After a wait of 1,954 days, the Bernabéu saw
Barcelona defeated. Through the rain they watched as Vinícius Júnior scored the goal that changed everything: a night, that had begun nervously, and perhaps the destination of the title race too. For almost an hour they had suffered, as if awaiting the inevitable against a side seemingly sure of their superiority, but now they celebrated. At the end Marcelo slipped to his knees and the crowd leapt to their feet, symbolic of what this meant.
The reaction after that first hour began with a shot from Isco, flying just over via Marc-André ter Stegen’s glove, before Vinícius gave Madrid a lead that Mariano Díaz doubled on the final whistle, as if to underline how fast things can change and Zinedine Zidane’s seemingly superhuman ability to revive footballers. Mariano had not played a single minute this season and had been on the pitch only 30 seconds but now he scored.