He was rooting for Real in the Champions League final, now he has moved him to it. I didn’t even have such dreams, the hero beamed

He came to Real before this season. At thirty-three, as a replacement for Karim Benzema, who left for Saudi Arabia. “There would certainly have been a lot of doubters at the start of the season, but the work and the trust the whole club had in me paid off in the end,” beamed the Stuttgart, Germany native after the dramatic semi-final second leg.

Sometimes coach Carlo Ancelotti allows him more space, sometimes less. He is more of a substitute, but Joselu jumps into matches regularly. During the entire season, he featured sixteen times in the starting line-up and thirty times came off the bench.

In the return match against Bayern, he ran onto the pitch in the 81st minute when the score was 0:1. Real needed to at least equalize to go to extra time. In the 88th minute, Joselu promptly scored a ball that fell out to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. At the turn of the 90th minute and the first minute of regulation, he refused extra time and cleaned up a spur from Antonio Rüdiger into the net.

At first, the Polish referees thought it was offside. But VAR revealed that the whole action took place in accordance with the rules. The goal was valid, so Joselu was overjoyed. “It was unbelievable. This team just never gives up. It’s in our blood to fight until the final whistle,” explained the beaming shooter.

“Joselu is a great reflection of what our team is like and how they think. He doesn’t have that many minutes again this season, but he is very, very useful. It brings what is needed. He never loses confidence and always thinks about the team,” coach Ancelotti gushed about the hero of Wednesday evening.

“Me and the hero? I really do not know. All I can tell you is that I am a very happy person,” laughed Joselu. “Even my best dreams aren’t as good as this,” he added.

He was then asked by reporters if the feeling after scoring two goals to reach the Champions League final was comparable to when his two children were born. “Ufff,” Joselu smirked. “But I think my wife would allow me to put it on the same level now,” added the Real forward.

In the Champions League final, Real will face Borussia Dortmund on June 1 at Wembley.