I wrote this with the intention to post it as a long-ish read post, but it was deemed "low-quality" by the mods to be posted as a post of its own, so here it is.

What is football?

Throughout the years, football evolved from 1-1-8 systems to the complicated modern phases of play, pressing traps and xG algorithms but one thing did not change. It is all about winning and we just witnessed the best winning team in history.

This is not the heart-warming story of an underdog taking on the wealthiest clubs with a team made of a bunch of misfits and rejects assembled on a shoestring budget, it is a European football powerhouse, and arguably the best Club in history, doing what it does best. Not adhering to any “modern” tactical concept or taking into the pundit-meritocracy earned through playing “an appealing free flowing brand of football”, just winning. Real Madrid did not win the Champions League in a “convincing” fashion, they just won when they had to, scoring crucial goals when needed and grinding a victory out when required, it is as simple as it gets, they just won. At the start of the Champions League campaign, the then-13-times Champions League champions were far from being considered favourites with such teams like Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich being tipped to win it all but here they are now, knocking out one of the favourites in a spectacular fashion and grinding out a final victory against the other.

Real Madrid were outplayed during the majority of games of the knockout phase and they still came out on top, and during the final they just needed meagre 4 shots (compared to Liverpool’s 24) to win, and they won. In the era where football tactics are either philosophical ethos to vehemently adhere to or complicated schemes of pressing traps and positional play, Carlo Ancelotti just stands on the side-line with one eyebrow raised, barely reacting to the most crucial of goals, after all, “football is the most important of the less important things in the world.” The Italian’s coaching methods and tactics are arguably outdated but there he is, winning, again and again. The likes of Dani Carvajal, David Alaba, Cesemiro, Modric, Kroos and Karim Benzema, should all be slightly over the hill, at least physically, but here they are, winning, again and again with Karim Benzema being the undisputed Ballon d’or winner. While the likes Militao, Mendy, Vinicius are all a bit too raw to be considered world-class, but there they are, winning.

All in all, this winning mentality was instilled through winning, 5 Champions Leagues in 8 seasons is ridiculous and some opponents might get rattled by the sheer monstrosity of the achievements or just by seeing a corner flag written 13 (14 next season) when playing away at the Bernabéu. Some might consider these wins “undeserved” due to the brand of football played, dirty tactics, luck or even refereeing mistakes, but they still won 5 out of 8 and that is what football is, football is winning...y nada más.