UEFA Champions League - 2020/21 SeasonMatch press kits

Atalanta are making their second successive round of 16 appearance as they take on 13-time European champions Real Madrid, who have lost at this stage in each of their last two UEFA Champions League campaigns.

• The Italian club won three of their six Group D games this season, sealing a knockout berth with a 1-0 win at Ajax in their final fixture, although a 5-0 home defeat by Liverpool on Matchday 3 – Atalanta's heaviest European loss – was instrumental in placing them second behind the English club.

• In contrast Madrid recovered from taking only one point from their first two games to finish first in Group B, winning three of their next four matches including a 2-0 home victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 6 that sealed their progress as section winners.

• This is the teams' first meeting, and only Atalanta's third game against a Spanish club in UEFA competition.

Form guide
Atalanta
• Atalanta's record in Group D this season was W3 D2 L1, all three of those wins coming away from home – at Midjtylland (4-0), Liverpool (2-0) and, decisively, Ajax (1-0). In Bergamo, they drew 2-2 with Ajax – a game in which they had been two goals down – and Midjylland (1-1) either side of the 5-0 loss against Liverpool.

• Atalanta have won only two of their seven home UEFA Champions League matches (D3), losing 2-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan on Matchday 2 last season and suffering that record defeat by Liverpool in Bergamo, where they are yet to win in the competition. They have, however, suffered only three defeats in their 24 home European matches overall (W12 D9).

• Debutants in 2019/20, this is Atalanta's second successive UEFA Champions League appearance after they finished third in Serie A last season.

• Initially it appeared as if the Bergamo club's first taste of the competition would prove brief, Atalanta losing their first three UEFA Champions League matches last season, against Dinamo Zagreb (0-4 a), Shakhtar Donetsk (1-2 h) and Manchester City (1-5 a). However, a point at home against City on Matchday 4 (1-1) proved the catalyst for a remarkable revival, the Italian side beating Dinamo 2-0 at home and Shakhtar 3-0 away to snatch second place in the group behind City.

• Even better was to follow in the round of 16, Atalanta beating Valencia 4-1 at home and 4-3 away with Josip Iličić becoming the first player to score four times away from home in a UEFA Champions League knockout match in the latter fixture.

• Atalanta looked set to continue their magical run thanks to Mario Pašalić's first-half goal in their quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, but the French side struck twice in the closing moments to end their adventure.

• The win at Ajax on Matchday 6 was Atalanta's 50th European match; this is their eighth campaign in continental competition. They reached the European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals in 1987/88 and the UEFA Cup quarter-finals three years later.

• The Italian club have lost only six of their last 29 European games (W14 D9).

• Last season's tie against Valencia is Atalanta's only previous experience of Spanish opponents.

Real Madrid
• Madrid collected six of their ten points in this season's group stage against Internazionale, who they beat 3-2 at home and 2-0 away. They took only one point from their first two Group B games, losing 3-2 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk before late goals from Karim Benzema (87) and Casemiro (90+3) rescued a 2-2 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 2. The wins against Inter were followed by a 2-0 loss at Shakhtar, but Mönchengladbach were then beaten by the same scoreline in the final round of group games.

• Madrid therefore finished first in their group for only the second time in the last five seasons but for the 17th time in all, second only to Barcelona (21).

• Spanish champions for a record-extending 34th time in 2019/20, this is Madrid's 25th UEFA Champions League campaign – a joint record along with Barcelona. They have qualified for the knockout rounds in all of their 25 seasons, also a competition best.

• This is the 13-time champions' 51st European Cup campaign, more than any other side.

• In 2019/20, Zinédine Zidane's side were runners-up in their section behind eventual finalists Paris Saint-Germain, finishing on 11 points, five fewer than Paris. Their campaign came to an end in the round of 16 as they lost 2-1 home and away to Manchester City.

• Having reached the semi-finals or better for eight successive seasons between 2010/11 and 2017/18, Madrid have therefore lost in the last 16 in each of the last two campaigns, bowing out against Ajax in 2018/19. That ended a run of eight straight last-16 victories; their overall record at this stage is W9 L8.

• Madrid have won ten of their last 11 games against Italian clubs, the exception a 3-1 home defeat by Juventus – who they had beaten 4-1 in the 2017 UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff – in the 2017/18 quarter-final second leg. Madrid nevertheless squeezed through having won 3-0 in Turin.

• The 2-0 success at Inter on Matchday 4 this season was a fifth straight win in Italy for Madrid, who had previously gone eight matches there without a victory (D4 L4).

• That 2018 tie against Juventus is Madrid's last two-legged contest with a Serie A side; their overall record in such contests is W13 L9. They have won the last three, against Juve, Roma (2-0 a, 2-0 h) in the 2015/16 round of 16 and Napoli at the same stage in 2016/17 (3-1 h, 3-1 a), after a run of eight consecutive two-legged knockout losses against Italian opposition.

• Madrid have won only four of their last ten UEFA Champions League matches (D2 L4). They have lost seven of their last 17 (W7 D3).

