with Real Madrid, suffering makes you stronger

The Merengue club suffered to lift the big-eared cup on Saturday. An ability to turn around which shows how much better this team is than the others.

As we let the storm pass rather than fight in vain against the elements, Real Madrid gave a cruel lesson to Borussia Dortmund (2-0), Saturday June 1. Dominating is not winning, even in the Champions League final. By dint of lifting the big-eared cup, the Merengues ended up knowing the path to victory by heart, the main path, the shortcuts but also the detours.

It doesn’t matter if everything doesn’t go perfectly, in the end it’s always the Whites who win. Often, these kinds of adages tend to exaggerate reality, but when a team has won nine C1 finals in a row (the last failure dating back to 1981), chance or luck cannot be invoked. There is a know-how on the Madrid side, a positive spiral in which each success leads to another. On Saturday, the most successful club in the history of the most prestigious European competition (15 times) won under the leadership of the most successful coach in this same competition (five times).

Opposite, Borussia Dortmund may have already climbed to the roof of Europe (in 1997), but they presented themselves in the final as the unexpected guest. Only fifth in his championship, he could not claim anything other than the role of the outsider condemned to the feat. He had two steps to take in succession to be crowned at Wembley: overcoming his own complexes, then his opponent. Only the first task has been completed.

This was enough to shake up Real Madrid during a first period largely dominated by Edin Terzic’s players. The post and Thibaut Courtois intervened to preserve a goalless score at the break (Real was then dominated eight shots to two). Surely discouraged by all these missed opportunities, the BVB players returned from the locker room without the energy that accompanied them during the first 45 minutes. It was enough for the Madrilenians to change the match.

“We did so many good things. The only difference is that they had that killer instinct, and we didn’t.”

Edin Terzic, Borussia Dortmund coach

in post-match press conference

“We made some mistakes, but they didn’t kill us. When they don’t kill us, we come back quickly”, summarized the Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga at the microphone of Canal+. Since the return of Carlo Ancelotti to the Real bench, this unconscious force has made the club unsinkable in the Champions League, something the players themselves have difficulty defining. Two years ago, the successive comebacks against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City highlighted it. Even if the scenarios were not as incredible this season, this force still guided Real.

Resist and win, “it’s the history and tradition of the clubreacted Carlo Ancelotti after the meeting. The atmosphere in the locker room is really good. I have to thank the club and also the players, without big egos, really humble. It wasn’t difficult to lead this team this season.”. The departure of Karim Benzema, the long-term injury of Thibaut Courtois, the physical problems which overwhelmed the central defenders… None of this made Real Madrid waver, undefeated in its Champions League campaign despite the domination of Leipzig in the round of 16 and the qualifications by a mouse hole against Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

On the one hand, this is one of the best seasons in the club’s history. Two defeats in 55 matches in all competitions (both times against Atlético de Madrid) and the third highest points total in its history in a La Liga season (95). On the other hand, there is also this appetite for narrow victories (21 in all competitions). Ironically, the final is the only match won by more than a goal by Real in the knockout phase of its C1 campaign.