The Road to 14th UEFA Champions League Title: How Real Madrid Prevailed Against All Odds

The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League competition has been exciting and full of surprises. Unfortunately, Spurs couldn’t participate after finishing seventh in the 2020/21 English Premier League season. But it wasn’t all bad. Spurs fans took a back seat and watched the drama unfold —incredible comebacks and some of the biggest upsets ever seen in European football. 

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The group-stage story

Real Madrid, the most successful club in the history of the competition, once again proved why they are champion-material. They faced Inter Milan, FC Sheriff, and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in six home and away fixtures in the group stage. Here’s how it all went down.

A Convincing Group Stage 1st Leg

Real Madrid started their campaign with a win over Inter Milan. It looked like the match would end in a stalemate until Rodrygo scored in the 89^th minute to secure a victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Their second match against FC Sheriff at the Bernabeu ended in a 2-1 defeat. Madrid was the better team with 32 shots on goal, but somehow Sheriff managed to convert their four shots on goal into something meaningful.

Los Blancos proceeded to take out their anger on their next opponent FC Shakhtar Donetsk, destroying them 5-0. In addition to the own goal scored by Donetsk, Vinicius Jr. scored a brace. At the same time, Benzema and Rodrygo contributed a goal each.

An Even More Convincing Group Stage 2nd Leg

The second-leg fixtures started with Madrid welcoming Donetsk to Spain. The match ended 2-1 in favor of Madrid. Benzema’s early goal was canceled by Fernando in the 39^th minute. But it was far from over. Benzema scored again in the 61^st minute to put Madrid in front for the second time, and the game ended that way. Next, Madrid avenged themselves in Moldova —Sheriff’s home— by defeating their hosts 3-0. Goals from Alaba, Kroos, and Benzema helped them secure the win. The final group stage fixture was against Inter Milan, and Madrid signed off with a tremendous win. Kroos gave Madrid an early lead in the 17^th minute, and Asensio scored a second to ensure that they emerged victorious.

Trashing PSG

Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain were the next team to face a top-form Real Madrid. The first leg of the round of 16 fixtures was at Parc des Princes. The match was a really tough one, and initially, PSG missed many scoring opportunities. PSG’s biggest chance came in the 60^th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick after Carvajal fouled Mbappe in the box. Messi took the penalty and was denied by Courtois. The game continued goalless until Mbappe broke the deadlock in stoppage time with a beautiful solo goal. The game ended 1-0.

PSG went into the second leg with a goal advantage which they doubled in the 39^th minute through Mbappe. Many Madridistas were beginning to lose hope as their team trailed behind two goals to nil on aggregate. However, a glimmer of hope was restored when Benzema pulled one back in the 61^st minute. Two more goals in quick succession by the Frenchman, in the 76^th and 78^th minutes respectively, put Madrid in front. PSG went from being in charge to scrambling for survival in a couple of minutes. Pochettino’s men did their best to get back into the game, but it wasn’t enough as the game ended 3-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.

The Battle with a Stubborn Chelsea

Madrid’s next opponent was Chelsea, the team that had knocked them out in the semis last year. It was time for Madrid to settle a year-old score. Benzema replicated his performance against PSG in the first leg by scoring a hat trick at Stamford Bridge. Kai Havertz pulled one back for the home team after Benzema scored his second. It was the second defeat Chelsea suffered within a week after being beaten 4-1 by Brentford in the Premier League.

Most people expected the second leg to be a replica of the first leg, but the defending champions showed they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Goals from Mount and Rudiger got the Blues back on level terms before Werner put them ahead in the 75^th minute.Rodrygo scored in the 80^th minute to give Madrid a lifeline and drag the game to extra time. In the 6^th minute of extra time, Benzema scored thanks to a cross from Vinicius Jr. Chelsea struggled to equalize. Still, Madrid ended up easing into the semi-finals with a 5-4 aggregate win.

Humbling Pep Guardiola’s Team

Madrid encountered their toughest opponents of the competition when they faced Manchester City. City lost the final last year against Chelsea and looked to become back-to-back finalists. The hosts opened the scoring at the Etihad stadium. City did their best to subdue Madrid with their quick play and a flurry of goals, but the Spanish giants refused to succumb. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were able to minimize the damage done by De Bruyne, Jesus, Foden, and Benardo Silva by scoring thrice in the match, which ended 4-3.

The second leg in Spain was a battle to the death. Both teams stayed level until the 73^rd minute when the Algerian International curled the ball past Courtois and into the back of the net. In typical comeback style, Madrid got two goals in less than three minutes through Rodrygo. Five minutes into extra time, the referee punished Ruben Dias for a careless tackle on Benzema by awarding Real Madrid a penalty kick. Benzema converted from the spot with a goal that secured Madrid’s ticket to the final.   

The Final Victory

The final match was between Real Madrid and Liverpool, who dispatched Villareal in the semi-finals. The yellow submarines eliminated Bayern and were eyeing a place in the final before their dream was cut short by Liverpool. The final was played at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, on 28^th of May, 2022. It was the second meeting between Madrid and Liverpool in a Champions League final. Madrid beat Liverpool in the last one in 2018 to secure their 13^th title.

The match was nothing short of the breath-taking competition. Both sides played good football and had good scoring opportunities. However, it was Madrid that ended up scoring after their first “goal” was disallowed. Thanks to their perseverance and never-give-up mentality, Los Blancos secured their 14th Champions League title.