Jack Hallows details the highs and lows of Real Madrid’s journey to the Champions League final. You can read the Liverpool edition here.
I wonder if Real Madrid fans are as excited for the Champions League final as us Liverpool fans are.
While Liverpool are looking to win their first European Cup since 2005 and are preparing for their first appearance in the final of the continent’s elite competition since 2007, Real Madrid are looking to complete a hat-trick of consecutive wins.
Zidane’s maiden season at the club – he took up the managerial role in January 2016 after Rafael Benitez was sacked – saw Real defeat City-rival Atletico on penalties while last season’s 4-1 demolition job of Juventus in Cardiff still lives strong in the memory.
The Group of Death?
In every competition that follows a group stage into knockout round format, there’s always one ‘group of death’ that comes out in the draw. This usually means that three – if not all four – of the teams are of a high quality and all possess the ability to beat anyone on their day, thus qualifying for the knockout rounds.
In this season’s Champions League that group was as follows: Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund and APOEL who, unfortunately for them, were practically eliminated in the minds of most before they’d even kicked a football.
As expected, Madrid’s two fixtures against the weakest of the three opponents APOEL were non-contests. They won 3-0 at the Bernabéu before inflicting a 6-0 drubbing in Cyprus.
The Spanish giants also managed the double over Dortmund, with a 3-1 victory in Germany followed by a tightly fought 3-2 contest in Madrid during the final group round on December 7th.
The German side may have felt a little unlucky not to have left the Bernabéu with at least a point, having pulled a 2-0 deficit back through an Aubameyang double to level the scores but this Madrid side knows how to win and a late Lucas Vazquez goal sealed the points.
The most interesting pair of fixtures from this group, however, came between Real Madrid and their English opponents, Tottenham. As he does these days, Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a goal in both fixtures but the Spanish side was for once, out-classed.
A 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu was only achieved as a result of good goalkeeping from Keylor Navas and poor finishing on the part of Harry Kane but there would be no repeat at Wembley.
The Spanish side fell to a 3-1 defeat with a Dele Alli double putting them to the sword.
There were questions asked of Zidane’s tactics and Madrid’s energy levels and commitment during the fixture but the Frenchman insisted there was nothing to worry about.
All things considered, I’d say he was correct.
Ronaldo VS Neymar: Real Madrid 5 – 2 Paris Saint Germain
When this fixture was drawn I was buzzing.
This is what the Champions League is all about. Two absolute heavyweights throwing everything at each other for 180 minutes of top-class football. The players, fans and managers would all have to be on top form for one of these sides to knock the other out.
As a tasty side narrative, there was also the matter of Ballon d’Or winning Cristiano Ronaldo VS the most expensive player in the world Neymar.
Imagine my disappointment then when Neymar and his PSG teammates failed to show up for practically the entire 180 minutes.
Half an hour into the first leg at the Bernabéu, Paris were leading. Adrien Rabiot had slammed home a close-range finish to put the Ligue 1 outfit 1-0 up and it looked as if the media narrative that Real Madrid was this unit of ageing players past their peak may soon be proven correct.
Step up, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Say what you want about the Portuguese superstar, he is the human embodiment of winning.
The former Manchester United man had spurned an earlier chance when put through on goal by Brazilian teammate Marcelo but he seldom misses from the spot these days. 1-1.
With PSG chasing a second away goal that, if they’d managed it, could’ve proved to be the difference, Real Madrid would then get a slice of luck as Ronaldo’s sense of positional awareness more than anything brought about their second goal. Marco Asensio’s low cross looked fairly unthreatening but some poor goalkeeping from Areola saw the Portuguese given a chance to prod home with his knee from six yards. 2-1.
Asensio would play a big role in the third and final goal scored by the Spanish giants as well, sending in another low cross that this time, was met on the volley by Marcelo. 3-1.
The second leg was a slightly more cagey affair.
The Parisians were without their injured superstar Neymar but a gallant effort meant that viewers were forced to wait until the second half for someone to break the deadlock.
I’ll give you one guess as to who it was that managed it.
Yep, you got it, that man once again: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Edison Cavani pulled one back 20 minutes later but you always got the feeling that the away goal scored by Real Madrid had ended the tie and by the time Casemiro made it 2-1 on the night, 5-2 on aggregate, Zidane and his team would’ve already been checking other scorelines to see who could be up next.
