Angel Di Maria and Keylor Navas are on the cusp of achieving what only Clarence Seedorf has achieved in football: winning the Champions League after leaving Real Madrid.
Di Maria was fantastic in Paris Saint-Germain’s semi-final win over RB Leipzig, and he was equally impressive in the 2014 final, where he was part of a Real Madrid side that secured the title in Lisbon, where this year’s final will also be held.
And now, after a number of unsuccessful European campaigns with Manchester United and PSG, the Argentine – alongside Keylor – has a chance to emulate Seedorf, who is the only man to have won the trophy with three teams – Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
For many others though, it’s been a case of European famine away from the Spanish capital.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid – a painful divorce for both
Cristiano and Los Blancos were all set up to win their fifth Champions League title together, as Alfredo Di Stefano famously did, but the Portuguese left the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2018.
And it’s not exactly gone to plan for either side since then, with Real Madrid not getting past the last-16 stage and while Cristiano’s Juventus losing in the quarter-finals last season and the last 16 this time around.
Luis Figo just missed out at Inter.
The symbol of the start of Florentino Perez’s ‘Galacticos’ era, Figo helped Real Madrid win their 10th Champions League in 2002 in Glasgow.
In the summer of 2005, he moved to Inter, yet the Nerazzurri couldn’t get past Villarreal in 2009, his last season before retirement.
Under Jose Mourinho, Inter won the Champions League the next season.
Khedira came close but lost out to Real Madrid
The German midfielder played a key role in Los Blancos’ 2014 triumph in Lisbon.
But the following campaign saw him fade from view, and he left for Juventus.
Khedira came up against his old club in the 2017 final – playing the whole encounter – but could not get his side over the line. Continue reading