As always, as always

Direct Chronicle

How beautiful what happened before the game.

Anti-Madridism, that current of thought that is so small-scale, and often civil-war, joined in a communion such as has rarely been seen since color flooded televisions and social networks interconnected us by the feet, perhaps because what happened this year has taught to fight differently.

Gone are the old axioms of Francoism, arbitrations, the proverbial filly and other bad-paying apologies that did us no good.

The morning had dawned sunny but full of despair, which is the ideal climate to encourage each other without giving more encouragement to a team that traffics in the hatred of others and feeds on it.

At this point, therefore,

LIVLiverpool

0

Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, A. Robertson, Thiago (Roberto Firmino, min. 76), Fabinho, Henderson (Naby Keita, min. 76), Salah, Luis Díaz (Diogo Jota, min. 64) and Mane

RMA Real Madrid

1

Courtois, Alaba, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric (Dani Ceballos, min. 89), Benzema, Vinicius Junior (Rodrygo, min. 92) and Federico Valverde (Camavinga, min. 84)

Goals

0-1 min.

58: Vinicius Jr.

Referee

Clement Turpin

Yellow cards Fabinho (min. 61)

And in line with all this, here is a confession: at seven in the evening, as old sailors did when they were looking for excuses not to go out to fish, I began to consult the weather forecast in Paris for what might happen.

But nothing: not a sad alert for tornadoes, hurricanes, torrential rains or any other extreme phenomenon that could jeopardize the match dispute.

We also fantasize about the eruption of a volcano in Yellowstone that, apparently, threatens to block out the sun and destroy any form of life on earth, especially humans.

It was a plausible option: that of postponement, that of extinction... Being an anti-Madridista also consists of playing with illusions, not taking anything for granted except for Courtois' saves, which always arrive and decide.

Our perversion, however, does not reach the level of some Everton fans who set up a fake travel agency and managed, in such a way, that a good number of Liverpool fans were left without traveling to Paris to see the match: we took note.

Those who went did a good job, as has been expected of these people since time immemorial.

Thousands of English fans tried to sneak in without a ticket, with the consequent security problem and a delay that deepened our hopes, the anti-Madridistas, that the game would be suspended and never played again.

But it was played.

And what we saw resembled, from minute one, what we always fear: that the rival is superior, that the goalkeeper is the best, that problems accumulate for Madrid to shoo them away with a slap and suddenly, without warning , like those horrible neighbors who always smile at you on the stairs and then hang signs in the elevator because, they say, you make too much noise when you have sex.

Looking for reasons to explain their victories is like looking for the Higgs Boson, the God particle.

The work of anti-Madridism must be valued in this spectacle of opposing masses that is football, and which needs well-understood rivalry to feel alive.

In an ideal world, the alternative hobbies would greet the champion and Pope Francis would go out on the balcony of San Pedro to congratulate us all.

But football is not that.

Neither does religion.

And with all due respect, which is the formula chosen by the great underworld families to sing their forties, it is finally time to say how honest it is to celebrate one's own triumphs as well as the defeats of others: even though today that has not exactly happened, even though today there the usual happened again.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on

Exclusive content for subscribers

read without limits

subscribe

I'm already a subscriber