• The Spanish side have won 17 of their last 29 European away matches, losing seven.

• Benzema's goal on Matchday 2 means he has matched the record of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in scoring in 16 successive UEFA Champions League campaigns.

Links and trivia
• Zidane played in Italy for Juventus between 1996 and 2001. He faced Atalanta four times during that spell (W2 D1 L1), scoring twice in a 3-1 win 1997/98.

• Have played in Spain:
Luis Muriel (Granada 2010/11, Sevilla 2017–18)
Cristiano Piccini (Betis 2014–17, Valencia 2018–20)
Johan Mojica (Rayo Vallecano 2013/14 & 2016/17, Real Valladolid 2014–16 loan, Girona 2017–20)
Mario Pašalić (Elche 2014/15 loan)

• Muriel faced Madrid twice with Sevilla, his team losing 5-0 in Madrid and winning 3-2 at home.

• Piccini lost all four games against Madrid while playing in Spain, his teams scoring two goals while conceding 15; he was sent off in Betis's 2-1 Liga defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu on 12 March 2017.

• Mojica came on as a late substitute in Girona's 2-1 Liga win against Madrid in October 2017.

• Pašalić's Elche lost 5-1 away and 2-0 at home to Madrid during his season in Spain.

• Rafael Tolói and Casemiro were team-mates at São Paulo in 2012.

• International team-mates:
Mario Pašalić & Luka Modrić (Croatia)
Robin Gosens & Toni Kroos (Germany)
Ruslan Malinovskyi & Andriy Lunin (Ukraine)

• Remo Freuler scored in Switzerland's 3-3 UEFA Nations League draw against Toni Kroos' Germany on 13 October 2020.

• Freuler also found the net in a 1-1 draw against a Spain side captained by Sergio Ramos on 14 November 2020.

• Ruslan Malinovskyi scored Ukraine's goal from the penalty spot in a 2-1 UEFA Nations League defeat against Kroos' Germany on 10 October 2020.

• Ramos converted two penalties in Spain's 3-3 friendly draw with Russia on 14 November 2017; Aleksei Miranchuk scored for the home side in St Petersburg.

UEFA Champions League: Did you know?

Overall records
• 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's 2018 triumph made them the first team to win three successive European Cups twice. The Spanish side won the first five editions of the tournament, between 1956 and 1960; Ajax (1971–73) and Bayern München (1974–76) have also lifted the trophy three years in a row.

• 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.

Knockout stage
• Real Madrid have qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout phase a record 25 times, including 24 in succession. They have also played a competition-high 99 knockout phase matches – ahead of Bayern München (96) and Barcelona (95).

• Teams have overturned a first-leg deficit to go through 49 times, including six in 2018/19 – a competition record for a single season – and Paris Saint-Germain in last season's round of 16.

• Before 2018/19, only twice – Ajax's defeat of Panathinaikos in the 1995/96 semi-finals and Internazionale's victory against Bayern in the 2010/11 round of 16 – had a side progressed after a home first-leg loss. However, Ajax again (against Real Madrid) and Manchester United (against Paris Saint-Germain) both achieved the feat in the 2018/19 round of 16 before Tottenham (against Ajax) did likewise in the semi-finals.

• The biggest losing margin a side has overhauled was achieved by Barcelona against Paris in the 2016/17 last 16, when they lost 4-0 away but progressed thanks to a 6-1 home success. That eclipsed the previous record held by Deportivo La Coruña in the 2003/04 quarter-finals, when they went down 4-1 at AC Milan but won 4-0 at home; Roma equalled that margin in the 2017/18 quarter-finals, turning round a 4-1 first-leg loss at Barcelona with a 3-0 home success, while in the 2018/19 semi-finals Liverpool lost 3-0 in the first leg at Barcelona but went through after a 4-0 home victory.

• Thirty-four ties have been decided on away goals, including 13 where the triumphant team lost the first leg. Bayern and Monaco have benefited from the away goals rule five times – more than any other club – whereas Internazionale have been eliminated by that method a record four times.

• In all, 30 ties have required extra time. Fourteen have been settled by extra time alone: six round of 16 encounters including Atlético-Liverpool in 2019/20, five quarter-finals, the 2007/08 semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool, and the 2013/14 final between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

• Sixteen ties have gone to penalties, including seven finals – 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2016. The first two-legged tie decided on spot kicks was PSV Eindhoven's 4-2 victory over Lyon on 13 April 2005 after a 2-2 aggregate draw, still the only quarter-final to go to penalties. Bayern, Chelsea and Atlético Madrid have all appeared in three shoot-outs, sharing the competition record, with Bayern, Atlético and Liverpool having won the most (two apiece).

• The 2015/16 round of 16 tie between Atlético Madrid and PSV was the first to finish goalless after two legs. Thirteen have finished 1-0 on aggregate, most recently Real Madrid's defeat of Manchester City in the 2015/16 semi-finals.

• Liverpool (versus Porto) and Bayern (versus Beşiktaş) both won 5-0 in the 2017/18 round of 16, equalling the knockout phase record for the biggest first-leg lead – Real Madrid's 6-1 victory at Schalke in 2013/14 and Bayern's 5-0 success at Sporting CP in 2008/09, both also in the round of 16.

