Real Madrid has again flexed its might in the biggest stage of club football after pulling off a late-minute comeback in the semifinals of its Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
The Los Blancos needed the stoppage time to climb from a 0-1 hole to advance to the finals of the UCL with a 4-3 aggregate score.
Bayern was the first to score in the second leg, through a 68th-minute goal by Alphonso Davies, assisted by Harry Kane.
The final spot seemed within Bayern's reach until Vinicius and Joselu connected for an equalizer in the 88th minute. Joselu scored another in the 91st minute.
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They are now in the hunt for a pseudo-treble, having won La Liga and Supercopa de Espana and their 15th Champions League trophy.
Bayern Munich, meanwhile, will go trophy-less for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.
The Real Madrid crowd was ecstatic after the victory, but the opponents felt they were robbed, no thanks to a wrong judgment by a linesman.
The Bavarians could have pulled off a late equalizer during the stoppage time, but the linesman, identified as World Cup veteran official Szymon Marciniak, raised his flag for an offside.
Players and coaches are seething as defender Matthijs de Ligt revealed that Marciniak apologized to him for the wrong call.
"The rule says that if it's not clear offside ... you have to keep playing," De Ligt said.
"And if you go in the last minute and you whistle like this, I think this is a big mistake. If it's offside or not, I don't know, VAR can check it, but if you don't check it, how can you see it? This is a shame."
For his part, manager Thomas Tuchel rues that such a decision was made at a point in the match where anything could happen. He thought it was a betrayal.
"To raise the flag in a decision like this, in a close decision in the last minute, and the referee as well... The referee does not have to whistle," he explained.
"He sees that we win the second ball, he sees that we get the shot away. To whistle is a very very bad decision. It's against the rules and it's a bad decision from both of them."
Bayern will be forced to cheer for rivals Borussia Dortmund, who advanced to the finals after defeating heavy favorites PSG in the other semis tie.
Harry Kane's curse continues
The one who suffered the most in Bayern's defeat was Englishman Harry Kane, who joined the German club from Tottenham Hotspur in hopes of winning major trophies.
It would have been epic for his career to reach the Champions League finals, as the match will be held at his former home, Wembley Stadium.
Kane has been massive for the Bavarians this season, scoring 44 goals and providing 12 assists in 45 games.
No other player in the Top 5 European leagues is more involved in goals than Kane's 56.
His search for a major trophy will continue with Bayern, as he signed to play for them until 2027.
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