Real Madrid’s amazing journey to the finals is drama made possible by the Champions League at its best. The turmoil of the Super League a year ago seems more and more absurd, writes Jussi Vainikka of Urheilun.
A year ago, the structures of European football were shaken when the continent’s biggest clubs announced their plans for the so-called Super League. The closed playing field of the richest clubs would have abolished the current competition and the Champions League, for example.
The opposition from fans and smaller clubs to the Super League was so steep that the stubborn giants had to humble themselves. Plans for the Super League were dug up in less than a week and everything went on as before.
The chairman of Real Madrid has been the most active backdrop in the Super League Florentino Perez. The idea of a league for only a few and the chosen ones he doesn’t different media information (you switch to another service) still not buried.
Ironically, it is Real Madrid that has offered the world that is best known in the spring for the beloved Champions League and which people feared they would lose. Real Madrid has not been the best on the field, but the toughest team. It has provided viewers with amazing experiences week after week.
Real’s sky for the finals to be played in Paris at the end of May is looking for a peer. In the quarterfinals, Real’s team was only talked about in advance in futures form. For PSG’s sake Kylian Mbappen was to be the player to return Real to the Champions League victory battle from next season. Mbappe did score two goals, but found his life alive Karim Benzema made three.
Benzema also made three in the first quarter of the quarterfinals against Chelsea. In the second leg in Madrid, Real looked frozen after Chelsea had stacked the three goals needed to continue. Like from scratch Realin woke up with his goal first Rodrygo and overtime, of course, Benzema.
If Real woke up against Chelsea from scratch, then Wednesday’s decision moments against Manchester City were straight from the storybook. The team needed two goals in 90 minutes to reach even extra time. Rodrygo came in to finish the match.
The last staple in the amazingly melted City grid was naturally fired by Benzema. Real has been at a loss in every pair of matches and has risen to victory with the support of their home crowd.
In the VIP barn of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Florentino Perez was guaranteed to shine a wide smile after the semifinals. Maybe he’s already wondering how bad the Super League’s idea has been. Why fix something that is not broken? Success and entry to the biggest matches must be earned on the field, and Real has once again done it.
A magical evening
Manchester City and especially the head coach Pep Guardiola the loss was embarrassing. City was a better organized team on the field during the two rounds, but it was not enough until the scoreboard.
City could have scored more than four goals in their home game. It was a bad day for the usually speedy Real, who seemed unable to keep up with the other players. With the current pace of Karim Benzema and For Vinicius Junior even borrowing the keys, on their own will rumble for sure.
Bernabeulla City seemed nervous at first and the game rippled in both directions. Riyad Mahrezin after the goal, however, City’s extra hits seemed most likely to rise for Real. Nothing in the game referred to the miracles seen from the home team.
Guardiola has now lost to the Champions League semi-finals six times in his career, a record for the race. The victory of the Champions League in the City is an obsession for Guardiola that is only getting stronger. In last year’s final against Chelsea, City left without a defensive midfielder and lost. In the second year, Guardiola suddenly switched to the top three line against Lyon in the quarterfinals and lost.
Now, even the ruthless British press is finding it difficult to elevate the individual tactical choices of the sticky Guardiola, but in overtime, the team was paralyzed. Atypically, City was able to cultivate tall balls in Real’s penalty area. The team’s patience with the ball disappeared completely like magic.
There really has to be some magic in the lawn of Santiago Bernabeu. Real spring performances are hard to explain without even a small touch of something magical. Something that sets the stage for the Champions League status as the most prestigious annual competition in the football world.
Head coach Carlo Ancelottin according to everything is due to the club’s long history, which holds a record 13 Champions League wins. Championship number 14 still requires big deeds outside the Bernabeu as well. Liverpool, which owes fish debts from the finals four years ago, will face the Paris finals.