With the water up to the neck. Against the ropes. Sinking in quicksand. Cornered by the result and the stopwatch. When everything seems lost, Madrid is in its element. Others would throw in the towel. The whites and the Bernabéu always find a way out, an extra life, an unexpected hero. Madrid has a pact with the devil, with the football scriptwriter or with the myth of the European Cup itself.
It doesn’t matter that Neuer was playing a great game or that Kane was close to 0-2. It doesn’t matter that Joselu had only scored one goal since February 18. All of this collided in the 88th minute. Vinícius’ shot bounced in front of the German goalkeeper and escaped him. That’s where Joselu came in, who went ahead of Dier to tie the game. “It was a mistake by our best player, who had saved us during the game,” Tuchel lamented about his captain.
His rivals have a complex of the coyote from the Road Runner cartoons. No matter how carefully the plan is studied, even if they have done everything almost perfectly, no matter how close you are to falling into the trap, no matter how much the episode is about to end and you have success in your hand, there is still time for the illogical, to escape. There is always a loophole.
In Manchester, Rüdiger scored the decisive penalty of the shoot-out. This time the German center back put in the cross for Joselu to score the second in the 91st minute, four minutes after 1-1. Anyone would have thought about the extension. But Madrid is nonconformity. “What never happens has happened again,” Ancelotti summarized.
The forward, who belongs to Espanyol and had never played in the Champions League until this season, put Madrid at Wembley with a double. The whites paid half a million for his loan. And the Galician, born in Stuttgart, has rewarded them with 17 goals at the age of 34.
“It’s a very bad night. We had it very close. But when you think Madrid is dead, he always has one last breath. That’s why they have won the Champions League 14 times,” De Ligt stated after Bayern lost his last option in stoppage time due to a referee error.
Marciniak whistled when what is recommended to the referees is to wait, to let the play finish. Despite this advice, the tribune band assistant raised the flag in a dubious move. And the Pole whistled before Müller assisted De Ligt. When the Dutchman beat Lunin the play was cancelled. The referee was hasty because the replays say that the offside was not clear at all, but the lines were no longer thrown because the action was invalidated.
That outraged Bayern, who couldn’t believe it, who didn’t understand the rush to blow the whistle. Tuchel protested. Goretzka on the bench pointed threateningly at the lineman. Müller was furious. But nothing could be done now. “We all know the rules. When the offside is not clear, you have to let the game play. He did it this way with Joselu’s goal, which was another tight play and could be reviewed. However, not with ours. It is a shame. The assistant has asked me for forgiveness,” De Ligt revealed. “We have been denied a tie. The referees here feel anxiety,” said Tuchel. It’s Bayern’s anger.
