Real Madrid 2 Borussia Dortmund 0
Benzema 82, Ramos 88
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TV made it all about Mourinho, which he adores.
Question : “What will be your last words to the team?â€
Jose: “Nothing. Sometimes your silence means a lot.â€
His Real Madrid were impressive in the first 20 minutes.
But they missed three golden chances.
In 4, Higuain\’s first touch was so bad he had to take a second before hitting keeper Weidenfeller.
I thought Real needed to score in the first 20 minutes.
In 11, Higuain was offside when he headed wide from Ozil\’s free-kick.
Great chances were missed at either end in the 13th minute.
When Lewandowski evaded Ramos, Diego Lopez saved his shot.
Then Di Maria fired a missile into the box for Ronaldo to chest and shoot but his shin-volley was saved.
Gotze went off with a hamstring in 14, a big blow for Dortmund, with Grosskreutz coming on.
In 15, Higuain played a cute ball round the corner to release Ozil into the box in a great position but he shot well wide.
If it was 0-0 at half-time, I didn\’t think they would score three goals.
It was all Real and Dortmund looked jittery, despite having exactly the same starting eleven as last week – but now without the sparky Gotze.
That was when I had an odds-on bet on Real to score the next goal, thinking it would come in the next five minutes.
Coentrau stamped on Lewandowski\’s foot, obeying his master’s instruction to foul the Polish predator.
Xabi Alonso hit a Hollywood crossfield ball that missed its target.
In 37, Ramos elbowed Lewandowski in the face as they jumped but Howard Webb didn\’t book him.
Before this second leg Mourinho had said Howard Webb was one of his favourite referees.
Encouraged by Webb’s dereliction of duty, Ramos was emboldened to give Lewa another karate whack in the face.
Bender got a yellow card for tripping Ronaldo, then a Ronaldo free-kick was smashed into Row Q.
After 50, Lewandowski got goalside of Varane but blasted his shot against the underside.
I\’d have been glad to see that shot go in, even though I\’d have lost my bet.
In 57, Kaka and Benzema came on and made a huge difference.
They replaced Coentrao and Higuain and they arrived when Dortmund were looking fresher and fitter and when I had begun to think: If Real get a goal, it\’ll be a deflection.
Then Dortmund had chances that were perhaps better than the three Real had missed in the first 15.
In 61, Reus played a one-two and set up midfield workhorse Gundogan, whose shot was stopped by the electric but lucky Diego Lopez, .
A wonder-save? Maybe.
In 63, Lewa got in for a header and when Ramos lost Lewa on another cross, the centreback appeared to impede the Pole with his arm.
Tactically, Dortmund are pretty sound and by now they were playing keep-ball and back-pass ball, coasting through the storm, despite the probing of the elegant Kaka, who knows how to make a good counter-attack look easy.
In 82, Kaka slipped Ozil in on the right and his low cross allowed Benzema to spurt between Hummels and Subotic for a tap-in from four yards.
Two more goals were needed with only 8+ minutes left.
Now all hell broke loose.
A Ronaldo miscue gave Benzema a booming shot which Weidenfeller tipped over the bar.
In 88, Benzema sweetly set up Ramos for a thunderous left foot shot. That was an alpha-male gladiator goal that any striker would have been happy to score.
That Ramos performance was colossal and Bruce Lee would have loved it,I think.
Lewandowski was huge too, in an entirely different way. His calmness, perseverance and willingness to suffer those outrageous kicks and whacks were heroic.
Kaka\’s poise and experience had added a lot to the contest but couldn\’t quite create a third goal.
Five minutes of stoppage time ticked away before Jurgen Klopp\’s champions were in the Champions League Final at Wembley.
Dirty Real Madrid 2 Bundesliga Dortmund 0
Having seen a replay of a handball by Hummels, just outside the box, it was deliberate.
Mourinho wasn’t too far off when he said,” It’s incredible and I continue to say the same, that he is a fantastic referee. But it’s incredible that he didn’t give Hummels a red card.”
“I have spoken to him already and he didn’t give Mats Hummels a red card so that Mats Hummels can play in the final.There were 18 minutes left in the match. I come to the conclusion that in the end Webb is as good a referee as he is a person, with a big heart. Because he let a player off a red card to the detriment of the other team.”
Where will Mourinho go? Who will follow him as coach of Real Madrid?
Maybe Carlo Ancelotti.
Carlo heals where Jose divides, so the laidback Italian may be just right for Real at this moment.
It\’s a strange fact that Mourinho is the longest-serving coach in La Liga, having been in his present job for three years. He should have started Benzema in both legs but he’d never admit that.
I really hope Mourinho doesn\’t come back to the league where he says he\’s loved.
As a general rule, what\’s good for tabloid hacks isn\’t good for English football.