajal scored his first Madrid goal since 19 August 2018 in a 2-1 victory against Alavés on 30 November.

• Knee injuries mean Nacho and James Rodríguez have not played since Matchday 2 and 3 respectively.

• Hazard picked up an ankle injury on Matchday 5 and has not played since.

• Marco Asensio is a long-term absentee having ruptured knee ligaments in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal on 24 July.

Date of birth: 22 March 1974
Nationality: Belgian
Playing career: Germinal Beerschot (twice), Genk, Coventry, Club Brugge
Coaching career: Club Brugge (caretaker, assistant), Waasland-Beveren, Genk, Club Brugge

• A utility player who could operate in midfield or at full-back, Clement came through the ranks at Beerschot but was soon snapped up by Genk, helping them win the Belgian Cup and finish runners-up in the league in 1997/98. After an injury-plagued year in England with Coventry, returned to Belgium in 1999, signing for Club Brugge.

• Swiftly became a key figure at the Jan Breydelstadion, where he formed a defensive shield in front of the back line. Clement lifted the Belgian Cup again in 2002 and 2004 and the Belgian First Division title in 2002/03 and 2004/05.

• Added a further Belgian Cup success in 2007 before bringing down the curtain on his playing days with two seasons back at Beerschot.

• Clement made his Belgium debut against Norway in March 1998 and played two games in the FIFA World Cup finals later that year; a non-playing squad member at UEFA EURO 2000, he won 38 caps in a nine-year international career.

• After retiring as a player in 2011, he returned to Club Brugge as a scout, working as assistant coach between 2012 and 2017 and having two spells in caretaker charge of the first team. Struck out on his own at Waasland-Beveren in May 2017, making such a positive early impression that he was appointed by Genk that December; led the club to the league title in 2018/19 before leaving for Club Brugge that summer and promptly overseeing the club's immediate return to the UEFA Champions League group stage in August 2019.

Date of birth: 23 June 1972
Nationality: French
Playing career: Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus, Real Madrid
Coaching career: Real Madrid (twice)

• Born in Marseille to Algerian immigrant parents, Zidane took his first steps towards footballing superstardom at Cannes, transferring to Bordeaux in 1992. Blossomed into a French international, scoring twice on his debut against the Czech Republic in August 1994. Left Bordeaux after helping them reach the 1996 UEFA Cup final and joined Juventus, where he was a Serie A winner and UEFA Champions League runner-up in each of his first two seasons. Made a then world-record €78m switch to Madrid in 2001.

• Inspired France to 1998 FIFA World Cup glory – scoring two headers in the Saint-Denis final against Brazil – and at UEFA EURO 2000, where he was player of the tournament; winner of the Ballon d'Or in 1998, he was also voted FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

• Made it third time lucky in the UEFA Champions League final by hitting a spectacular volleyed winner in Madrid's 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 showpiece at Hampden Park. Landed the UEFA Super Cup, European/South American Cup and Spanish Liga the following season.

• Announced his international retirement after UEFA EURO 2004 yet returned a year later and proved inspirational at the 2006 World Cup – especially with a virtuoso display in a quarter-final triumph over holders Brazil; however, was dismissed for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the final against Italy, the last match of his career.

• Became assistant to Carlo Ancelotti in 2013/14, the season Madrid claimed their tenth European title. Took charge of Real Madrid Castilla for the next campaign, and in January 2016 succeeded Rafael Benítez as head coach, leading the club to yet another European Cup that May – the seventh to lift the trophy as player and coach. Added the UEFA Super Cup three months later, making him the fifth man to win that trophy in both guises, and finished 2016/17 by becoming the first coach to win successive UEFA Champions Leagues, also guiding Madrid to a first Liga title in five years.

• Made history in 2017/18 by steering Madrid to another UEFA Champions League, thus becoming the first coach to win the trophy three years running; stepped down five days after victory in Kyiv but returned to the post on 11 March 2019, signing a contract until 2022.

UEFA Champions League: Did you know?

Overall records
• In 2012/13, Chelsea became the first defending champions to fail to get through a group stage since the UEFA Champions League began. (This record, like the others, includes the seasons between 1999/2000 and 2002/03 that featured a second group stage). In 1992/93, Barcelona were the reigning European Champion Clubs' Cup holders and lost 4-3 on aggregate in the second round to CSKA Moskva.

