Entertainment
UCL FINAL: The Verdict goes to Real Madrid
Yes, yes…we know how the feeling is, but that’s how it goes some times. The nice guy finishes last. And rightly so, Manchester City played nice football only to finish last when it most mattered.
There’s no amount of words that could sum up the game. None. Manchester City were in cruise control. They had Paris in the palm of their hands. They had the possession, the press, the attack, the shots on target as opposed to Madrid.
In fact, Real Madrid’s only shots on target in the game came at the last hour; the 90th minute, through a scintillating effort by substitute Rodrygo, and again on the bounce through his header to send the game straight into extra time. Like, there really is no putting this team down, no matter what.
It happened against Paris Saint German, against Chelsea and now against Manchester City. This team keeps getting knocked down but time and again, one way or another, they find a way to get back into it.
They don’t play anything that spectacular except for the zeal they show in putting up a fight. In fact, they never looked like scoring throughout the first 89 minutes of the game. They were totally dismantled, ragged and forced to defend against a flying Manchester City team that time and again kept securing shots upon shots on target, saved numerous times by the world class goalie in their squad in Thibaut Courtois, till City eventually sealed a score sheet in what looked to be the nail to the coffin.
But it wasn’t. Even as Riyad Mahrez slotted in the first goal in the game to put the score beyond Real Madrid’s reach, the team fought on to get that one goal to reignite their faith. And that goal they got, eventually in the 90th minute; 2 even, from Rodrygo who had come into the game from the bench in place of Valverde.
What looked to be out of reach, now was dragged into an extra time. Guardiola was left shaken, frustrated, confused. He couldn’t explain it. A minute, he thought he had won what he saw as a personal derby to him, the next; it looked like his flight to Paris was cancelled. It was dramatic, not cause drama ensued—even though it did, but because no one on the City side could explain the plot.
The Judge had given his ruling, and somehow the verdict had been given to Real Madrid to go to Paris, only after hearing Benzema testify from the penalty box. It was the only word that was needed to secure the victory on the night. A 3-1 testimony after extra time in a case that has left the entire world speechless.
Salah gets his wish. It’s Liverpool versus Real Madrid in the final.
