The final whistle had barely gone on Real Madrid’s first leg defeat to Wolfsburg when Roberto made his plea.
“Leave my dad in peace,” he said. “Every time you mention him for a comeback, we lose.” Roberto’s late father was Juanito, the former Madrid striker whose “spirit” was invoked whenever they needed a comeback.
The last time, in fact, one newspaper had run a front page story in which they “contacted” him via a ouija board session asking him what the result would be in a Copa del Rey tie with Atlético. But it didn’t work out that way: Madrid were beaten, getting knocked out and Juanito’s supposed prediction lay in tatters (much like the newspaper’s reputation).
This time, Roberto was having none of it. And after his plea nor could they. So, there was plenty of talk about the remontada or comeback, but not really about the Spirit of Juanito (even if his famous quote about 90 minutes at the Bernabéu being a long time was repeated and often).
As for Zidane, he was challenging the discourse. “I’m hearing too many ‘hot’ messages and that’s the opposite of what we need, because to go through we will have to use our heads, to play football,” he insisted.
Luka Modric agreed on the eve of the game, the message clearly having become internalised. Epic was all well and good, but football was a better idea. “We have to have a cool head, be patient and play football,” Modric said. “We’re not going to end it in five minutes.”
This time it worked. The difference in ability between Madrid and Wolfsburg was just too big for it not to. One of the conclusions drawn was a doubt: how did Madrid ever get into this fine mess in the first place? Now, they got out of it. And they always seemed likely to; they always seemed more or less in control. They may not have ended it in five minutes – in fact the winner did not come until the 76th minute – but they did draw level in 86 seconds. Ronaldo scoring in the 16th and 17th minutes. At last they had done it.
After eight failed attempts to turn a European game around in a row, Madrid did stage a second leg comeback, thanks to a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo, who got his third with a free kick after Keylor Navas ran the length of the pitch to tell him to take it slow. Which he did, hitting the ball through the wall and Madrid into the semi-finals, 3-0 on the night 3-2 on aggregate.
It was something of comeback for Ronaldo too. “I was not at my level at the start of the season,” he admitted. His form really was not good before Christmas and there were significant doubts, maybe even the fear that, having gone past his 30th birthday, the end was in sight. He admitted that he had “my problems”. But he has played very well indeed since January and the last few weeks have seen him back at his best. “He’s better than ever,” Pepe said. Ronaldo scored the winner in the clásico and now this. Forty six goals this season. “Not bad is it?,” he smiled, the match ball under his arm.
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