¡Sí Se Puede! The Incredible Journey Of Real MadridTo The Champions League Final!

Before The Season

In the 2020-2021 season Real Madrid struggled to achieve results, therefore finishing in second place in LaLiga and coming trophyless since the 2009-2010 season. The issue at hand seemed to be the manager, who at the time was Zinedine Zidane, he was replaced by the experienced Carlo Ancellotti, Carlo came prepared and eager to start the new job, trying to sign various star players such as Kyillian Mbappe, Erling Halland, and Paul Pogba, yet they all failed, causing Real to begin the new season with any new promising faces, instead key players left the club such as Sergio Ramos to PSG, and Raphael Varane to Manchester United. This caused fans to be extremely anxious and worried about the future of their club.

The Beginning

After a long wait, the season was back and Madrid debuted with a 4-1 victory against Alavés, yet fans were already devastated due to Raphael Varane and Martin Ødegaard leaving on the same day, causing them to draw against the weak Levante. The media was saying that Real Madridwas “"The third force of spain” and that they were "Finished", the narrative grew even larger when they lost to Sheriff United in the Champions League by 2-1. Everyone including myself was sure that Real Madrid would once again underperform, and fail to win any titles.

The Rise

Even with the constant abuse from the media, Real Madrid were unstoppable and went into a 14 games without losing, beating teams such as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, this caused them to skyrocket into the first place of LaLiga and be 11 points ahead of second place Sevilla. The streak was ended in a loss to Getafe on the 6th of January 2022 by 1-0.

PSG

On 15 February 2022, Real met Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 and lost due to an incredible lone Mbappe goal at the last moments. Although only winning by 1-0 Psg should have scored more,clearly dominating the match, with Real Madrid not being able to shoot once at the goal.

Madrid then faced PSG at the Santiago Bernabéu for the second leg, the result seemed to be the same when Mbappe scored a goal on the 34th minute, and Madrid once again not being able to shoot once at the goal by halftime, everyone once again thought that Madrid lost, that it was over, it was then that at the 61 minute that Psg's goalkeeper Donnaruma made a mistake and with their first shot at goal Benzema scored, 15 minutes later another goal was scored by Benzema, and then 3 minutes later Benzema scored another one, leaving the world at shock of what just happened. The game finished 3-1 (3-2 on aggregate) and Real Madrid were through.

Chelsea

6 days after the international break, Madrid met Chelsea away from home in the Champions League quarter-finals first leg, rematching the last season's semi-finals. Madrid won 3–1 thanks to the second Benzema Champions League knockout hat-trick in a row, making him the first player to do that since Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016–17 edition, giving rise to a Ballon D'or discussion. In the second leg Chesea came in a different team, truly showing how they won the Champions League last year, comebacking with 3 goals by the 76th minute, yet as we know Real Madrid does not give up, with Rodrygo and Benzema scoring in the last minutes and winning them the game, advancing into the semifinals.

LaLiga Title

On 30 April, Real Madrid sealed their 35th La Liga title with a 4–0 win over Espanyol at the Bernabéu after a brace from Rodrygo and goals from Asensio and Benzema. With four games to spare, this is Real's earliest league title since 1990, and one of their best seasons ever.

Manchester City

On 26 April, Madrid gave us a spectacle as they played the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Manchester City on the away soil. The match ended in a 3–4 loss, with a Benzema brace and a goal from Vinícius. As we all know, Real played the second leg at home, where they were dominated the entirety of the game, once again not having 1 shot on target for the entirety of the 90 minutes, and city was already 1-0 up, it was then that Rodrygo scored 2 goals in 1 minute and Real Madrid tied the game, it then went on to extra time where Real one due to a penalty in Karim Benzema. Real Madrid became the first team to lose three knockout games en route to the Champions League final since the current format was introduced in the 2003–04 season. This was also the first time in the club's history when Madrid qualified for the Champions League final after losing the first leg of semi-finals, having failed to do so on eight previous occasions. After the game everyone at the Santiago Bernabeu were singing "Sí Se Puede" and "Vamos a Paris".