France’s star of Euro 2016 Antoine Griezmann exorcised some of his Champions League demons with the penalty which put his side on the way to an appearance in the final against Portugal.
The Atletico Madrid forward missed in the shoot-out as City rivals Real won an 11th European Cup in May.
However, he nervelessly stepped up to score from the spot after Bastian Schweinsteiger had been penalised for handball in first-half added time.
His second of the game 20 minutes from time when he capitalised on an error from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer took him to six for the tournament, with only the great Frenchman Michel Platini (nine) having scored more at a single European Championship.
Antoine Griezmann, France hero and man-of-the-match:
“I really wanted to take a penalty in another important match.
“I’m pleased to have taken that decision and to have scored.
“For the second goal I was just lurking to see if there was a mistake from the goalkeeper, it dropped to my feet and I was delighted.
“It was a team effort from everyone at Clairefontaine (France’s national football centre) – I’m delighted for them all.
“We can start dreaming of July 10 (and a final against Portugal).
“We have to keep our feet on the ground, there’s still a match to go; both before and during the game it was great with our fans – let’s hope we can relive that in the final.”
Didier Deschamps, France coach:
“We have three days before the final, it’s very short so we have to savour this victory.
“It’s an important step forward but the most important step is Sunday.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to go in to Sunday’s game in the best possible condition.
“We had to suffer but never gave up and that’s great for me. This is a great story – the players wrote history by knocking out Germany.
“We don’t have the power to solve people’s problems but we can generate emotions so they forget their worries.
“We generate passion and fervour, we can see that.”
Joachim Low, Germany manager:
“We were the better team. We put in a lot of effort, showed good body language, got forward and were good in one-on-ones.
“We were unfortunate to concede a penalty a minute before half-time, that was bad luck.
“We had our chances but didn’t score. Today we didn’t have the luck we needed; in 2010 and 2012 when we went out, the sides were better than us.
“Today we were better than the French but for the goals and result.
“The side did everything I told them, showed a lot of courage so there’s nothing to reproach them for.
“This was a good tournament for us. I haven’t seen too many errors from us. Overall, we have a great side.”
And here’s the best of the reaction on social media to Les Bleus’ win: