What is the background?! Magical plot, Real Madrid enters the Champions League final for the 18th time!

Football Newspaper

2024-05-09 11:01Published on the official account of Guangdong Football News

Legendary goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a low-level mistake, "spare tire" center Jose Lu scored twice and also scored a stunner, and De Ligt's equalizer in the 12th minute of stoppage time was ruled offside, causing controversy...... Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's Champions League "early final" is full of almost all the dramatic elements of a football match.

In the end, Real Madrid reversed Bayern 2-1 and eliminated the opponent with an aggregate score of 4-3, and the much-talked about "Champions League heritage" made Real Madrid enter the Champions League final for the 18th time in history. Before the game, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel mentioned Real Madrid's "Champions League heritage", and it seems that this so-called heritage makes Real Madrid better.

This season's Champions League "early final" is not only a duel between Real Madrid and Bayern, the two Champions League giants, but also a duel between Ancelotti and Tuchel, or a contest between Bellingham and Kane, two "Mr. 100 million yuan". Real Madrid are counting on Vinicius (five goals, four assists), who has scored in every stage of this season's Champions League, Bayern is pinning their hopes on Kane, who has scored 44 goals in 44 games this season, and the England centre-forward is joint top scorer with Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League (8 goals).

In the first half, Vinicius and Rodrygo's two consecutive strikes were denied by Neuer, and Davies threatened the Real Madrid goal on several occasions. After withstanding Real Madrid's opening 15 minutes of attack in the second half, Bayern finally seized the limited chance, Davies sent the ball into the net with his only shot on target of the game, and Bayern led 1-0 and led 3-2 on aggregate.

But then the drama came: it was Joselu, a "spare tire" center forward on loan of 500,000 euros, who stepped forward to turn the tide for Real Madrid. In the 88th minute, Vinicius Jr. shot away from Manuel Neuer, and substitute Joselu equalised with a follow-up shot. In the second minute of stoppage time, Rudiger crossed from the left side and Joselu outflanked the goal to overtake the score. Although the assistant referee immediately raised the flag to signal offside, the referee ruled that it was valid after VAR intervened.

The real controversy came from De Ligt's goal in the 12th minute of stoppage time, when the assistant referee had signalled offside before the Bayern centre-back's goal was disallowed. The decision sparked an outcry from Bayern Munich after the game, with Tuchel even saying that the assistant referee's early flag raising was illegal. In fact, the goal itself was offside, and Real Madrid goalkeeper Lunin gave up defending after the assistant referee raised the flag, and the goal itself was meaningless.

In this game, Bellingham and Kane did not have a particularly outstanding performance, and the hero of Real Madrid's promotion to the final was the absolute supporting actor Joselu. Joselu has scored five goals in the Champions League this season, averaging 54 minutes, the most efficient of any player who has played more than 100 minutes. A brace in the final four minutes helped Real Madrid complete the comeback, repeating the miracle of Rodrygo in the 2022 Champions League semi-final. Joselu is also the oldest player to score two goals in a single game in a Champions League semi-final (34 years and 42 days), and these two goals alone are arguably Real Madrid's most successful signings of the season.

In addition to Neuer's mistake to get off the ball, Tuchel should reflect on the fact that Bayern paid the price for being out of the tournament by replacing Sane, Musiala and Kane with a one-goal lead on the road. Carlo Ancelotti only brought on supporting role Joselu in the 81st minute, and seven minutes later he became a hero for Real Madrid. Kane was substituted for only three minutes, and Real Madrid, who were attacking with all their might, equalized. Both Thomas Tuchel and De Ligt lamented after the game that Bayern had lost more on their own mistakes.

This Champions League "early final" experienced the reversal of the supporting veteran's stoppage time stunner, and finally it was the "Champions League background" that sent Real Madrid to the 18th Champions League final. Carlo Ancelotti is the undisputed "King of Champions League Coaches" of the 21st century, and this is his sixth Champions League final, a record in the history of the Champions League, having won the title four times in the previous five. Although Tuchel has been equally successful, reaching the semi-finals of all 11 previous cup competitions, unbeaten with one win and three draws away to Real Madrid in his coaching career, he is the last coach to beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League (2022 Champions League quarter-finals).

In the day before the game, Tuchel rallied his squad to deliver a three-minute speech to motivate his players, repeatedly emphasising that his side had never lost at the Bernabeu. But in the end, it was Carlo Ancelotti who ended Tuchel's unbeaten run at the Bernabeu and extended his unbeaten record against Bayern Munich in the Champions League to 10 games (7 wins, 3 draws), and Bayern still had an absolute advantage in 14 visits to the Bernabeu with 2 wins, 2 draws and 10 defeats.

Bayern have been eliminated in the last five Champions League semi-finals against Spanish teams, with Real Madrid accounting for three. Counting the 2016/17 season and the 2021/22 season 1/4 finals eliminated by Real Madrid and Villarreal respectively, Bayern in the 2012/13 season eliminated Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League and finally won the championship, the Champions League knockout stage met Spanish teams 9 times, was eliminated 7 times, and was eliminated by Real Madrid 5 times.

Carlo Ancelotti knocked out Bayern Munich three times in 2002/03, 2006/07 and 2013/14 to win the Champions League, and this time around, Real Madrid is naturally optimistic. After all, Real Madrid has won 14 of the previous 17 Champions League finals, with a win rate of 82.3%. The last time Real Madrid lost the Champions League final was in 1981 (0-1 Liverpool). Since 1998, Real Madrid has won all eight Champions League finals, with a winning rate of 100%. Real Madrid faced a German side in their third Champions League final in their history, winning the previous two (7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960 and Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in 2002) and continued to gain the upper hand psychologically. Real Madrid are just a stone's throw away from winning the 15th Champions League trophy in their history and a win at Wembley would be their sixth in the last 11 years. In the first 1/4 of the 21st century, Real Madrid is still a well-deserved "champion of the Champions League".

Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid this season, is the first English player to reach the Champions League final with Real Madrid since McManaman in 2002. Bellingham is expected to win the Champions League final for the first time in his career, but his England team-mate Harry Kane remains sad. The "curse without a crown" has not left after he joined Bayern this season, and after the defeat of the Bernabeu, Kane and Bayern are empty, and only the European Golden Boot, which is basically not suspenseful, will be comforted.

In the Champions League final at 3 a.m. on June 2, at Wembley Stadium, Bellingham, who moved to Real Madrid from Borussia Dort last summer, will meet his old club in the most important game of European football this season, whether Carlo Ancelotti and his disciples will win the 15th title in team history, or whether Reus and Hummels will make up for the regret of losing the title 11 years ago, we will wait and see.

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