SUMMARY
- Khabib Nurmagomedov became the butt of the joke as Real Madrid advanced to the UCL final.
- A former UFC champion trolled Nurmagomedov after controversial VAR calls for Madrid.
Former MMA star Daniel Cormier launched a scathing rant against the Russian former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov after Real Madrid secured their spot in the upcoming UEFA Champions League final. Cormier attacked Nurmagomedov, who’s an avid Real Madrid supporter after the Spanish soccer club won a rather controversial UCL semifinal tie against Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich in the second leg of their UCL semifinal clash to progress to the final 4-3 on aggregate. After the match, Cormier went to his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle and wrote, “That was a bullsh*t offsides call! They wanted Real Madrid to win. That was nonsense @TeamKhabib no.1 bullsh*t #championsleague.”
That was a bullshit offsides call! They wanted Real Madrid to win. That was nonsense @TeamKhabib no.1 bullshit #championsleague
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 9, 2024
The post has gone viral on the Internet, garnering thousands of views and hundreds of reactions from the fans. Although, Cormier had also a similar reaction after the first-leg clash between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. In the first leg, held a week ago at Allianz Arena, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich ended up drawing 2-2. Khabib Nurmagomedov, who attended the match in Munich, shared some pictures on his Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram
Khabib wrote, “What a historic match it was yesterday.” Cormier, however, retaliated to the former lightweight UFC champ’s post and wrote in the comment section, “Please give the credit that we deserve. We were the better side yesterday! We are.” While it’s still not known whether Daniel Cormier is a passionate Bayern supporter, the former UFC champion appears to have made his allegiance clear with his recent posts and comments.
Bayern Munich fumes after Real Madrid’s controversial win in the UCL semifinal
On a night when there were the likes of Vinicius Jr., Luka Modric, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, and so on on the pitch, it was the 34-year-old Joselu who turned out to be the savior for Real Madrid. After a thrilling 2-2 draw in the first leg, Bayern Munich faced Real Madrid for the return fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu. In what was a close contest, neither team was able to break the deadlock in the first half.
While Real Madrid continued to dominate the game, Bayern Munich‘s Alphonso Davies managed to give his side the lead in the 68th minute. Bayern had nearly won the tie when Real Madrid, rather characteristically, scored two late dramatic goals. The first came from an error by Bayern skipper Manuel Neuer, who spilled Vinicius’ shot in front of Joselu who happily accepted the gift and scored the equalizer in the 88th minute.
Joselu fell to the pitch in tears at full time after scoring two goals in less than five minutes to send Real Madrid to the Champions League.
His entire team ran to him to celebrate.
What a moment ❤️ pic.twitter.com/bnrsxQ7Fms
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 8, 2024
Just three minutes later, Joselu grabbed the winner with defender Antonio Rudiger providing the assist. With the game deep into injury time, Bayern had almost equalized when referee Szymon Marciniak ruled the goal to be offside. The decision was extremely controversial in nature, since the referee had blown the whistle just a second before Matthijs de Ligt put the ball into the net.
🔴 Matthijs de Ligt: “The linesman told me: sorry, I made a mistake”.
“It’s been a shame”, told @beINSPORTS_EN.pic.twitter.com/X4sjFu5As7
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 8, 2024
Despite vehement protests from the Bayern players, the referee didn’t reverse his decision, despite replays suggesting that the Bayern players might have been onside. After the game, a furious De Ligt called the decision a “shame” and even revealed that the linesman had apologized to him. Veteran Bayern star Thomas Muller also complained about the decision after the match.
🚨 Thomas Tuchel on referee’s mistake: “This would not have happened on Real Madrid side”. pic.twitter.com/SF0rAWPPYh
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 9, 2024
Muller admitted that the referees continue to influence decisions in favor of Real Madrid and that it has been also done in the past when Bayern faced Los Blancos. He said, “The referee’s decision was strange. This happens often in Madrid.” Lastly, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel also had his say on the controversial decision in the post-match interview, claiming that the referee’s decision could have been different had it been a Real Madrid goal.
Khabib Nurmagomedov explains why he didn’t attend Real Madrid-Bayern Munich clash
Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov recently revealed why he decided to skip Real Madrid’s second-leg clash against Bayern Munich after attending the first one. Nurmagomedov, who retired from the UFC in 2020, is a passionate Real Madrid supporter. He has often admitted in the past about his love for the Spanish giants and also revealed that he watched a lot of Liverpool’s games.
Khabib got a Barcelona fan to say Hala Madrid for a picture 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/FvcPdBDMDo
— WolfRMFC (@WolfRMFC) September 21, 2022
There was also a video of the 35-year-old former UFC fighter where he asked a young FC Barcelona supporter who wanted to click a picture with him to say “Hala Madrid“. Nevertheless, Nurmagomedov took to his Instagram a few hours ago to explain why he skipped Real Madrid’s match on Wednesday night.
View this post on Instagram
Nurmagomedov wrote that while he did initially think of attending the match, he decided against it and instead went to support his local club, FC Dynamo Makhachkala, a soccer club based in Dagestan, Khabib’s home city.