• In 2016/17 Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League trophy, with AC Milan (1989, 1990) the previous club to win consecutive European Cups. Milan (1994, 1995), Ajax (1995, 1996), Juventus (1996, 1997) and Manchester United (2008, 2009) have all returned to the UEFA Champions League final as holders only to lose.

• Real Madrid then made it three wins in a row in 2017/18, becoming the fourth club to win three or more successive titles in European Cup history, and the first to do it twice.

• Only two teams have ever won the UEFA Champions League on home soil: Borussia Dortmund (1997, final in Munich) and Juventus (1996, final in Rome), while Manchester United lost the 2011 final in London and 12 months later Bayern were beaten in the showpiece in their own stadium, the Fußball Arena München.

Group stage
• Barcelona have finished as group winners on 20 occasions, four more than Real Madrid and five more than Bayern München and Manchester United. Barça also hold the record for the most unbeaten group stage campaigns with 12, four more than Real Madrid.

• Bayern München (2 April 2013 to 27 November 2013) and Real Madrid (23 April 2014 to 18 February 2015) jointly hold the record for successive wins in the UEFA Champions League proper with ten. Bayern surpassed the previous mark of nine, set by Barcelona between 18 September 2002 and 18 February 2003.

• Six teams have recorded six successive victories in a UEFA Champions League group stage: Milan (1992/93), Paris Saint-Germain (1994/95), Spartak Moskva (1995/96), Barcelona (2002/03, first group stage) and Real Madrid (2011/12 and 2014/15).

• Twenty-one teams have gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without picking up a single point, most recently AEK Athens in 2018/19.

• In 2017/18, Paris Saint-Germain set a new group stage record by scoring 25 goals, with Liverpool (23) also eclipsing the old mark of 21 set by Borussia Dortmund in 2016/17. Manchester United (1998/99), Barcelona (2011/12, 2016/17) and Real Madrid (2013/14) all managed 20.

• Only Deportivo La Coruña (2004/05), Maccabi Haifa (2009/10) and Dinamo Zagreb (2016/17) have failed to score in a group stage.

• BATE Borisov conceded 24 goals in 2014/15, a new group stage record which was matched by Legia Warszawa in 2016/17. The previous mark, 22, was held by Dinamo Zagreb (2011/12) and Nordsjælland (2012/13); Malmö shipped 21 in 2015/16.

• No team has ever gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without conceding a goal. Milan (1992/93), Ajax (1995/96), Juventus (1996/97 and 2004/05), Chelsea (2005/06), Liverpool (2005/06), Villarreal (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11), Monaco (2014/15), Paris Saint-Germain (2015/16) and Barcelona (2017/18) all let in just one.

• Matchday six of the 2013/14 marked FCSB's 23rd successive game in the competition without a victory, surpassing the previous record of 22 set by Spartak Moskva between December 2000 and November 2006.

• Anderlecht hold the unwanted record for successive defeats in the competition, group stage to final, having lost 12 in a row between December 2003 and November 2005. Dinamo Zagreb are next with 11 consecutive losses on two occasions, from September 2011 to November 2012 and ongoing since September 2015.

• The lowest total for a team qualifying from the group stage is six points: Zenit in 2013/14 and Roma in 2015/16. Since three points for a win was introduced in 1995/96, nine teams have made it through with seven points: Legia Warszawa (1995/96), Dynamo Kyiv (1999/2000), Liverpool (2001/02, second group stage), in 2002/03 Lokomotiv Moskva (first group stage) and eventual finalists Juventus (second group stage), Rangers and Werder Bremen (2005/06), Galatasaray (2013/14) and Basel (2014/15).

• Napoli failed to qualify from their group with 12 points in 2013/14, the highest total of any team not to reach the next stage when the top two in each section progressed. Dynamo Kyiv (1999/2000, second group stage), Borussia Dortmund (2002/03, second group stage), PSV Eindhoven (2003/04), Olympiacos and Dynamo Kyiv (both 2004/05), Werder Bremen (2006/07), Manchester City (2011/12), Chelsea and Cluj (both 2012/13), Benfica (2013/14) and Porto (2015/16) all missed out with ten points.

Goalscoring records
• Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a match in Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen on 7 March 2012, a feat matched by Shakhtar Donetsk's Luiz Adriano at BATE Borisov on 21 October 2014. Eleven more players, also including Messi, have scored four times in a game, most recently Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid on matchday six in 2015/16.

• Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for a UEFA Champions League group stage with 11 goals in 2015/16, eclipsing his own mark of nine in 2013/14, which Luiz Adriano matched in 2014/15 and Ronaldo himself equalled in 2017/18. Lionel Messi got ten goals in 2016/17; Zlatan Ibrahimović (2013/14), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004/05), Filippo Inzaghi, Hernán Crespo (both 2002/03) and Robert Lewandowski (2018/19) managed eight.

• Messi's hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven on matchday one of the 2018/19 competition was his eighth in the competition, a mark Ronaldo matched against Atlético Madrid in that season's round of 16 second leg.

Oldest and youngest players
• Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta is the oldest player to compete in the UEFA Champions League having featured against Real Madrid on matchday six in 2007/08 aged 43 years and 252 days. Alessandro Costacurta is the oldest outfield player; the Milan defender was 40 years and 211 days when he played against AEK Athens in 2006/07.

• Francesco Totti is the oldest player to score in the competition, aged 38 years and 59 days, in Roma's 1-1 draw at CSKA Moskva on 25 November 2014. Ryan Giggs (37 years 290 days) was the previous record holder.

• Celestine Babayaro is the youngest player to have appeared; he was 16 years and 87 days when he started for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucureşti on 23 November 1994. He was sent off in the 37th minute.

• Peter Ofori-Quaye is the youngest player to have scored in the UEFA Champions League, aged 17 years and 195 days. He found the net in Olympiacos's 5-1 defeat at Rosenborg on 1 October 1997.

Club Brugge KV
Formed: 1891
Nickname: Blauw-Zwart (Blue and Black)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Cup: (1978)
• UEFA Cup: (1976)

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 15 (2018)
Belgian Cup: 11 (2015)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2018/19: UEFA Europa League round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2017/18: UEFA Europa League play-offs (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)
2016/17: group stage
2015/16: UEFA Europa League group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League play-offs)
2014/15: UEFA Europa League quarter-finals
2013/14: UEFA Europa League third qualifying round
2012/13: UEFA Europa League group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)
2011/12: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2010/11: UEFA Europa League group stage
2009/10: UEFA Europa League round of 32

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
8-0: Club Brugge v Floriana
19/09/73, European Champion Clubs' Cup first round first leg

• Biggest away win
1-6: ÍA Akranes v Club Brugge
23/08/01, UEFA Cup qualifying round second leg
0-5: Újpest v Club Brugge
15/09/98, UEFA Cup first round first leg

• Heaviest home defeat
0-5: Club Brugge v Paris Saint-Germain
22/10/19, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest away defeat
6-1: Monaco v Club Brugge
09/11/88, European Champion Clubs' Cup second round second leg
5-0: Napoli v Club Brugge
17/09/15, UEFA Europa League group stage

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final only)
• Biggest home win
3-1: Club Brugge v Galatasaray
23/10/02, first group stage

• Biggest away win
0-4: Monaco v Club Brugge
06/11/18, group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
0-5: Club Brugge v Paris Saint-Germain (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
4-0: København v Club Brugge
27/09/16, group stage

Real Madrid CF
Formed: 1902
Nickname: Los Merengues (The Meringues)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Cup/UEFA Champions League (13): 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, (1962), (1964), 1966, (1981), 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
• UEFA Cup (2): 1985, 1986
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: (1971), (1983)
• UEFA Super Cup (4): (1998), (2000), 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, (2018)
• European/South American Cup (3): 1960, (1966), 1998, (2000), 2002

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 33 (2017)
Spanish Cup: 19 (2014)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2018/19: round of 16
2017/18: winners
2016/17: winners
2015/16: winners
2014/15: semi-finals
2013/14: winners
2012/13: semi-finals
2011/12: semi-finals
2010/11: semi-finals
2009/10: round of 16

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
9-0: Madrid v Odense
25/10/61, European Champion Clubs' Cup first round second leg

• Biggest away win
0-8: Olympiakos Nicosia v Madrid
24/09/69, European Champion Clubs' Cup first round first leg

• Heaviest home defeat
1-4: Madrid v Ajax
05/03/19, UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg
0-3: Madrid v CSKA Moskva
12/12/18, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest away defeat
5-0 twice, most recently v AC Milan
19/04/89, European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final second leg

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final only)
• Biggest home win
8-0: Madrid v Malmö
08/12/15, group stage

• Biggest away win
0-6: APOEL v Madrid
21/11/17, group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
1-4: Madrid v Ajax (see above)
0-3: Madrid v CSKA Moskva (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
4-0: Liverpool v Madrid
10/11/09, round of 16 second leg