Dortmund came in as the mighty underdog, the pluckiest team in this year's competition if not the best; Real came in as the overlord, the faves, the ones everyone just expected to win. Well, they did.
I thought Dortmund pretty well dominated the offense for the first 70 or so minutes of the game. They pushed forward effectively numerous times, never finding the back of the net but generally looking more dangerous than Madrid.
Then in the 71st minute, Dortmund gave up a corner, parried it away rather easily, but they failed to properly clear and Madrid got an extra rip at the goal, resulting in another corner. Not a big deal, really, but something felt off about that play. Even the commentator suggests that it was a bad giveaway by the Dortmund defense.
Sure enough, seconds later, Carvajal connects on a header, skips past the keeper to the wide open far net. Just like that...
But because Dortmund's attack had been better than Madrid's, it still felt like there was time to reach the draw. Then in 82nd minute, Vini struck off a bad giveaway by the Dortmund defense (check it out: Bellingham is celebrating before Vini even takes the shot). That was ball game, just 10 more minutes of watching the clock run out after that.
For the most part Dortmund really was the better team on this day, but two bad moments in the backfield is all it takes. Hell of a run by Borussia Dortmund but Real Madrid struck like champions and took home the trophy (and they've already announced that Kylian MBappe is joining the roster).
In the fist minute, Bayern was able to tick-tack their way through the Real defense for a nice early look that the keeper was able to swat away, but they spent the rest of the 1st half trying hard to finagle their way into the Real defense (yeah that felt like it wasn't gonna work). Real shook loose on a counter, found Vini up front (on a beautiful pass!), and he was able to sneak it past the keeper (who was stuck in the awkward position of needing to come out decisively right away) for the opening goal. Real held the 1-0 lead at halftime and while Bayern hadn't been able to get much offense going, it definitely felt like there were going to be more goals. Sure enough, Sane connected pretty soon after on one the most cold blooded rips I've ever seen--dude, there was no goal to shoot at, that was like Gretzky level sharpshooting! Quickly Bayern was able to get the penalty call (good call) and took the lead when Kane stuck the PK. But Madrid clawed back the draw on a PK (good call) and it is level going back to Spain.
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Paris St. Germaine
Tight game. Dortmund scored the only goal fairly early in the game when Fullkrug was able to haul down a long pass over the defense and then drill a low line drive right at the keeper's legs (amazing that he was able to keep that rip so low). The 2nd half was fun, both sides had numerous chances on goal. Neither team scored but, man, PSG hit the post like 20 times, including a sequence where Mbappe hit the post, then PSG gathered the rebound and Hakimi hit the other post seconds later. Fun stuff, but the lack of scoring worked to Dortmund's advantage.
Paris St Germaine 0-1 (agg 0-2) Borussia Dortmund
Oh man, PSG hit the post like 12 more times in this one! Dortmund dug in, played minimal offense, but they were able to connect on a corner just after halftime and the match felt over to me. PSG played with ferocity--and the goal posts will need a new paint job after all that was chipped off from them--but they just couldn't find the scoreboard. There was a controversial (I suppose) no-call late in the match, but I thought it was a 50/50 call and it was so late in the game, it's hard to imagine it would've made a difference. PSG had the firepower but they just couldn't summon it in these two matches with Dortmund.
Real Madrid 2-1 (agg 4-3) Bayern Munich
Wow, what a finish! Good back and forth action, though I thought Real was generally the more dangerous looking side. The goal scoring didn't get going until well into the 2nd half when Bayern was able to push a long ball forward, catching the defense off-guard, Davies finished with a move to the inside then a rip to the far post. Felt like that was gonna be that, but...then in the 88th minute, Real scored on a rebound of a rather innocuous-looking save of a searching lob towards goal, but just like that the game was tied and what had felt like a Bayern victory lap was heading toward extra time. But...then in the 90th minute, Real found pay dirt again, but it was called off-side...until it wasn't (the right call) and the goal was allowed and now Real was back on top. Then deep in extra time Bayern scored again but it, too, was called off-side (the wrong call!) but unlike Real's goal, Bayern wasn't saved by the replay and Real is heading to the Champions League final. This reminded me of the 1999 (1998?) final where Bayern went up 1-0 on Man U early, then the rest of the match was a bit of a snooze until the final 10 mins or so when Man U cranked up the intensity and managed to net 2 goals in extra time to win it all. That was a crazy finish and so was this.
Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund
Well, looking back on it the all-around best squad in this year's tourney, I think, was Manchester City but they fell to Real. So but the transitive property it is clear that Real is the best team remaining. I'm a little surprised Dortmund has lasted this long but they've made the plays they needed to make all the way through. Can they hang with Madrid? Yeah, probably, but going up against Bayern in the final would've been pretty awesome for the Dortmund fans (of which, incidentally, I am one). I've loved Dortmund's run and if they won, that would be great. But it feels like Real has more depth, more firepower up front, and just more pedigree, so I figure it'll be Real Madrid hoisting the trophy. We'll see.
Man City dominated possession in the 1st half and slowly built to getting decent rips on the goal but Madrid's D seemed sturdy enough to keep them out. Meanwhile, though Real seemingly barely touched the ball, their breakaways generated some nice looks and not long before the half, Vini was able to rip one from about 25 yards out (nice!) that found the goal. I expected the 1-0 lead to hold up but Man City was able to get the equalizer (a lovely rip from 25 yards out by De Bruyne). Good game, thought Real was probably the better side but the game ended tied, so the second leg has all the makings for an old timey barnburner.
AC Milan 0-2 Inter Milan
Inter blitzed AC in the first 10 minutes, netting two goals, another shot off the post and a point blank whiff that would've made an incredibly deep hole for the home side. The two goals held up because after that neither team could maintain any control of the game. Not a bad game, certainly not boring, but the last 80 minutes or so were rather uneventful.
2nd leg
Inter Milan 1-0 (3-0) AC Milan
AC Milan had more confident possessions, but Inter was more dangerous around the goal all the way through. They finally broke through around the 70th minute and that was pretty much it. AC Milan never got anything going in this match. But outside of 10 minutes of brutal dominance in the 1st leg, Inter was so casual that its hard to tell how good they actually are. Well, they're into the Final so you gotta give them a puncher's chance at least.
Manchester City 3-0 (4-1) Real Madrid
Wow, what a thrashing! Real Madrid just never had the ball, they could not get the ball forward to Benzema and Vini, both of whom were virtually invisible for 90 minutes. Man City dominated--DOMINATED--possession early on, peppered the goal routinely, felt like it was just a matter of time before they connected on a corner but they didn't even need it. Bernardo slipped the back line, received the nifty pass and finished strong, then a little later on was the beneficiary of chaos in the box and was able to head one home before the half. There was still a sliver of a chance that Real was gonna make the 2nd half a game but they just couldn't maintain possession. When Man City connected on a free kick (an own-goal technically) around the 70th minute was the end of it.
Final
Inter Milan - Manchester City
My gut tells me that Man City is going to control the ball and get a lot more opportunities around the goal. That doesn't mean they'll win but seems like that offense is more consistent and dangerous. I managed to watch hardly any of Inter's matches (missed 2nd legs against Porto and Benfica), so I don't have a real feel for this side. But they rolled AC Milan, so I'm assuming they don't suck, but I still don't have any grasp on this team. Gotta go with Man City, though I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised.
Well, not completely unexpected: Liverpool was the better team for 90 minutes, but Real made the right play, got the only goal and they are your 2022 Champions League Champions. Fun match, seems anti-climactic but not at all, there was a lot of good action throughout. Liverpool got desperate in the last 15 minutes or so, felt like Real might get another goal on the counterattack.
Liverpool had way more good chances, hit the post a coupla times, made Thibaut Courtois (man of the match!) make a number of killer saves, dominated possession. But they just never found the net and Real did.
All the way this year's tourney, Real Madrid just kept finding ways to get by even though they felt overmatched most of the time. Karim Benzema was great, Vinicius Jr balled out consistently, and Courtois was the rock in the goal. But the rest of the squad felt disappointing to me. But, oh well, they are the champs (though I wouldn't be surprised if they're totally different next year).
