It was the year 1994, Jesus Garcia Velascoa goatherd from the small Guadalajara town of Majaelrayobecame, by chance, one of the best-known faces on Spanish television by starring in the ad for the SUV Mitsubishi Pajero.The spot showed a man who gets lost with his car in what seems like a remote and isolated place. While the man regains strength with the friendly local, the latter asks him a series of questions that, in effect, show that with that SUV you can get ”to places where no one has been for a long time”.–And he says that…that Matthew…is dressed in Superman…chasing a former minister…who is married to a Chinese…And Frankwhat do you think about that? Ah, milk!, you told me that Franco had died. And, suddenly, the goatherd, looks at the visitor and asks him “and what about Madrid, European champion again, right?”
And it is that Real Madrid, in effect, experienced another night of madness, similar to the one that allowed it to survive against PSG of Messi, Mbappé and Neymarwill play one of the semifinals of the Champions League where he will also be a deserved, wonderful and spectacular hero Villarrealthat ‘yellow Submarine’created by the Roig family and, now, prepared by the no less brutal Unai Emerywhich he eliminated, in Munich, yes, yes, in mighty Germany, no less mighty bayern.Real Madrid, who could have lost and been eliminated with a scandalous result (the one PSG deserved in the first leg in Paris and during the first 60 minutes at the Bernabéu), will play their tenth semi-final in the last 12 seasons, becoming, in effect, the team that has played the most semifinals in the European Cup and that has eliminated the most champions: Milan (1964), Inter (1966), Porto (1987), PSV (1989), Dortmund (1998 ), Manchester United (2000), Bayern Munich (2002 and 2014) and today to Chelsea (2022). But this second? Well, new or old magical night of real Madridlucky, yes, of course, like so many others (Champions League and League), should not overcome the portentous tie that Villarreal has starred in, capable of beating Bayern in their stadium (they deserved much more, at least 2-0) and that, in one of the most fearsome stadiums in the world and against one of the most powerful (and arrogant) teams in football, he never took his face off the game and ended up becoming, 16 years later, a Champions League semifinalist.