by Real Madrid is inevitable. Sometimes football can feel futile when you face the club that considers this competition their own. No matter what you do, you are doomed. No matter how well you play, how brave you are, no matter how many chances you make, no matter how bad they actually play, somehow know. This is exactly what the men in white do. In short, as RB Leipzig found out, they win.
They faced a shot at each of their 14 European Cups but won the first leg, Brahim Díaz scoring the only goal from nowhere, and suffered again in the second leg, playing to the sound of the whistle from Afraid fans, but still escaped into. the last eight.
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Dani Olmo hit the bar with a beautiful lob in the final minute as Leipzig took the lead but, although Madrid were living on the edge, they live to play another day. Sometimes it feels like they like it this way. They always find a way, their hardest nights are the ones that envision them standing there with that trophy in their hands again.
It was Jude Bellingham who went up the field and set up Vinícius Júnior to score the goal that eventually got them through. Even after that strike, which came as a burst of relief, they suffered and conceded, but Madrid did it. Leipzig could hardly do more – apart from scoring more than one of their 20 shots – but there was no comeback.
Poor Marco Rose. He was entitled to imagine that it was possible to win: proof of hope came from the first stage, he said, when his team competed with Madrid as “equals”. If anything that was really an understatement. This was also the judgment of Nacho Fernández, the Madrid captain, who left the second stage to concede: “We know this was not our best game.” But it is one thing to bring the game to Madrid, quite another to take the game away from them, history repeating itself.
Two weeks ago, Leipzig had a clean sheet and Andriy Lunin made nine saves, equaling Madrid’s record in the competition. Two weeks later, Leipzig felt they might be up against 10 men when Vinícius escaped red, forcing the goalkeeper into action again.
It started early, the visitors’ first five chances – yes, five – came within 15 minutes. The first of those, admittedly, was not canceled in the end and as Benjamin Sesko went clean through you realized he knew it would be, something questionable in his step and lacking in his finish. Lunin saved just in case, but it was a sign of things to come. Soon after Sesko entered Loïs Openda, opening a space in front of him. The shot was scuffed and perhaps the decision was also wrong: Olmo was standing free, shouting for the ball.
This was followed by Willi Orban’s header wide and another clear chance, which started with some great footwork from Olmo and ended with Openda’s shot wide.
With Xavi Simons floating, linking everything, Leipzig were taking the lead. Madrid, playing with five midfielders and Bellingham up front, were very ready despite Carlo Ancelotti saying he was after “energy” and “quick transitions”, fans let them know exactly what they thought on poor performance.
Madrid only threatened once in the first half: when Federico Valverde slipped in Bellingham, his shot was blocked. On the other hand, hearts leapt when Toni Kroos got away from a challenge inside his area and, if he wasn’t one of them, the concern continued to grow. Simons saw one shot deflect just wide and another palm away from Lunin. From the corner, Openda thumped straight after the post. Whistles were all over the arena, and they were getting louder.
Ancelotti responded by removing Eduardo Camavinga and bringing on Rodrygo but the second half began with Openda going around Lunin to find the keeper to dive at his feet. Vinícius received a yellow card that could have been red when he pushed Orban over – twice.
Benjamin Henrichs then wasted the opportunity to provide the ball and, a few minutes later, went forward. It took an hour for Vinícius to break free for the first time, the ball coming to Bellingham to shoot. After that Rodrygo made a sharp save on Peter Gulacsi. Madrid was, finally, alive.
Only Madrid is always alive. And then he came, of course he did. Leipzig’s attack broke down and Bellingham strolled 60 yards and slid to Vinícius, who eventually appeared. Almost immediately Antonio Rüdiger dived to stop Olmo’s shot, which looked cruel, but Leipzig soon found a way through.
Orban pounced to take the lead with an equalizer that set up a grand finale with an inevitable finish. Openda’s effort hit Dani Carvajal six yards out, Sesko forced a save from Lunin, and Olmo hit the bar at the death because, well, this is the European Cup and to it’s Real Madrid.
