Real Madrid the Real Deal
92 minutes into this match and La Decima was still just a dream. Then the man who has been scoring goals at will, no not Christiano Ronaldo, but Sergio Ramos planted a trade mark header into the bottom corner to tie the match up at 1 apiece. Up until that point Real had pushed and pushed but couldn’t seem to crack the stubborn defence set up by Atletico Madrid. This was their first final in about 40 years or so and they weren’t going to give this match up without a fight. However after they conceded the equalizer there was only going to be one winner.
The game had started semi pear shaped for the underdogs as their marquee man Diego Costa went off with a reoccurrence of his hamstring injury. Obviously the horse placenta treatment he was getting to heal that hammy didn’t do the drink. I’ve learnt from my time on the TAB you can never trust a horse. Without their main strike weapon many would’ve thought this match was well and truly over, but Atletico definitely disagreed with that. Gareth Bale missed what some would say was a sitter after not giving the ball to Ronaldo on his right. In fact he left me screaming at the TV because I wanted my boy Ronaldo on the scorecard. Because of his greediness, god wasn’t happy and therefore punished the Welshman. Atletico bounded down field, earned themselves a corner and subsequently got a bumbling goal over the line after a mistake from St Iker. There was one hell of a buzz in the stadium when that goal went in. The game was finally taking shape and if Real were to win their 10th Champions League trophy.
Into the second half we went and even I was starting to get just a tad worried for my Real Madrid fellas. They weren’t creating as many clear opportunities as they should’ve been and boy was there some frustration. Just give Cristiano the damn ball!! But in all honesty the man making waves was Angel Di Maria for Madrid. He was in everything and was a right nuisance most of the time. A few long range efforts and the odd classy passage of play was all Real Madrid could muster together. I really thought Atleti were going to hold on and defeat their cross town rivals. They seemed solid on attack and under not much pressure at the back. Maybe this was their time...
However as we all know Ramos came and broke their hearts when the Trophy was just about to be engraved. Extra time was a non-affair with Real Madrid bossing the whole 30 minutes as Atleti were just left out on their feet, struggling for air, and survival. Once lord Bale grabbed his 100million euro goal, there was only one thing left to do. Get the home town hero on the board. And that they did. With not long to go, Cristiano took matters into his own hands and won himself a penalty because everyone else was just being selfish. He took the ball, marched to the spot and coolly drilled it into the bottom corner. Cue shirt off, and screams everywhere. Ronaldo sealed the deal and Real had finally won that elusive trophy that had kept them waiting for 12 years.
All in all the big guns didn’t really turn up on the day, the likes of Costa, Bale and Ronaldo, however they did so much for their teams leading up to the match, that they can be forgiven. In the end the best team in the competition probably did win, but you couldn’t help but feel for the Atleti lads. Their coach tried to take the result into his own hands by going after a Real defender after the final whistle, but that showed more intensity and passion then his side could muster in Extra time. For both these sides it has been a tremendous year, and for Real Madrid a year in which they have etched themselves in Football folklore.