Joselu, the unlikely hero, but Real’s reaction was inevitable

MADRID – Ahead of the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, coach Thomas Tuchel said his Bayern Munich players needed to “connect with their inner child” at the Santiago Bernabéu, recalling childhood dreams of playing in matches like this.

Real Madrid demonstrated this Wednesday why they are the greatest in this competition. This comeback, which saw them beat Bayern 2-1 that night and 4-3 on aggregate to advance to the final at Wembley on June 1, marked six Champions League final appearances in 11 seasons.

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Madrid’s success in the Champions League, often in the most unlikely of circumstances, has become routine.

No club, not even Bayern, can match Madrid’s history and pedigree of 14 European Cups. No coach, not even Tuchel, who won this competition with Chelsea and lost a final with Paris Saint-Germain, can match Carlo Ancelotti’s six Champions League finals as a manager.

And no team can come close to this Real Madrid for producing the impossible when it matters most. There were echoes here of 2022 and the logic-defying knockout stage that saw them make consecutive comebacks at home to eliminate PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City, having been second best on each occasion.

So when Alphonso Davies’ 68th-minute goal put Bayern 1-0 up on the night and 3-2 on aggregate, Madrid didn’t give up. They’ve been here before. With a packed Bernabéu, louder and more imposing than ever since its reconstruction, roaring, they chose Bayern.

When substitute Joselu, enjoying a glorious late-career renaissance at age 34, made it 1-1 in the 88th minute, it wasn’t even a surprise. Of course Madrid would find a way. They always do it. Three minutes later, Joselu had another one. This time the joy of the local fans was momentarily delayed by an offside signal, soon corrected by the VAR.

Joselu is a lifelong madridista. The last time Madrid played in a Champions League final, in Paris in 2022, he attended the 1-0 victory over Liverpool as a fan. Now he has scored the goals that put Madrid in another final. When the final whistle sounded after 14 nervous minutes of added time, his teammates hugged him one by one, while the crowd chanted his name.

Strikers Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham had scored the goals that took Madrid to this point (14 between them in the Champions League this season), but Joselu’s contribution on Wednesday could be the defining image of their European campaign. A night after Kylian Mbappé failed to impress on the big stage, the man he could replace in the Madrid team next season could not have done better.

Before that late drama, this had been a tense night. In an even and goalless first half, the best opportunity went to Madrid: Manuel Neuer deflected Vinicius’ shot to the post before saving Rodrygo.

Madrid dominated, making 83 passes in the attacking third compared to Bayern’s 17. The visitors’ central point of attack, Harry Kane, was limited to just 14 touches in the first half, the fewest of any player. He completed only one pass and had a dangerous shot.

The second half was more open from the beginning. Davies and Kane went close, as did Rodrygo and Vinicius at the other end, before Davies’ first goal. A player linked all season with a move to Madrid, out of form and away from Bayern, now seemed the unexpected hero of the night.

Ancelotti’s response was to quickly change teams. Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga entered the midfield, joined by Joselu and Brahim Díaz in attack.

Joselu’s winning goal showed how committed Madrid were to throwing everything forward, how much they believed in their chances of pulling off another comeback. A centre-back, Nacho, met another, Antonio Rüdiger, inside the Bayern area. Then Rudiger crossed for Joselu to finish. There was no offside in any of the passes. Madrid were in the final, with another opportunity to extend their unrivaled record in this competition.