Real Madrid’s love affair with the Champions League continues. The Whites are seven games away from lifting their sixteenth European Cup. A Kylian Mbappé hat-trick unleashed madness at the Santiago Bernabéu on a dream night and shattered the flimsy Manchester City of the ‘Guardiola era’, outplayed in every facet by Real Madrid, who extended their Etihad superiority with a brilliant performance at the Bernabéu that strengthens their bid for a sixteenth.
A sixteenth for which, as we said, there are seven games left. The 2024/25 Champions League final will be played on Saturday, May 31, 2025. The great night of European football will be experienced in the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, a modern stadium that holds up to 70,000 spectators, the stadium of Bayern Munich and a historic setting for great football matches, but what will Real Madrid’s path to the final be?
Real Madrid’s path to the Champions League final
It is a fact, beyond the feeling left by the win against Manchester City that fills Madrid fans with euphoria, that the Whites have always won the Champions League when they have eliminated City (2016, 2022 and 2024). A convincing statistic that makes them dream of being in Munich, but first there is a long way to go.
In addition to Real Madrid, the following teams have qualified for the last 16 draw: Bayern Munich, Feyenoord, Benfica, Club Brugge, Borussia Dortmund, PSV and PSG. These teams join those who have skipped the playoffs and qualified directly, such as Liverpool, Barça, Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.
Real Madrid already knows the two possible opponents they could face in the last sixteen of the European competition, which will be decided in the draw on the 21st: Atlético de Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen. The next step on their path would be the quarter finals. There, Real Madrid, if they beat Atleti or Bayer, would face the winner of the match between PSV and Arsenal or Inter Milan. If they were to win again, they would reach the semifinals where Real Madrid could meet PSG, Bruges, and depending on which side of the draw they are in, Liverpool, Barça, Lille or Aston Villa.
This would be the route taken by the Whites to the final on May 31st. They will find out the first step this Friday, February 21st, at 12:00 noon in Spain. The venue chosen to witness the eagerly awaited event is the legendary House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.