Gareth Bale scored the winner to lead Real
Madrid to a 4-1 win in extra time and their
fabled “decima” on Saturday night, stunning
Atletico in extra-time of the UEFA Champions
League final with a fierce header that ended a
dozen years of frustration. The $130 million
man earned every penny of that transfer fee,
tucking home the goal off a kick save from
Atleti keeper Thibaut Courtois in the 111
minute.
Marcelo would add the insurance with three
minutes to play to seal the victory, sending
the Real players coursing off the bench and
onto the field; Diego Godin would concede a
penalty at the death that Cristiano Ronaldo
calmly stroked home. Sadly, that sent the
game into farce as an ugly dustup had
Atletico manager Diego Simeone on the field
and sent off by referee Bjorn Kuipers.
The result meant that Carlo Ancelotti became
just the second man after Liverpool ’s Bob
Paisley to lift three European Cups. And this
win had eerie shades other history as well,
namely the 1973-1974 European Cup final:
back then, Bayern stunned Atletico deep in
extra-time to take the European Cup to a
replay, which Bayern handily won. There are
no replays any more, and on Saturday, in
extra-time no less, Atleti simply ran out of
gas.
As then, so here did Real Madrid need
stoppage-time just to get back into the match
after Atletico seized the lead behind a header
from Diego Godin in the 36 minute. But
Sergio Ramos played hero, heading home in
the fourth minute of stoppage time off a
corner from Luka Modric to keep Real’s
dream alive -- and dash Atleti’s hopes.
Carlo Ancelotti, had warned this Champions
League coup would not be won by individuals
at a press conference on Friday. He was
wrong: his galacticos swarmed Atletico late
and changed the tone here, with Bale
supplying a magnificent capper.
The opening half saw Atleti in control, ably
choking off Real’s line of supply and a
hobbled Cristiano Ronaldo staying too far
back to influence much of the play. With
Juanfran, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis harrying
Angel di Maria and Bale into irrelevance, Luka
Modric was left to chase the play, which he
was only able to do in fits and starts.
Bale actually looked like a bust for a time,
muffing the best chance of the first half for
Real in epic fashion. Pouncing on a loose ball
at midfield coughed up by Tiago, the
Welshman had keeper Thibaut Courtois fully
committed and all the net to shoot at. He
didn’t come close, missing wide to the left,
and was left with his head in his hands on the
turf.
But if the vaunted “BBC” combination couldn’t
catch fire, it was Atletico who seemed to
suffer the more grievous blow early on.
Simeone gambled that Diego Costa could
make a miracle recovery from a hamstring
tear -- a gamble that backfired spectacularly
when the striker had to be yanked for Adrian
after only nine minutes.
Yet Atletico, if anything, seemed to grow
stronger despite Costa’s loss, especially as
the half ground on, and the play became
chippier. Real Madrid had few answers in
midfield for Gabi and Koke, and when Adrian
and David Villa started to get on the ball, they
left Sergio Ramos and Sami Khedira very
frustrated indeed. And Adrian? He started to
look like the $100 million man, relentless and
predatory.
When Godin, Atletico’s La Liga hero last
weekend, scored the opener on a truly bizarre
play, Ancelotti must have been wondering why
he kept faith with Iker Casillas for the match.
Casillas has not been the league starter for
Real all season and he showed why with a
bad gaffe.
Off a corner lofted in by Gabi, the ball was
slapped back out by Sergio Ramos, with
Casillas chasing the play. That was a
mistake; Juanfran simply lofted the ball over
forcing the keeper to backheel in desperation,
and Godin outjumped the defender to head it
home. Casillas got a mitt to it as it just nicked
the line, but he could only palm it onto the
boots of the onrushing Godin. In any case, the
goal had been given. It was a dreadful error
from the veteran -- and more proof that his
time at the top may be up.
If the first half had been tough on Real, the
back half of the game became explosive
Ateltico became increasingly ragged. First,
Ronaldo had a free kick that seemed to take a
slight nick off the top of the wall brilliantly
stopped by Courtois, only to see the ensuing
corner kick set up for a header. It went wide.
Marcelo and Isco were thrown on as Ancelotti
tried to replicate the last league match
contested between the two teams -- a 2-2
draw made possible by that same double-
sub. It proved to be a game-changer as Isco
took the match by the scruff. Atletico were
pressed back, back, back, but Real continued
to squander chances. Bale was in twice, and
twice he snapped his shots wide. Godin, able
at both ends, denied Isco with a brilliant steal
with ten to play to preserve the lead.
When the goal came, it was hardly
unexpected. Courtois had been heroic, but he
simply could not handle Ramos’s header.
Modric popped in a perfect cross that was
well-met and Courtois was a fraction behind
the play as the back powered the ball into the
net. It was a harbinger of things to come, and
a hurdle that the previously unbeaten Atletico
could not overcome.
--
The game saw a strange preamble as ten
protestors holding Greenpeace banners made
their way to the stadium roof, staging what
was apparently an protest against Champions
League sponsor Gazprom. Greenpeace later
issued a prepared statement saying the
protest was over the company’s plans to drill
in the Artic Circle. The protestors were
arrested.
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