Four days after winning la Liga, Real Madrid reversed the elimination of Manchester City at the Bernabeu to reach the Champions League final for the 17th time. If Real Madrid wins the Champions League, Hazard and Bale will become real champions.
In order to complete the reversal, Ancelotti used six substitutions against Manchester City, with Rodrigo, Asensio, Camaranga, Ceballos, Vazquez and Vallejo coming in.
Guardiola also praised Ancelotti's courage after the game, "They put a lot of players on the penalty spot, including Militang, Rodrigo, Vinicius and Benzema. They kept crossings and scored 2 goals. ”
However, as the hero of the 2018 victory, as one of the most important reinforcements after Florentino's second entry into the palace, Bale and Hazard did not even enter the competition roster. Bale and Hazard are the highest-paid Real Madrid players, with a combined annual salary of 54 million euros, while Benzema's annual salary is only 16.58 million.
After returning to Real Madrid, Bale completely lost his self-confidence, making only 7 appearances this season, scoring 1 goal. Since entering 2022, Bale has made a total of 4 appearances for Real Madrid, for a total of 97 minutes, while in the Welsh national team, Bale has even played 106 minutes.
Hazard played slightly more, but only 22 games, 877 minutes, scoring only 1 goal and giving 2 assists. Neither Hazard nor Bale could compete with Rodrigo, Vinicius and Asensio for the main position.
However, they are both expected to set records. After Real Madrid reached the final, Hazard reached the Champions League final for the first time in his career and is also expected to win the title for the first time.
In fact, since switching to Real Madrid in 2019, Hazard has only made 65 appearances in La Liga, scoring four goals, but winning two La Liga titles. Ronaldo scored 311 goals in 292 games in 9 seasons, and only won two La Liga titles.
What is even more embarrassing is that if Real Madrid wins the title, then Bale will become the first British player in history to win the Champions League five times, and will also equal Cristiano Ronaldo's Champions League record.
In addition to Bale, 8 players from Benzema, Carvajal, Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, Marcelo, Nacho and Isco will also tie Cristiano's Champions League record.
Real Madrid's last title triumph was in the 2017-18 season, and after the season ended, Ronaldo left the Bernabeu. Four years later, when Real Madrid appeared in the Champions League final again, Ronaldo was further and further away from the Big Ears Trophy. Seeing Real Madrid reach the final for the first time in the post-C Ronaldo era, what will C Ronaldo think?