“Finals are won; they are not played”. If this philosophy fits with any football club in the world, it would certainly be the greatest club of the 21st Century, the European and Spanish giant Real Madrid CF. When it comes to the biggest club football competition in the world, UEFA Champions League (UCL), this philosophy is more of an established fact for Madrid.
Since the rebranding of the European Cup into the modern-day UCL in 1992, Real Madrid has played Eight Champions League Finals and won every single one of them. Real Madrid currently holds 14 Champions League titles, trailed by AC Milan with only half the number.
La Decimocuarta (the 14th) was special as everyone expected Real Madrid to go through a rebuilding or transitional phase in 2022. But then there is a saying among the Madrid fans, “Asi, Asi, Asi, Gana El Madrid”, meaning “like this, like this, like this, this is how Madrid wins”. And this is exactly what happened in Madrid’s UCL 2022 journey. Who could have imagined that a 36+ years old Luka Modric would have the work rate of a person in his 20s; that the long ball master, sniper Toni Kroos would work on closing spaces with off-the-ball movements; that youngsters like Camavinga, Valverde, and Rodrygo would completely turnaround a game within minutes; that Vinicius Junior would put a performance worthy of possibly placing him in the podium at the Ballon d’Or awards.
Before the final of the UCL of 2022, Mohamed Salah made a statement regarding how he wanted revenge for the loss in the UCL Final in 2018. However, history repeated itself and Real Madrid triumphed as a natural phenomenon. The superhuman performance of Thibaut Courtois cannot be described in words. The ability of Carvajal to turn into the best right back in the world at will was in full display during the final. A wonderful assist from Valverde and a brilliant finish from Vincius ended up making Madrid the European King once again as the final ended with 1-0 (FT) in Madrid’s favour.
The journey of UCL-22, will be remembered not only due to the final but also because of an insane run starting from the Round of 16 and ending with the title. The Semi-Final of UCL between Manchester City and Real Madrid might have been the most intense football played this season. Rodrygo’s two goals were a scene to behold within two minutes (90th and 91st minutes). The Semi-Final of UCL-2022 can only be described by the words of Peter Drury in the commentary box, “They prayed for miracles and miracles have arrived. Real Madrid, the team of dreams”. The memories of this UCL are still fresh enough to get goosebumps every time you think about it.
Nevertheless, if there is one player who deserves the most credit for this insane and crazy journey, it would be the Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema. Despite being in two goals deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg, the charismatic Benzema dismantled the star-studded club within just 17 minutes with a hattrick. Similarly, in the Quarter-Final, Benzema played brilliantly against Chelsea in the first leg and scored a hattrick though it took some magic from Modric’s outside of the foot and Rodrygo’s brilliant finish to seal the deal in the second leg. Benzema scored the match-winning goal in the R16, QF, and SF. His journey of this season’s UCL could have ended with a perfect tally if his goal was not disallowed in the final, which is still debatable among the fans and the pundits. Benzema is currently holding 1st place in the list of most goals scored by a player in the knockout stage of a single season in the history of UCL, jointly with Ronaldo with 10 goals behind his name.
Moreover, he has scored 15 goals this season becoming the highest scorer for UCL 2021-2022 season surpassing Lewandowski (13) and Sebastien Haller (11). Moreover, he has now also become 2nd in the list of the most goals scored by a player in a single season in the history of UCL, jointly with Lewandowsky. Ronaldo is 1st in the list with 17 goals scored in a single season in the history of UCL. (2013-14 season). However, Benzema’s importance not only dwells on his ability to score; but rather his overall understanding of the game and how plays impact the game extensively. If nothing goes wrong, Benzema is very much expected to win the Ballon d’Or this year without a shred of doubt.
To summarize the journey of Real Madrid’s UCL, 2022, I would again like to quote Peter Drury as this season for Real Madrid was “improbably, miraculously, impossibly, beyond their dreams, expectations”.
