MY ACCOUNT
Barcelona defender Dani Alves said “there is no such thing as luck” as he saluted fierce rivals Real Madrid’s remarkable late comeback win against Manchester City.
The Spanish champions edged an epic semi-final with City 6-5 on aggregate on Wednesday to set up a showdown with Liverpool – a repeat of the 2018 final – in Paris on May 28.
Rodrygo scored twice in the space of 91 seconds to salvage extra time for Madrid, who trailed 5-3 on aggregate with less than a minute of normal time remaining.
Karim Benzema’s penalty in the additional period sealed Los Blancos’ passage through to a record-extending 17th European Cup/Champions League final, which is six more than any other team.
It is the third knockout round in a row that Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who secured a second league title in three years at the weekend, have recovered from behind.
Indeed, since the Champions League format changed in 2003-04, Madrid are the first team to lose a match in the last 16 (1-0 vs Paris Saint-Germain), quarter-final (3-2 v Chelsea) and semi-final (4-3 v Man City) and still reach the final.
And Brazil international full-back Alves does not believe it is any coincidence that Madrid pulled off another almighty fightback.
“Just like in life, there is no such thing as luck,” Alves posted shortly after full-time. “Either you dominate the game or the game dominates you.”
Hailing the late impact of two-goal Rodrygo, who is the first player in Champions League history to score twice in the 90th minute of a knockout match, Alves added: “Ah, what would soccer be without the Brazilians!”
With 11 goals spread across the two legs, Madrid’s memorable victory against City is the second-highest scoring semi-final in the competition’s history, behind only Liverpool’s 7-6 win against Roma in 2017-18.
The Reds await Madrid at the Stade de France later this month after surviving a scare of their own before seeing off Villarreal 5-2 on aggregate on Tuesday.
