May 16 and May 26.
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A season’s long road to reach these two dates culminated in this midweek’s round of action in Europe.
The Champions League and Europa League finals are set after this week, with a couple of familiar Spanish faces front and center of them, as well as the return of some old English and French faces.
Jump on the home stretch on the road to Kiev and Lyon with this edition of 90 Minutes’ Top Five.
1. Minimum requirements
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t dominant. But for the fourth time in the last five years, Real Madrid are once again at the doorstep of another European crown.
The blancos survived and advanced once again by drawing with Bayern Munich, 2-2 on Tuesday, to book a ticket to Kiev that was not such a certainty at several points throughout the semifinals and the tournament as a whole.
They did so, once again, without the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo on the score sheet, as the Portuguese was uncharacteristically inactive in both legs.
So how did they do it?
They did it the exact same way it happened in the first leg: wastefulness, giveaways and resistance.
Even at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid found themselves dominated by Bayern for most the game on Tuesday. Two costly mistakes ended up salvaging Zinedine Zidane’s side in the form of Karim Benzema’s first goal and Sven Ulreich’s inexplicable blunder.
Bayern had every opportunity to, at least, force extra time in Madrid. But despite scoring twice, the amount of missed shots was astounding.
Against a team like Real Madrid, who scored four goals in only seven shots on goal across both games, such mistakes and misses do not go unpunished.
2. Lightning didn’t strike twice
The clock finally struck midnight for the Champions League Cinderellas.
Roma’s bid for a second miracle at the Olimpico fell just short as Liverpool managed two away goals and some luck on their way to their first final since 2007.
In front of another red-hot Rome crowd, the Giallorossi bowed out of the Champions League after another gladiator-like performance, coming ever so close to pulling off the impossible again.
This time, however, Liverpool spoiled the party very early on with two goals in the first nine minutes, courtesy of Sadio Mane and Giorginio Wijnaldum.
Jurgen Klopp’s side put the fear of God into the Italians by being fearless themselves (unlike Barcelona), taking advantage of Roma’s initial impetus and reckless enthusiasm. Yet another second-half defensive collapse almost cost the Reds a semifinal they had wrapped up since having a 5-0 lead at Anfield.
Huge kudos to Klopp for swimming the muddy Champions League waters to get to Kiev, but he better hope his team does not let one sliver room open for merciless Real Madrid come May 26.
3. Lyon bound
The hopes and dreams of one last trophy for Arsene Wenger have evaporated into the Madrid night.
Atletico Madrid upended Arsenal in the most Atletico Madrid way possible, holding on to a 1-0 lead to advance to the final in Lyon and effectively end Arsene Wenger’s career with the Gunners.
With Diego Simeone watching in the stands, the colchoneros reached their third European final in the last five seasons, and seek the third Europa League title.
The Spaniards will face Marseille, who survived a comeback bid from the valiant Salzburg thanks to an extra-time goal by Rolando. The French will try to win their first European trophy since the controversial 1993 European Cup final.
4. An endless quest
Nelson Rodriguez’s quest for a number 10 will have to wait until the summer.
The Chicago Fire missed out on another player acquisition, this time right before the May 1 deadline, as New England Revolution playmaker and Fire target Lee Nguyen landed in LAFC at the 11th hour in exchange for $700,000 in allocation money.
Rodriguez has reiterated the team’s need for a true creative midfielder since the offseason. They missed out on Colombian midfielder Juan Fernando Quintero, who ended up joining River Plate on loan from Porto, and now miss out on Nguyen, marginalized from the Revolution squad all season.
What’s next?
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The secondary MLS transfer window does not open until July 10, smack in the middle of the World Cup. Until then, Chicago will have to either hold on to what they have or keep an eye on contracts that are set to expire at the end of the current European season.
Or perhaps Rodriguez will add elsewhere, as rumors of Iker Casillas and Fernando Torres continue to swirl.
5. Goal of the Week
The Champions League semifinals may have been highly-entertaining affairs, but they did not quite produce greatness in terms of goals.
So to make up for the absence of golazos, here is another look at Sven Ulreich’s spectacular fail to gift Karim Benzema and Real Madrid their second goal of the afternoon.
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