PARIS (AP) – Another Champions League title for Real Madrid, the undisputed king of Europe.
Another European football game haunted by chaotic crowds and clutter.
Madrid became European champions for the 14th time, twice as many as any other team on the continent, after beating Liverpool 1-0 in a final that began 37 minutes late due to disturbing scenes outside the ‘Stade de France on Saturday. He evoked memories of the violence that marred the European Championship final at Wembley Stadium 10 months ago.
Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior was the winner of the match, with a shot from close range in the 59th minute with a shot from Federico Valverde in the goal, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois received the same applause with impressive stops from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
“No one would stand in my way today,” Courtois said. “I was going to win a Champions League no matter what.”
He gave Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti the fourth European Cup title, the largest in the history of the competition for a coach, and completed the Champions League-La Liga double for a Spanish giant for which winning titles is rooted in its culture.
And this time, it was not necessary the kind of exciting comeback that Madrid had to produce to beat Paris Saint-Germain, the Chelsea and Manchester City defender in the knockout stages. It may be the most exhausting race in the title in the long history of the competition
“We are the best,” said Madrid striker Karim Benzema. “It was a very difficult competition for us and we deserved to win this final. With all the history this team has, we showed everyone that we are always here.”
The Liverpool players ended a promising season – a week ago, a quadruple of unprecedented major trophies – with only two national cups in England to prove their efforts. They lost the Premier League title by one point last weekend and the Champions League to a Madrid team that shot at goal in the final.
Playing their 64th game of the season, Liverpool were unable to beat Courtois, who tipped Mane’s shot into the post in the first half and produced an even better stop to deflect Salah’s effort at 81.
It is unfathomable that Liverpool, who own one of the most devastating attacks in world football, have failed to score a single goal in their three cup finals this season. The Reds won the FA Cup and the League Cup on penalties after a 0-0 draw after extra time.
“In the dressing room, no one thinks it’s been a great season right now,” said Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp.
The Liverpool players stayed on the field to see Marcelo, the winner of the Madrid trophy series who did not even play a minute of the final, to receive the honor of raising the trophy on a fireworks display and tapes.
Marcelo is one of the many players from Madrid who have won the fifth title in the Champions League, just a record held by Francisco Gento, a great Madrid of the 50s and 60s.
For many, especially Liverpool fans, pre-match crowd problems overshadowed this final, and will surely be the focus of an investigation by UEFA and the authorities in the coming days.
Riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray at Liverpool fans forced to wait in long queues to enter the most important club match of the European season, the launch of which was delayed.
UEFA blamed the chaos on people trying to enter the stadium without legitimate tickets.
“In the run-up to the match, Liverpool’s turnstiles were blocked by thousands of fans who bought fake tickets that did not work on turnstiles,” UEFA said in a statement.
Some fans climbed the fences surrounding the stadium to enter. Others passed security and sprinted into the lobby before fighting on the ground.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
“I have very bad asthma and I have been given tear gas twice,” Liverpool fan Angela Murphy told The Associated Press through a fence. “I’m struggling a lot.”
About 15 minutes before the scheduled start of 9pm local time, it was announced that there would be a delay. He was greeted with mockery inside the stadium.
Liverpool said they were “very disappointed” with the safety problems experienced by their fans, who recalled last summer away from Wembley before the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy. This was largely due to English fans trying to enter his stadium aggressively.
“I know the families had real struggles to get into the stadium,” Klopp said. “We’ll leave it at that for the investigation to find out … It was obviously quite complicated.”
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