Nasser Al-Khelaifi felt betrayed, that’s for sure. And if everything that Real Madrid employees said is true when the 60,000 spectators were still a long way from getting their heart rhythms under control after the memorable 3-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain – then the Qatari PSG president let it go catacombs of the Bernabéu stadium, his emotions ran out so freely that the police were not called without reason.
Accordingly, Al-Khelaifi raged in the cabin tunnel. Together with PSG manager Leonardo, he wanted to do the laundry for referee Danny Makkelie, 39. Because in the Dutchman Al-Khelaifi saw the reason that his Globetrotter project collapsed at the Bernabéu on Wednesday evening. The dream of the first Champions League title for PSG ever? Failed. In front of the whole world and with tremendous karacho. “It was the capitulation of the financially most powerful club on the continent to the kings of Europe,” Madrid’s Sportblatt rejoiced Brand. Real Madrid are champions league champions with a record 13 titles.
For those looking for mitigating circumstances for Al-Khelaifi’s outburst, voila: what happened on the field wasn’t that easy to digest, it wasn’t an off-the-peg defeat. But a 1: 3, which followed a 1: 0 lead for PSG, which lasted until the 60th minute. Oh yes, and then PSG had traveled to Madrid with a 1-0 win from the first leg. In other words: the quarter-finals seemed to be a done deal. But at the end of a crazy half hour there was an embarrassing and also significant Champions League knockout. Although not only Mbappé is in the team, but also Neymar and Lionel Messi. But also Gianluigi Donnarumma, goalkeeper of the Italian European champion team.
The scene was later hotly debated: Karim Benzema steals the ball from Gianluigi Donnarumma – the question was: legal or illegal?
(Photo: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Donnarumma had suddenly been in the center of the game, and in the end also of all the turbulence in the dressing room, which PSG not in all details, but more or less have been confirmed. PSG were still 1-0 up when Donnarumma took a back pass into his own six yard box and acted as overconfident as the entire PSG squad had been before.
Real Madrid say Al-Khelaifi threatened an employee with death
It was fatal because Karim Benzema came crashing down. Donnarumma rushed the ball into the feet of Real striker Vinícius. The Brazilian striker passed it back to Benzema and he tucked it in. That didn’t just mean the interim compensation. But: the whole game tipped over. In the 76th minute, Luka Modric played a brilliant pass into the penalty area to Benzema, 2-1. Two minutes later, PSG captain Marquinhos passed the ball to Benzema in the penalty area and before Marquinhos could regret it, Benzema had completed his hat-trick, surpassing the 308 goals in all competitions by the incomparable Alfredo Di Stéfano in Real Madrid dress. “I’m proud,” said Real’s captain.
The rest was then irrelevant, at least compared to Al-Khelaifi running down into the catacombs after the game, threateningly looking for the referee, but obviously breaking down the wrong door. He ended up with a Real Madrid employee, whom he verbally abused, leading to a scuffle and a shout attributed to Al-Khelaifi: “I’ll kill you!” Supposedly he was angry that the Real employee had taken cell phone recordings of the attempted attack on Makkelie. “Delete them, now!” Leonardo apparently shouted.
PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, here two days before the game in the stands of the Santiago Bernabéu.
(Photo: Gabriel Bouys / AFP)
The former tennis pro Al Khelaifi was angry with Makkelie because he saw a foul in the duel between Benzema and Donnarumma before the 1-1. In real time – football is not tennis – it looked more like a legitimate physical effort. Using the video referee was anything but mandatory. Another rumor from the catacombs of the Bernabéu suggests that it was more about Donnarumma’s stupidity: Neymar allegedly wanted to do the laundry for Donnarumma because he had behaved so clumsily. And thus a humiliation similar to that of PSG’s 6-1 at FC Barcelona in 2017.
Real Madrid President Pérez invited to lunch in the posh restaurant – and served the cheapest wine on the drinks menu
Word of Al Khelaifi’s impetuosity spread immediately for a reason – the animosity between the two clubs over the Super League that Real Madrid’s Pérez are pushing forward – and for a purpose. To show the world that the Qatari club boss can afford haute couture suits but can’t behave. A small detail showed that Pérez had nothing but contempt for Al-Khelaifi on Wednesday afternoon. As protocol requires, Pérez invited the PSG delegation to “Zalacaín”, a well-known upscale restaurant in the posh district of Salamanca. There was lobster salad for starters; Sea bass or beef tenderloin as a main course – but also wines that were a bit of an insult in light of the pub’s reputation: a (red) Cune Reserva from 2015, which has a supermarket price of 10.85 euros, and a (white) Nisia Verdejo from 2020 , which you can get for 9.75 euros. It would almost have been more sincere if the billionaire Pérez had said to his guests: “Oh yes, and if you want wine, there’s a Späti nearby”. Or did he want to illustrate that Madrid are currently saving?
It would be possible, Pérez finally wants to guide the exciting Mbappé to Madrid for a lot of money in the summer. Recently he had hesitated to sign. But he too must have been fascinated by how Real Madrid managed to disappoint over a game and a half – and then grab the quarter-finals, in other words: be up to the height of your own myth. “Reyes de Europa, somos los reyes de Europa…” chanted the fans at the Bernabéu stadium to the tunes of the old Cuban classic “Guantanamera”. Visiting coach Mauricio Pochettino had a different song in mind; the way that made Doris Day famous. “Que sera, sera,” Pochettino said when asked if he feared being kicked out: what’s going to happen, will happen.
