Real Madrid: history on their side after 2-1 away win over Bayern
After victory at the Allianz Arena, the statistics certainly favour Real Madrid's prospects of reaching the Champions League final in Kiev...
Real Madrid took a big step towards the Champions League final in Wednesday's last-four first leg against Bayern Munich, earning a 2-1 win at the Allianz Arena that leaves Zinedine Zidane's men odds-on to seal their ticket to Kiev in the return.
Real Madrid: seven out of seven after 2-1 first-leg away wins
History is certainly on Real's side: every time they have managed this scoreline in an away first leg in a European knockout tie, they have gone through.
It has happened on seven occasions: five in the European Cup/Champions League, and two in the Uefa Cup. In the contintent's top club competition, Real have progressed after 2-1 first-leg victories away to Royal Antwerp in 1957/58 (8-1 on aggregate), Zurich in 1963/64 (8-1), Stal Mielec in 1976/77 (3-1), Limerick in 1980/81 (7-2), and Bayern last season (6-3 after extra time).
In the Uefa Cup, meanwhile, 2-1 wins on the road against Basel in 1971/72 and Slovan Bratislava in 1991/92 were followed by 2-1 and 1-1 second-leg results that saw Los Blancos progress 4-2 and 3-2 on aggregate, respectively.
Just one team has made final after first-leg home loss in last four
Real Madrid optimism will also be fuelled by the fact that only one club has ever qualified for the European Cup final after losing the opening leg at home: Ajax, who in 1995/96 beat Panathinaikos 3-0 in Athens after going down 1-0 in Amsterdam.