MADRID, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Although the goal scored by Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe in the 74th minute of his side's 2-1 Champions League defeat at home to Bayern Munich means the Spanish club can still dream of a comeback in Germany next week, the statistics suggest the odds are against it.
Goals from Luis Diaz and Harry Kane had put Bayern 2-0 up at the Santiago Bernabeu by the 46th minute before Mbappe pulled a goal back. Although Manuel Neuer made several good saves, Bayern also created enough chances to win by a bigger margin.
Real Madrid has become famous for epic European comebacks in front of its fans, overturning away defeats of more than two goals nine times at the Santiago Bernabeu and repeatedly recovering from one-goal losses on the road.
However, when the Spanish giant loses the first leg of a European tie at home, as it did Tuesday night, the picture is very different.
In two-legged home-and-away knockout ties, Real Madrid has lost the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu only seven times in its history, but has gone on to qualify just once.
That comeback came in the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup against Austrian side Wacker Innsbruck, which does not offer much encouragement ahead of the return leg at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern Munich's numbers make even grimmer reading for Real Madrid fans. Bayern has won the first leg of a Champions League tie away from home on 31 occasions and has failed to progress only once, against Inter Milan in 2011.
History can change, but the numbers do not favor Real Madrid. ■
