The King is crowned in Paris
Real Madrid wins their fourteenth Champions League in an unforgettable final against Liverpool.
Nobody had won more than this team -thirteen titles-, but just in case Real Madrid extended their reign in Paris by defeating Liverpool in the Champions League final. Since this unforgettable Saturday, the white team has showcased the fourteenth European Cup, doubling its closest rival (AC Milan with seven) and making it clear who rules in current football with five titles in eight years. Historical.
This victory at the Stade de France, in any case, is nothing more than the finishing touch to a season that was full of epic and magical nights at the Santiago Bernabéu, where Real Madrid has carved out its way to the fourteenth Champions League with comebacks that will remain in the retina of the good fan. If in the group stage only the inexplicable defeat at home against Sheriff (1-2) was the stain on a group full of victories against Inter (0-1 and 2-0) and Shakhtar (0-5 and 2-1 ), the decisive phase left a complicated path against the best teams of the moment in Europe. Consecutive stakes against PSG, Chelsea, and City demanded the best of Real Madrid to reach Paris. A path was as tortuous as it is successful.
When the almighty PSG of Mbappe, Messi, and Neymar came out in the round of 16, the entire football planet anticipated what could well have been a final. No one was disappointed with the date. If the French had the ropes against Ancelotti’s team in Paris, where a goal from Mbappe gave the Parisians the advantage in the tie, in the second leg it was Madrid who passed sentence with a comeback that came from minute 60 and that had Benzema with his hattrick the great protagonist. The Bernabéu couldn’t stop rubbing their eyes at what they had seen. What Real Madrid didn’t know is that it was just the beginning. Having overcome the difficult obstacle of the round of 16, Real Madrid had no respite in the quarterfinals against Chelsea, European champions, ready to defend the title at any price. This time the white team wanted to change and distance themselves from what happened in the previous tie and came out of the first leg at Stamford Bridge with a resounding 1-3 with a new hattrick from Benzema. However, Chelsea was unwilling to give up the spoils and turned the score around at the Bernabéu, leading 0-3 in the 75th minute… Many then saw the end close. Except for Ancelotti’s players, who sent the game to extra time with a goal from Rodrygo to end up shocking the English with another goal from Benzema. Who else.
Still stunned by what happened in the Last Sixteen and quarterfinals, the most incredible was yet to come. The semi-final crossing brought about a tremendous duel with Guardiola’s City. Quite a test of fire in the prelude to the very final. The first blow came from the English side with a 4-3 victory in Manchester that forced Real Madrid to turn to the god of comebacks. This time the white exercise to knock down the rival was more than impressive. The scoreboard at the Bernabéu looked 0-1 in favor of City in the 89th minute, which made more than one fan throw in the towel, but not Ancelotti’s team, who went into a trance when the referee almost put the whistle in his mouth. An unlikely double by Rodrygo in the 90th and 91st minutes sent the game into extra time for the infallible Benzema to turn everything around in the 96th minute from the penalty spot. Rarely in sport has such a thing been seen to the delirium of Real Madrid fans and to put Real Madrid on the path to a final that crowned them again last night. Nobody has deserved it more than them.
