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Love him or hate him, the bloated, whacked out world of elite football needs Jose Mourinho. The Real Madrid manager, still reeling from Borussia Dortmund’s captivating demolition of his team, stated in a press conference last night that he was certain his players could overturn the 4-1 deficit, claiming “Of course we can do it. On a crazy night where everyone performs at a high level and you score every chance, you can do it. What you cannot do is get knocked out without dying on the pitch.”
Like the replay wasn’t going to be entertaining enough without the likes of Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso overdosing on tanning oil if they fail to reach the final.
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Still, despite conceding four to a rampant Robert Lewandowski (three from open play and a penalty struck with such venom it may have taken Diego Lopez’ head off if he hadn’t dived out of the way) Real Madrid have a sliver of hope that their Catalan counterparts, humilated by Bayern Munich on Tuesday, do not.
In the 39th minute, Gonzalo Higuain capitalised on Mats Hummel’s error in his own half, crossing the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo who scored while Dortmund were still protesting over a penalty shout. It was a moment of distraction that will prove especially costly if Mourinho can motivate his players for next week’s return fixture.
Given that his side have scored 83 league goals so far this season, have already conceded the title, and a Champion’s League win with Los Blancos would allow him to add the line ‘First Manager To Win The Champions League With Three Clubs‘ to his CV, we’re pretty sure he’ll find a way.
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