Historic achievement.. A Spanish clean sweep in the Champions League
Spanish clubs participating in the Champions League made an exceptional presence during the second round of the league stage, as all five teams succeeded in winning their matches, a historic first for the competition, according to Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo".
The beginning came on Tuesday, when Barcelona managed to come back from behind against Turkish Galatasaray to achieve a resounding 4-1 victory in Istanbul, while Atletico Madrid defeated Manchester United by two goals to nil, and Villarreal emerged victorious over Napoli with a score of 3-1.
The positive results for Spanish clubs continued the next day, after Real Madrid staged a thrilling comeback against Roma, turning a two-goal deficit into a 4-3 victory at the Stadio Olimpico. Real Betis also managed to secure their match against Porto with a 3-2 victory at La Cartuja, thus completing the victories of all five Spanish representatives in the round.
The newspaper indicated that the last time Spanish clubs came close to achieving this feat was in December 2019, when four teams – Barcelona, Valencia, Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid – defeated Inter Milan, Ajax, Lokomotiv Moscow, and Club Brugge, respectively. However, the current round witnessed for the first time five Spanish clubs winning in five different matches within a single round of the competition.
The distinction of Spanish clubs was not limited to securing full points; the manner of victory varied, between clear dominance in the scoreline and comebacks after falling behind, as well as matches decided by narrow margins, reflecting the strong presence of Spanish teams in the European competition.
On the other hand, the results for Italian clubs were the complete opposite, as all four teams mentioned in the report – Inter Milan, Napoli, Roma, and Como – suffered losses during the second round, a clear contrast between the performance of Spanish and Italian representatives.