Joselu, the unexpected hero against Bayern Munich – – 2024-05-10 07:13:14

Joselu rubbished some criticism he received for wasted chances in his first season at Real Madrid. This Wednesday, the 34-year-old striker came on in the last ten minutes and was the hero of the comeback and 2-1 victory against Bayern Munich, which gave his team qualification for the Champions League final, in which They will face another German team, Borussia Dortmund.

Paradox of fate, José Luis Mato Sanmartín, better known as Joselu, was born in Stuttgart, Germany on March 27, 1990, but he started out as a youth player at Real Madrid and went on to play for their subsidiary, Real Madrid Castilla. Although in 2012 he returned to Teutonic lands to make his professional debut: Hoffenheim (2012-2013), Eintracht (2013-2014) and Hannover (2014-2015). He then had a spell in England at Stoke City (2015-2016) and Newcastle (2017 to 2019).

Although his definitive consolidation was in Spain where he played for Deportivo de La Coruña (2016-2017), Deportivo Alavés (2019 to 2022) and his great season at Espanyol (2022-2023), in which he scored 17 goals, he did not They avoided the relegation of the Catalan team, but catapulted him to the national team.

He was one of the figures in the final phase of the 2023 UEFA Nations League and scored the goal in Spain’s 2-1 victory over Italy in the semifinals. Then in the final they beat Croatia on penalties after a goalless draw.

With those scrolls in the middle of last year he was hired by Real Madrid to replace none other than Benzema. The dream of his life. And it was difficult for him to be a starter in a team full of stars and whose offense is usually made up of Brazilians Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior. But in the most important game of the season for the Merengue team, Joselu appeared with his double on a night that will be unforgettable.

“I don’t consider myself the ‘Man of the Match’. All of us who played have been, the entire squad. “We made it to the final and it is thanks to everyone’s efforts,” he said after the match.

Vinicius thanked him for his goals and the Spaniard said that “not even in my most beautiful dream did I expect something like this. Vini is a great player, who will surely give us another Champions League for this great club. In the end I joined to be with the team at the right time.”

Regarding the delay in confirming the second goal due to a possible offside, he said that “it was terrible, I was praying. Especially in the second when the referee was determining whether it was a goal or not. “This is for all the fans.”

With his screams tonight he reached 16 in his first year at Real Madrid, where until now he has played 46 games and provided 3 assists. Will he have been up to the mark for the purchase option, which amounts to one and a half million euros? After the celebrations with his colleagues, there will be an intimate celebration with his family, Melanie Cañizares, and her two children, Leo and Lucas.

His partner is Daphne’s twin, the wife of another Real Madrid fan, Daniel Carvajal. The two couples usually share outings and meetings in the Spanish capital. Now that the footballers are also teammates, the bond has strengthened. Now Joselu will seek to continue making history and be able to win his first Champions League, which would be Real Madrid’s fifteenth, although from a different role.

The thing is, in the 2021/2022 season he was in Paris, on the occasion of the European Champions League final that Merengue beat Liverpool… But as a spectator. On Saturday June 1 at Wembley he will change his role: he will be one of the main protagonists.