May 24, 2014: A look back at the decima of Real Madrid in the Champions League

On May 24, 2014, in the final of the Champions League, a derby took place. Indeed, the two Madrid teams namely Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid were opposed. A first for the competition that had never seen two clubs from the same city compete for the trophy. Both teams were in great shape at the time. As in 2021, the Colchoneros finish as Spanish Champion with 90 points neck and neck with its neighbor Madrid and Barcelona. This final will remain forever in the history of this competition in view of the outcome of this meeting.

Pre-match

40 years later, Atlético de Madrid returns to the final of the Champions League with this time the objective of lifting it for the first time in the history of the club. Simeone's men are having an excellent season, with a squad full of qualities and talents. It is the best defense and the 3rd best attack in their league with 26 goals conceded for 77 goals scored, all in 38 games. Before facing Real Madrid, Atlético are unbeaten this season in this European campaign. A solid team that has only 6 goals conceded. In the finals, they eliminated AC Milan, FC Barcelona and Chelsea Blues. We all remember this very big double confrontation in the quarter-finals against the great Barca. Here is the eleven concocted by Diego Simeone for this final: Altlético Madrid: Courtois – Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Luis – Raúl Garcia, Tiago, Gabi (cap), Koke – Diego Costa, Villa We had to go back to 2002 to see the great Real Madrid reach the final of the Champions League. In addition, this final is not just any final because Real Madrid had the opportunity to lift a tenth time this cup with big ears. For his first season with the queens of the White House, tactician Carlo Ancelotti is having a very big season. Before this match, he had already won the Spanish Supercup and the Copa del Rey. In La Liga, the Merengues are three points behind its neighbor Madrid, with 104 goals scored in 38 games (best attack in the league). In addition, in the Champions League, Real scores 3.15 times per game. The best ratio in the history of the competition at the time. In the semi-finals, led by a great Cristiano Ronaldo, they swept the defending champions, Bayern Munich 5-0 on the double confrontation. They won 4-0 at the Allianz Arena. Just amazing! Here is the eleven of the Italian coach for this meeting: Real Madrid : Casillas (cap) – Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Coentrão – Khedira, Modrić, Di Maria – Bale, C.Ronaldo, Benzema

The film of the first half

During the first minutes of this match, both teams watched each other and took no risks. The eyes are especially on Diego Costa, Atletico's star striker (8 goals in as many matches in the competition). After suffering a hamstring injury last week, he was forced to leave his teammates after a few minutes. On the real side, the three members of the BBC also play with pain. As usual, Diego Simeone's players are very solid and play in a grouped way. The game of the Real is clean but lacks percussion in the opposing camp. But the damaging absence of Xabi Alonso, suspended for a yellow card collected in the half against Bayern, is felt. You have to wait for a corner to see Simeone's men dangerous. The Uruguayan international defender got the better of Khedira to open the scoring (0-1, 36th). Casillas came out too early and was beaten.

The summary of this second half

In this second act, Atletico put their foot on the ball and began to take the game on their own. For 45 minutes, Ancelotti's men chased the score. Nevertheless, the Colchoneros are in their comfort zone and defend extremely well. A solid, combative and supportive team. The last ten minutes are largely to the advantage of Real Madrid, pushed by a very Luka Modric. Finally, at the end of the five-minute extra time granted by Mr. Kuipers, Sergio Ramos took the role of saviour with his mythical header after a corner from the Croatian international. 1-1 in regulation time, place to extra time…

Atletico cracks, Real flies to Decima!

The Merengues enter these extra time of this Champions League final with the psychological advantage. For his part, Siemone and his troops were practically reduced to ten after Juanfran sprained his ankle after a bad tackle by Morata. Nevertheless, Atletico held on in their first half of extra time. With 10 minutes to go, Gareth gave his team the lead. A countered strike from Di Maria that arrives on the head of the Welshman, who just has to finish in the empty goal. The second period of extra time became an absolute pain for Atletico. At the end of the effort, they leave many forces in attack and many spaces in defense. Marcelo, who had an hour less in his legs than his opponents, hit and unleashed a strike at the entrance of the surface (3-1, 118th). Finally, Ronaldo then took advantage of the situation to get a penalty after a breakthrough on the left side. The Portuguese star converted the penalty and scored a 17th goal that is a new record in the Champions League (4-1, 120th). Real Madrid reigns in Europe. 12 years have passed, but they were worth it. The Whites lifted the Decima in the sky of Lisbon after a vibrant, physical game, without timeouts and whose outcome was decided in extra time.