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Gareth Bale inspires Real Madrid’s extra-time barrage to crush Atlético Gareth Bale inspires Real Madrid’s extra-time barrage to crush Atlético
(about 1 hour later)
At the final whistle, the first person to embrace Gareth Bale was Cristiano Ronaldo. They danced, they waved their shirts and they caught their breath. Real Madrid’s long, obsessive wait for la décima was over. And yet, in that wild, eccentric finale there was something happening at the other end of the pitch, too. Atlético’s supporters had broken into spontaneous applause for their team as soon as Bale put Carlo Ancelotti’s team into the lead and they carried on clapping even as the game ran away from them and the score started to feel like a deception. At the final whistle, the first person to embrace Gareth Bale was Cristiano Ronaldo. They danced, they waved their shirts and they tried to catch their breath. Real Madrid’s long, obsessive wait for La Décima was over. And yet, in that wild, eccentric finale there was something happening at the other end of the pitch, too. Atlético’s supporters had broken into spontaneous applause for their team as soon as Bale put Carlo Ancelotti’s side ahead, and the ovation did not stop even when the game ran away from them and the score started to feel like a deception.
Diego Simeone’s team had given everything and it is just a pity that he lost the plot after Ronaldo put in the penalty that completed the scoring. His players had chased and harried and, until that dramatic late flurry of goals, they had refused to let the Ballon d’Or winner show himself to be the single most important occupant of this football pitch. Diego Simeone’s team had given everything and it is just a pity that he lost the plot after Ronaldo put in the penalty that completed the scoring. Atlético’s players had chased and harried and, until that dramatic late flurry of goals, they had refused to allow Ronaldo to show himself to be the single most important occupant of this football pitch. At one point, the trophy was adorned in red and white ribbons and Atlético were on the verge of completing one of the great football stories. The clock was showing 93 minutes when Sergio Ramos’s header took the game into extra time. Football can be a brutal business sometimes.
Bale could be forgiven for thinking it never gets better than this and perhaps he is right. His header arrived five minutes into the second half of extra time and, briefly, it had looked like being the game’s decisive moment. Instead, what followed was extraordinarily harsh on Atlético. First, Marcelo made it 3-1 with a left-foot drive that went under Thibaut Courtois’s body. Ronaldo, perhaps inevitably, had the final word and Simeone was so incensed when Raphaël Varane kicked the ball towards their dugout he was on the pitch to confront the defender. For Bale, the night ended with him planting a kiss on the side of the trophy. He could be forgiven for thinking it never gets better than this and perhaps he is right. His header arrived five minutes into the second half of extra time and, briefly, it had looked being the winning goal. The irony is that, for a long time, it had looked like he would remember his first Champions League final as an ordeal, passing up three good opportunities before Ramos saved his team. Of all the lingering images, there was Iker Casillas kissing Ramos’s forehead just before the first period of extra time. Casillas had been at fault for Diego Godín’s 36th-minute goal and must have feared it would be the crucial moment. “It was a lovely thing we had in our grasp,” Simeone said, ruefully.
Simeone was shown a red card and ordered to the stands but, all the same, it was difficult not to pity Atlético. They lost Diego Costa to a recurrence of his hamstring troubles early in the match and, after taking the lead via Diego Godín’s header it needed a Sergio Ramos’s header three minutes into stoppage time to take the game into extra time. What followed was extraordinarily harsh on his team, but it is also true that they had started to look weary and were not creating any real threat by the point everything began to unravel. Bale’s goal came from one of the surging left-wing runs from Ángel di María that made him the game’s outstanding performer. Three players were beaten with one change of pace and shift in movement. Thibaut Courtois was in the way of the Argentinian’s shot and Bale was following in at the far post to score the most important goal of his career.
Costa had lasted only eight minutes and really should not have been involved at all bearing in mind it was only a week ago that he felt that familiar sharp pain at the back of his leg. And yet, in another sense, the fact he was on the pitch at all said so much about his club. A gamble? Undoubtedly. Reckless? Quite possibly. Yet it also typified the togetherness of Atlético that he was even willing to take the chance when the World Cup is looming. Marcelo made it 3-1 with a left-foot drive that went under Courtois’ body and among the celebrations for Ronaldo’s penalty, after he had gone down under Godín’s challenge, Simeone was so incensed when Raphaël Varane kicked the ball towards the opposition dugout he charged on the pitch to confront the defender. Despite his red card it was difficult not to sympathise with Atlético. Simeone was applauded in and out of his press conference and promised his side would carry on “annoying” their wealthier, more illustrious rivals next season.
