Season 53 (04.05.14/31.05.14)

[Tommy Vernersson]

Champions League Semi-Final, 1st game.

It was an anxiety -charged atmosphere in the tunnel before the first semifinal out of two. But you could still see some glow in the eyes of our players. Zlatan 's speech to the group in the locker room before this crucial match had provided inspiration to the rest of the team. But it could not have started worse. After only 6 minutes, Courtois had to give up a goal, and 1-0 for the home team was a fact. It was a matter of momentum. Would we let them score another goal, and thus give up the game before it had even started? or should we bite the bullet and see what we could do? The answer was to my relief the 2nd one. Because in the 13th minute Paul Pogba with a cannon straight up in the top corner, obviously assisted by Hazard, who else? This was the beginning of a ketchup effect and we had time for both 1-2 and 1-3 by Cristiano Ronaldo, before the half time break, another assistant of Hazard by the way. Three goals scored away from home so far was a dream result to take home with us for the return match . In the second half , we were a little hesitant , we let Italo FC get back into the game again , and in the 85e minute 2-3 was a fact. Hopefully just a formality. We are strong at home, and we stand with one leg in a Champions League final. No one will be allowed to stop us now, not even SANTA !