Why do we love football? Sometimes for something after football. But more often, nevertheless, because it is during this. The semi-finals of the Champions League – both this year and last year and last year and everything else (at least) in the last decade – are the best that can happen in this “millions of games”. . And personally, if UEFA still decides to abolish the semi-finals and make it to the “final four”, I will really miss this drive, this crazy triumph of regularity and disorder.

Real Madrid and Man City are the two best games of this European season. Nothing will be said of Klopp and his brilliant Liverpool. The Merseysiders also put on a show in their semifinals against Submarine and had enough nerves and cholesterol in them. But there was no despair, no fate, no obsession. Fortunately. Or unfortunately. But the match between Guardiola and Ancelotti had everything. And even more.

There will be no detailed analysis of the comeback game – a different goal in this case at the Bernabeu. Let me tell you that I am sincerely worried about City. Because our Zinchenko is there. And for supporting Barça. And for Guardiola too.

However, my sense of objectivity was not reversed. As for me, it’s not about Pep’s next quirks, it’s still fascinatingly trying to outdo himself. Or by chance, as many think. The point is, pardon my abstraction, on very subtle, invisible matters.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Rodrigo

As the hero of the match, 21-year-old (!) Rodrigo will say after the match, “We died, but this jersey teaches you to fight until the end.” That’s right: it’s the call of blood. Real Madrid is a living legend of the League/Champions Cup, handed down from generation to generation. Winning is in their DNA. In any case, will to him. Raul was kicked out much earlier than Zidane and Ronaldo. “PSG”, “Chelsea”, “Man City”, where the “creamy” coped on the outskirts of the final, the parameters in many games (and not only) were considered stronger than Madrid. But it was the team from the capital of Spain who managed to break through, overcome, rise from the ashes even further. This is not just a character’s will. There is also the issue of historical memory. In general, we sing a song to the madness of the brave!

Real Madrid no longer have Sergio Ramos. And Liverpool has no goalkeeper Karius (yes, he’s still at the club but you won’t find his name in the Champions League application). Real Madrid doesn’t have Ronaldo either. Bale, the hero of “Kyiv”, remained, but now he is in the deepest reserve. So Salah, Klopp and all of Liverpool have a chance to take revenge, take revenge. After all, revenge, as we remember it, is a cold dish.

But now – it’s not just about that, it’s about revenge or any personal nuance or pleasure. In the final, there can be no a priori, random, “stray” passengers, both teams deserve the title, both insanely charismatic and iconic. I want their match in Paris on May 29 to be exactly the same in meaning and content.

In fact, and it matches this, and it cannot be otherwise. It just can’t be, that’s all. On the one hand, Carlo Ancelotti, with whom this final was already fifth. Papa Carlo is the record holder among record holders in this regard. On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp will play with Real Madrid in the fourth final of the match. And if the German has his own debt to Madrid, then the Italian will have his own tragedy (2005 is unforgettable) and his own revenge (2007) in response to Liverpool.

And the upcoming “crown of the season” may also determine the best football player in Europe this year. Yes, Mundial 2022 will certainly intervene in this matter, but if nothing supernatural happens there, the two finalists of the current Champions League – Mane and Benzema – will argue for the Golden Ball. The Senegalese are having a great season: become African champions, Leading the Liver to victory on all fronts. The French is a true revelation. At 34, only a select few can experience mainstream football youth.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. April 14, 2021. Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane

So, by definition, it’s not going to be boring, irrelevant, and uninspired in this red-and-white football mess. After all, among other things, not only the “royal club”, but also “Merseyside” can boast of a “blood call”. The upcoming final for Liverpool is the tenth in the history of the “eared” cup. Madrid has a long way to go for the record. But still very, very impressive. And there, too, there is a magnitude on the border of insanity, elusive at first glance. It represents too much sun in cold water. Where there is no loneliness

Let’s wait a bit for this game.