A goal from Vinicius Jr was enough for Los Blancos to win 1-0.
- Real Madrid celebrated a 14th European Cup victory on Saturday after beating Liverpool 1-0 in a tense Champions League final at the Parc des Princes.
- The match between the La Liga and Premier League giants kicked off 30 minutes late due to organizational problems, as reports spread of ticketless fans storming Gate U to gain illegal access to the ground, and those with valid entry being forced to wait outside the stadium for up to two hours in blistering heat in the French capital.
Liverpool were made to pay for squandering a flurry of chances in a scoreless first half, with Vinicius Jr netting the only goal of the game a quarter of an hour into the UEFA showpiece fixture’s second installment.
Slipping behind the backline and losing his marker Trent Alexander Arnold, the Brazilian wonderkid slotted home past compatriot Alisson after latching on to a low-driven Fede Valverde pass and was subsequently mobbed by his teammates.
Just as pivotal in the win was Man of the Match Thibaut Courtois, who kept Mohamed Salah at bay with a string of world class saves.
As future Ballon d’Or hopeful Vinicius Jr. clinched his first UCL crown, veteran teammates such as Luka Modric, Casemiro, Marcelo, and Karim Benzema secured their fifth.
In the dugout, Carlo Ancelotti has now won football’s most coveted trophy a record four times as a manager after surpassing Zinedine Zidane who scooped three back-to-back Champions League titles with the Bernabeu club from 2016-2018.
After embarking on a formidable run that saw them dump out Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea, and Manchester City on the way to trumping Liverpool in the final, Madrid are now seven triumphs in front of Ancelotti’s former club and nearest rivals AC Milan (7) as the continent’s kings.