Buffon Says Bye-Bye: Real Madrid 4 – 3 Juventus
Liverpool games aside, this was my favourite tie to watch over the course of this instalment of the Champions League.
Juventus, looking to ensure Gianluigi Buffon’s last chance at Champions League glory, started the first leg in Italy on the back-foot from the get-go. 3 minutes gone, Isco, low cross into the centre of the box, tapped home by who else, but Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese’ first goal was trademark and his second – a flying bicycle kick – was nothing short of phenomenal.
Ronaldo would turn provider eight minutes later for left-back Marcelo who added Madrid’s third away goal, seemingly killing the tie.
Incredibly, despite boasting a three-goal lead with all three being scored away from home and Juventus missing one of their biggest talents in Paulo Dybala, Madrid nearly bottled it during the second leg at the Bernabéu.
Once again, a goal came within the first five minutes as Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring early on, netting his second half an hour later and giving the Italian giants a glimmer of hope. That glimmer exploded 15 minutes into the second half as former PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi – an unlikely source of goals – drew the tie level.
3-3. Three away goals each. 30 minutes of normal time left to play.
The wonders of the Champions League.
The drama, however, as most of us know, was not over.
In the dying embers of the match, Medhi Benatia made an ill-judged challenge within his own area, bringing down Spanish attacker Lucas Vazquez and conceding a penalty. The penalty was soft but given there was contact and no touch of the ball, it was the correct decision awarded by Michael Oliver.
In a heated display of emotion as he realised his last chance at Champions League glory with Juventus was slipping from his grasp, Gianluigi Buffon made his disagreement known and ultimately, was sent off.
No medal for guessing whether or not Cristiano Ronaldo buried the penalty to win the tie.
Munich Madness: Real Madrid 4 – 3 Bayern Munich
It seems that if Liverpool and Real Madrid fans have one thing in common, it’s the occasional risk of heart attacks that come with watching our sides play football.
Real Madrid have become Bayern Munich’s bogey team in the Champions League of late and pre-match, it was thought that perhaps Zidane’s men would once again just have enough to mix goals, dark-arts and footballing bastardry to make it to the final.
Half an hour into the first leg it was looking unlikely.
Joshua Kimmich had exploited the space left in behind by Marcelo’s tendency to bomb forward more often than not, hammering the ball past Keylor Navas and into the net from close range. However, through dumb luck as much as anything, Bayern’s game plan soon started to crumble.
Arjen Robben, who had started in his customary position on the right flank, had already been substituted off injured by the time Kimmich had put the German side ahead but there were bigger blows for the Bundesliga champions to suffer. Jerome Boateng was then forced off just after the half hour to join Robben on the treatment table.
Admittedly, by this point Bayern probably could – and maybe should – have been in a far more comfortable position than just a single goal to the good. Franck Ribery had seen a great chance evade him after a poor first touch took the ball out of his path while Mats Hummels should have done better at the back post after Lewandowski won a flick on from a corner.
Three minutes and another handful of wasted Bayern opportunities later, Marcelo drew Madrid level with a driven effort from outside the box – his third goal in the Champions League knockout rounds.
The decision to replace Isco with Marco Asensio proved an inspired one from Zidane as the Spaniard put Madrid 2-1 up just ten minutes into the second half when put through on goal by Lucas Vazquez. Advantage Madrid.
If the first leg had been an entertaining contest, the second was just batshit nuts.
Joshua Kimmich opened the scoring – again – this time in just the third minute after some suspect defending from Sergio Ramos but the visitor’s lead lasted just eight minutes as Karim Benzema pounced on a free header at the back post.
For Bayern, the remainder of the first half was just as frustrating as their first leg showing had been. The German side continued to pepper Madrid’s goal – Lewandowski and James Rodriguez both missed glorious chances to put their side ahead within seconds of each other – and of course, there were a couple of shouts for a penalty that on another day could’ve gone the other way.
At halftime, the score remained even with both sides boasting one goal apiece but it didn’t take long for Madrid to get ahead after the break.
Some calamitous goalkeeper from Sven Ulreich gifted Benzema the easiest goal he’ll score in his entire career and at this point, I wouldn’t have blamed Bayern for just giving up.
To their credit, they didn’t and when James Rodriguez made it 2-2 on the night, the game was still wide open.
In the end, however, Madrid’s big-game experience – and some more dodgy Bayern finishing – pulled them through to yet another Champions League final where Liverpool await.
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