When at last the final whistle went, Zinedine Zidane turned to his right, Antonio Conte turned to his left and they turned down the tunnel together. Former teammates, they embraced, each man knowing that he could have been in the other’s shoes at the end of a tense, open and unpredictable night. A game that both teams needed to win and both could have won ultimately ended with
Real Madrid defeating Internazionale 3-2.
Victory came thanks to a superb goal from the substitute Rodrygo who, asked afterwards if he was happy or relieved, replied “both”. That made sense: his winning goal had come when Madrid, who came into this game with a single point, were most under pressure; it also lifted them off the bottom of the group and left Inter there instead. It could have gone either way, until Vinícius delivered the ball from which Rodrygo changed the match and the shape of things to come.