Spanish Real Madrid came from behind in the final minutes of the semi-final second leg to stun its German guest, Bayern Munich, and reach the final of the Champions League.
Joselu (34 years old), the hero of Wednesday evening, entered the field of the “Santiago Bernabéu” stadium in the 81st minute when Real was trailing 1-0 with the goal of the other Canadian substitute, Alfonso Davis (68), and heading towards defeat, and he needed only 10 minutes to bring down the Bavarian giant with two fatal goals ( 88 and 90+1), and led his team to a 2-1 win and a 4-3 lead on aggregate.
Below are 3 things in the career of Joselu, the “unexpected hero”:
The specter of landing
Before renewing his loan contract to Real Madrid in July 2023, Joselu’s career was not stable, as he moved between several clubs, playing for Real Madrid’s reserve team, Newcastle and Stoke City in England, and Hannover in Germany, to name a few.
He finally wore Alaves and Espanyol shirts, and the latter loaned him to the Royal Club, but the two teams were relegated to the second division in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, respectively.
5 – Only one player has more goals as a substitute in all competitions for a La Liga side this season than Joselu for Real Madrid (five goals). Stoked. pic.twitter.com/9qFIx9Cl52
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 8, 2024
Late talent
Joselu represented the Spanish youth categories under 19, 20 and 21 years old, without having the honor of wearing the first “La Roja” national team shirt due to his delayed talent.
The “Merengue” striker waited until the age of 32 years, 11 months and 26 days, to play his first international match on March 25, 2023. In the European qualifiers for the European Cup in Germany this summer against Norway, he scored two goals in two minutes from the winning hat-trick after entering From the bench.
So far, he has played 10 international matches and scored 5 goals with the Spanish national team.
2022: Joselu attends the Champions League final as a Madrid fan.
2024: Joselu leads Real Madrid to the Champions League final. #UCL | #APorLa15 pic.twitter.com/nAMcLHdKKc
– Real Madrid (@realmadridarab) May 8, 2024
German roots
Although Joselu represents the Spanish national team, he was born in West Germany in 1990.
Jose Luis Mato Sanmartin, known as “Joselu”, was born on March 27, 1990 in Stuttgart, one of the major German cities in the south of the country and Bayern’s traditional local rival.
