A delayed start to the game did little to hamper the spirits of those present inside the Stade de France, where Liverpool met Real Madrid for the second time in four years to play for the UEFA Champions League trophy. As had happened on that day nearly half a decade ago, a winger was to decide the game in favour of Los Blancos.
But, whatever events may have transpired later on in the night, Liverpool were the ones on top early on. The Reds raced out of the blocks with intensity, suffocating their opponents inside their half and fashioning chances all over the attacking third.
An early one fell to Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian flicked Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross towards the goal with the back of his heel from close range, but Thibaut Courtois got down in an instant to parry it away to safety.
Twenty-one minutes in, and the game’s best opportunity fell to Sadio Mane, who created room for himself inside the box before unleashing a powerful goalbound shot, which was tipped onto the post by Courtois with yet another magnificent save.
Real Madrid’s best opening of the first period fell to Karim Benzema in the 43rd minute. The Liverpool defence stifled the Frenchman’s initial effort, but an almighty scramble inside the box broke the ball to his feet, and he poked it into the net from close range – only to be flagged for offside.
Liverpool started the second half as they did the first, on top. But, against the run of play, Real Madrid took the lead in the 59th minute. With Andrew Robertson caught high up the pitch, Federico Valverde broke forward from the right-wing.
Virgil van Dijk closed the midfielder down but refused to engage him in a challenge, causing the entire Reds’ backline to shuffle across to close the spaces. That manoeuvre proved to be their undoing, as Vinicius found space beyond Alexander-Arnold at the far post and smashed the ball into the net unchallenged when Valverde fizzed it across the box.
With a precious lead to protect, Courtois sprang into action at the other end of the pitch, making sensational stops from Salah in quick succession on the other side of the hour.
The Belgian’s best save of the night came in the 82nd minute when he threw his hand out to turn Salah’s shot over the bar from close range – an action which effectively sealed the win in favour of the Galacticos.
The referee blew his whistle not long after and Los Blancos celebrated the 14th Champions League win in their history. Liverpool, meanwhile, could only rue missed chances; the Reds attempted 24 shots, accumulated twice as much on the expected goals metric, but were left undone by stellar performances from their opposition on both ends of the pitch.
