Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund: Why I Believe Madrid Can Make The Final
April 24th 2013 is a date Real Madrid fans will remember as a date when they all were in front of their televisions, waiting for their team to take them to the Champions League final, or closer to it. But they couldn’t make it.
Borussia Dortmund, who were much more superior, beat a Real Madrid team that didn’t play their best weapons. The Germans played great counter-attacking football while the white players played without courage, losing way too many balls in the midfield where the pressure and tactical game of Dortmund was too good. Where Lewandowski not only led his teammates but took the ball and scored 4 goals to lead the Madridistas to desperation and disappointment.
No one said winning would be easy; Real Madrid just didn’t meet the expectations. Admitting all this won’t make you a worse Real Madrid fan, and I’m not going to give any lessons of what being a Real Madrid fan is to anyone out here. I’m just saying this is the time to get behind them, it’s time to get united.
Both German sides in these semifinals, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, have shown that they’re currently better than both of the Spanish sides, and that’s why today both are in the final. But it’s time for Real Madrid’s players to show their greatness too.
And it wouldn’t be the first time.
1975/76
Real Madrid lost 4-1 (just like at the Signal Iduna Park the last week) against Derby County in the European Cup 2nd round. A hat-trick from Charlie George helped provide the English side with a 4-1 win. In the second leg at the Bernabeu, the Madrid side pulled a brilliant 5-1 comeback.
1979/80
Celtic had won the first leg in Glasgow 2-0, but two weeks later at the Bernabeu they were outclassed by Real Madrid who won 3-0, a victory that made them qualify for the semifinals of the 1979-80 European Cup.
1984/85
Anderlecht beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the UEFA Cup 3rd round. A Manolo Sanchis strike, a brace from Jorge Valdano and a wonderful hat-trick from El Buitre, Emilio Butragueño, completed a memorable 6-1 victory that lead the white side into the next round. Just four months after this, Inter Milan won 2-0 over them at San Siro but that lead wasn’t enough. When they got to the Bernabeu, before the game, Real Madrid forward Juanito warned Inter’s midielder Graziano Bini that “90 minutes at the Bernabeu is a very long time”, and he was quite right as they won 3-0.
1985/86
Real Madrid lost 5-1 to Borussia Monchengladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Blancos needed to win by at least four goals in the second leg of a 3rd round UEFA Cup to turn the tie around, and that’s exactly what they did at the Bernabeu. Jorge Valdano and Santillana both secured an excellent 4-0 victory with both scoring twice.
Do you see how it can happen? Is not that impossible, right? Because in football, nothing is. Especially having such great players and the coach that Jose Mourinho is, which in my opinion makes this needed comeback more likely. If I have learned something in the past years, is to have trust in this squad.
I honestly don’t care who plays today. For me, the best players will be the eleven that are on the pitch, fighting for the glory regardless of the differences they may have in the dressing rooms, putting their hearts in it, and all looking for the common goal and the fondest dream of each one of them: to score.
I want to see the union, the dedication, the passion and the greatness of Real Madrid, and I believe in them and their possibilities. Real Madrid are specialists in comebacks, even the skeptics should know by now that they are able to score 3 goals against any European team. If you don’t believe this it means you don’t really know much about this team.
“This is Real Madrid’s DNA. This is its meaning. This is its position, to die on the field, no cheap philosophy. ” - Jose Mourinho.
I don’t like to ask anybody anything but this time I will make an exception and ask the eleven players that will play tonight to honor the shirt. If I ask for this it is because I know they can do it, because they have done it before. To the fans attending the game at the Bernabeu, I ask them to believe and support the team until the end. This is not the time for debate or to defend a player or the coach. This is not the time to criticize. This is not the time to be weak, skeptical and unsure. Is the time to be brave, look at the badge and understand that it is all that matters.
Why not believe if I’ve watched them comeback more than once? Why would I doubt when I trust in this squad? This is the moment to support them. Being a football fan means to love it, to defend the colours of the club and to hope your team comes out on the pitch with all they have. And I hope Real Madrid give us that joy of being able to scream and celebrate the glorious goals that can lead us to the final.
The defeat is just a temporary condition, giving up is what makes it permanent. The more difficult the challenge is, the greater the glory will be for having achieved it. Tonight, we are all together fighting for the same thing, believing until the end.
