How Atlético's 2014 near-miss haunts Diego Godín
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
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"It was hard to forget about that final," Diego Godín told UEFA.com as he recalled Atlético's 2014 loss, but the defender is determined to make amends in Milan.
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Diego Godín scored Atlético's opener in the 2014 UEFA Champions League final, but Sergio Ramos's last-gasp equaliser – and three more Real Madrid goals in extra time – denied him the trophy. The Uruguay centre-back explains how he is determined to get it right this time.
"Scoring in the final felt great, of course – it was a very nice goal – but we didn't lift the trophy at the end, and that was what mattered. We lost, but you have to take the positives from defeats like that and learn where you need to improve. Now we're playing in another final and we'll have to use that experience to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"We were 1-0 up until the 93rd minute but when the time was ticking down, I wasn't thinking that we had done enough to win. I never think like that as I know that the match is never over until the referee blows the final whistle. We had to play five minutes of added time, so there was still time left to play. In football, one minute can be a long time, and that was the case.
"We knew extra time would be very tough for us; Real Madrid still had something left, but we didn't. We couldn't make any more substitutions, and we had some injured players on the pitch. Diego Costa had to go off after eight minutes, Arda [Turan] wasn't available, Filipe Luís got cramp despite it not happening in any of his 60 other appearances that season. We didn't have anything left at the end and we were really struggling physically, so we couldn't fight back any more.
"In the season that followed, it was hard to forget about that final; every player wants to make it to a final and win. But the disappointment was relieved a bit because we'd had such a great season, becoming Spanish league champions – a very important achievement for the club and for us.
"But of course since that final we've always said that it's still our dream to win that trophy, and we don't hide that – we say that openly because that's what we want. And we will keep on fighting for that. We have stayed true to ourselves for all these years now and if we keep doing that, we have a good chance of things going well.
"Our big secret is the effort the team puts in. The way the whole team works to help the defence is incredible; the forwards – Fernando Torres, Antoine Griezmann or Yannick Carrasco – are always with us, defending in our box, because that's what we have to do. That shows how committed we are as a team, and how much we believe in our style of play.
"This final is going to be very fiercely contested, and very physical – it will be very tactical, but there'll be a lot of physical effort, too. It would be a dream for me and for the team to win the trophy this time, as well as for all our fans. It's a dream, just like winning a World Cup with my national team, and I'll work towards it until the last day of my career."