Real Madrid won their fourteenth European Cup in 2022 having trailed on aggregate in the last sixteen, the quarter-final and the semi-final, and having had a clear minority of the ball in the final.
The pattern
Against Paris Saint-Germain they were 2-0 down on aggregate with half an hour left; Karim Benzema scored three in seventeen minutes. Against Chelsea they lost the second leg and went through in extra time. Against Manchester City they were 5-3 down with two minutes of normal time remaining; Rodrygo scored twice in a minute and Benzema won it from the penalty spot.
What to make of it
The unsatisfying honest answer is that Madrid were not the best team in the competition and won it anyway, because knockout football rewards a side that stays within one goal and has forwards who convert half-chances. Benzema scored 15 in the competition. Thibaut Courtois made nine saves in the final, which Liverpool lost 1-0 to a Vinícius Júnior goal.
Dominance and elimination are not opposites in this format. Three very good sides found that out in a single spring.
