In a filled Stade de France in Paris, Thibaut Courtois’ countless marvelous saves paved the way for Real Madrid to defeat Liverpool 1-0 in the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League Final. The goal, on a classic Madrid counter, came at the 59th minute courtesy of a Vinicius Jr. tap in from Frede Valverde’s cross from the right-wing.
The start of the game was originally delayed over half an hour due to “security reasons” as Liverpool fans seemed to arrive late and then wanted to enter en masse instead of in an orderly fashion so that the stadium security folks could scan and control a well-ordered flow. As it turned out the issues were a bit more controversial. But as the seats finally filled up with Liverpool Red and Real Madrid White providing a festive contrast in the stands, the game began.
Liverpool had enjoyed the upper hand for most of the first half and at an advanced stage of the half had an 8-0 advantage on shots at goal. But as the half was coming to an end, TV screens were filled with the more telling stats—Liverpool had completed 86% of their 318 passes and Madrid had completed 88% of their 316, the run of play had been more even than we had thought. At game’s end possession would favor Liverpool 54%-46% as would shots 24-4 and those on target 9-2. But Real had long shown they only need a few chances to score and after Karim Benzema was judged by VAR to have been offsides in an earlier score, Vinny’s subsequent tap-in would suffice for Madrid to win their 14th UEFA Champions League UCL).
Madrid’s 14th win is a record, but so is Carlo Ancelotti’s fourth UCL managerial win—two with AC Milan and two with Real Madrid. These wins are in addition to his two European Cup (UCL’s predecessor) wins as a player. Ancelotti now stands alone in the number of Champions League wins by a manager and as the only manager who has won Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga domestic championships.
As the European Club Football season comes to an end, Madrid, losers of the Kylian Mbappe sweepstakes to PSG, can now look forward to a little reshuffling at the Bernabeu as club president, Florentino Perez, must be looking to make up for his transfer misstep. But there are few big names left to pursue, so it will be interesting to see how Florentino’s summer goes.
Photo 229929234 / Thibaut Courtois © Marco Canoniero | Dreamstime.com
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