Well we did it, some how. Real Madrid is through to a fourth Champions League final in five years. Here are three takeaways from the game.
Real Madrid was awful
If there is a hell for the evil among us, I would bet my life’s earnings (which isn’t much) that hell for Madridistas is being forced to watch the last twenty minutes of this game forever without ever knowing the outcome.
Real Madrid was very poor across the tie, but following Benzema’s second goal early in the second half, Madrid played out probably the worst football they have produced under Zinedine Zidane in Europe.
For much of the closing quarter, it felt like Los Blancos were willing their opponents to knock them out of the Champions League and the Germans had plenty of chances to do just that. It all came down to the wastefulness of Bayern that Real managed to progress tonight.
In that regard, one can be thankful that the team have such a poor performance out of their system without suffering for it, however, it’s concerning that since the big win against Juventus, Madrid has lost some of their fear factor.
They were beaten badly by Juve at home and could have very well suffered the same fate here if it wasn’t for some heroics from Karim Benzema and Keylor Navas.
Keylor Navas and Karim Benzema
It brings a tear to my eye to see two of my favorite players (and two of the most hated among the Real Madrid fan base) to silence their critics and put in two clutch performances.
Keylor Navas made eight saves against Bayern, a knockout round record and further proving that hair style has an impact on form. No different than when he makes a mistake, the reaction to Navas’ performance tonight will be over the top, however, the Costa Rican deserves plenty of praise for tonight’s performance.
Although it doesn’t change the fact that Navas has had a poor season for his standard (like the rest of his teammates), it does silence those who don’t believe he is Real Madrid quality or that he is solely responsible for Real Madrid’s poor defensive record.
Much of the same goes to Karim Benzema. There is no doubt Karim has had a poor seaso, but, no different to Navas, he stood up big in one of Madrid’s biggest games of the season and reeled back a lot of the reactionary takes claiming he isn’t Real Madrid standard.
In many ways, their performances encapsulate this team’s season with so many members of the Real Madrid dressing room standing up to be counted in Europe this season despite such a poor displays in Spain.
On to the final!
A lot is going to be said about the manner Real Madrid reached the final and how poor this side has looked for much of the season. What shouldn’t be lost in the analysis of this game is that Real Madrid has reached another Champions League Final; the third time in succession, the fourth in five years and the seventh since the inception of competition (a record).
Next: Real Madrid: Karim Benzema returns to form at a crucial time
It is quite an incredible achievement and the fact that, after how poorly Los Blancos have played and how abysmal the league title defense has been, this team could still finish the season with a trophy in hand. Whatever Real Madrid is doing, whether it be individual brilliance or the dark arts of a Darth Zidane, it is working and the club deserves praise for being able to grind out results against big teams.
The million dollar question remains what exactly it is that Real Madrid is doing that allows them to continuously win despite poor performances, the subject is an article in itself and one best saved for the end of the season as the final in Kiev will no doubt add important context on how we evaluate this team.
Right now, one should focus on that after one of our poorest seasons, Madrid has still managed to get to the final of the competition they most value winning.