Real Madrid defeated Liverpool and won its 14th Champions League. Real Madrid was largely dominated but saved on many occasions by Thibaut Courtois. This final started with 36 minutes of delay because of problems of access to the stadium of the fans.
Badly treated for 90 minutes, Carlo Ancelotti’s team made use of its efficiency but above all could count on a Thibaut Courtois of anthology to lift the 14th C1 of its history. A simply legendary performance.
Vinicius scored the only goal of this final in the 59th minute. Casemiro, Modric and Carvajal resisted Liverpool’s pressure and found Valverde on the right side. The Uruguayan midfielder broke through and crossed hard to the far post, where Vinicius Jr, left alone by Alexander-Arnold, put a flat-footed shot past Alisson (0-1, 59′).
Thibaut Courtois, who made several decisive saves, played the whole game in the Madrid goal, while Eden Hazard remained on the bench throughout the match.
The two Red Devils enter the very closed circle of Belgian players winning the C1, a circle in which they join Eric Gerets, European champion with PSV in 1998, Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich, 2013) and Divock Origi, European champion with Liverpool in 2019.
Thibaut Courtois, with Atletico Madrid in 2012, and Eden Hazard with Chelsea in 2013 and 2019, had already won the Europa League.
This is the 14th “Cup with big ears” raised by Real, which holds the record far ahead of AC Milan (7 wins). The Merengue club, which gave Spain a 19th victory in the C1, had previously been crowned in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Real has not lost a C1 final since 1981 and a final against … Liverpool lost at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The Reds have been European champions six times (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005, 2019). This is the fourth time that the English club lost in the final after 1985, 2007 and 2018.
If he did not score on Saturday (his goal in the 45th was cancelled by the VAR), Karim Benzema still finishes at the top of the Champions League scoring chart with 15 goals.
GARETH BALE equaled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for FIFTH Champions League…even though he’s only played seven minutes in the competition this season.
