Third cup in three years, fourth in the last five, third in three seasons on the Real Madrid bench. And after Cristiano Ronaldo's anthology goal against Juventus, this time Gareth Bale takes the chair: spectacular bicycle kick for the 2-1 and left-footed kick from outside (with the complicity of Liverpool goalkeeper Karius, also very guilty on Benzema's 1-0 ) to close the case. In Kiev, Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 and won their 13th European Cup. Above all, Zinedine Zidane enters the story, who happened to be on the bench of the blancos almost by chance, and in three seasons never eliminated from the top European competition. He has always won, three times out of three.
Three like the goals scored against Liverpool, who started off well but then lost their star Salah (knocked out by an incorrect play by Sergio Ramos, not sanctioned by the referee). The first half ends 0-0 but it is clear that the departure of the former Roma player has inexorably changed the inertia, especially the psychological one, of the match. Goalkeeper Karius especially suffered from it, literally giving Benzema the lead with a comical raise. After a few minutes Mané's equalizer arrives, one of the best of him. Then Bale's pearl: turned upside down in the corner and the match was almost over, in fact. The final closure is once again given by the English goalkeeper, who really makes a fool of himself in this final. For Klopp it is the second Champions League final lost, after that of 2013 when, at the helm of Borussia Dortmund, he was beaten by Bayern Munich in the German derby.
