All this had happened inside

Real Madrid are in the Champions League semi-finals for the eighth year in a row. That is no surprise but what is a surprise is that for so much of a dramatic, nervous night at the Bernabéu it looked like they might not be.

A round of shocks almost had the biggest of them all, a miracle mighty close, the champions following Barcelona in being knocked out by Italian opposition. In Turin they had been applauded, Cristiano Ronaldo holding his heart in gratitude after his superb goal was handed an ovation; at the Bernabéu there were hands on hearts too, in agony, right to the end. And then Ronaldo appeared once more.

Juventus took Madrid to the cliff edge with a 3-0 lead with two from Mario Mandzukic and one from Blaise Matuidi. Until, into the third minute of added time, Lucas Vázquez went down under http://www.officialmarlinstore.com/Weiyin_Chen_Jersey a challenge from Medhi Benatia. The referee, Michael Oliver, pointed to the spot. As Juventus’s players surrounded him, seeing hope slip away, screaming injustice, Gigi Buffon was sent off, his last European game ending with him walking from the field, angry and unmoved by the ovation.

And so a place in the semi-finals came down a penalty: the world watching, Ronaldo waiting, the substitute goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny eventually standing before him. One shot. It flew high into the net, Ronaldo raced to the corner flag, throwing his shirt in the air, the stadium erupting, barely able to believe it. Juventus Womens Josh Reynolds Jersey couldn’t, either. The roar was delight and relief.

Fear had visited Madrid fans early, a realisation there was a game on, one they had never anticipated, despite the warnings. It never really let go. Douglas Costa played in Sami Khedira, running in on the right, and he clipped the cross to the far post where Mandzukic arrived and headed in the opener. The clock said 1:16: it was the quickest goal Madrid had conceded in this competition and it was just the start. An hour and a Giovanni Fiore Authentic Jersey half later, this had still not been resolved: a tie that had appeared over a week ago was not yet done.

Less than 30 seconds after the goal, Juventus were back: the celebration high in the north end had barely subsided and the rallying call from the rest of the ground had hardly been raised when Gonzalo Higuaín was there, deep inside the area. He was slow, the shot scuffed and the chance wasted, but the storm had not passed. Mattia De Sciglio http://www.officialvikingsjerseysstore.com/Danielle_Hunter_Jersey_C... delivered two crosses in a minute and then Costa, who tore into them throughout, raced into the area, forcing Keylor Navas to dive at the feet of Higuaín.

All this had happened inside seven minutes and although Gareth Bale forced a save from Buffon two minutes later, Dani Carvajal then bursting through and Isco having one ruled out for offside, the ordeal continued. Carvajal had to clear Mandzukic’s delivery and the resulting corner went through to the Croat, bouncing off his shins and into Navas’s hands from five yards. This was relentless; it was also only 15 minutes in and yet there could have been three or four already. wholesale nfl jerseys from china cheap jerseys china wholesale nfl jerseys cheap jerseys