‘But when it’s happened so many times…’ – Ferland Mendy rejects ‘lucky’ Real Madrid claims
Real Madrid have made a knack of completing dramatic late comebacks in the UEFA Champions League and they pulled off another one against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich headed to the Bernabeu with the scores level from the first leg. Following Borussia Dortmund’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain the night before, Alphonso Davies’ goal midway through the second half gave Thomas Tuchel’s side hope of an all-German final at Wembley at the start of June.
However, as they often do, Real Madrid showed their strength and character to haul themselves back into the game in the dying moments. Substitute Joselu netted twice within the space of three minutes (88′, 90+1′) to send Los Blancos through to the Champions League, at the expense of the Bavarian side.
The way in which Real Madrid frequently pull themselves out of trouble in the dying moments has seen the La Liga side garner a reputation as “lucky” – a reputation that Real Madrid and France full-back Ferland Mendy (28) sought to dismiss in a post-match interview with Canal Plus.
“I think we are very united. We try to play together and give everything that we have together and in the end, that pays off. I hear lots of people saying that it’s luck. But when it’s happened so many times, I don’t think it’s luck,” said Mendy, whose performance at the Bernabeu was viewed by France selectors, who had made the trip to Spain for the occasion. With Lucas Hernandez out of this summer’s Euros, Mendy is now well-placed for a recall.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
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