When British driver Nigel Mansell clinched the 1992 Formula 1 World Championship at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Brazilian racing great Ayrton Senna joined him on the podium. While Senna had won the race, Mansell had managed to win the championship despite finishing second in Hungary.
As Mansell was preparing to celebrate his maiden (and only) world championship, Senna lent across and whispered into Mansell’s ears: “Now you know why I am such a bastard; it’s because I never want anyone else to experience what you are feeling now.” Mansell later said his blood froze upon hearing Senna’s words.
by Douglas Teixeira is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Modified.
BENZEMA KEEPS HIS PROMISE
There seemed to be a bit of Senna in Karim Benzema as he took off towards the Real Madrid fans in the stands after scoring Madrid’s third and final goal of the night against Manchester City on Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal. Apart from right-back Dani Carvajal, Benzema was the only Madrid player on the pitch that had been a part of Real Madrid’s most recent Champions League final appearance, in 2018. That match marked the end of an era at Real, as it was the last of the Merengues’ 3 consecutive Champions League victories that began in 2016.
Wednesday was another instance in this season’s Champions League knockout stages of Madrid elbowing out an opponent who had for the most part outplayed them on the pitch.
“The game has only just begun… Somos el Real Madrid! (we are Real Madrid)” Benzema had said on his Instagram account after the first leg of the semifinal against City had finished 4-3 in favour of the English champions. The Frenchman kept his word, scoring Madrid’s winner after Brazilian Rodrygo Goes had scored twice for Real late in regulation time. Benzema even seemed to offer Rodrygo the chance to take the penalty awarded to the home side but the 21-year-old declined Benzema’s offer.
Wednesday was another instance in this season’s Champions League knockout stages of Madrid elbowing out an opponent who had for the most part outplayed them on the pitch. First it was French champions Paris Saint-Germain, then it was defending champions Chelsea and now it was City.
PEP TAKES DEFEAT IN HIS STRIDE
“It’s the greatness of this club, it doesn’t let you lay down when it seems as if everything is over,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “It gives you the strength to continue, to believe.”
Ancelotti’s opponent on the night, Pep Guardiola, saw his quest to win a third Champions League as manager and a first for Manchester City dashed once again. “Maybe I’m not good enough to help the team to do it,” Guardiola later wondered. “Nobody knows what would have happened with other players or managers. We were close – they know it, we know it – but what is important is we are going to try again next season, and then again.”
Right after referee Daniele Orsato blew the final whistle on Wednesday, Guardiola turned to his left and started walking. Ancelotti was already on his way from the Madrid dugout and the pair met midway. Guardiola, wearing an all-black attire that seemed in-tune with funereal mood in the City camp, met the Italian halfway through with an outstretched hand and a wry smile. They embraced.
ANCELOTTI TURNS TABLES ON 2005 HORROR
Ancelotti would know how Guardiola felt. In 2005, the Italian was at the receiving end of an extraordinary turnaround by Liverpool when an AC Milan side managed by him threw away a 3-0 lead inside six minutes in the Champions League final in Istanbul. Milan never recovered in that match.
“I have seen comebacks like that in football but never against a team that so clearly was superior as Milan were,” said Argentina icon Diego Maradona about the result in Istanbul.
Ancelotti would get some measure of revenge in 2007, when his Milan side again made it to the Champions League final where they were again pitted against Liverpool. Milan won 2-1 this time, in a result that Ancelotti then called his “greatest night”.
In time, maybe Guardiola will get his turn at the table too.
© Superbass / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons). Modified.
Or he could adopt the attitude of Mario Basler.
Basler is a former midfielder most famous for scoring the goal that gave Bayern Munich an early lead in the 1999 Champions League final against Manchester United. With the match in stoppage time, Bayern were still in the lead… till football went to “bloody hell” and United went home with the trophy.
That’s not how Basler sees it, however.
“Looking back, I always say that I actually did win the Champions League, since I was taken off in the 89th minute!” he later said.
Till the 90th minute on Wednesday, City were leading 1-0 on the night and ahead 5-3 on aggregate, after all. But Guardiola was straightforward in his post-match assessment. “We need one or two days but we will rise, we will come up,” he said. “We will have to do so, with our people. We did everything we could. We were really, really close but in the end we could not do it.”
THE MAMBA MENTALITY
NBA player Pau Gasol once wrote about how, when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, they got together as a team to have their annual dinner right before the playoffs. Writing in The Mamba Mentality, Gasol said he was sitting next to Kobe Bryant. “As we were getting ready to leave, (Bryant) told me he was going to the gym to get a workout in. As much as I was very aware of the amount of extra time he put in outside of our regular work hours, it always shocked me how disciplined he could be even during a relaxed situation. When everyone else was thinking it was time for bed, his mind was telling him it’s time to get ahead of the competition.”
Cue Pep Guardiola, after winning the 2011 Champions League tournament with Barcelona: “It takes so much to win this tournament,” he said. “It always does.”
He’ll be back.