Carlo Ancelotti will be the first coach to oversee a team in five Champions League finals after Real Madrid s remarkable comeback against Manchester City.
Ancelotti, who returned to Madrid for a second spell in charge at the end of last season, became the first coach to win all of Europe s top five leagues when Los Blancos wrapped up their 35th LaLiga title on Saturday.
But it appeared a shot at a double would be evading Madrid when Riyad Mahrez struck in the 73rd minute at the Santiago Bernabeu to put City 1-0 up on Wednesday and 5-3 up in the tie.
However, two goals in the space of 91 seconds from Rodrygo restored parity on aggregate to force extra-time and then up stepped Karim Benzema to score from the penalty spot and complete one of the most outrageous comebacks in the competition s history.
Indeed, Madrid were responsible for another one of those in the last 16, against Paris Saint-Germain, and they also fought back from the brink against Chelsea. Liverpool are up next.
That meeting with the Reds in Paris will be Ancelotti s history-making fifth Champions League final.
Stats Perform looks at how the other four played out.
5 Carlo Ancelotti has become the first manager to reach five Champions League finals, surpassing Marcelo Lippi, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jürgen Klopp (four appearances each). Maestro.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose)
2003 Juventus 0-0 Milan (AET, 2-3 on penalties)
Ancelotti first reached the final of UEFA s elite club competition as a manager 19 years ago, when his Milan team took on fellow Italian giants Juventus at Old Trafford. An infamously dull affair, it ended as a goalless draw after 120 minutes, resulting in a penalty shoot-out. Andriy Shevchenko scored the winning spot-kick.
2005 Milan 3-3 Liverpool (AET, 2-3 on penalties)
Milan and Ancelotti reached the final again two years later, and it proved a famous night in Istanbul. Milan led through Paolo Maldini and Hernan Crespo s brace, but Liverpool astonishingly hit back in the second half and then went on to triumph 3-2 in the shoot-out, with Jerzy Dudek – who made an outstanding stop in extra-time – the Reds hero.
2007 Milan 2-1 Liverpool
The Rossoneri were back and out for revenge in 2007, and they got it in Athens. Filippo Inzaghi put Milan 2-0 up, with Durk Kuyt s late effort not enough to inspire another comeback.
2014 Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid (AET)
Perhaps Ancelotti s most famous Champions League triumph to date came in 2014 when, in his first spell at Madrid, he led the club to La Decima . They were trailing 1-0 to rivals Atletico Madrid until the 93rd minute, when Sergio Ramos struck. Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo wrapped up a runaway victory in extra-time.