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PARIS: A third all-English Champions League final in four years seemed to be on the cards but Real Madrid’s incredible late comeback against Manchester City on Wednesday has set up a rematch between the Spanish club and Liverpool in Paris on May 28.
Real’s epic European campaign hit new heights as they came back from the dead against Pep Guardiola’s City, trailing 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate before a Rodrygo brace in the 90th and 91st minutes forced extra time.
Karim Benzema then converted a penalty five minutes into the extra half-hour to make it 3-1 on the night and 6-5 on aggregate for Carlo Ancelotti’s side who then held on to secure their final spot, four days after reclaiming the La Liga title.
Their defeat of City came after they recovered from 2-0 down on aggregate to knock out Paris St Germain in the last 16, and then also fought back to beat Chelsea in extra time in the quarter-finals.
Real’s extraordinary triumph on Wednesday followed 24 hours on from Liverpool’s 3-2 win away at Villarreal, in which they came back from two goals down on the night to win 5-3 on aggregate.
The final at the Stade de France will be a repeat of the 2018 showpiece, when Gareth Bale’s stunning double secured a 3-1 win for Real in Kiev and gave them their record-extending 13th European Cup.
Seven members of the Real team involved that night four years ago also featured against City on Wednesday, just as seven Liverpool players in 2018 played in the win at Villarreal.
“We have a score to settle,” wrote Mohamed Salah on Twitter as the Liverpool forward kicked off the hostilities early.
It will be Liverpool’s third final in five seasons after they went on to win their sixth European crown in 2019, defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid.
Another victory at the Stade de France will see them go level on seven European Cups with AC Milan, with only Real having won more.
Indeed Real have won all of their seven previous final appearances in the Champions League era, their last defeat at this stage coming in 1981 against Liverpool in Paris.
Fans of the Anfield club may try to see that as an omen, recalling Alan Kennedy’s late goal at the Parc des Princes that gave Bob Paisley’s side victory as Liverpool won the European Cup for the third time in five years.
By the time this season’s final comes around they may be seeking to complete a historic quadruple — having already won the League Cup, they trail a chastened City by just one point at the top of the Premier League and face Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 14.
Real want history too, though, as does Ancelotti, who won the Champions League twice as a coach with Milan and led Real to victory in 2014 during his first spell in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He was on the Milan bench when they lost on penalties to Liverpool in the 2005 final in Istanbul, the Italians throwing away a 3-0 half-time lead.
However, Ancelotti’s Milan gained revenge two years later when they beat the Reds 2-1 in Athens.
“I am really pleased to be in another final, once again against Liverpool. It will be my third final against them as a coach,” said Ancelotti, who was also formerly in charge of their Merseyside rivals Everton. “I lived in Liverpool for two years so this is a derby for me.”
Ancelotti is level with Liverpool legend Paisley and ex-Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane on three European Cups as a coach, but victory in Paris would see him become the first manager to win the trophy four times.
He last faced Liverpool during his 18-month spell in charge of Everton, in which time he was unbeaten against them in three Premier League meetings and notably oversaw a 2-0 win at Anfield.
PAINFUL MELTDOWN
For City, who have become accustomed to Champions League heartache, the manner of their latest collapse might be the most painful defeat of all.
Four times Pep Guardiola’s men held a two-goal advantage but Real somehow found a way to win as City, last year’s defeated finalists, melted away in the white-hot atmosphere of the Santiago Bernabeu.
For 89 minutes, the English champions showed the maturity built up over a decade of experience in the competition but in 90 seconds their best-laid plans were destroyed.
Riyad Mahrez’s stunning strike 17 minutes from time put the visitors 1-0 up on the night, apparently ending the contest.
Real had not even mustered a shot on target until Rodrygo swept home Karim Benzema’s cross and suddenly the Bernabeu believed and yet another of the world’s most expensively assembled squads succumbed to the Real rope-a-dope.
Rodrygo headed in again after less than a minute of the six added on and could even have had a hat-trick before extra-time started.
In the end, fittingly, it was Benzema who delivered the final blow from the penalty spot as Real added another mind-boggling comeback to the club’s long history of magical European nights.
It was a case of history repeating itself — both in terms of the Real fightback and also a Guardiola team failing to negotiate the fine margins that define the latter stages of the Champions League.
It is now 11 years since he won the second of his two European Cups as a coach at Barcelona.
“Always I had defeats so tough in the Champions League,” said the 51-year-old.“It’s tough for us, we cannot deny it, we were so close to a Champions League final.”
Guardiola must now rouse a group of mentally and physically exhausted players to avoid ending the season without a trophy for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign.
They host Newcastle United on Sunday, a day after Liverpool play Tottenham. And it’s still in their hands to deny the Reds a historic quadruple.
QUADRUPLE BID ALIVE
Fifty-seven games into a gruelling season Liverpool could have crumbled when their 2-0 first-leg lead was wiped out before half-time by an inspired Villarreal playing to reach their first-ever Champions League final.
Instead, the Reds hit back progress from the semi-final.
Six games now separate Jurgen Klopp’s men from an achievement never before achieved in English football — winning all four major trophies on offer in the same season.
But their safe passage to Paris seemed to be in doubt on Tuesday as Villarreal levelled the tie in the first half thanks goals from Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin.
However, the vast gulf in resources between the clubs showed when Klopp could unleash 50 million ($63 million) January signing Luis Diaz at the break.
The Colombian, together with some generous goalkeeping from Villarreal stopper Geronimo Rulli, turned the game back in Liverpool’s favour as Fabinho, Diaz and Sadio Mane scored three goals in 12 minutes.
“It feels like it’s the first [final] to be honest, because it is always so special,” said Klopp, who has transformed Liverpool into modern greats of European football having arrived at Anfield in 2015. “It is, for me, the best club competition in the world. I love it, love the sound, love the nights, everything.”