Without their most formidable striker, Atlético had found it difficult to trouble the opposition defence before the goal. Yet they had swiftly set about displaying the qualities that had taken them to the Spanish title: quick to the ball, playing with structure and organisation, and absolutely determined to restrict the blur of movement, speed and skill that is Ronaldo. “Nuestra Forma De Vida” read the huge banner that was unveiled among the Atlético supporters before kick-off. It translates as “our way of life” and Atlético, with great conviction, chased everything. What a revealing statistic at half-time that Koke, Gabi, Tiago and Raúl García had all run further than any of Ancelotti’s players. Atlético had lost Diego Costa to a recurrence of his hamstring troubles after only nine minutes – “It was my responsibility and my mistake,” Simeone said – but they swiftly set about displaying the qualities that had taken them to the Spanish title: quick to the ball, playing with structure and organisation, and absolutely determined to restrict the blur of movement, speed and high skill that is Ronaldo. “Nuestra Forma De Vida,” read the huge banner that was unveiled among the Atlético supporters before kick-off. It translates as “our way of life” and Atlético, with great conviction, chased everything.
There was only one occasion in the opening 45 minutes when the most parsimonious defence in Spanish football looked vulnerable and that was the chance that fell to Bale after 32 minutes. Tiago’s pass was sloppy and suddenly Bale had the ball at his feet and was picking up speed, extending those powerful limbs. Ronaldo was to his right but the defence had opened up and, briefly, there was the sense that Bale could be on the cusp of scoring a goal of acceleration and raw power. Miranda’s challenge did just enough to put him off and Bale was down, on his haunches, with both hands to his head. He knew how costly that miss could be. There was only one occasion in the opening 45 minutes when the most parsimonious defence in Spanish football looked vulnerable and that was the chance that fell to Bale, after Tiago’s sloppy pass, in the 32nd minute. Running through the middle, the opportunity was there to score a goal of raw power and acceleration but Miranda did just enough to put him off and the shot was misplaced.
Within four minutes, Atlético had taken the lead. Godín had been their scorer at Barcelona last weekend, too, with the goal that clinched the championship. This time, it originated from a corner. Varane headed the ball away but Juanfran turned it back into the penalty area and Iker Casillas really should not have left his goal-line. He did and it left him stranded as Godín beat Sami Khedira to the ball and sent a looping header backwards and over Real’s goalkeeper. Casillas scrambled back, desperately trying to claw the ball away, but just ended up in the net with the ball. Within four minutes Atlético had a corner. Varane headed the ball away but Juanfran turned it back into the penalty area and Casillas really should not have left his goal-line. Godín beat Sami Khedira to the ball and sent a looping header over the goalkeeper. Bale would have two more chances in the second half and drilled them both wide. He could conceivably have finished the night reflecting on those misses.
Simeone had set up his team in a way that prevented Real justifying Pep Guardiola’s description of them as the most formidable counter-attacking side on the planet. They cut out space, their full-backs did not stray forward and the mistake from Tiago felt like an affront to their entire strategy. If needed, they also had a cynical edge. Angel di Maria’s running with the ball was often Real’s most potent threat. One charge through midfield ended with him being chopped down by García. When Di Maria did the same again after the break, Miranda’s challenge brought another yellow card from the pocket of the Dutch referee. Ronaldo had sent the first free-kick straight into the arms of Courtois. His second attempt took a deflection and was looping into the goal before the goalkeeper jutted out one of his long arms. The most devastating part for Atlético is that, for a long time, they seemed tactically prepared for everything their opponents could muster. They cut out space, their full-backs did not stray forward and the mistake from Tiago felt like an affront to their entire strategy. “We suffered a lot,” Ancelotti said afterwards. “We didn’t have any space. But we did try right to the last. You can say I am a lucky man but we did keep on going right to the last second.” Luka Modric swung over the decisive corner for Ramos to head in the equaliser and, as Ancelotti said, after that “everything changed”.
Shortly afterwards, Ronaldo could not make a solid connection with the ball after one of his prodigious penalty-box leaps. Yet Real, by the midway point of the second half, had still not attacked with any great fluency or penetration. Bale was struggling to make any real impact and, after 73 minutes, drilled another presentable opportunity wide. Ronaldo went looking for the ball in areas of the pitch that could not particularly hurt his opponents. Di María’s performance embodied that perseverance. One of his first-half runs ended with him being chopped down by Raúl García. Another in the second half was ended by an even more cynical challenge, this time from Miranda. Di María, however, could not be discouraged and it was a brilliant run to help Bale make it 2-1. The next two goals felt incongruous to the real story of the game but Madrid, ultimately, deserved to get hold of the trophy they cherish above everything else.
It was not until the last 10 minutes of normal time that Ancelotti’s men started to attack with sustained menace. Luka Modric swung the ball over from the right and Ramos had timed his run perfectly, flashing his header to the right of Courtois. Bale’s header came from another of Di Maria’s runs and everything for Atlético quickly unravelled.