Real Madrid had so many lives against Bayern Munich that reincarnation specialists and cats may have been put to shame.

Visitors to the Santiago Bernabeu and the Allianz Arena over the 180 minutes would not have put money on the team in white to win the world’s largest club competition. If you had told spectators that this version of Los Merengues were on the verge of a third successive Champions League triumph, mild-natured ribbing would have followed, to say the very least.

Madrid’s procession to the final in Kiev is of an absurdist nature. In the group stages, Los Galacticos faced Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund. They survived that group, finishing second and eliminated the strongest team in France, Paris Saint-Germain. The Old Lady of Turin, Juventus, came to within seconds of forcing extra time.

The strongest teams in France and Italy were joined by the German juggernaut that were Bayern Munchen, in being dumped out by one of the most unconvincing finalists in the history of the competition.

To say Madrid have been lucky would tantamount to provocation but the fact remains that Zinedine Zidane’s class of 2017-’18 have been far from inspirational. They’ve been second-best for large chunks against Juventus and Bayern. Yet, Madrid are quite inexplicably once again part of the summit clash, for the fourth time in five years.

Zidane started Lucas Vazquez at right-back against Franck Ribery, which was one of several key tactical changes. Yet, this wasn’t the night when the Frenchman’s questionable decisions would cost his side.

Real Madrid is a team filled with great individuals; individuals who defy the approach that football is a team sport with shared morals. Individual reliance is so high at the moment that it is possible to cherry-pick a player and ask them to inherit the stage, as with an under-fire Karim Benzema showing up to score two in the second leg of a CL semi-final.

It’s not that this Madrid side is not vulnerable; they are certainly so. On nights such as these, you tend to wonder if Real will slip up against either of Liverpool or Roma. They ideally could and they might, but it sure feels like one of those Real seasons.

Bayern Munich, in what might possibly be Jupp Heynckes’s last Champions League game in charge, once again, had the most chances as Keylor Navas stood firm.

Widely derided for his lapse in concentration against Juventus that allowed Blaise Matuidi to score and then allowing Kimmich to beat him at his near post in the first leg, Navas was walking around with a cross-hair on his back.

Madrid’s goal didn’t lead a charmed existence as much as Navas excelled, saving eight shots, making several stops to keep the Bavarians out. His command of the box was to be admired, as the Costa Rican was imperious in preserving Madrid’s advantage as Bayern mounted wave after wave of attacks.

Sven Ulreich, at the other end, gave Madrid the match and the tie when his schoolboy error gave Benzema the easiest of tap-ins.

A stand-in for Manuel Neuer throughout the season, Ulreich domestically has had very little to do but it was his brainfade that gave Real an easy get-away when it really should have been time for Bayern to tighten the noose around their opponents.

Benzema must be credited for his perseverance and scoring when it counted, regardless of the circumstances in which the goals arrived.

It could have made sense to stay put on the bench and wait for the summer cull, but this is a player fighting for his Real future. For his first one, Benzema peeled off David Alaba before heading it in at the near post.

Coming as it did after Joshua Kimmich’s opener, that goal was absolutely vital for his team to maintain parity and their slender advantage in the match. This is a man not ready to be pushed out of the door just yet.

With Cristiano Ronaldo cutting an isolated figure over the two legs, Bayern turned the gun on themselves, conceding two soft ones that should have been avoided. They gifted Real two of their four goals, and undid their own chances of progression.

Heynckes will once again make way for another younger manager, but it has been quite a turnaround for the Bundesliga leaders after Carlo Ancelotti was fired after a 3-0 defeat to PSG.

There will be room for positivity after Niklas Sule’s assured display against the feared Real attack. Kimmich’s overall growth, as a leader on the pitch, would have pleased Jogi Low as well.

This is a team in transition and the summer will see more of the old guard leave, but one man caught in the middle is Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker witnessed another barren night when it really mattered, failing to score in his fifth straight CL knockout game.

Deadly against the Bundesliga’s smaller fishes but limp against Europe’s elite, Lewandowski surely has a lot of answering to do in the dressing room after yet another ineffective display.

Bayern outshot Real 39-16 and, on boxing points, they might as well have won the match but a lack of trademark German efficiency meant that Real walked away as opportune victors.

Tactically Zidane might never convince the naysayers but what is indisputable is this: the Frenchman is yet to be knocked out of the Champions League. Those watching on television sets back in Rome should rightly be worried about this mode: Real’s infamous Champions League mode.