Yes, the result was quite unexpected, but I’m not giving up on La Décima yet. If anyone can make a comeback, the type that will be talked about for years to come, it’s Madrid. I have faith in this team. Somos el Madrid y vamos a luchar hasta el final. It’s not impossible or improbable, merely difficult. As Juanito once said, “Noventa minuti en el Bernabéu son molto longo.” We will have the “espíritu de Juanito” on Tuesday. ¡A remontar en el Bernabéu!
A comeback was what all the players and Mou talked about after the game (it was also nice to see that they can admit when the rival is superior). Hopefully, in the second leg game, they will have the intensity, aggressiveness and rhythm (to borrow Sergio’s words) that they were missing in this game.
Madrid has overcome such deficits before. In the 1975-76 season, Madrid was playing Derby County in the round of 16 of the European Cup. The first leg was 4-1 in favor of the English team, which is of course the same result from last night. For the second leg in the Bernabéu, Real Madrid pulled off a 5-1 win behind two goals each from Roberto Martínez and Santillana, and one from Pirri to advance. In the 1979-80 season, Madrid lost to Glasgow 0-2 in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the same tournament, but made a comeback to win the second leg game 3-0 and advance.
In the 1984-85 UEFA Cup, during the second round, Madrid fell 1-3 to Rijeka, but made a comeback in the Bernabéu to win 3-0 for 4-3 on aggregate. In the round of 16, Madrid went down again during the first leg, losing 0-3 to Anderlecht, but made a spectacular comeback in the Bernabéu to win 6-1, and 6-4 on aggregate. In the semifinals, Madrid lost to Inter 0-2 in the first leg. It was during the second leg game at the Bernabéu that Juanito made his now legendary statement: “noventa minuti en el Bernabéu son molto longo,” which was said to Graziano Bini. Madrid ended up winning the game 3-0 to advance to the final with a 3-2 aggregate score. Madrid then beat Videoton to win the 1985 UEFA Cup.
The next year, while defending the title, Madrid lost 1-5 to Borussia Mönchengladbach but managed to make a spectacular comeback with a 4-0 second leg game to advance. In the semifinals, there was yet another comeback. Madrid fell to Inter 1-3 at San Siro, but achieved a 5-1 win at the Bernabéu. Madrid ended up successfully defending the UEFA Cup, beating FC Köln in the final.
I’d also like to highlight the following tweets. Jorge Casado tweeted, “criticizing won’t do anything, whoever wants to can get off of the bandwagon but don’t block the road, 90 minutes are very long! Hala Madrid!!!” Meanwhile, Esteban Granero tweeted this before the game:
Afterwards, he tweeted this, which translates to “I believe now more than ever in this team and in the míster. Madrid will be in Wembley. I’m sure of it” with the hashtag “#halamadrid.” I ADORE him! And those are my exact sentiments!
We also had this delightful exchange between Dani Carvajal and MFC ABMM. Dani tweeted, “after a great and wonderful visit to the room of my friends Álvaro Morata and Nacho, I’m going to enjoy the semifinal.” MFC tweeted back, “a pleasure to see you, you’re as ugly as always! A hug Jule!” Dani responded, “the same to you, brother, it’s great having friends like you! Juleeeee.”
And if you need some cheering up, here are some moments from Tuesday’s training session.
¡¡¡¡Hala Madrid!!!!