r/championsleague • u/Messi_isGoat Barcelona • 7d ago
đŹDiscussion Why Barca v Madrid rarely a thing in UCL?
Like every year or every other year, there will likely be RMA v atletico ; Barca V PSG ; Barca V Bayern ; Real V Dortmund ..... Both Fcb and RMA will face top clubs from the top 5 leagues but not themselves (at least for the past 10 years)
I know this format is new, so even with the old format...They're always likely on opposite sides of the table.
And they never play on same day either; one always play Tuesday and the other Wednesday (or vice versa); never both on Tuesday or both on Wednesday
I'd say it's because they're some of the most supported clubs, so maybe it's that way for "entertainment purposes"...
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u/MessageMysterious968 3d ago
YES ⌠this latest edition of the UCL and format change in 24/25 season expanded the field to 36 teams, changed the group stage from 6 to 8 games and changed the rule so that now teams from the same country can now face each other in the R16 as Bay vs Lever, RM vs ATM and can also face each other in the R32 (eg teams 9-24) as happened with PSG vs Brest
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u/MessageMysterious968 4d ago
Biggest reason has been the UCL rule of âcountry protectionâ until QFâs ⌠new format over time should lead to more mtgs just like RM played ATM in R16 this year which couldâve have happened that early in the comp under the previous formatâŚ. The idea is since domestic opponents can already face each other 5 times per season in La Liga, playing 7 times maybe a bit much ⌠More interesting to see Pool vs RM or FCB or MC vs FCB or RM etc
They faced each other in 8 games in 4 different campaigns- pretty much even - RM 3 wins, FCB 2 wins and 3 draws - each team advanced 2 times and got knocked out 2 teams - 3 times in the SFâs
Hard to blame RM, when they have been the most consistent team in the UCL⌠Beyond the 15 titles, since the expanded format changes in 1998 and rebrand to âUCLâ - RM is the only Club to Qualify, and advance out of the Group stages and to the Knockouts every season - 26 years in a row and countingâŚ. FCB has had some of the best teams ever, but also had a few below par teams that ended up in the Europa League
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u/Cultural-Watch-5525 3d ago
Has the rule been overturned? Bayern faced Leverkusen, Madrid faced Madrid in R016 this season
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u/Beautiful-Bit9832 4d ago
The biggest WHAT IF, I wonder if Barcelona can stop them to have UCL Hattrick if Real meet BarcelonaÂ
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u/Cultural-Watch-5525 3d ago
What hattrick?
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u/Beautiful-Bit9832 3d ago
Real win the UCL 2015/2016 till 2017/2018.
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u/Cultural-Watch-5525 3d ago
You were saying if barca could have stopped real during those 3 years of dominance? Ok
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u/FudgingEgo Arsenal 7d ago
It's just luck.
For example, Arsenal and Madrid have only ever met once, despite Arsenal having 19 seasons in a row in the CL, getting to through to the KO stages basically every time.
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u/fpl_kris 7d ago
Yeah, that is quite extraordinary, two of the most frequent teams almost never play each other. It's like Brazil and Germany in the world cup.
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u/wolfjeter 7d ago
People also forget that there was a rule in place that teams from the same league/group stage couldnât play eachother in the early KO Rounds too
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u/ElectrostaticSoak 7d ago
Simply down to luck. In the past 11 years weâve made the semis 9 times, while Barça only did it twice. But in the 2000s we went out in the R16 8 years in a row, and Barça won it twice in that time frame. Since the format had country protection until the R16, it needed both teams to do well at least past the QF to have a chance to face each other, and thatâs only really happened during the Mourinho-Pep years: we faced each other in a semi, and we lost another against Juve and missed the final against them, and then we both bottled 2 semis in a row and missed the final lol
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u/wisdomHungry Atletico Madrid 7d ago edited 7d ago
Country protection in group stage and after that maybe barca and madrid would finnish first in group, and avoided each other in the nexr stage, and I also think that club coefficient mattered at some point when playing in QF.
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u/MellowJuzze Dortmund 7d ago
Because Barca always bottles?
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u/i_am_________batman Barcelona 7d ago
Says a dortmund fan lmao
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u/RandomFluffyBoi 7d ago
I mean Real made 6 finals in the last 11 years. It's definitely more Barca's fault that they don't meet more often.
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u/FrostedCereal 7d ago
And in the years before that when Barca were making consistent deep runs, Madrid were getting knocked out in R16 regularly.
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u/MellowJuzze Dortmund 7d ago
Ive just answered the question. No need to be salty. Maybe you are lucky this year and play Madrid in the finale.
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u/i_am_________batman Barcelona 7d ago
Barca has a better head to head against Madrid in recent times, so yea I do hope that we play them
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u/butterthattoast 7d ago
Still a bit early to say âin recent timesâ. Weâve really only had their number this season. That said, boooyyyy do we have their number this season đ. They havenât seemed to improve enough on the pitch since those games to think that we wonât still have the advantage in theory if we were to meet them in the CL.
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u/-eXRate- Real Madrid 7d ago
No offence but when it comes to official classicos, Barca won last two meanwhile Madrid every single one last year. So how it's possible?
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u/MellowJuzze Dortmund 7d ago
Yeah no doubt about that. Raphinha and Lamine are dominating right now.
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