Real Madrid: a historic comeback led by Vinícius and Benzema, and why he owns the Champions League

“To the real Madrid you have to kill him seven times like cats”, once warned Sergio Ramos, who was a banner in four Champions League for the merengue team. What the now PSG defender stated at the time is repeated in Europe every time Real plays the Champions League, his favorite competition. And it was demonstrated this Tuesday at Anfield against Liverpool.

Madrid must be killed. And then finish it off. And then, just in case, you have to insure it. What happens if you do not follow these phases to the letter? What happened to Liverpool: he went 2-0 up in 15 minutes with goals from Darwin Núñez (4′) and Mo Salah (14′), but he was distracted and the Spanish giant woke up from his lethargy and went back incredibly. The match ended 5-2 thanks to braces from Vinicius Jr. and Benzemaand a bit from Militao.

Real started off on the wrong foot. even his own Thibaut Courtois, nominated for The Best as the Best Archer in the world, committed an improper blooper in it. However, on the other side, Alisson He did the same and gave the whites a goal. Serious mistake. You can never give the biggest winners of the Champions League a gift because you end up paying dearly for it. And so it happened.

In that boiler in which they turned a series against Barcelona in 2019, the ‘galactics’ achieved a historic comeback from the feet of Vinicius -the best player- and Benzema.

The Brazilian stopped being the dribbler without a goal a while ago. At just 22 years old, he already added to his repertoire the only thing that was missing: the goal. By numbers and performance, we are facing the consolidation of a crack that could dominate football at his whim.

The Madrid of comebacks 2.0

The last Champions League will go down in history marked by the epic path that Real Madrid took to raise their fourteenth ‘Orejona’. With Karim Benzema as the great dominator of the tournament, author of fifteen goals in eleven games, ten goals in qualifying rounds that provided the worst possible rivals for the team of Carlo Ancelotti after a remarkable group stage that started with a setback against the Peruvian’s Sheriff Gustavo Dulanto in the debut (1-2 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu itself).

Already installed in the round of 16, the Madrid feat began. That stage vindicated its special link with the competition, revived the magic of the European nights at the Santiago Bernabéu, exhibited a unique DNA. The first opponent was psg which had added to Messi to his attack that already had Neymar and Mbappe. Lower in the Parque de los Príncipes, supported by the stops of Thibaut Courtoiswithout a single shot at the rival goal, the ‘galactics’ fell by the minimum, although the sensations were not encouraging.

In the second leg, Kylian himself, who was applauded by Real Madrid in a gesture of affection on days when there was talk of his possible arrival, made it 1-0 and extended the lead to two on aggregate. But the unthinkable happened and a hat trick by Benzema in 17 minutes -with the collaboration of Donnarumma- unleashed madness at the Bernabéu.

The next step presented the opportunity for revenge against the last executioner, the Chelsea, the current champion of the competition who reached the quarterfinals with institutional turmoil after the departure of Román Abramóvich. It was when Benzema became the owner of the competition. Only Cristiano Ronaldo had been able to score two consecutive hat-tricks. The Frenchman repeated it with a header masterclass at Stamford Bridge.

The two-goal advantage led to the error in the second leg. As much as Ancelotti warned of the dangers of being overconfident, Chelsea’s pride appeared at the Bernabéu and even turned the tie around.

Once again it was the heroic Real Madrid player, increasing the degree of difficulty. Eliminated ten minutes from the end, until the registered foreign pass of Luka modric and the irruption of Rodrygo. And the physical power in extra time when Benzema gave the pass to the semifinals.

It was demonstrated in the semifinals that if there is a team in the world that can never be left for dead, it is Real Madrid. He reacted to every hit on the Etihad in a Manchester City superior. Resurrected by a race against the world of Vinícius, by a penalty à la Panenka by Benzema.

Real Madrid left Manchester alive and saw the elimination up close at the Santiago Bernabéu when the epic gave way to an indisputable English superiority. Without Casemiro, Kroos or Modric already on the field, but with Rodrygo and his double, the Spanish team managed to once again turn around a result.

The final was against this Tuesday’s rival: Liverpool. And the story is well known: a 1-0 victory with a goal from Vinícius. The ‘galactics’ have paternity over the English and they show it every time they face each other in the Champions League.