NOVPUB70 minutes, 3-2…
FC Barcelona was losing.
This was despite playing at their best.
Yes, FC Barcelona was playing at their best and yet they were losing. That was how fearsome PSG was this season under Luis Enrique.
Today, Sam was at his electric best, buzzing in the forward line like a dangerous bee that could not be tamed.
Lamine Yamal? The youngster was a menace to Nuno Mendes, turning him inside out repeatedly as another PSG player was tasked to help him double-team the Spanish prodigy. Despite everything, somehow, PSG was holding on.
Pedri? Pedri was at his enigmatic best today, and yet, he was stifled up against the fearsome PSG midfield trio of Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha and Joao Neves.
Today, literally all the FC Barcelona players turned up to the game. After all, they've been preparing for it like their life depended on it.
Well, their happiness depended on it.
And to them, their happiness meant everything. It's been more than a decade since FC Barcelona last won a UEFA champions league title. And to these players, winning the UEFA champions league again and bringing the trophy back to Barcelona meant more than the whole world.
This was why even as they were being outplayed, outfought, outscored by the Parisians, they didn't give up.
Sam and Raphinha kept on leading the press from up field with relentless energy. At times, the PSG defenders and midfielders toyed with them, passing around them in triangular patterns.
And yet, despite the humiliation, Sam nor Raphinha didn't give up.
They kept on pressing. They kept on running.
They kept on pushing.
And then, in the 77th minute, when the feeling among the FC Barcelona fans was already becoming one of gloom, fragmented memories of Rome and Anfield flashing back in their mind, reminding of past heartbreak, that was when it happened, silencing the Allianz Arena.
77th minute, GOAL! Samuel Moses!
Pedri floated a diagonal pass to the far post where Raphinha got to it before knocking it back first-time across the face of goal. There, Sam, unmarked, a mistake he enforced, like a ghost dashed into space and buried it in.
BAM!
That sound… it sank the heart of PSG fans worldwide. Their team just had to hold on for 13 more minutes till the end of the game.
As for FC Barcelona fans? Euphoria. Ecstasy.
BOOM!
The Allianz Arena exploded, FC Barcelona fans roaring at the top of their lungs, jumping for joy, hugging strangers with endless ecstasy, pulling their shirts and waving it in the euphoria of the moment.
As for Sam? That was his hattrick of contributions in the UEFA Champions League final, in his first ever UEFA Champions league campaign.
And with that goal, his second goal of the game, he went 2 ahead of the legendary Portuguese, Cristiano Ronaldo as the player with the most goals in a single UEFA Champions League campaign with an incredible tally of 19 goals.
3-3.
FC Barcelona was not winning yet, the game was still very much on.
Sam didn't think about the little details though. For now, all that mattered was that he just scored the equalizing goal for his team when his goal needed it the most. Filled with euphoria, Sam whirled off away in celebration.
With eyes dilated in passion, Sam pumped his fists excitedly, charging down edge of the pitch before sliding in celebration even as his teammates swarmed him. And then…
"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"
The Sam chants started in the UEFA Champions League final.
The commentators screamed with shrill voices.
"He's struck again!"
"ZINEDINE SAM! THE KING OF CATALAN! LORD OF THE SPOTIFY CAMP NOU!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo was Mr. Champions League, King of the UEFA champions league but in just one season, his first in the UEFA champions league, Sam has done what even the Portuguese G.O.A.T could not do".
"That is his 19th champions league goal this season!"
"Eat that!"
"And FC Barcelona are level again this game!"
"What a game!"
It was 3-3 now, but the game was not over yet.
Sam's goal only set off more sparks on the pitch, turning the tension in the Allianz Arena even more palpable.
And then, without giving up, the war continued on the pitch.
Both teams went for it. No fear. No brakes.
Just all-out offense.
It was exciting. It was intense. It was filled with tension, pride, bragging rights, and glory all on the line. It was not for the faint-hearted.
In the 80th minute, Luis Enrique made a change, taking off Desire Doue and introducing Bradley Barcola even as he took Dembele to a false nine role, mimicking Sam's work for FC Barcelona.
Just a minute later, in the 81st minute, Dembele set up Kvaratskhelia whose shot kissed the outside of the post before flying outside.
Groans filled the stadium from the fans even as Kvaratskhelia grabbed his head in disbelief, knowing just how much it would have impacted the game and PSG's season if that ball entered the goal.
In the 84th minute, Dembele hit the side netting.
Just a minute late in the 85th minute, Donnarumma pulled off a massive instinctive save from Sam's header from a Lamine Yamal cross.
Raphinha drew another miracle save from Donnarumma in the 87th minute.
And then…
In the dying minutes of this game, a legend was born.
Lamine Yamal, just 18, received the ball near the edge of the box from a Dani Olmo pass.
Tap!
It was a delicate touch, like a babe's caress.
He cut inside.
Paused.
And then…
Bam!
He curled it gently, with soul, into the far corner.
"…!"
For a brief moment across the Allianz Arena, time seemed to freeze as tens of thousands of fans rose up to their feet. 𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑝𝘶𝘣.𝑐𝘰𝘮
And then…
The net rippled.
The stadium went silent.
Then it exploded.
BOOM!
3-4. FC Barcelona lead.
Lamine Yamal raced to the corner, arms raised, tears in his eyes even as he fell to his knees in celebration. He was so emotional.
His teammates swarmed him, embracing him in joy.
A goal worthy of a final. A crowning moment.
And then, PSG became a Bull.
A fearless, rampaging Bull.
