When Rodrygo lost faith that Madrid was going to come back against Manchester City

Rodrygo Goes, an optimistic merengue almost from the cradle, thought that everything was already lost.

The Santiago Bernabéu stopwatch read 89:10, and he felt that from that point, 0-1 on the scoreboard, with two goals to force extra time, they were no longer going to get up: “No, no… We were dead”, he said shortly after the game in the booth of an Argentine restaurant not far from the stadium, before sitting down to dinner with his people around two in the morning.

And that Rodrygo, 13 years old, was one of those who saw Ramos' goal live that led Madrid to extra time in the 2014 Lisbon Champions League final, because he endured without turning off the TV just in case, according to what he said in an interview in EL PAÍS: “If you are in Madrid you have to believe until the end.

And I already had that since I was a child,” he said.

“When Sergio Ramos tied the game, that is the best memory I have of the Champions League.

I yelled a lot in my house.”

05:08

The voices of Real Madrid's comeback

That time the clock read 92:48 and, while Modric was preparing to take the corner that the center-back headed, the footballers saw how the Atlético staff were preparing the celebration in the locker room tunnel: shirts and other accessories.

But at that moment Madrid only needed one goal.

On Wednesday at the Bernabéu, at 89:10, when Rodrygo had already considered himself defeated internally, he was missing two, and the players had been watching dozens of fans leave the stadium for several minutes.

But a few seconds later Rodrygo ran towards a space in the small area where he sensed that Benzema could send him the ball, and sure enough Benzema put it there, and the Brazilian got ahead of everyone and scored the 1-1.

At that moment, the clock said 89:21, there was only one goal left.

“So yes, then I was convinced that we were going to come back”, he said before dinner.

It was what Carlo Ancelotti had entrusted to him before entering the field for Kroos in 68, still 0-0: "He has not told me many things, only that he should try to do something to try to change the game," he said.

"I imagine scoring goals in all the games I play."

The Real Madrid player, Rodrygo Goes, poses with his family in a private room at the De Maria restaurant in Madrid. Moeh Atitar

The team had looked so close to the precipice that time, that not all the players felt the same certainty as the Brazilian.

Courtois, for example, needed something more: "We made it 2-1 and shortly after 2-1 I think we had another chance of 3-1, and the truth is that there I said: 'Wow, we won," he said in the SER .

Ancelotti was closer to the Brazilian: “When everyone thought the game was over, a small detail, a good combination, Rodrygo's goal...” was enough.

Among those who, like Rodrygo, thought that the Champions League of crazy comebacks was no longer enough, were the fans who had fled the Bernabéu, who heard the 1-1 roar from the street.

Many tried to return, but they couldn't even reach the door again: 89 seconds later the collective delirium of 2-1 fell on them.

They were not allowed to re-enter for extra time, in which the Brazilian still had time to pass Benzema into the area, who was brought down by Walker.

The Frenchman offered him to shoot the penalty to complete the treble, but the Brazilian declined and Benzema scored the 3-1, and began the journey to the final in Paris on May 28.

"It was incredible.

Incredible ”, Rodrygo recalled in the private room of the De María restaurant where he has become accustomed to celebrating his big nights.

There was his family (his father, Eric; mother, Denise; sister, Ana Julia; and his girlfriend, Luana Atik, with his parents), and the heart of his team: his agent, Nick Arcuri;

his physical trainer;

Marcel Duarte, and even the pastor of the church to which the footballer usually attends.

This restaurant and Rodrygo's Champions League have maintained a close relationship since, in his European debut at the Bernabéu, he scored a

against Galatasaray and celebrated there with his people.

Since then, the Brazilian has been a much-loved customer at the restaurant, where on Wednesday the diners received him with applause.

It was twenty minutes to two, he arrived later than expected after passing the anti-doping control, and before going up to the booth he briefly greeted Nacho, who was having dinner with a group of friends in the dining room, with his back to the entrance.

Nacho's evening passed quite peacefully, despite the fact that the restaurant was packed with customers in Madrid shirts and scarves, fresh from the madness of the Bernabéu.

There was a time when in the other wing of the premises they started with an "Alé, Real Madrid, alé, alé...".

The centre-back, who had played a superb game, was barely interrupted until the tables were finishing and the time for lemon sorbet with cava at Nacho's was approaching.

So yes, as they headed for the exit they stopped behind the screen that protected the player, who grabbed cell phones and took selfies with the skill of a friendly celebrity.

“We have come from Romania for the match, Nacho”, began one of the requests.

Until the center table was also raised, which left the place behind the wheel of a Mini.

A few minutes later, almost at three in the morning, the booth door opened, and Rodrygo, his girlfriend, and a couple of friends came out.

The rest of the team stayed celebrating.

While the soccer player posed for the last selfies on the stretch of sidewalk that separates the door of the restaurant from the asphalt, the others got into a white Mercedes that had brought a valet.

When they started for their house in La Moraleja, it had just been three in the morning.

At ten minutes to four, Rodrygo wrote on his Twitter account: "How am I going to sleep after a night like this."

And he continued reading and answering messages, still with the adrenaline rush of having led Madrid to the Champions League final at the age of 21.

How am I going to sleep after a night like this?

😂 https://t.co/mtreWcZj9m

– Rodrygo Goes (@RodrygoGoes) May 5, 2022

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