Real Madrid are in the semi-final of the Champions League for the eighth year in a row. That is no surprise; what is a surprise is that for so much of a dramatic, nervous night at the Santiago Bernabéu, it looked like they would not be.
A Champions League of shocks almost had the biggest of them all, the champions following Barcelona in being knocked out by Italian opposition, despite a 3-0 first leg victory. In Turin, they had been applauded, Ronaldo holding his heart in gratitude after his superb goal was handed an ovation; at the Bernabéu, there were hands on hearts too, a collective coronary, right to the very end.
Here, Juventus attacked relentlessly, taking Real to the cliff-edge with a 3-0 lead, until, with less than a minute remaining, Vázquez went down in the area.
The referee, Michael Oliver, pointed to the spot. As Juventus’s players surrounded him, Gigi Buffon was sent off, his last European game ending with him walking from the field.
A place in the semi-final came down to this: the world watching, Ronaldo and Wojciech Szczesny waiting. One shot. It flew high into the net, Ronaldo racing to the corner, throwing his shirt into the air, this stadium erupted, barely able to believe it. Juventus couldn’t either.
