In praise of the unreasonable: how Madrid could prevail over a champion who shot 29 times

• Chronicle Madrid defies death head-on to reach the semi-finals

• The heroic of the remnants An unusual defense for the tenth semifinal in 12 years

• "There's Something Happening in This Stadium" Night of "Suffering" and "Deliverance"

• 1-1 in Munich Chukwueze extends Villarreal's dream

• The lawnmower The incredible talisman of Madrid

At the extra time break, under a feverish Bernabéu,

took a blackboard the size of a state-of-the-art plasma.

Scribbling arrows and moving magnetic balls, the Chelsea coach wanted to tackle the last tactical variation before rushing his changes.

A few meters to the left,

had enough to gather a few words of encouragement for his team.

Far from claiming part of the success, based on the entry of

by

, the Italian later gave the leading role to his footballers.

Only they came out alive from a night where the rival added 29 shots (for Madrid's 10), 10 corner kicks (one) and 21 aerial balls won (nine).

Between the 75th minute and the end of extra time, Chelsea squandered four resounding chances against

, plus another two notoriously dangerous ones.

The Whites, on the other hand, limited themselves to taking advantage of their arrivals with the precision already exhibited against PSG.

"They eliminated us for pure individual quality, nothing more. Not too many teams can come here and dominate like we did. But in the two games, if you make these kinds of mistakes, they punish you," Tuchel settled.

"It is not possible to speak of luck, but it is also true that they were better during many sections," Courtois conceded.

It is worth asking, then, how Madrid could survive such a critical situation.

Before the break, the Whites had not even been able to put the hesitant

to the test .

For the first time in the last 19 Champions Leagues, they were left without a sad shot on goal in the first half.

Chelsea, at that time, was a carbon copy of that great team that, less than a year ago, had passed through Valdebebas like a freight express.

With no option to look back, Tuchel had launched with a 4-3-3.

An unprecedented drawing in his previous nine Champions League games and that he had only dusted off during the last two home games in the Premier, against Newcastle and Brentford.

Kovacic exhibit

But the first

line , led by the indefatigable

from the circuit

, watched at every step by

.

And

knew how to handle

, despite his early warning.

Not one of the Brazilian's four feints before the break was enough against the young British talent.

As if that were not enough, the aggressiveness of the high pressure caused havoc in Madrid's exit, with repeated failures by

and

.

, like seven days ago in London, had to apply himself to help on that weak side.

Not so long ago, just three years, from the Ajax nightmare.

The only time in 10 precedents that Madrid delivered a tie in which they had taken advantage away from home.

The specters of that gloomy past floated around the Bernabéu when Ancelotti opted, once again, for what he calls

.

Camavinga, with the physical splendor of his 19 years, joined

and Valverde to look equally at

and

, who until then had dominated almost at will.

The Frenchman, only in the first part, participated in 43 plays (double what he did a week ago in London), while the Croatian was getting his doctorate in the stadium where he perhaps did not enjoy as many opportunities as his class deserved.

Tuchel and Ancelotti, on Tuesday, in the technical area of ​​the Bernabéu.AFP

"We had two crucial turnovers that only against very few rivals end in a goal. Against Real it's possible. All in all, I think we deserved to go through," recalled Tuchel, referring to the errors in the right sector of his defense that allowed the arrivals of Modric and Vinicius.

The German coach's obsession, as was confirmed during the first part of extra time, was to hit the other flank, precariously defended by

and Carvajal.

For this he

and

.

The Moroccan's great chance in the 114th minute was smugly thwarted by Courtois.

"We were unlucky, but we don't regret it. These are the kind of defeats that you can take on with pride and accept as an athlete," Tuchel concluded.

Actually, it had made him sick to see

sharing a laugh with Ancelotti after the final whistle.

And so he let the Polish referee know, whom he veiledly accused of not having mustered enough courage in a specific decision.

His team, which combined 52 times in the rival area (compared to 33 for Madrid) and ran almost seven more kilometers (148.5-141.8), could not be blamed for anything.

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