The Kop reminded Milan of Istanbul before kick-off with a banner that read: “25/05/05 – There are places I remember.” Their torment did not cease there. Liverpool rekindled 16-year-old memories on the pitch too with three goals, another comeback and another rollercoaster Champions League win.
“This will be an interesting game to draw conclusions about where we are,” Ronald Koeman had said. The answer, as they suspected, was a long way from aspiring to win the Champions League. Thirteen months later Barcelona were beaten by Bayern Munich once again.
Up until the 85th minute, the fear had nagged away at Chelsea. It was not based on anything much that Real Madrid had shown on the field across the two legs of this Champions League semi-final – apart from perhaps the latent menace of Karim Benzema.
Hansi Flick’s biggest expression of frustration on Saturday afternoon was saved for five minutes from the end of normal time,
Talking points can arrive when you least expect them. With a minute remaining of a humdrum, lethargic extra-time that Chelsea and Villarreal could clearly have done without,
The crazy thing and the greatest tribute to how Manchester City reshaped this Champions League semi-final first-leg with a second-half performance that will live long in the memory was Paris Saint-Germain could be happy to lose by only one.
For Chelsea, it was difficult to imagine a more perfect evening.
When Thomas Tuchel was given the job of reviving Chelsea at the end of January, he wanted to return them to next season’s Champions League via a top-four Premier League finish. The notion that he might actually win the thing for only the second time in the club’s history was ludicrous.
Chelsea took a step towards the third Champions League final in their history but they could have been halfway to Istanbul by now.
They have lived on edge this season, but when it came to it Real Madrid were able to ease their way back into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after two years away, returning to a place that is much more familiar for the club.
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