Real Madrid became the European champions for a record-lengthening 14th time following defeating Liverpool 1-0 in a Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris.
Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior triggered from a close-range finish in the 59th minute from Federico Valverde’s pass across the face of goal, sealing a 1-0 lead for Madrid that remained unharmed until the final whistle blew.
Liverpool, who ended the season with 2 domestic cups in England, could not find a way past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The Madrid goalkeeper turned Sadio Mane’s first-half shot onto the post and gave an even better save to turn away Mohamed Salah’s endeavour in the 81st minute.
With the victory, Madrid now own double the number of European Cups as the No. 2 on the list, AC Milan, who have 7. Liverpool are on 6.
Carlo Ancelotti is now the sole manager to triumph 4 Champions League titles, outshining Bob Paisley’s 3 European Cups with Liverpool and Zinedine Zidane’s hat-trick as Madrid boss.
Before, the match was evenly hanged at 0-0 by the halftime with Liverpool hitting the post and owing the possession in the first 45 minutes.
There was a 36-minute deferral to the kick-off as police tried to control people trying to force their way into the stadium.
About 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled kickoff of 9:00 PM local time (1900 GMT), an annunciation was made that there would be a delay, criticizing the late arrival of fans to the location.
Whilst both teams got off to a careful start, Sadio Mane came even closer in the 21st minute with a low shot that Madrid goalkeeper Courtois managed to divert onto the post.
Liverpool resumed with their pressurizing game with Mohamed Salah evaluating the goalkeeper twice in search of a superiority.
Madrid almost scored before the half-time however Karim Benzema’s effort was declared offside after a lengthy VAR review. The striker did smashed the ball home in the 43rd minute.
