Real Madrid’s Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho gives a press conference in Madrid, yesterday, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund.
MADRID: As they contemplate how to overturn a 4-1 deficit to reach the Champions League final, nine-time European Cup winners Real Madrid are taking inspiration from a similar feat against Derby County four decades ago.
The Spanish giants were caught cold by Borussia Dortmund in their semi-final first leg last week, when, despite being one of the favourites to step out at Wembley on May 25, they were left on the brink of a surprise elimination.
Since their return to Spain, Real have delved into their extensive archives to dig up past examples of heroic fightbacks to convince fans and players of today’s second-leg possibilities.
Real have overturned an identical scoreline once before in Europe’s elite club competition, against Derby in 1975.
Charlie George scored a hat-trick for the English champions in a 4-1 second-round triumph at the Baseball Ground, and he scored again in the return leg at the Bernabeu.
However, a Real side which included current Spain boss Vicente del Bosque levelled the tie to force extra time, and striker Santillana struck a 100th-minute decider for a famous 5-1 victory, to progress 6-5 on aggregate. “The games against Derby and Borussia Moenchengladbach (a similar comeback in the UEFA Cup) were incredible games,” Santillana told sports daily Marca.
“The Bernabeu, if you light the match, burns everything.”
Much of Real’s hope of a comeback rests with Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed the city derby against Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday, when a second-string side triumphed 2-1 at the Calderon.
Ronaldo is the Champions League’s leading scorer with 12 goals and has netted 51 times in 50 games for his club so far this season, but picked up a muscle problem in Dortmund and trained apart from the group again on Sunday.
Real will be wary of launching a cavalry charge at a Dortmund side unbeaten on their travels in Europe this year as it would leave their shaky defence even more exposed than usual.
They have the leakiest backline of the four teams remaining with 18 goals conceded, and have kept only one clean sheet in the competition so far.
The second leg is also a challenge to Real coach Jose Mourinho’s prestige as failure to progress from a third successive Champions League semi-final would test the patience of club president Florentino Perez.
With the La Liga title about to fall to Barcelona, and Real’s European campaign hanging by a thread, next month’s King’s Cup final might end up representing Mourinho’s last chance for major silverware this season.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid coach Juergen Klopp said there is no danger Borussia Dortmund will suffer from stage fright.
Klopp said his team’s performance against Bayern Munich in the 2012 German Cup final in Berlin, when Lewandowski scored a hat-trick, was proof they can perform under pressure on the biggest of stages.
“For us it’s the same situation as last year’s German Cup final,” Klopp told reporters at the Bernabeu. Agencies
