Real Madrid vs Athletico Madrid The action-packed, fast-paced first half.
As the game started it looked far from easy for Real Madrid that they would get the chance to go to their second consecutive final and fight to retain the title. Judging from the way Athletico Madrid in the first 20 minutes were hungry to make their own history, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes, it looked possible that they would claw back that 3-0 aggregate goal difference from the first leg of the semi-final.
Athletico's first goal came from an early header from Saul Niguez in the 12th minute with the ball coming from a corner kick.
This took them one step closer to their goal. The second goal did not take much time to come as Fernando Torres was fouled in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Athletico's Antoine Griezmann scored the penalty for his side in the 16th minute. You can imagine the pace this game had, it was almost as fast as the heart beats of all the gamblers who we're sure Real Madrid would beat Athletico Madrid and have put down a hefty sum, and were now hoping for a win.
I personally was deeply enthralled in the game, and couldn't have predicted that Real Madrid would come back in, still in the first half and quelch Athletico Madrid's hopes. Real Madrid's hope and Athletico's demise came from a player who Real fans were complaining hasn't been playing as a player of his stature is expected to; Karim Benzema.
Benzema dribbled past three Athletico Madrid defenders, Jose Gimenez, Stefan Savic and Diego Godin and then passed the ball onto Toni Kroos whose deflected shot gave Isco the opportunity to get past the keeper and score a crucial away goal for Real Madrid his first in the champions league and 11th in the season. Isco is Bale's replacement as Bale has been out on injury with a tear to his left calf, with the Daily Star reporting that Club Manager Zinedine Zidane believes he will be ready for the final in Cardiff which is also Bale's hometown.
Real Madrid get their chance to make history in the Champions League!
This effectively meant that Athletico Madrid had to score three goals to defeat Real Madrid, it was actually like they way the game started, and that is what played a huge role in diminishing Athletico Madrid's chances of defeating Real. Apart from it being a chance to play in the finals, it was also Athletico's last Europen match in their stadium Vicente Calderon as they are moving to a new state of the art 75,000 seat stadium in the La Peineta location.
The goal also meant that Real Madrid has scored in 61 consecutive games, reaching Bayern Munich who has the record of 61. Real's last goalless match was on April 26th, 2016 in a game against Man City, while Athletico Madrid had just for the first time conceded a goal in a semi-final at home, having played in six of them. Although Athletico when it comes to Real Madrid have only beaten them with a goal difference of 3 only 9 times since 1920, they are local rivals after all.
As both teams have played a total of 56 games this season, the second half did not bear any goals but still provided a nice display of football. This provided the road for Real Madrid to head into a 1998 re-match of Real Madrid against Juventus, with Zinedine Zidane having played for the losing Juventus that time.
It is also the clubs 3rd time in 4 years to get into the finals, and the 4th out of 4 times they have beaten Athletico Madrid to get ahead in the competition. Athletico Manager Diego Simeone could also be leaving the club soon.
Who's the favorite to win the Final in Cardif?
That is a harder prediction to make but one thing's for sure; if the previous games played are any indication as to what's to be expected in the Champions League final in Cardiff, then the finals will be an extremely fun game to watch and a win will also mean a lot to either side. Juventus having not won it in 21 years since they beat Ajax in 1996 and Real Madrid wanting to make Champions League history.
