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Fede Valverde kept going to the toilet — “more times today,” he said, “than in my whole life,” Dani Ceballos couldn’t sleep and even coach Carlo Ancelotti was nervous. Earlier that week, Ancelotti admitted that there’s a point in the buildup to games when the heart rate increases and the sweats start, a process that usually ends when the first whistle blows. This time was even worse. Not that anyone can see it with Ancelotti: He seemingly glides through it all, the coolest man on the planet. Not that he would want anyone to see it, either.
And so, in Auberge du Jeu de Paume, the luxury hotel where the team were staying, during the hours before the Champions League final, Real Madrid’s manager hid in his room, away from his players, lest the concern become contagious. He needn’t have worried, which he already knew.
Unable to take a siesta, Ceballos saw teammates playing cards as if this were just another game; it was then, he said, that he realised that this was different, that they were. That’s confidence, he thought — and that really is contagious.
Ancelotti had suggested something similar the day before. Never mind him trying to calm his players; they were the ones that would calm him. “Worry is defeated when I see their faces,” he said.
They had been here before, after all.
Ceballos hadn’t, nor had Valverde. Or Vinicius Junior, Eduardo Camavinga, Eder Militao and Rodrygo. But Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal, Casemiro and Karim Benzema were about to start their fifth Champions League final with Madrid. Kroos was also about to start his fifth overall, having had one with Bayern. Gareth Bale and Marcelo had been here before too, and Nacho. They knew what it was about.
So did Thibaut Courtois, from the other side when with Atletico Madrid. Beaten by the side that were never beaten in 2014, he trusted that it would be different now that he had joined them, something he had witnessed round by round, miracle by miracle, step by step and save by…
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Source : espn
