Real Madrid have proven in the last three seasons that you don’t necessarily have to be the best team in Europe to win the Champions League.
No one would have contested that claim back in 2016 when they beat a poor Roma side, a weak Wolfsburg and then an overmatched Manchester City in the knockout stage.
In the final they faced – for the second time in three years – Atletico Madrid, their rivals over whom they enjoy one of sport’s most enduring hexes.
But smuggling the trophy back to Santiago Bernabeu after penalties in Milan nonetheless gave Madrid the belief that they owned it once more. Last year’s title win was more impressive but owed plenty to confidence and – indeed – that sense of entitlement.
It carries Zinedine Zidane’s side through at crucial times. They resist and resist and resist – without ever excelling themselves – and somehow it’s full-time and they’re victorious again.
Bayern Munich are the latest opposition team to come away from an encounter against the title-holders wondering how they failed to win.
Following their 1-2 reverse on home soil last night , Bayern look to be heading out. The Germans are on their longest-ever losing streak against any one team – they have now suffered six defeats in a row – and their plight seems to capture best the maxim that Real Madrid always find a way.
“I think they are sitting in the dressing room and do not know how they won the game,” Thomas Muller said afterwards. “But they won it and that’s the only thing that matters. We proved that Real Madrid is vulnerable but did not score [enough].”
Madrid were ruthless in punishing the Bayern mistakes and conjured two goals. Javi Martinez allowed a bouncing ball across him at the edge of the box. The next thing Marcelo had it in the back of the net.
When PSG finish top of the group and face Real Madrid in the last 16 while Bayern come second and get Besiktas, well, that’s ‘Bayern-dusel’. The term is prevalent in German football where opponents expect to lose against Bayern and try to explain away their frailties.
But it appears that ‘Bayern-dusel’ doesn’t work in Europe – and certainly not against Real Madrid. Bayern at full strength are more than a match for Madrid – so long as everyone is on his game – but it feels like someone is sticking pins in their Bayern voodoo dolls when it comes to playing Madrid.
“After Arjen Robben’s substitution, we had some problems,” Kimmich admitted. “It’s bitter for me personally that Arjen and Jerome were substituted, because both were playing next to me. But you saw that we did not fold and so it will be in the second leg.”
Madrid have the advantage, though, and that’s all that matters. It’s been said that Zidane’s team would have to lift their game if they’re going to gain a third title in a row.