Real erases 'curse', becomes first team to defend Champions League

Zidane's Real were the first team to win the Champions League twice in a row, and the first team to win the European Cup since AC Milan in 1990.

Competing in the final match in Cardiff on the evening of June 3, coach Zidane and his team proved to be too strong for their opponents Juventus. Real won 4-1 in just 90 minutes.

With the victory in the final, Real not only won the 2016-2017 season but also became the first team to win the Champions League twice in a row. Since the European Cup was transformed into the Champions League in 1992 until this year, the tournament seemed to be under a curse that no team had defended the championship.

Ramos and teammates make history. Photo: Reuters

Four other teams have reached the Champions League final a year after winning it: AC Milan (1995), Ajax (1996), Juventus (1997) and Man Utd (2009). But all four teams lost against the historic barrier.

Before the C1 Cup became the Champions League, the last team to win two consecutive championships was AC Milan (1989, 1990).

In the Champions League era alone, Real is also the team with the most wins with 6 times: 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Barca is second with 4 times (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015), while AC Milan has 3 times (1994, 2003, 2007). Bayern (2001, 2013) and Man Utd (1999, 2008) both have 2 times.

According to VNE