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Carlo Ancelotti: He leads his staff to the optimum
Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Scene of the game:
It took almost an hour for Real Madrid to score the first regular goal on the Liverpool goal.
Fede Valverde brought the ball from the inside right position with a mixture of shots and passes to the far post, where Vinícius Júnior pushed it over the line.
1-0, an almost unreal score at the time, but what was normal about Real this season?
Result:
Real Madrid won the Champions League final against Liverpool 1-0 (0-0) and secured their 14th title in the premier class at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
Marcelo, the Real club legend who will retire at Real after the season, was the first to receive the trophy.
Here is the match report.
Excitement before kick-off:
A shake of the head by Thiago seemed to be the first bad news for Liverpool FC that evening.
The ailing strategist, part of the announced starting eleven, apparently had to pass shortly before the start of the game, his representative would have been the former Leipzig player Naby Keïta.
But look: Suddenly Thiago was fit again.
Flash Heal or Feint?
It was much more relaxed with Real's line-up - Madrid's starting XI was announced two and a half hours before the originally planned kick-off time.
Delay before kick-off:
9 p.m., 9.15 p.m., 9.20 p.m., 9.36 p.m. – the kick-off of the final was delayed further and further because of problems with the entrance of the Liverpool fans.
Uefa claimed that it was due to the late arrival of the spectators, fans and journalists contradicted: the entrance was not organized enough.
Uefa and its local partners had already failed at the Europa League final in Seville between Frankfurt and Glasgow.
First half:
It went from right to left in the direction of Real-Tor, exclusively.
Mohamed Salah forced Thibaut Courtois into a responsive dive for the first time in the 16th minute.
Shortly thereafter, Sadio Mané prevailed, but only hit the post because Courtois spectacularly deflected the ball (21st minute).
Things got complicated just before half-time: Karim Benzema scored in the Liverpool goal, but it took a long time to check whether the ball was controlled by a Liverpool player to Salah, who was offside.
Video assistant Jérôme Brisard supported the decision of referee Clément Turpin: no goal (45th).
The Reds were lucky at the end of a superior half.
Second half:
Liverpool kept going from half-chance to half-chance until Vinícius Júnior scored (59').
Bitter for Liverpool: Coach Klopp had specially placed the fast defender Ibrahima Konaté in the starting eleven in order to be able to counter the Brazilian's attacks with the appropriate speed.
Liverpool were first shocked, then angry: Salah failed at Courtois (64'), Salah failed at Courtois (69'), Diego Jota failed at Courtois (80') and Salah... failed at Courtois (82').
The 30-year-old Belgian in goal for the Madrilenians showed a world-class performance.
Carlo, the big one:
Other coaches may divide the playing field into zones more nicely, but none leads the existing staff to the optimum as the Italian, who always seems so low-spirited.
Ancelotti became the first coach this season to celebrate a championship in all five major European leagues.
Now he is also the first coach to win the premier class four times, twice with Milan and twice with Real.
He also won the sixth knockout duel against a German coach.
Suffered for the title:
You almost forgot – Real lost the first home game of this Champions League season to Sheriff Tiraspol.
Battles followed in the knockout stages against Paris Saint-Germain, the Messi team, against defending champions Chelsea, against Premier League champions Manchester City.
Three times they were almost over the cliff, three times they came back.
And to top it off, this final against Liverpool, which hit them with two dozen shots on goal.
Once again they had to suffer, suffer, suffer - to triumph again in the end.
No revenge for 2018:
Liverpool had already lost a premier class final four years ago.
Sergio Ramos was the decisive man back then, he fouled Salah off the field and checked LFC goalkeeper Loris Karius decisively.
Klopp and his team won the title against Tottenham the following year, but they failed to take revenge against Real despite their overwhelming superiority.
It was just the fourth defeat in a competitive game in this extraordinary season, which, despite three titles, ended with two disappointments, in the league and in the Champions League.
Bye-bye Béla:
»Corner, right?
Offside!” – Béla Réthy was also a seeker in his sixth and last Champions League final as a commentator.
Since 1996 he has been covering the really big games for ZDF and has infuriated countless fans with his legendary mistaken players and surprising pronunciation of professional names.
After the World Cup in Qatar, it's over for him, and the future has to begin at some point for Zweite Deutsche Fernsehen too.
Toni on fifth:
A German team has won the Champions League four times so far, and Toni Kroos has entered the list of winners five times.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo has ended a Champions League season as a victor more often.
Another milestone in an impressive career.
