Celebrating the La Decimotercera

Real Madrid are the Champions of Europe again.

They have done it. The thirteenth time since 1955. The fourth time in the last five years, and the third year running.

It is simply unprecedented in modern football. Not even the all-conquering Barcelona side could defend their title though they came very, very close. 

As a fan it's hard to believe, after a successful start to the century where they won twice in three years, the team went into a decline where they couldn’t get past the round of 16 for six consecutive years including losing twice to Lyon back to back. It became a never ending curse as the Board and management tried everything but in vain.

It was not until the emergence of Galacticos Part II and the arrival of Jose Mourinho that Real Madrid finally went past the Round of 16 and played the Semi Final where they lost to arch rivals Barcelona. The team went on to reach Semi Final in the following two seasons but 'La Decima' kept eluding the Whites.

Eventually it all came down to a 92nd minute 48th second screamer; where Ramos immortalized himself into Madrid`s history book by scoring the equalizer. After the brilliant goal in Copa, Bale scored another to fulfil Madrid`s dream of unprecedented La Decima, their 10th title.

But what followed was unexpected, even for the most diehard Madrid fans. They were more focused on regaining the La Liga as no team in the modern era had defended the Champions League title so it was business as usual when Madrid went out at the Semi Final stage the following year.

But by then Madrid`s philosophy had changed. It was not a team based on the Galacticos power only, yes Ronaldo was leading the scoring charts, Bale and Rodríguez were the marquee signing and players like Ramos were becoming legends in themselves. But then there were emergence of players like Kroos, Carvajal, and Lucas Vázquez who were joined by the likes of Asensio. The next two season yielded result of this strategy as Real Madrid became the first team to defend its Champions League title when they demolished Juventus 4-1 in 2016/17 season.

This year they took it a step further and pushed the boundaries of unimaginable as they claimed their third consecutive Champions League title with a 3-1 win over a spirited Liverpool. It is true that the injury to Mo Salah changed the course of match but despite all the hate Ramos is getting, it is also true that every team wants a champion fighter like him. It is hard to believe that when he pulled Salah into that fall he knew that he`ll be ending his role in the match. It is true that Liverpool has played aggressive football throughout the season but their defence problems were also well documented. They let in the most number of goals among the top four in EPL and their defence always going to struggle against in form Madrid attack.

Much has been said about the status of this team, whether it can match Pep Guardiola`s mighty Barcelona; which won every available title. A lot of pundits pinpoint the moments and decisions which went in favour of Madrid but then again isn't that part of the game? Those moments do leave deep scars on the losing side but it is what it is. After all, Oliver Kahn did let the ball slip in World Cup Final in 2002, but you can’t take it away from Ronaldo for making the most of it. Chelsea fans still bring up unbelievable decisions that went in favour of Barcelona during their 2009 title triumph. 

Today what the world remembers is who won the title, not just the bad referee decisions.

It is true that Madrid did have those moments, but that is not what they will be remembered for. This is a team which has struggled to break dominance of Barcelona at domestic level; they were at their lowest this year where they were kicked out of Copa del Rey by minnows and ending a disappointing third in La Liga. But it is the same set of players which performed at the highest level in Europe. They navigated their way through by winning against Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. There were moments of panic but the players stepped up whenever they got a chance. Bale forced his way back into the team by consistently scoring and it shows the depth of the squad that Madrid could afford to bring someone like him off the bench in the second half. A substitution which changed the complexion of the match and gave us one of the best goals ever scored in final. 

The current team is now in a league of their own. The have won it for the third consecutive year but more importantly they named the same starting XI in 2017 and 2018, a line-up that showed just two changes from 2016, when Gareth Bale and Pepe started instead of Isco and Raphael Varane. This shows the level of consistency and reliance on this group of players. They came of age together since that night in Lisbon. Real Madrid have now won their past nine European finals across all competitions, last losing in the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup to Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen.

The current squad is a good blend of young talent and senior players. Ronaldo isn’t getting any younger but he has changed his game in last two years and that has helped the team. The team will be looking for their next leading man in a year or two. The apparent heir Bale won`t be the one leading, the prospects of Neymar playing for Madrid are brighter than ever. But at the same time we have young blood in the form of Isco, Asensio and Lucas Vázquez who have won the trophy more times than Sir Alex Ferguson. They can only get stronger from here. The BBC is not capable of performing consistently for the full domestic season and the team really needs to carry out momentum as defending champions rather than running out of gas the next season. 

The team does need an overhaul and Zidane saw it coming. Whether he was threatened before the final about firing or not, he did realise that it wasn’t the most successful season. He leaves a legacy which will be hard to beat, we still haven't overcome the memories of Del Bosque`s success. He has proven to be an excellent manager; he brought together a disoriented group and turned them into a team which didn’t give up. He didn’t really adopt and state one particular style which became to his team but he was good at reading the game, inculcating fighting-hard values and made crucial substitutions which often won games for him. Zidane leaves with a win percentage of 69.8%, with 9 trophies in 3 full seasons. He is now the first manager to defend the European Cup in the modern UCL era and the first manager to win consecutive European cups in the UCL era. He has joined Bob Paisley (three at Liverpool) and Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan two, Real Madrid one) as the only managers to have won the trophy three times. He is also the youngest manager, 45, to lift the trophy for the third time. Ancelotti was 54 and Paisley was 63. He leaves with a 100% success rate in all 18 international knockout ties as manager since taking charge of Real in January 2016.

Real Madrid has the chance to rewrite history books next year but for now their focus should be on finding a worthy successor to Zizu and regain the domestic title. 

Over to you Mr. Julen Lopetegui!