What a moment.
With another Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick and a few questionable refereeing decisions, the fact that a couple of Champions League legends had played their final game in the competition was overlooked by many after Real Madrid’s extra time win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
Bayern teammates Philip Lahm and Xabi Alonso will hang up their boots in a matter of weeks, meaning the defeat in the Bernabeu spelled the end of their Champions League playing days.
For Alonso, this farewell was made all the more poignant because it was against Real, the club at which he spent five years of his career – playing his part in helping them reach the 2014 ‘La Decima’-clinching final in Lisbon. The 35-year-old missed that final through suspension and left for Bavaria that summer.
Can we all just take a minute pic.twitter.com/iBmhmXKEI9
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) June 20, 2015
After Tuesday’s game, Alonso, who had been withdrawn for Thomas Müller before the end of normal time, made his way back on to the pitch. As the footage below shows, the Bernabeu crowd stood to applaud the the World Cup winner, with many of them chanting his name.
Alonso can be seen waving and thanking them before eventually making his way down the tunnel.
https://twitter.com/Foro_MDM/status/854705801126187008
