A sensational overhead goal from Real Madrid substitute Gareth Bale and two calamitous errors by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius gave the Spanish side a third straight Champions League crown with a 3-1 win.
Bale came on just past the hour with the score at 1-1 and after three minutes produced an astonishing bicycle kick finish and then netted with a speculative long-range effort that somehow went through the hands of the unfortunate Karius.
The German keeper had earlier handed Real a 51st minute lead when he threw the ball straight at striker Karim Benzema and the ball rolled into the unguarded net off the Frenchman’s leg.
“Great emotions. To lift three Champions League trophies with this club, this team is magnificent,” said Real’s coach Zinedine Zidane.
“We don’t quite realise what we have achieved yet. We are going to enjoy the moment. “
Liverpool, who lost their leading scorer Mohamed Salah to a suspected dislocated shoulder in the 31st minute, equalised in the 55th when Sadio Mane scored after getting on the end of a Dejan Lovren header.
Bale, who has started off the bench for much of this season, was named man of the match while 24-year-old Karius ended the night in tears.
“We started well and played exactly like we wanted to,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has now lost his last six finals as a coach.
“The situation with Sergio Ramos (and Salah) looked really bad and it was a shock for the team, we lost the positive momentum,” he said.
Real now become the first side since Bayern Munich in 1976 to win Europe’s elite club trophy three years in a row and Zinedine Zidane the first coach to win three back-to-back titles.
Liverpool made an agressive start to the game, Trent Alexander-Arnold testing Navas with a low drive.
But Real looked in charge following the tearful departure of Salah.
Real had their own injury blow with right-back Dani Carvajal having to go off, replaced by Nacho in the 37th, and ended the half with Benzema’s effort being disallowed for offside after Cristiano Ronaldo’s header was saved by Karius.
France striker Benzema was to get compensation though when he was alert to Karius’s ill-advised attempt to throw the ball out quickly.
Real’s lead lasted just four minutes however, after Mane was quick to react when Lovren rose to head the ball.
But then came Bale, leaping to produce a jaw-dropping left-foot overhead volley from Marcelo’s cross before trying his luck with a speculative long-range shot that defied Karius’s ham-fisted attempt to keep it out and put the result beyond doubt.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who now has five Champions League winners medals, could have added a fourth goal for Real near the end but the Portugal forward was distracted when a fan ran onto the pitch before being stopped by security.
Source:AFP
