Anfield history offers hope to Madrid

Liverpool FC may hold the upper hand but history suggests Real Madrid CF could ensure an awkward evening for their hosts when they visit Anfield for the second leg of the clubs' first knockout round encounter.

• Yossi Benayoun's 82nd-minute header earned Liverpool a 1-0 first-leg triumph at Santiago Bernabéu on 25 February but the Merseyside team will know better than to take anything for granted given they actually have a better record against Liga clubs in Spain than on home soil.

• Liverpool have won just two of 12 previous UEFA club competition matches at Anfield against Spanish opponents and required an injury-time penalty to salvage a draw against Los Merengues' neighbours, Club Atlético de Madrid, in November.

• What is more, four times in the last nine seasons Liverpool have lost a second-leg tie at Anfield following an away victory in the first. On each occasion they still progressed, however – including their first knockout round tie against FC Barcelona in 2006/07 when they went down 1-0 at Anfield but advanced on away goals after an earlier 2-1 triumph at Camp Nou.

• For Madrid, this is the fifth time they have trailed 1-0 going into an away leg of a UEFA club competition tie – and only once have they mounted a successful fightback. That came in the second round of the 1970/71 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup when they made amends with a 2-0 win at FC Wacker Innsbruck.

• In the UEFA Champions League, however, 1-0 first-leg home defeats by FC Bayern München (2000/01 semi-final) and Arsenal FC (2005/06 first knockout round) both led to their eventual elimination.

• This last-16 tie brings together two of European football's most illustrious names for the first time since Liverpool claimed the third of their five European Champion Clubs' Cups at the expense of Madrid with a 1-0 final win in Paris on 27 May 1981. Alan Kennedy's solitary 81st-minute strike that evening earned Liverpool manager Bob Paisley the honour of becoming the first and so far only man to have led a team to three European Cups.

• A more recent triumph will come to mind when the Anfield crowd welcome back Madrid's second-choice goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who played for the Premier League club from 2001 to 2007. The Pole was the hero of Liverpool's penalty shoot-out triumph against AC Milan in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul, making a miraculous extra-time double save from Andriy Shevchenko followed by a trophy-clinching penalty stop from the same player.

• The match also marks the return to England of Madrid coach Juande Ramos, who had a 12-month spell as Tottenham Hotspur FC manager prior to his dismissal in October. Ramos led Tottenham to victory in last season's English League Cup.

• This contest offers plenty of other sub-plots, notably Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez taking on the club where he spent a decade and a half of his sporting life.

• Born in the Spanish capital, Benítez joined Madrid as a young hopeful in 1973/74 and spent seven years in the youth and reserve ranks. After injury ended his playing days, he returned to the club in 1986 to embark on a coaching career in their youth system.

• He rose the ladder to become coach of Castilla, Madrid's B team, and, in 1993/94 had an eleven-game spell assisting then caretaker boss Vicente Del Bosque with the first team.

• Benítez is not the only man at Anfield with a Madrid connection for defender Álvaro Arbeloa made two senior appearances for Los Merengues in 2004/05, the high point of a three-season spell with the club. A regular for the B team, he moved on to Deportivo La Coruña in 2005.

• Overall, Liverpool's squad features five Spanish players in Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa, Pepe Reina, Albert Riera and Fernando Torres, the erstwhile icon of Madrid's city rivals Atlético.

• Liverpool, who are targeting a fourth quarter-final in five years, recorded two wins and a draw at Anfield in the group stage and are unbeaten in eight home matches in the UEFA Champions League proper.

• Yet the Merseyside outfit's home record against Spanish sides is P12 W2 D6 L4. In six of those games, including four of the last five, they failed to find the net.

• Liverpool's only home victories against Spanish opponents came against Real Sociedad de Fútbol, a 6-0 triumph in the 1975/76 UEFA Cup second round, and Barcelona, 1-0 in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup semi-final second leg.

• Liverpool have an excellent record in two-legged ties against Spanish opponents, having won six of their seven previous contests. Their most recent success came in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round in 2006/07, an away-goals elimination of Barcelona following a 2-2 aggregate draw.

