Those two glorious chips over Bonano...
Visionary XI
I'll never forget the front cover of AS on the following day, with the headline: ‘Blanco San Jordi' ('White Saint George’s Day). It still makes me chuckle. That day, April 23rd 2002 will always remain etched in the collective memory of madridismo. Madrid won with authority and quality football - and with two goals chipped over the keeper, from Zidane and McManaman. [Barça keeper Roberto] Bonano can testify to that. And so can [Real Madrid coach, Vicente] Del Bosque, whose team deployment was a masterstroke - he fielded a five-man defence: Salgado, Helguera, Hierro, Pavón and Roberto Carlos; with Makelele just in front in the 'destroyer' position - a role which Casemiro now performs to perfection. A bulletproof wall for Barça. In the middle: Guti, Solari and Zidane provided a regular stream of service for lone striker, Raúl.
Lob scouse
Macca, the happy-go-lucky English fella - someone you never saw without a smile, came on as a late sub for Solari with 10 minutes left to play. The score had stood at 0-1 since Zizou's opener - a delightful, lofted chip over Bonano - the apéritif for his jaw-dropping, thunderball volley in Glasgow. But let's return to Macca. Two minutes into stoppage time he made it 0-2 with another exquisite chip, silencing a Camp Nou in which the only sound came from the throats of the 4,000 ecstatic madridistas in the stands - many of who were members of Catalunya-based Madrid supporters' groups. For them, it was the night of their lives. Impossible to ever forget. Blanco San Jordi.
