Real Madrid and Napoli are two sides at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to success in Europe.
The team from the Spanish capital have won the Champions League a record 14 times in the past, including five triumphs since 2014. However, Napoli have never won the competition before, their best performance coming in the 2022/23 season as they reached the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid have been drawn in the same group as Napoli for the 2023/24 Champions League campaign as they aim to continue their dominance on the European stage, with the Italian side having rarely clashed with the La Liga outfit before.
Here is the head-to-head record between Real Madrid and Napoli.
Real Madrid‘s first meeting with Napoli came in the European Cup in 1987. The two met in the opening round of the competition, the first leg played at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It was the hosts who came out on top, beating their Italian visitors 2-0 despite Diego Maradona’s presence for the away side. The former Barcelona player couldn’t get one over on Madrid, drawing a blank on his return to Spain.
Michel gave Madrid the lead with an early penalty before the aptly-named Fernando De Napoli put the ball into his own net to give Leo Beenhakker’s side a comfortable win.
Two weeks later, it was Real Madrid’s turn to travel to Naples for the return leg. Despite greater resistance from Ottavio Bianchi’s side, the visitors would make it through to the second round following a 1-1 draw in Italy.
Giovanni Francini struck first for Napoli after just nine minutes to give them hope of a dramatic second leg comeback, but Emilio Butragueno’s effort just before half-time would prove the killer blow. Just to make things worse for the hosts, substitute Andrea Carnevale would see red just 20 minutes after coming on to the pitch.
Real Madrid would conquer Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax and German giants Bayern Munich to reach the semi-final, but would fall to defeat over two legs against PSV Eindhoven in the last four.
It would take almost three decades for Madrid and Napoli to meet again in a competitive fixture, doing so in the last 16 of the 2016/17 Champions League campaign.
Having just squeezed through a fairly straightforward group, Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli were hoping to pull off an upset at the Bernabeu, and that looked possible after Lorenzo Insigne gave the visitors the lead after just eight minutes.
However, Karim Benzema‘s header would level proceedings just ten minutes later, with the midfield duo of Toni Kroos and Casemiro popping up with goals to give Madrid an emphatic first leg lead.
It was a familiar story for Napoli in the second leg against Madrid. The Italians took an early one-goal lead through Dries Mertens to spark hopes of a recovery, but they would ultimately fall short once again.
Sergio Ramos levelled just after half-time with a header, before Mertens turned from hero to villain by scoring an own goal just six minutes later. With the game beyond Napoli, Alvaro Morata netted a stoppage-time third to rub salt in the wounds.
However, Sarri’s men wouldn’t have too much shame in losing to holders Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane’s men going on to win a second successive Champions League title in 2017.
In the second game of the 2023/24 Champions League group stage, Madrid and Napoli locked horns once again in Italy. The gulf in quality between the two sides wasn’t as stark as in previous meetings, with Napoli the current Serie A champions. However, it turned out to be the same-old story.
Carlo Ancelotti’s return to Naples went remarkably well despite Leo Ostigard having put the home side in front. Quickfire goals from Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham would give Madrid the lead, although Piotr Zielinski’s penalty would peg the visitors back.
However, up stepped Federico Valverde with a venomous effort from 30 yards, smashing the ball off the underside of the crossbar before it ricocheted off the back of Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret on its way in.
Unfortunately for Valverde it would go down as an own goal, but he still helped his side claim all three points against the Italian champions.
Real Madrid vs Napoli – Complete H2H record
Top scorers in Real Madrid vs Napoli fixtures
|
Player |
Team represented |
Goals |
|---|---|---|
|
Jude Bellingham |
Real Madrid |
1 |
|
Vinicius Jr. |
Real Madrid |
1 |
|
Dries Mertens |
Napoli |
1 |
|
Lorenzo Insigne |
Napoli |
1 |
|
Karim Benzema |
Real Madrid |
1 |
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