Spanish superpower Real gilds Champions League legacy
Real Madrid has once again become the champion of the UEFA Champions League, the hall of excellence in European club football. On Saturday night , May 29, 2022 (IST) at Stade de France in Paris, France, Spanish superpower Real defeated English club Liverpool 1-0 in the final match of the 2021-22 season to win a record-breaking 14th UCL title. Brazil’s rising star forward Vinicius Jr. scored the winning goal for the Galacticos in the 59th minute of the match at Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, Paris. The best player of the match was Thibaut Courtois, who stood as the Great Wall of China at the goalpost. Real’s Belgian goalkeeper returned Liverpool’s one-on-one goal efforts with extraordinary skills.
Match in brief
Vinicius scored in the 59th minute of the match. Before and after that, with incredible skill, Courtois saved one goal after another. In the pair of the two, Real’s last title of this year’s incredible champions league journey. Real beat Liverpool 1-0 in Paris on Saturday to take home their 14th Champions League. Ancelotti won a record fourth Champions League title.
Incredible record of Real Madrid in Champions League
Having played a record maximum of 17 times in the final, Real have arranged this 14th trophy in their own showcase. It has become inevitable that Real will win the title if they reach the Champions League final. The last time Real lost in the final was 41 years ago in 1981. Since then, Los Blancos have set a unique record of winning all the eight finals of the game. Interestingly, the last time Real lost the final to Liverpool was four decades ago, the gap was 1-0. This time, the La Liga champions have taken a sweet revenge of that loss. For the fifth time in nine seasons, Real have won the Champions League title for the fifth time. The mission began in 2014 by defeating city rivals Atletico Madrid. After arch-rival Barcelona became champion in 2015, Real set an incredible record of being hat-trick champions three times in a row in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
A look back at Real-Liverpool rivalry
This unique achievement was added to Real’s showcase under the coaching of French magician Zinedine Zidane. Now, after three seasons, they have restored European supremacy under the world record-setting coach Carlo Ancelotti. On the other hand, this time in the 10th final in their history, the famous red jersey holder Liverpool had to be blue in the pain of losing to Real once again. The Reds, who have been champions six times so far, have tasted defeat four times in the final, including this time. This is their third final in five seasons. In 2018, the Reds won the title by defeating their country’s opponents Tottenham Hotspur the year after losing 3-1 to Real in the final in Kiev, Ukraine. This time it’s a dream broken by Real again. That means losing two of the three finals, Real is the opponent in both.
Everyone is praising Real Madrid
After the success of this season, the enemy and ally are all busy praising Benzema, Modric, Courtois. According to them, the Champions League itself has been made an ancestral property by Real. In their DNA, there is the Champions League, there is history, tradition, glory, passion, above all there is pure and strong emotional attachment to the club. For these reasons, even in this modern era, no one has been able to beat Real in the final so far.
Liverpool controlled possession of the ball
Real’s dominance in the Champions League is clear. The number of titles of the most successful team has doubled compared to the second most successful team in the tournament. That is, Italian club AC Milan has won the trophy the second highest number of seven times. And real has 14! This time it will not be too much to say that Liverpool played in the final and Real won. This is evident in the statistics of the match. The All Reds, who are ahead in possession of the ball, have attempted to score 24 times. Among those shots were 9 on target. But every time, Real keeper Courtois has disappointed them. On the other hand, Real became the champion by keeping only two shots on target in the whole match and scoring a goal from one.
Bid farewell to Marcelo
Although he did not have a chance to take the field on the night of winning the title, Brazilian star Marcelo ended the Real Madrid chapter with this match. The left-back, who was present with the family, said in an emotional voice, “The feeling is very cruel. This is my last game for Real Madrid. But I’m very happy. It’s not a sad day, I’m going with a lot of joy. Thank you to the fans for the magical nights we had at the Bernabeu.
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