He’d been in Hannover, Hoffenheim, Frankfurt, and Celta Vigo. Additionally, he has played for Stoke City, a team in the third division of Spain. He went to Alavés after stopping at OK but not spectacular Newcastle. He was a member of Espanyol’s squad that lost their relegation bаttle the previous season. At this time last year, Joselu was a 33-year-old drifter on his way to becoming unknown before Real Madrid called.

He is now a Champions League star in our eyes.

For the majority of his lengthy career, you most likely hadn’t heard of him. But on Wednesday night, under the brilliant lights of the Santiago Bernabeu, he stunneԀ Bayern Munich with two goals in the dying minutes of a Champions League quarterfinal. When the European kings were behind 1-0, he saved the day. He contributed to Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory and their fourth consecutive trip to the Champions League final. Real Madrid is a mysteriоus and talented team.

When the last whistle blew, he slumped with his face in his hands and his body spread out on the ground. His teammates heaped themselves on top of him.

Soon after, like everyone who has been following his travels, he looked around the opulent stadium, almost in shоck.

Less than two years ago, he traveled to Paris to support Real Madrid in the Champions League final while wearing a fictitious shirt.

He appears to be the subject of conversation about the greatest soccer squad ever every Wednesday night.

This is the most recent chapter in a lengthy tale whose conclusion occasionally seems predestined. Year after year, round after round, Real Madrid always manages to win the Champions League. Real Madrid has won the first five European Cups since the 1950s. They have won 14 times, with Joselu supporting them eight of those victories occurring between 1998 and 2022.

No matter who they are, where they are from, how hard their opponent hits the goal, or how much of a lead they have, the numbers fluctuate all the time, but they always pull through in trying times.

Following Alphonso Davies’s brace in the second half, which gave Bayern a 1-0 and 3-2 lead overall, they were behind.

However, they also trailed in the quarterfinals. They had trailed in each round to reach the 2022 championship game. In the 2018 semifinals, they fell behind, but a goal in the 98th minute gave them the advantage. In 2016 and 2017, they lagged behind Wolfsburg and Bayern. They persevered, and in the end, they won La Orejona, also known as “The Cup With Big Ears,” in late May or early June.

They had signed Galácticos’ backup shooter on loan for 500,000 euros last summer, and they used him this time.

Some of the greatest players in the world are on Real Madrid’s roster. However, on Wednesday, Jude Bellingham (transfer fee: about $110 million) and other people were struggling. I was wrong to think Vinicius Jr. was the best. Joselu was waiting; if Real Madrid exercises an option, he may go for less than $2 million.

He had been there but not truly since he joined his favorite club in July of last year. Karim Benzema needed to travel to Saudi Arabia. Kylian Mbappé was still unsure. Joselu was reasonably priced, accessible, and Did it seem worth a try?

Madrid was aware of his goal-scoring ability. On his eighteenth birthday, he had gone to the club. For Real’s B team, he scored 40 goals. He had just two appearances for Real Madrid, one in the Spanish Cup against a minor team and the other coming off the bench in the league.

He then moved to Hoffenheim, where he played 25 games and scored five goals. He traveled around the Bundesliga in Germany, the place of his birth. In 27 outings for Stoke in the English Premier League, he scored four goals. In 24 appearances while on loan with Deportivo La Coruña, he scored six goals. During two seasons at Newcastle, he scored seven goals in 52 games.

He finally got to 10 at Alavés, which was around the time of his 30th birthday. He seemed to get better with age, but still, Real Madrid? He had never played in the Champions League before. He had never played for Spain before 2023. And he wasn’t even in the world picture. He played for the “national team” of Galicia, the autonomous region in the northwest of Spain where he grew up.

But Real Madrid saw more than just a fill-in player for Mbappé and a drifter. That’s what a typical suρer sub looks like a finisher who has been used more and more and can do what he did Wednesday night right off the bench.

Still, it may have known that the glory of a Champions League night turns the talents inside that famous white jersey into full force.

Maybe it didn’t matter which substitutes boss Carlo Ancelotti used as the clock ran out on Wednesday.