We wish him all the very best | OneFootball

I had to write something to heap some praise on former Newcastle United forward Joselu.

In last night’s European Champions League semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid trailed Bayern Munich and were heading out of the competition.

The Germans had taken a 1-0 lead (3-2 on aggregate) courtesy of a brilliant goal by Alphonso Davies midway through the second half.

Manuel Neuer had been busy all evening in the Bayern goal, but somehow, the superstars in the famous all white kit just couldn’t find a breakthrough.

When Joselu entered the fray late on, it was getting to the desperation stage for Real.

As the clock ticked down and the game entered it’s 88th minute, Real attacked again. A tame effort was inexplicably spilled by the usually calm and reliable Neuer and it was Joselu who snapped the chance up in an instant.

The relief poured down from the Real fans in the incredible five-tier Bernabeu stands, as their players ecstatically engulfed the hero of the hour Joselu.

As the game went into injury time Real went on the attack once more and the ball was fed down the left. A precision pass to the back post left Neuer in no man’s land, and who else was there again but that man Joselu to wrap things up.

The goal initially ruled out for offside but a VAR review showed that wasn’t the case and the goal stood. I understand that the referee and linesman were the same ones who officiated Newcastle United’s Champions League group game at the Parc de Princes and harshly awarded PSG a last gasp penalty.

Thomas Tuchel was disconsolate after the game and this season has turned into a disaster for Bayern. Harry Kane hasn’t stopped scoring but his elusive first triumph and medal will have to be put on hold for another year.

After being brought to Newcastle by Rafa Benitez in 2017, Joselu made 46 league appearances (starting 24 of them) for the club and scored six times.

He was a workhorse who got his fair share of stick before affectionately obtaining the nickame of ‘The Hoss’.

These were the horrible days of APPS (Ashley penny pinching strife) with the aim every season just being to gain enough points to stay in the Premier League.

Joselu left United in 2019 for a return to his homeland with Alaves. He did well and regained his confidence before moving on to Espanyol.

Here the goals flowed and in March 2023, Joselu was called into Spain’s international squad.

He made his Spain debut against Norway as a substitute and scored twice, becoming the oldest ever debutant at 33 to score for Spain.

Later in the year he rejoined Real Madrid on loan. He had previously made only one league appearance for Real in 2011/12, scoring during his six minutes on the pitch on debut..

I’ve said it before on The Mag that the Joselu story has now turned into Roy of the Rovers stuff.

He’s now 34 years old and I bet the stories he’s going to tell his grandbairns in the future are going to be tremendous.