Vinicius Jr’s second-half strike gave Real Madrid victory in the Champions League final against Liverpool in Paris last night. Jurgen Klopp’s bid to claim the trophy for the Reds for the seventh time ended in bitter disappointment as Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois produced a great individual performance to secure the Spanish giants their 14th European cup triumph. Gulf News football experts discuss last night’s action.
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00:00Jurgen Klopp's team tried everything but they came up against
00:04Courtois in goal who was just absolutely unbeatable yesterday. He produced about 20
00:10world-class stops.
00:19Liverpool's bid to claim the Champions League trophy for what would have been the seventh time
00:24ended in disappointment last night after Vinicius Junior's second half strike gave
00:29Real Madrid victory in the final in Paris. Jurgen Klopp's team tried everything but they came up
00:36against Courtois in goal who was just absolutely unbeatable yesterday. He produced about 20
00:43world-class stops. Six from Mo Salah himself who was looking for revenge for that 2018 final where
00:50he got injured against Real Madrid which Liverpool went on to lose obviously 3-1.
00:56The win gives Carlo Ancelotti made history by becoming the first coach to win the Champions
01:02League four times. I'm joined by Sahil to discuss last night's game. Sahil, what did you make of it
01:08all? Well, it was a good game obviously. You could see that Liverpool had dominated the game. They
01:16had the chances. Real Madrid scored on the first shot on target and if we see that always we keep
01:23saying that Liverpool on paper were better and they were showing that they were better but in
01:27the end they did not take their chances. So it clearly shows that that mentality again comes in
01:33where Real Madrid have that the Champions League mentality and this is their, I don't know, fifth
01:38Champions League in eight years. So they've done it again and they've worked hard for it and they
01:45deserve it I guess. Yeah, they worked absolutely hard. I mean Liverpool started that game really
01:50well. They came at them. It was one-way traffic and as we know Carlo Ancelotti's team defend really
01:56well but honestly Courtois in goal, man of the match. I mean if he wasn't in goal this could
02:01have been five or six nil to Liverpool, couldn't it have been? Surely. I mean he was on fire. You could
02:08just see that this is one of the best Champions League performances of all time in a final. Wow.
02:12How did he save that goal for Mane? How? That was an impossible save because Courtois was going on
02:19his right and Mane had struck it on the left side of the goal and somehow he got a palm turn and
02:24hit the post. That is just magical. You can say it's a heroic performance.
02:31Like they needed a hero and their goalkeeper was their hero today. Absolutely spot on. That's the
02:36right word to describe it. It was heroic. I mean literally had he not been in goal Liverpool would
02:41have been out of sight within the first 15 or 20 minutes. I mean they came out of the blocks like we
02:45know Liverpool do. They play on the front foot and really aggressive. They closed the space down. They
02:50did all of that. So there was nothing wrong with Liverpool's performance yesterday. They played
02:53like you know how we all expected them to play but they came up against Courtois who was just
02:58absolutely unbeatable. It's not the first time he's played that way especially in the Champions League
03:01this season against PSG. He did the same thing. Made some incredible saves against Man City.
03:07Did the same thing. Kept them in the tie against Chelsea. You know we've got to talk about Real
03:13Madrid's comebacks this season in those three games in particular. They've been so close.
03:17So close especially against Man City. Come on 5-3 in injury time. Rodrigo scored two goals
03:23in injury time. Set the game to extra time. I mean they could have been knocked out ages ago but
03:28what is it about them that's been so impressive this season? So how have they managed to
03:32you know get through these tough games against those three teams? The European champions Chelsea,
03:36PSG, Messi and Neymar up front, Mbappe and then Man City but they've blown them all away and now
03:42they've beaten Liverpool in a final which you know for the first 15-20 minutes at least they just
03:47weren't even contesting. You know I keep saying this like it's that mentality that Real Madrid
03:53mentality in the Champions League. Look at the manager there Carlo Angelotti. You said he's one
03:57of four Champions Leagues with different teams that too. So he is this is I think a second for
04:03Real Madrid and what he's done for them is brilliant. Like I guess he knows how to motivate
04:09his players and this season they've had heroes in each game. Courtois is one hero. Benzema won them
04:15against PSG. An unbelievable hat-trick against Man City. Benzema scored two important goals in the
04:20first leg. Vinicius Junior has done everything this season you know. I remember him getting a lot of
04:26slack in the past few seasons when he joined Real Madrid that he didn't have the finishing touch.