• Their most famous victory against opponents from Spain was the aforementioned 1-0 European Cup final triumph against Madrid. Liverpool's team included their current assistant manager Sammy Lee and the full lineups were:
Liverpool: Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Alan Hansen, Phil Thompson, Alan Kennedy, Sammy Lee, Terry McDermott, Graeme Souness, Ray Kennedy, Kenny Dalglish (Jimmy Case), David Johnson.
Real Madrid: Agustín Rodríguez, Rafael García Cortés (Francisco Pineda), Andrés Sabido, Antonio García Navajas, José Antonio Camacho, Ángel De Los Santos, Vicente Del Bosque, Uli Stielike, Juanito, Carlos Santillana, Lawrie Cunningham.

• Liverpool also prevailed against Spain's Deportivo Alavés in the 2001 UEFA Cup final, winning a remarkable match 5-4 after extra time.

• Madrid, by contrast, have lost two other UEFA finals against opposition from England, in addition to that 1981 reverse: the 1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1998 UEFA Super Cup, both against Chelsea FC.

• Victors in two of their three group games on the road, Madrid's record away to English opposition reads P9 W3 D2 L4. Their most recent visit, at this stage of the 2005/06 competition, brought a goalless draw at Arsenal and 1-0 aggregate defeat.

• Madrid's long-serving forward, Raúl González, was among the scorers when they last won in England, 2-0 at Leeds United AFC in the second group stage of the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League. Raúl also struck twice when Madrid triumphed 3-2 at Manchester United FC at the quarter-final stage 12 months earlier.

• Nine-times European champions Madrid – seeking a first quarter-final place since 2004 – have a record of five wins and three losses in two-legged ties with English sides.

• Madrid's veteran right-back Míchel Salgado featured in the RC Celta de Vigo side that became the first, and so far only, Spanish team to have bettered Liverpool over two legs with a 4-1 aggregate success in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup third round. Salgado appeared in Celta's 1-0 second-leg triumph at Anfield, a match that also featured Liverpool's Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard.

• Madrid manager Ramos faced Liverpool twice during his time in charge of Tottenham. His Spurs side earned a 2-2 draw at Anfield on 7 October 2007, Torres denying him victory with a 90th-minute equaliser. Torres also struck Liverpool's second when Tottenham went down 2-0 in the return fixture in north London on 11 May last year.

• As coach of Sevilla FC, Ramos's record against English clubs in UEFA competitions was P5 W2 D2 L1. His Sevilla side beat Middlesbrough FC 4-0 in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup final and overcame Tottenham over two legs in the 2006/07 quarter-finals.

• During his time at Valencia between 2001 and 2004, Benítez faced Madrid six times in Spanish league matches, recording two wins, one draw and three defeats. At home, his Valencia team won 1-0 in 2001/02, lost 2-1 in 2002/03, then prevailed 2-0 in his final season, when they also lost 2-1 at home in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

• Madrid winger Arjen Robben spent three seasons in the Premier League with Chelsea and finished on the losing side in a trio of semi-finals against Liverpool in that time – the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League, the 2005/06 FA Cup, and the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League, having a penalty saved by Reina in the shoot-out that decided the latter tie.

• Liverpool striker Torres did not win a single derby game against Madrid in nine attempts with his former club Atlético. His only strike in the fixture came in a 1-1 home draw on 24 February 2007.

• When Madrid and Liverpool met at the Bernabéu during a four-team friendly tournament on 2 August 2002, the home side won 2-0 through goals from Luís Figo and Javier Portillo. Guti and Salgado featured for Madrid that day as did Dudek and Carragher for Liverpool.

• Liverpool have never lost a penalty shoot-out in European competition. Their record reads:
4-1 v Chelsea FC, 2006/07 UEFA Champions League semi-final
3-2 v AC Milan, 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final
4-2 v AS Roma, 1983/84 European Cup final

• Madrid's record is:
3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Cup second round
5-6 v Crvena Zvezda, 1974/75 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final

• The draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 20 March.