Real Madrid go from agony to ecstasy to meet Liverpool in the final

"I don't smoke. It was a photo with my friends". This is how Ancelotti defined the famous photo with several Real Madrid players where he appears with a cigar, glasses and a Vito Corleone pose that has turned Carletto into an immortal coach. The players are his friends. And that's all there is to it. 

The La Liga celebrations were not appropriate in view of what Real Madrid had ahead of them in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. But no one at the club thought of cancelling the celebration of a 35th league title after a 34th in pandemic conditions and with a fan base eager to see their idols. 

But Real Madrid could have celebrated that Liga non-stop until an hour before the game against Manchester City and repeated the same agonising script that has put them in their third ever final against Liverpool. 

Klopp's side boast on social media that they have a score to settle for the 2018 final, but they know inwardly that it is worthless. In their favour is the fact that the final is not at the Bernabéu and that, as Ancelotti says, "it starts with a 0-0 draw". That's all there is to it. The rest is unpredictable. Coaching cards, courses, scouting, slates and other technical stuff can go in the dustbin. 

Guardiola had prepared for the game. He knew he had to stop the momentum Pintus has put in the players' legs. The Spanish coach deployed at the Bernabeu his Treaty on football with which he has bamboozled so many to end up forcing his goalkeeper to waste time from the 10th minute of the match. He did not put the bus on like at the Metropolitano because he knows that the Bernabeu is a big stadium and the fans push until they break the deadlock. 

The white epic was never present on the pitch. Benzema was the one before being a 9 and Vinicius the one before learning to define. Regulars. Not even Courtois saw Mahrez's goal coming, which went in like a howitzer through his post. An empty team that saw how the stands began to empty and the press were already writing articles talking about another English final, the arrival of Mbappé and the future of the team without Bale.  

Carvajal was in the mood. When he wasn't in the TV picture he was running around the pitch and moving the team. He was moving up the flank, fighting for balls and pressing his team-mates. The player from Leganés was hyper-motivated. Just like Nacho who raised his ceiling as a player a little more. Two home-grown players pulling the same cart as Raúl.

Camavinga's ball was touched by Benzema into space where he knew Rodrygo was going to arrive. A header similar to the goal against Chelsea. The Brazilian had just come on because Ancelotti had been struggling with the changes, as usual. The second cross was from Carvajal, on the second time, and with more spirit than quality. Asensio could have spoiled the night because he brushed the ball, but Rodrygo scored again to turn the Bernabéu upside down and shake its fragile foundations. 

Like PSG and Chelsea, City disappeared from the pitch. That Bernabeu mystique, that crowd shouting in their opponents' ears that they are the kings of Europe and that this is how Madrid win, made Guardiola's 11 players vanish. They were never heard from again until Ruben Dias, the most expensive centre-back in their history, took a penalty that deserved to be paid back. Benzema pushed the ball into the side netting as coolly as he listened to the City players trying to break his concentration. 

All that remained was to wait for the 120th minute and head for Paris. Guardiola was devoured by the ghosts of the Whites. He made strange changes at the end and did not know how to support the legs of his players who were wobbling as the minutes passed. Even Vallejo gave his little recital of three clearances without showing off. Militao gave City back their time wasting medicine, although, the reality of those two moments is that Ancelotti did not see clearly the change and needed time to meditate. 

Nothing will ever be the same again. Real Madrid, who should have played Benfica and not PSG, are now finalists in the tournament organised by the UEFA that has so lauded their exploits. For Florentino Pérez, winning the 14th should be the perfect culmination to a competition to which Real Madrid gave lustre. The change of cycle in European football.

What happens on 28 May is an enigma. Liverpool will prepare for the game against the most unfamiliar opposition there is. An unorthodox team that plays unscripted football and wins. Always wins.