La Decima - A dream come true

Real Madrid CF had been stuck on 9 Champions League titles for 12 years now - 75% of my lifetime, mind you - and they were itching to get the elusive tenth. The famed Galacticos of the early 2000s had brought home their last. I will not be exaggerating if I said that the current Real Madrid squad is a fresh set of Galacticos - Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Angel di Maria and the likes - assembled with their famed overflowing wealth and boundless desire for more and more cups. (And this is not even counting the recently exited Mesut Ozil and Gonzalo Higuain!)
It was this side which met the intrepid Atletico Madrid in the showpiece at Lisbon. No website or newspaper failed to mention that Atleti's budget was a fifth of Real's and their fan base orders of magnitude less. They don't even have a city to themselves. Yet they had an insane season no one had predicted, beating the big two Spanish sides to the La Liga and of course, making their way to Lisbon ousting Chelsea and Barcelona amongst others. Diego Simeone made the best of his squad most people did not recognise more than two names from.
Real had most of the ball in the final, came distressingly close many times through Ronaldo, Bale, Isco, Benzema, every other team member, coach Carlo Ancelotti's cousin's grandson's best friend, but did not find the net until it was very nearly too late. Diego Godin had sent the other Madrid team ahead in the first half courtesy a rare Casillas error. Real kept Thibaut Courtois and the Atletico defence very busy indeed in the second half and finally Ramos headed in, two minutes from the end of injury time.
Atletico was visibly tired in extra time and crumbled in the second half. Bale's superb header, made possible by di Maria's excellent cut through the defence, opened the gates; Marcelo consolidated it and Ronaldo, not one to miss out on the fun, scored his record 17th CL goal of the season to cap the match.
The all-Spanish final shows that Spain are not out of the World Cup race as yet - despite Atletico keystone Diego Costa's injury. For now, Real will bask in their Decima - but 10 being a nice round number will not stop them gunning for another in the seasons to come.

Comeback week

          It is the week of footballing comebacks! Chelsea and FC Bayern bounced back from deficits in their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal games, the former sneaking in over two legs on away goals,against Paris St Germain, and the latter doing so against Manchester United very quickly indeed, in the second leg at Munich.
          Chelsea was trailing 3-1 after the first leg at Paris - not unlike their Round of 16 game against Napoli back in 2011-12. (They went on to win the second leg 4-1 and eventually the cup itself.) Eden Hazard, this season's undisputed star for them, had secured a valuable away goal for them, though, through a penalty. They were soon to find out just how valuable it was. Substitute Andre Schurrle fired in the first at 32 minutes, to hopeful celebrations from the home crowd. It was his first goal in the competition for Chelsea, unsurprising given his fluctuating form and starts.The team lived in fear of an equaliser for nearly an hour of the game. Possession was nearly equal. Chelsea hit the post twice soon after the break. A second goal looked impending. Blues' manager Mourinho, whose ways are often unfathomable but not that night, took off Frank Lampard, yellow-carded earlier in the game, and brought on striker Demba Ba. It paid off. Ba scored from close range at 87 minutes, cueing wild celebrations from the players. PSG had a chance in injury time, but the script was written. Chelsea had entered the semifinals again and are three good games away from a second star on the shirt.
           But so are Bayern! Their first leg at Manchester tied at 1-1, their away goal would only be useful in the case of a goalless draw. That seemed quite likely in the first half. United's tight, experienced defence meant that even though Bayern enjoyed a majority of the possession, they had no clear-cut chances on goal. The Red Devils were depending on set pieces and counterattacks which were few and far between. Bayern's crosses were wayward and their key man in Robben was playing rather selfishly. In the second half, however, United's aging defence seemed to wear down. Unexpectedly, Patrice Evra scored a stunner on 57 minutes. A Bayern comeback was imperative and their execution was immediate. 22 seconds after the restart, Mario Mandzukic headed into the corner. Moyes's defence was momentarily unwary and the tie was level.
          Bayern's confidence restored, it didn't take long for them to take the lead. Robben's pass was tapped in by Thomas Muller and the Dutchman himself doubled the lead nine minutes later, with a shot after a dribble along the box. Interestingly, all three goals followed defensive lapses by Evra. Bayern seemed content with the scoreline of 3-1, unlike last year where they went after Barcelona relentlessly to earn 3-0 and 4-0 wins.
          The semifinal draw today announced Real Madrid v FC Bayern and Chelsea v Atletico Madrid as the ties. Both promise to be exciting affairs. However, both legs take place on consecutive weeks ten days from now. Three of the four teams are title contenders in their respective countries (the fourth, Bayern, did well to wrap it up quickly!) and high-pressure games in quick succession are bound to fatigue them and diminish their chances of domestic league wins. I hope for better scheduling of European games next season.
           The titular week also features my own comeback! I am posting on this blog after fourteen months and four days. Unsurprisingly, the reason was my class X board examinations. I hope to blog oftener this summer and year.