No matter how dangerous the situation may seem, no matter how unlikely victory may appear, the white team always seems to find a way to win.
The night, however, was unfortunately marred by security problems outside the stadium, which caused fans to climb through the doors and others to be the target of tear gas in scenes that will be discussed during the next few days.
For much of the match it wasn’t pretty; It looked like the white shirts were constantly scattered around the penalty area as they desperately tried to repel waves after waves of Liverpool attacks.
The chances were few and far between for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, but only one was missing. Vinicius Junior appeared completely unmarked on the far post when it came to sending with a low cross from Federico Valverde and got the 1-0 victory and the 14th European crown of Real.
The Real Nacho defender described as “magical” what his team had done in the round of 16 of the Champions League and many questioned whether those unlikely acts of escape were possible outside the Bernabeu.
But doubt Real at your own risk. This team always has another trick up its sleeve.
When it was the whistle of the full time, Real’s bench exploded and emptied the pitch. Aside from their joy, some players fell to the ground and others ran to share the moment with their fans.
It was another night of testing and tribulation for Real in the Champions League this season, but no one can do much, even this extraordinary Liverpool team, when the Whites seem to have a date with destiny.
Ancelotti summed it up perhaps as well as anyone can expect. “This club is special,” he said.
Ugly scenes before the match
Real Madrid fans had filled the end of the stadium almost completely more than an hour before the start and welcomed their players with a thunderous welcome as they left the tunnel for the warm-up.
Liverpool fans took a little longer to seep into the ground, but those who had taken their seats gave the men in red a serenade with a rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” when the heating.
The atmosphere generated by the two sets of fans was tingling and there was electricity in the air that is reserved only for this type of occasion.
However, the launch was delayed by more than 35 minutes due to unpleasant scenes outside the stadium, with many fans unable to enter and tear gas used by the authorities.
Some fans were seen climbing through closed doors to enter the ground as dangerous bottlenecks formed around the narrow entry points.
The governing body of European football, UEFA, issued a statement saying that “the turnstiles at the Liverpool end were blocked by thousands of fans who had bought fake tickets that did not work on the turnstiles”.
He added: “As the number outside the stadium continued to increase after the start of the match, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them to leave the stadium.”
“UEFA is sympathetic to those affected by these events and will urgently review these matters together with the French police and authorities and the French Football Federation.”
A spokesman for the Paris Police Headquarters said: “People without tickets forced the barriers and tried to enter the stadium to watch the match. These attempts created crowd movements.”
In a statement, Liverpool said they were “very disappointed” by the problems outside the stadium and called for a formal investigation.
“I haven’t been able to talk to my family yet, but I know the families had real struggles to get into the stadium,” Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said after the game.
“I heard some things that weren’t good. It was obviously pretty complicated, but I don’t know any more.”
The duration of the delay meant that the teams had to go out again for a second warm-up before the match started.
With both groups of fans preparing for the original local start time at 9pm, and with no updates at the stadium until fifteen minutes later, there was palpable tension in the air. with many confusing conversations between followers.
But the appearance of FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the big screen woke up fans of the dream, as he was met with boos and loud taunts from all over the stadium.
When singer Camila Cabello finally started pre-match entertainment almost half an hour after the match should have started, fans of both teams drowned again to drown out their singing, which barely faded. I was listening to “Ole, Ole, Ole” from Real. and Go, Go, Go Liverpool. ‘
Liverpool domains
The delay had clearly affected the players, as both teams had difficulty finding any kind of rhythm in the early stages. Steps were being diverted, permits were being skewed, and both sides were struggling to find incursions into the opposition area.
When the first chance came after more than 15 minutes of play, it was thanks to a good individual work by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who overcame two Real defenses before crossing a shallow cross into the area.
Mo Salah was there to find him, but he came to his feet a little uncomfortable and Thibaut Courtois was just as. Salah’s second chance came shortly after, but it was hit directly by the Real goalkeeper.
It was the first time either team had managed to put sustained pressure on each other, and Liverpool fans soon groaned again when Alexander-Arnold fired over the crossbar when he was well placed inside the area.
After more than five minutes of continuous waves of red shirts hitting the Real defense, Sadio Mané thought he had found the first goal only for Courtois to get, in an unlikely way, a hand on his shot and aimed it at the post. .
It is a testament to how remarkable was the stop that most Liverpool fans at the other end of the stadium had already begun to celebrate in anticipation of the wave of the network.
At this stage, almost 30 minutes later, the best Real could muster was a cross over Vinicius who was looking for a split second so he could upset Alisson in the Liverpool goal.
Now a clear pattern emerged; the white ones were glued to their own half, trampled and unable to escape Liverpool’s attack.
Real fans, to their credit, continued to chant and wave their flags and scarves to try to bring their team to life. They had the best seats in the house to witness Liverpool’s near-perfect first half, but fortunately for them the only thing they hadn’t seen up close was a goal.
At this point, it was obvious that the players of Carlo Ancelotti lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After the ball bounced around the penalty area, Benzema threw himself to nail the ball home under Alisson, only to see his goal immediately dismissed by the line judge’s flag.
What initially seemed like an easy offside decision ended up confirming what seemed like an age, as VAR officials had a hard time deciding whether the starting ball had come from a Liverpool player.
Finally, after a nervous wait, it was the red ones who celebrated boisterously when the decision of the offside was confirmed. It was a tense enough end for what had been an exciting first part.
It really jumps
There was a familiarity with how the second half began to unfold as Liverpool kept up the pressure on a Real side set that quickly seemed to sink under the weight of the occasion.
It was a strange sight. After all, this is a team that has made a name for itself in this competition, constantly rewriting the record books and pushing forward what seemed impossible.
Then came the goal. It was against the game, yes, with Liverpool looking like the only team to score in the opening hours, but in fact that goal still seemed inevitable. He always does when he plays for Real Madrid.
Valverde ran onto a great ball from Vinicius, which beat the offside trap, the keeper came rushing out and the lob was attempted, but the lob didnt succeed.
Cue bedlam. The concrete stairs inside the Stade de France began to shake as the celebrations of the Real fans lasted almost five minutes. Numerous flares were fired when that end of the stadium began to glow red and smoke filled the cold air of Paris.
Salah did his best to drag Liverpool level, cutting in and bending a wonderful shot to the far post, but Courtois was once again able to eliminate it at full stretch.
Courtois saves Madrid
Vinicius will be applauded for his winning goal, but when the dust settles in, there will be talk of Courtois’ performance as one of the greatest all-time goalkeepers in a League final. Champions.
As the clock ticked, he kept Salah in line, this time throwing the ball back for a corner while the Egyptian’s shot was thrown to the far corner.
“When the goalkeeper is the man of the game, something is wrong with the other team. In the last third we could have done better,” Klopp said after the game.
With every opportunity missed, Madrid’s inevitable victory grew. The real fans heard it; so did Liverpool.
Although Klopp’s team continued to press until the end, the celebrations had already begun for the Madrid fans. The joy when the whistle sounded full time was tinged with much relief: these fans know the ordeal it was tonight.
Real Madrid should not have gotten this far. Three times the defeat was looked at in the face during the campaign and three times it came out somehow the other way around.
But once he arrived in Paris, there might have been no doubt that this would be the end result.