“I believe the [Real] Madrid will turn. Players know we have everything to turn. We become more difficult matches. “
These phrases are from Marcelo, 36, former left-back of the Brazilian National Team (holder in the World Cups of 2014 and 2018), which retired earlier this year, referring to the game on Wednesday (16), Real Madrid x Arsenal, in the Spanish capital, at 4 pm (from Brasilia).
I saw them on Spanish sports site, and they were uttered in Spanish.
Therefore, he did not use “turn” or “we turn”, but in the language in question, “reassemble” and “we go back.” The “reassembly” is the “turn” in Spain, and Real Madrid has acquired the reputation of getting great and unlikely turns.
Marcelo, revealed by Fluminense, is one of the big names in the history of Real Madrid, a club he defended from 2007 to 2022 and for which he won several titles, including five European Champions Leagues (Champions League), in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 (I saw this final “in loco”) and 2022.
Real came out of complicated Championship situations in 2022, in the round of 16, against PSG, in the quarterfinals, against Chelsea, and in the semifinal, against Manchester City, and in 2024, in the semifinal against Bayern Munich, having to reverse disadvantages to qualify.
These recent reassems have created a certain mystique, which Madridists use to keep hope and optimism in an adverse scenario.
For this mystique will have to work in a only time for Real to advance to the semifinals of the current Champions and stay alive in the goal of earning its 16th competition title-it is with the biggest winner, having even won the first edition in 1956, and the last in 2024.
Last week in London, Mbappé, Vinicius Junior, Bellingham, Modric, Courtois and the Superécnico Carlo Ancelotti were surprised and took an Arsenal Drive: 3-0, with two Foul Goals Rice and one of Spanish Merino.
A seminocaut. To qualify, Real needs to score for at least four goals difference in the Santiago Bernabéu. If the advantage is three goals, there will be extension and, if the score remains unchanged, penalty shootout.
Only almost 50 years ago, in 1975, when Champions was called the European Cup, the meringues recovered to have such a disadvantage of the return game for the return. Coincidentally, the opponent was an English team.
By the round of 16, on October 22, Derby County, playing at home, thrashed 4-1. On November 5, more than 95,000 fans saw Real Real repeat the 4-1 in normal time and close the score 5-1 with a goal from the Santillana Center (now 72 years old) in extension.
Despite this historic date back, the white team did not reach glory in the 1975/1976 edition of the Champions League. He fell into the semifinals (1-1 in Spain, 0-2 in Germany) against Bayern by Gerd Müller (author of the goals of the Bavarian in both matches), Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Hoeness and Rummenigge, who would raise the cup.
A reassembly of the real larger than this even happened, but in a smaller European tournament. In the round of 16 of the 1985/1986 UEFA Cup, in the first game in Germany, Borussia Mönchengladbach thrashed 5-1, a difference of four goals. On the way back, the Spanish giant made 4-0 and eliminated the opponent for scoring a goal away from home.
Marcelo points out in his optimistic speech that the real one has become “more difficult matches” without detailing the reasons that they had a higher level of difficulty.
Did he want to compare the opponents, considering that Arsenal, despite the large advantage, is rival surface because there is “less shirt” than Chelsea, Bayern, Man City?
And the truth is that it really has, when it comes to Europe.
Arsenal, unlike others, has never won the Champions. He arrived at a single final in 2006 against Real’s biggest rival Barcelona, and lost 2-1 turn – Barça’s goal was Brazilian Belletti.
