Back in 2006, we famously became the first English side to win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, and 18 years later, we returned to rewrite the history books again.
While Thierry Henry’s goal did the damage on our first visit, Gabriel Martinelli’s 93rd-minute winner put the seal on an incredible pair of victories over Real Madrid to take us into the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009.
That strike also ensured we achieved something no other team visiting the stadium in its 77-year history have ever done. That’s because we became the first team, either domestically or in European competition, to beat Madrid at the Bernabeu on each of our first two visits.
We also became the first English side to win there twice. Only Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea have tasted success there since our triumph nearly two decades ago, but none of our Premier League rivals have ever returned to do it all again, unlike ourselves.
We also maintained our proud record of never losing to Real in our four previous matches, and indeed we only conceded our first goal against them in those matches when Vinicius Jr capitalised on a mistake in our backline. That ensured the hosts avoided losing three major European games in a row without scoring for the first time in their history, but they have now suffered three straight Champions League losses for the first time in five years.
It was also just the fourth time in their history that they had lost a European Cup or Champions League game by an aggregate margin of four or more.
After knocking out the holders for just the second time ever, following on from our 2008/09 win against AC Milan, we are now unbeaten in each of our last eight games in Europe, our longest run since we racked up 13 in a row heading into the 2006 final, and we have won each of our last four which is a joint-club record in the European Cup/Champions League.
Therefore, a win in Paris would see us make more history – and hopefully propel us to just our second-ever final as we dream of lifting Europe’s premier prize for the first time.
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