• Bayern eventually beat Sporting by a record aggregate margin of 12-1 after a 7-1 stroll in the home second leg; that tie also featured more goals (13) over its two legs than any UEFA Champions League knockout tie until it was equalled by Liverpool's 7-6 aggregate win against Roma in the 2017/18 semi-final.

• Bayern and Manchester City jointly hold the record for the largest margin of victory in a UEFA Champions League knockout match. Bayern beat both Basel (2011/12) and Shakhtar Donetsk (2014/15) 7-0 in the round of 16 second leg, while City beat Schalke by the same scoreline at the same stage of the 2018/19 competition.

• A record five clubs from England participated in the 2017/18 knockout phase. Including 2019/20, England has also provided four clubs on eight other occasions – as has Spain six times and Germany three. England is the only nation to have provided four quarter-finalists in a season, 2018/19 being the third occasion after 2007/08 and 2008/09.

• There are four clubs from two nations in the round of 16 for only the fourth time in 2020/21. England and Spain both had four apiece in 2008/09, there were four each from England and Germany in 2013/14 while in 2019/20 Spain and England each had four representatives.

• Clarence Seedorf is the only player to have lifted the European Cup with three clubs (Ajax 1995, Real Madrid 1998, Milan 2003, 2007). Bob Paisley (Liverpool 1977, 1978, 1981) was the first coach to win it three times, a feat Carlo Ancelotti (Milan 2003, 2007, Real Madrid 2014) and Zinédine Zidane (2016, 2017, 2018) have replicated.

• In 2014 Ancelotti also became the fifth coach to win the trophy with two clubs; Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund 1997, Bayern 2001), Ernst Happel (Feyenoord 1970, Hamburg 1983), José Mourinho (Porto 2004, Internazionale 2010) and Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid 1998, Bayern 2013) had previously achieved the feat.

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. Thirteen more players, also including Messi, have scored four times in a game, most recently Josip Iličić for Atalanta in the 2019/20 round of 16 second leg against Valencia. He was the third player to score four in a game that season, all away from home, after group stage quadruples from Bayern's Serge Gnabry (Matchday 2 at Tottenham) and Robert Lewandowski (Matchday 5 at Crvena zvezda).

• Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for a UEFA Champions League group stage with 11 goals in 2015/16, Lionel Messi got ten goals in 2016/17, a figure matched by Robert Lewandowski in 2019/20; Ronaldo (2013/14, 2017/18) and Luiz Adriano (2014/15) scored nine while Zlatan Ibrahimović (2013/14), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004/05), Filippo Inzaghi, Hernán Crespo (both 2002/03), Lewandowski (2018/19) and Erling Braut Haaland (2019/20) all managed eight.

• Messi's hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 1 of the 2018/19 competition was his eighth in the competition, a mark Ronaldo matched against Atlético de 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 6 in 2007/08 aged 43 years 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 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.

• Youssoufa Moukoko is the youngest player to have appeared, aged 16 years 18 days for Borussia Dortmund at Zenit on 8 December 2020. He replaced Celestine Babayaro, who was 16 years 87 days when he started for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucureşti on 23 November 1994; Babayaro was sent off in the 37th minute.

• Ansu Fati's winner for Barcelona at Inter on Matchday 6 in 2019/20 made him the youngest goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history, at the age of 17 years 40 days. He eclipsed the previous record of Olympiacos's Peter Ofori-Quaye (17 years 195 days) that had lasted since 1 October 1997.

Atalanta BC
Formed: 1907
Nickname: La Dea (The Goddess)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• None

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
Italian Cup: 1 (1963)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2019/20: quarter-finals
2018/19: UEFA Europa League play-offs
2017/18: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2016/17: did not take part in UEFA competition
2015/16: did not take part in UEFA competition
2014/15: did not take part in UEFA competition
2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition
2012/13: did not take part in UEFA competition
2011/12: did not take part in UEFA competition
2010/11: did not take part in UEFA competition

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
4-1 twice, most recently v Valencia
19/02/20, UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg
3-0: Atalanta v Everton
14/09/17, UEFA Europa League group stage

• Biggest away win
0-8: Sarajevo v Atalanta
02/08/18, UEFA Europa League second qualifying round second leg

• Heaviest home defeat
0-5: Atalanta v Liverpool
03/11/20, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest away defeat
5-1: Manchester City v Atalanta
22/10/19, UEFA Champions League group stage
4-0: Dinamo Zagreb v Atalanta
19/09/19, UEFA Champions League group stage

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final)
Biggest home win
4-1: Atalanta v Valencia (see above)

• Biggest away win
0-4: Midtjylland v Atalanta
21/10/20, group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
0-5: Atalanta v Liverpool (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
5-1: Manchester City v Atalanta (see above)
4-0: Dinamo Zagreb v Atalanta (see above)

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

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: 34 (2020)
Spanish Cup: 19 (2014)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2019/20: round of 16
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

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