Real Madrid are football’s great survivors as Man City become latest victims to their powers of recovery

Real Madrid 3-1 Man City AET (6-5 agg) – (Rodrygo 90′, 90+1, Benzema (p) 95′ | Mahrez 73′)

BERNABEU — In the stands of the Santiago Bernabeu, the locals twirled their scarves and jumped up and down on their tiptoes, overcome by the excitement of what they had witnessed. They blocked the view of the pitch, such was their frenzy. It did not matter, even though there were 10 minutes remaining. By then the soundtrack of Real Madrid’s support was more informative than any commentator could ever hope to be. They were toasting a miracle. No – they were toasting another miracle.

Real Madrid have been the great survivors of this season’s Champions League, the itch no superclub can scratch. They were 2-0 down on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain with 30 minutes remaining, 4-3 down to Chelsea after 80 minutes of their second leg and three times trailed by two goals to City in Manchester. Thought you’d seen all their greatest tricks? Think again.

There are two ways to assess this outrageous ability for turning enough water into wine to fill a cellar. Either Carlo Ancelotti’s team have an unbreakable spirit, a grisly permanence assisted by a three-man midfield with a combined age of 98. Or that they have repeatedly left themselves with little choice but to opt for frenzy. And in Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, they have two of the very few players who can keep their heads in that atmosphere.

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The second option – chaos through necessity rather than choice – makes more sense given the serenity of the La Liga title saunter. But how many miracles does it take until they are no longer miracles but simply a team that never gives up and keeps its head astonishingly well under pressure. How many Champions League finals does Ancelotti need to reach until he reaches the pantheon of the true greats of his art?

This was surely the most remarkable of the three, given the opposition, the situation and the fact that you aren’t supposed to be able to repeatedly roll the dice and land on a six every time. With seven minutes left, one in regulation and six to be added on, they were broken, requiring two goals simply to get to extra-time and another chance to meet their monsters. So what do you think happened next? Manchester City barely touched the ball and, in the space of 88 seconds, Real had their second chance.

It’s easy to say in hindsight, so take this on good faith: after the first goal you knew. The surprising amount of stoppage time and the feverish crowd creates the perfect laboratory conditions for magic to be birthed and an instant equaliser to be found.

It’s easy to say in hindsight, so take this on good faith too: after the second goal you knew too. The scoreline over two legs may have been made equal but nothing else was. City’s players were psychologically shattered, broken by the punching force of crushing disappointment that creeps up on your blind side.

Maybe they should be better prepared for that. There is always a drama with Manchester City. Ever since the frankly tedious exit to this same opponent at this same stage in 2016, they have embarked upon a series of inexplicable ways not to fulfil what their owners at least consider to be their destiny.

Think the twelve labours of Hercules meets It’s A Knockout: the mania of Monaco, the lament of Liverpool, the tardy theatrics against Tottenham, the limpness against Lyon and the carelessness against Chelsea. You cannot accuse City of a lack of variety. If finding reasons for not delivering on the biggest European stage was its own competition, they would play Paris Saint-Germain next month. As it is, add on the madness of Madrid.

This is not good enough; how can it be? The sweeping denunciation of Pep Guardiola for failing to win the Champions League without Lionel Messi gets a little tiring and often deliberately overlooks the domestic dominance he has overseen, but vast wealth is inversely proportional to your margin of error. Guardiola is not foolish enough to expect anything else.

There are little things that Guardiola will focus on. And little things that become big things and haunt him until next time this all happens again. Did he go too defensive by bringing on Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan? Why didn’t Jack Grealish pass the ball to Phil Foden, who had an open goal? But more than anything, he will reflect upon a team that, despite all of its riches and its brilliance, retains an unerring ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in this competition.

Finally a reminder, because if they won’t listen now when will they ever? Uefa and the European Club Association both have it in their minds to abolish the Champions League semi-final second legs in favour of a “Festival Of Football” week. Just another idea by those who purport to be the guardians of the game and act like its destroyers. Let’s only hope that some of them that matter were in Madrid on Wednesday. There is nothing wrong this sport – it is imperfect but its imperfections make it perfect.

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