The equaliser that built a Champions League dynasty
17Real Madrid hadn’t won the Champions League for 12 years. They had to sit by both in Europe and domestically as Barcelona dominated, winning three Champions Leagues and a glut of trophies in Spain. Real were waiting for La Decima. They had signed a second wave of Galacticos, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at the heart of that team.
In 2014 they made their first European final for over a decade, meeting Madrid rivals Atletico in Lisbon. Atletico had upset the applecart by winning La Liga, in the Nou Camp on the final day no less, and were looking for a double. Diego Godin headed in the opener in the first half.
Atletico were dealt a sickening blow as Sergio Ramos equalised in the final minute of normal time. Real would win 4-1 after extra time and beat them again in the final two years later, this time on penalties. Real Madrid, after successes in 2017 and 2018 over Juventus and Liverpool now have 13 Champions League titles to their name, whilst Atletico still have three losing finals to their name.
Would Atletico have gone onto dominate the Champions League?
Would Real have ever won La Decima?
Would Barcelona have had a say in the matter?
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Narrated, Written and Edited by Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
All Images Courtesy of Getty Images.
What If Football is a form of footballing storytelling that takes the audience down a different path to our current reality.
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