Cristiano Ronaldo looking dejected in Real Madrid's 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid last week. | image source: marca.com
One word has been extensively bandied about over the last few days in Madrid, from Chamartín to the banks of the Manzanares: comeback. While some people are clutching at it to keep their cup dreams alive, others, across town, are hoping it will ring hollow on Thursday evening.
Though nothing is impossible, some things are certainly long shots. The stats going into the second leg of the last-16 derby don't make enjoyable reading for the white half of Madrid, despite the notion that such figures are like rules - there to be broken.
Atlético de Madrid have never been knocked out after winning a Copa del Rey first leg 2-0. On all 14 occasions when the 'Rojiblancos' chalked up such a scoreline, they managed to finish the job in the second leg and went through to the next round. On top of that, all of their previous results from the current season would be good enough to progress.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, haven't exactly got good memories to draw on from their latest epic comeback attempts, despite their historic pedigree. In the Spanish Cup, they fell just short against Zaragoza in 2006 after losing the first leg 6-1 at the Romareda, only managing to come out on top 4-0 in the return fixture.
Meanwhile, the wounds are still fresh in relation to two recent failed turnarounds in the Champions League, which came in consecutive seasons at the semi-final stage. In 2011, 'Los Blancos' crashed out on penalties against Bayern after matching their 2-1 defeat away with a victory by the same margin at home, while in 2012 the Bernabéu was rocking as José Mourinho's men came agonisingly close to getting the 3-0 win they needed to cancel out the 4-1 thrashing they suffered in Dortmund.
The last time Real managed to turn around a 2-0 first-leg defeat was way back in 1993. The only good omen is that it was at the same stage as the current tie, as they bounced back from losing in Mallorca to claim a 3-0 victory on home turf and advance to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
- MARCA.com
© Radio Jambo 2024. All rights reserved