PSG vs Real Madrid stats preview: head to head, Messi, Benzema...
Real Madrid currently have the head-to-head upper hand over Paris Saint-Germain, who they face in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid will be the 11th competitive meeting between the sides, with the Spaniards enjoying the head-to-head upper hand as it stands.
However, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is yet to beat former employers PSG in his coaching career, while the Italian's opposite number, Mauricio Pochettino, has got the better of Los Blancos once before.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is on the cusp of a Champions League goal-scoring milestone, and Karim Benzema is closing in on a Madrid legend’s European goal haul.
Here is the statistical lowdown on PSG vs Real Madrid:
Ten previous meetings
PSG and Real Madrid have met 10 times in European competition - in three two-legged knockout ties, and in two home-and-away group stages. Madrid have won four games, Paris have come out on top in three, and three clashes have ended all square.
Five of the teams’ 10 meetings have been at the Parc des Princes. They have yielded two home wins, one away win and two draws.
UEFA Cup, Cup Winners' Cup ties in the 90s
PSG and Real Madrid faced off in consecutive seasons in the early to mid-90s, in the quarter-finals of the 1992/93 UEFA Cup and 1993/94 Cup Winners’ Cup. On both occasions, it was the Frenchmen who advanced to the semi-finals.
The first of those two last-eight ties was particularly memorable. After a 3-1 win for Madrid in the first leg at the Bernabéu, PSG went 3-0 up in the return in the French capital, only for Iván Zamorano to score a 93rd-minute goal for the Spaniards that appeared to have forced extra time. However, in the sixth minute of time added on, Antoine Kombouaré then netted a fourth for PSG to knock Madrid out.
See also:
Champions League knockout clashes
The third, and most recent, European knockout tie between PSG and Real Madrid took place in the 2017/18 Champions League, at the last-16 stage. This time it was Madrid who progressed, after beating PSG home and away.
In the opening leg in Madrid, PSG took a first-half lead through Adrien Rabiot, but goals by Cristiano Ronaldo (two) and Marcelo meant Los Blancos recovered to take a 3-1 advantage to Paris. In the second leg at the Parc des Princes, Cristiano and Casemiro completed a 5-2 aggregate win for Madrid, Edinson Cavani replying for the hosts.
PSG vs Real Madrid - UCL campaigns so far and H2H breakdown:
Messi seeking landmark goal in UCL knockouts
Messi is just one short of 50 career goals in the Champions League knockout stages, a figure that only Cristiano (who is on 67) has managed to reach so far.
The Barcelona legend, who has scored seven times since joining PSG in the summer - two in Ligue 1 and five in the Champions League - has amassed 26 goals and 14 assists in his 45 competitive appearances against Madrid (all as a Barça player), but was unable to score or supply an assist in his last seven clashes with the 13-time European champions.
In his 17 Champions League campaigns with Barça, the 34-year-old was knocked out in the last 16 on three occasions, against Chelsea in 2004/05, Liverpool in 2006/07 and PSG in 2020/21.
Benzema on verge of equalling Raúl tally
Benzema, who is battling to be fit to face PSG, is two goals away from drawing level with Real Madrid great Raúl as the club’s second-top scorer in the European Cup. Benzema currently has 64 goals in 116 Champions League games for Madrid.
The Frenchman came up against PSG seven times as a Lyon player, registering four wins, two draws and a defeat, but failing to score once. Since joining Madrid, the striker has scored twice in four appearances against PSG, but has never netted at the Parc des Princes.
Messi and Benzema's 2021/22 Champions League records:
Ancelotti winless against PSG
As a coach, Ancelotti has so far proved unable to win a game against PSG. The 62-year-old was beaten once by the Parisians as Bayern Munich boss (3-0, in the 2017/18 Champions League group phase) and twice drew with them during his time with Napoli (2-2 in France and 1-1 in Italy, in the 2018/19 Champions League group stage).
Ancelotti was PSG head coach between January 2012 and May 2013, registering 49 wins, 19 draws and nine defeats in 77 competitive games in charge, with 153 goals for and 64 against. His only home losses as PSG boss were a 3-1 defeat to Lyon in the Coupe de France, and 2-1 reverses against Saint-Étienne and Rennes in Ligue 1.
Pochettino's record against Real Madrid
While at the helm of Espanyol, Pochettino lost his first seven meetings with Real Madrid as a coach, without seeing his team even score a goal. The Argentine enjoyed better fortunes against Madrid with Tottenham Hotspur, however, overseeing a 3-1 win in London and a 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu in the 2017/18 Champions League group stage.
Pochettino has taken charge of 68 competitive games at PSG, winning 46, drawing 12 and losing 10. His PSG team is unbeaten in 14 games - nine wins and five draws - since going down 2-1 to Manchester City in late November.
