bernabéu, wir kommen!
iMADRID, MADRID, VAMOS A MADRID!
"The important thing was that once again we played like a team, and when you do that, everything's easy."
- Ivica Olić, in his post-match interview, to the question if this game to which he contributed all three goals was the best game of his entire life.
My love for this man cannot be expressed with words, and neither can my complete and utter bafflement at the sudden and unexpected brilliance of this team.
At the beginning of this season, nobody would have expected them to preserve the chance of winning the triple until the very end. The frustrations of the failed Klinsmann reign were still acute, the rare highlights (like the 7-1 against Sporting) completely overshadowed by the many failures, like the missed title and the humiliating 4-0 against Barcelona, and the relationship between the unpredictable, highly intelligent but also highly eccentric Van Gaal and the Bayern team didn't seem to work out too well. I'm not defeatist, but even I believed they'd drop out of the Champions League before Liverpool and Real Madrid (who I thought would at least reach the final). But then, there was the amazing 4-1 against Juventus which seemed to have turned the table in Bayern's favour. The second leg against Fiorentina followed, in which they fought until the end, and during the amazing first leg against Manchester United, a tiny little notion entered my mind: What if Van Gaal actually taught them the most important lesson, the one to fight hard to achieve great things, to never give up even when the odds are against you, to stand when everyone expects you to fall? What if it actually works out this time? What if they reach the final for the first time in almost ten years, and what if they win it?
After tonight's game, I'm prepared to say that everything's possible. No matter the outcome of tomorrow night's match, my boys can do it. :)