The race for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League final looks set to be another fascinating battle amongst Europe’s elite.
The newly-expanded format of the tournament has meant changes to how teams qualify for the knockout rounds with more games added to the league phase and the creation of Round of 16 playoffs for teams finishing outside the top eight of the league standings.
El Clasico rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid have endured contrasting adaptations to the new layout with the Catalans finishing second in the league rankings to secure an automatic place in the Round of 16.
Carlo Ancelotti’s defending champions needed to dig deep after dropping into the playoffs but they produced a sensational 6-3 aggregate win over rivals Manchester City to once again dump Pep Guardiola out of the competition.
The Round of 16 draw takes place on February 21, with the bracket then set all the way to the final, including the potential for European football’s biggest modern rivalry lining up in the final.
MORE: Barcelona UEFA Champions League fixtures: Full schedule of games in 2024/25 competition
Can Barcelona face Real Madrid in 2024/25 Champions League?
With Real Madrid progressing through playoffs, their options for the knockout stages are clearer, as Ancelotti’s team will remain in the ‘top half’ of the bracket and will take on either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16.
Barcelona can still be placed in either side of the bracket, if they land in the top half with PSG as Round of 16 challengers, they can only face Real Madrid in the semifinals – if both team progress.
If Hansi Flick’s team are in the ‘bottom half’, with Benfica as Round of 16 opponents, they cannot face Ancelotti until the final on May 31.
MORE: Real Madrid UEFA Champions League fixtures: Full schedule of games and results for 2024/25 competition
Have Barcelona played Real Madrid in the Champions League final?
The most famous Champions League meetings between Real Madrid and Barca came in the 2010/11 semifinals, two matches that concluded a tempestuous run of four Clasicos in the space of 17 days when the enmity between Guardiola and Jose Mourinho was at its peak.
Lionel Messi scored twice in the final 15 minutes to silence the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the first a majestic solo effort, and Barcelona never let their rivals make a dent in that 2-0 first-leg advantage as the sides played out a 1-1 draw in the Camp Nou return.
La Blaugrana went on to win their second Champions League title in three seasons, preceding a run of agonising near-misses for Clasico finals. To this day, we have not seen one in the Champions League.
In 2012, Guardiola’s Barca lost to Chelsea despite dominating the vast majority of their semifinal. At the same stage, Real Madrid lost to Bayern Munich on penalties as Cristiano Ronaldo erred in the shootout. The following year they were each run over by Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively as Der Klassiker bested El Clasico.
Both of Real Madrid’s 2014 and 2016 final successes over Atletico Madrid came after their city rivals had dispatched Barca in the quarters. In between those successes, Real Madrid were beaten in the 2015 semifinals by Juventus, who went on to lose to the MSN (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) version of Barcelona at Berlin’s OIimpiastadion in the final.
Barcelona and Real Madrid Champions League head to head record
Back in 2002, Real Madrid foreshadowed Barca’s 2011 semifinal win with a 3-1 aggregate victory of their own that featured Zinedine Zidane and Steve McManaman scoring in a 2-0 victory at Camp Nou. That plotted the path for Zidane to score his volley for the ages against Bayer Leverkusen in the final at Hampden Park.
More than one team from each country taking part in the competition formally known as the European Cup is a relatively recent development. For much of its history, the only way for teams to qualify was by winning their domestic league title.
The exception to this was the previous season’s winner automatically qualifying as holders, thus providing the only possibility of a domestic clash taking place in the continental context.
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: El Clasico results in the Champions League
| Season | Home team | Away team | Round | RESULT |
| 2010/11 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Semifinals | 1-1 |
| 2010/11 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | Semifinals | 0-2 |
| 2001/02 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | Semifinals | 1-1 |
| 2001/02 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Semifinals | 0-2 |
| 1960/61 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | First round | 2-1 |
| 1960/61 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | First round | 2-2 |
| 1959/60 | Barcelona | Real Madrid | Semifinals | 1-3 |
| 1959/60 | Real Madrid | Barcelona | Semifinals | 3-1 |
This happened in the 1959/60 semifinals. Despite beating Real Madrid into second place in La Liga that season, Barcelona lost both legs 3-1 to their great rivals, with Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Paco Gento among the goals.
That gave Real Madrid a fifth European title out of five. Barca’s status as champions of Spain meant there was a swift shot at revenge in the 1960/61 first round, with the competition an unseeded straight knockout affair in this era.
After a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu, Marti Verges and Eravisto scored in a famous 2-1 win to end Madrid’s reign. Barcelona rode that wave all the way to the final, where they lost to Bela Guttmann’s Benfica. It proved to be the start of an agonising 30-year wait for European Cup glory.
