Well, most of you might know me as a rookie dev and a witness here on Steem. However, I am also a mad football fan. Here in India, almost everyone loves just one sport, cricket. I on the other hand was always a bigger fan of football and then cricket.

In Football I mainly support the local football club Bengaluru Football Club(BFC), Real Madrid, and Manchester United(Probably just for Ronaldo now). The passion that the fans bring to the stadium is what makes me love the game even more. To give you guys some perspective, here in BFC we have a group called the West Block Blues who are the die-hard fans of BFC. Throughout the stadium we have several stands for the fans However, the West Block Blues occupy one particular stand. This is the loudest stand at all home games and also the only stand where no one sits on the seats throughout the game.

The screams and the jumping of fans were so intense that BFC had to switch stadiums cause the old one could not handle so many people jumping at once. Basically, it had structural issues and it got dangerous to host such passionate fans at that stadium anymore. So, they switched to a more sturdy stadium a few years ago.

Now, that you guys know why I love the game so much, let me go through what went down last night at the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid Vs PSG:

So, this was the Champions League game between Real Madrid and PSG. The first leg was played in Paris where Real Madrid lost during the dying minutes of the game to the brilliance of the young French prospect Mbappe. So, coming into yesterday's game, Madrid was already at a disadvantage. They had to beat PSG by scoring 2 goals and not allowing them to score.

^{The young Mbappe, main threat to Madrid}

That doesn't sound too hard right? Well, PSG is a team full of superstars. Their front 3 Neymar, Messi, and Mbappe are all goal-scoring machines and the best players even for their individual nations. Their Midfield is also filled with players such as Veratti, Di Maria. Even their defense is filled with players such as Hakimi. With a top-class goalkeeper like Donarumma guarding the goal, things were not looking so good for Madrid.

Not to mention the pathetic form of their Number 7 since the departure of Christiano Ronaldo in 2018. The things going Madrid's way was that Toni Kroos was back and the Ultras at the Bernabeu.

The Clash Begins:

Real Madrid is a 13 time European Champions and PSG are yet to secure one. Coming into the game as the favorites, I'm sure most fans had little hope of making it past this eliminator.

Once the game started, there seemed to be some hope for Madrid to get back into the game They started off really very well. they made the right plays and the ball distribution was on point. The only thing they lacked was the finish.

^{Mbappe strikes}

PSG was subdued for almost the first 10 minutes. This is when their mid-field really came into the spotlight. By having possession of the ball, they messed up Madrid's momentum. They even ended up catching Madrid off-guard in their counterattacks. The speed that MBappe brings to the table was simply unmatched for the defenders.

Finally in the 39th minute, one through ball from Neymar to MBappe broke the shackles and now Madrid who was already a goal behind had to find 3 goals from somewhere to get through to the next round.

The second half started in a similar fashion. However, Carlos Ancelotti made a double change to help bring in more attacking players like Rodrigo onto the pitch. This allowed the front 3 of Madrid to press higher up.

^{Benzema strikes 3 in a row to become the oldest player to score a hattrick in UCL}

The Number 9 talisman of Madrid, Karim Benzema finally forced an error from the young Italian goalkeeper Donarumma in the 61st minute. This is when the crowd started to believe again. The stadium got louder. I, sitting in my house at 2:30 AM in the morning, felt that there was still some fight left in this Real Madrid side.

Then, in the 76th and then the 78th minute, Benzema scored twice again. Everything happened so quickly that I did not even react to his hat-trick goal. Just like that, a game that was never meant to go Madrid's way ended with them going through to the next round.

Final Thoughts:

^{The final tally}

It has been such a long time since I saw such a great comeback from an underdog team. They were out even before the game began. It was their sheer will and the champion blood that drove them to this unbelievable victory. A team that has not spent too much the last couple of years ended up beating a team full of galacticos. What a story this is!

^{90 Minutes at the Bernabeu is a very long time!}
At Madrid, we have a saying, "90 minutes at the Bernabeu is a very long time". It's because, when a team player at the Bernabeu against Madrid, they are not just playing against the 11 players on the field but also against one of the loudest fan bases whose cheers are so loud that they intimidate any opponent. Thus, behaving as the 12th man on the team.

**All images that were used in this post were taken from the 433 Instagram account.