Real Madrid does not play finals, it wins them: 16 titles in 18 since 2014 – Marca

The history of Real Madrid changed in 2014. Again. That year, Carlo Ancelotti’s first in the White House, the Whites were crowned Cup champions and reached the Tenth in Lisbon. A glorious cycle began that eight years later is still open. In Helsinki, against Eintracht, Madrid is looking for its fifth European Super Cup and the seventeenth final won since Bale’s goal against Barcelona at Mestalla. Only Atlético de Madrid has been able in that time to beat the whites when a title is played in a single game. They did it in the 2014 Spanish Super Cup and in the 2018 European Super Cup. Simeone’s men added to those titles the Cup lifted against the whites in 2013 at the Santiago Bernabu. It would be something extraordinary if the two Champions won by Madrid in the Madrid derby, in Lisbon and Milan, did not appear along the way. “The finals are not played, they are won”, repeats Luis Aragons in one of those mantras that are part of his collection of phrases to permeate the locker room. Luis did not step on Real Madrid as a coach, although he was very close in Ramn Mendoza’s time, but there is no team like the white team that has better internalized that teaching. A review between the greats of Europe from 2014 to today makes it clear. And it is something that goes further, both in terms of the number of trophies and the quality of the finals it has reached. It started against Bara with the Cup final and Bale’s gallop to destroy Bartra and beat Pinto. Since then, the azulgrana team has lost five finals. Three in the Spanish Super Cup (against Madrid and Athletic, twice against the Basques) and two in the Copa del Rey (Real Madrid and Valencia). At the international level, he has not appeared in a final since he was able to play after winning the Champions League in 2015. His total balance since 2014 is 10 wins in 15 finals. Atlético de Madrid: 3 of 6 I would have won in Lisbon and/or Milan. But that chapter has yet to be written. The white victim in Lisbon in 2014 has played five finals since then against his eternal rival. They won two Super Cups (the one in Spain, in 2014, and the one in Europe in 2018) and lost three: the two Champions Leagues and the first Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia. The only one that wasn’t against the whites was won: the 2018 Europa League match, against Marseille in Lyon. Seville: 4 out of 12 Infallible in the Europa League finals, Sevilla resisted the European Super Cup. They only won it once (2006) and no one has lost as many finals as them (five). With the cut in 2014, Sevilla has played 12 finals and has ‘only’ won four in the Europa League. I lost two of the Copa del Rey and all the Super Cups (six). Athletic: three of six The Basques have appeared in six finals in this era of Madrid splendor, three of them in Cups that always ended in defeat (two against Bara and the Basque due to the pandemic against Real at La Cartuja). The Super Cup was better for him: two wins (both against Barcelona) and one defeat (Real Madrid, last January). Bayern: 13 of 17 Bayern have never played a European final against Madrid, but on this path since 2014 they fell up to three times against the whites: twice in the semi-finals and once in the quarters. In that time he has left four titles in 17 finals: three German Super Cups (all against Borussia Dortmund) and the Cup that Eintracht won in 2018. Liverpool: 6 of 12 Winner of everything since Klopp came to his bench, Liverpool has lost the two Champions League finals in which Madrid was their rival. In addition, since 2014, he has fallen twice in the Community Shield (Manchester City and Arsenal) and once in the League Cup (with City, on penalties in 2016). In Europe, Klopp made his debut with a defeat against Sevilla in the 2016 Europa League final. Alexander Arnold’s great goal in the Community Shield Manchester City final: 9 out of 13 With the Champions League as a longing and until now an impossible object desire, Manchester City appears every year in the finals of English football. Since 2014 he has one in the FA Cup (6-0 against Watford in 2019), five in the Community Shield (win two and lose three) and full in the League Cup (six out of six). In the Champions League he reached the final in Porto, in 2021, the one he lost to Chelsea. PSG: 19 of 22 In Paris lives the other nouveau riche who aspires to be European champion. The final he reached, the one in 2020, he lost in Lisbon against Bayern. His dominance in France is absolute, but he has lost three finals: last year’s Super Cup (against Lille, in Tel Aviv) and another Cup (the 2019 one, against Stade de Reims, on penalties). The season kicks off with another Super Cup, the ninth in 10 years. PSG goal recital: Messi, Neymar free kicks and even Ramos high heels! Chelsea: 6 out of 15 European champions in 2021, the Stamford Bridge team did not fail after European Super Cup (Villarreal, on penalties) and the Club World Cup (Palmeiras, in extra time) to confirm his return to the elite. Also winner of the 2019 Europa League, against Arsenal and with the best Hazard, they have left a good handful of finals since 2014: four out of five in the Cup, the last three in a row; two out of three in the League Cup and three out of three in the Community Shield.Juventus: 8 of 17Juve look back at their country after a time in which they were only worth being European champions. Twice he was one step away and both times he crossed paths with a Spanish team in the final to extend his curse in the Champions League finals: two wins out of nine. In 2015 it was Bara and in 2017 Madrid. In Italy, since 2014, they have won five Cups in seven finals, while in the Super Cup they have lost five in eight finals.