04:30There you go and Vinicius Junior scored in the Champions League final for them. He was at the
04:34right place, right time and then you see that midfield three. Cruz, Modric, Casemiro. How long
04:41have we been seeing these three? How many Champions Leagues have they won together now?
04:45Four Champions Leagues. Like Modric, this is Modric's fifth and Casemiro and Cruz joined
04:51Modric but this these three in midfield have not changed. It's the same midfield and that's why
04:57they keep winning. You can see Valverde started on the right side yesterday for Angelotti. He had
05:03Asensio, he had Rodrigo, he had Gareth Bale on the bench but he started Valverde and Valverde was
05:09one of probably the assists. So these decisions Mr. Angelotti makes is great and I guess so if
05:15you're asking me what is the reason? I guess it's their manager. The manager deserves huge amount
05:20of credit. Everyone talks about Pep, Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp obviously for genuinely good reasons.
05:26Those two are fantastic but Angelotti has been doing this for for way longer. Obviously he's
05:31older than these guys, he's won titles in every league that he's played in. Spanish league, Italian
05:36league, English league. He's done it everywhere. Four Champions Leagues is not a joke either but
05:41the players that you touched on, you're absolutely right again. I mean people like Modric for example
05:45he's gonna be 37 I think pretty soon but he's still playing like he's you know 27. He's still
05:51able to pull those strings, you know he knows what to do on the ball. He's never under pressure
05:55on the ball. He looks like he's got more time than anybody. He can carry on playing for probably
06:00another couple just like Ronaldo at Man United you know he's fit as a fiddle. Modric as well
06:05can carry on going. How long do you think he can keep playing for? As long as he wants like four
06:09five years more he can definitely reach that 40 plus mark and play and he's gonna stay another
06:14year at Real Madrid. Let's see how he does that year also but he looks like he doesn't want to
06:19leave Real Madrid. So let's see how he goes on. Yeah I think definitely Real Madrid looking very
06:24strong. Obviously they've got Rudiger now next season at the back so that'll make him even more
06:28stronger. Looks like Bale's gonna be saying goodbye. He didn't manage to get onto the pitch.
06:33Still got a winner's medal though so he leaves but yeah Real are looking really strong. Let's
06:38talk about Liverpool just for a little while. You know for a long long time there was talk about
06:42that historic quadruple and it was very much there for them. Very unlucky for them to lose a league
06:47title by one point to Man City. That too on the final day of the season and then obviously they
06:52come to the Champions League final. They did like we said everything right. They had loads of shots
06:56on target. More shots than actually Real Madrid but came up against Courtois and goal but they do
07:02end the season now with just two domestic trophies. The FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. I mean considering
07:09what they could have achieved and what they've actually gone on to do. Look for most teams two
07:13trophies is amazing. Most teams one trophy is really good. They've still got two trophies but
07:19they've lost out on the two big ones. The Premier League and the Champions League. How do you think
07:23Klopp and the team and the fans are going to be feeling this morning? I mean obviously they'll be
07:28feeling devastated because they're yet so close but yet so far for these two trophies. For the
07:34Premier League. For the Champions League. Yes they won the FA Cup. They won the League Cup.
07:38Doesn't matter you know. They shouldn't feel disappointed. I'm sure the fans will not be
07:42disappointed at their team. Yes Liverpool should have taken their chances in the Champions League.
07:46There's no doubt about that. There's no excuse that oh Courtois did this that. No you have to find
07:51just find that bottom corner then. That's all you can say but I mean Liverpool have done nothing
07:56wrong. They have done absolutely brilliant this season with the team they have. The way Jurgen
08:01Klopp grooms his players. Absolutely fantastic. They should not feel disappointed. They should
08:06have their heads held up high because next season they're going to do the same. They're
08:11going to fight for the Premier League. They're going to fight for the Champions League. Obviously
08:14for the other two domestic cups. So for me having Liverpool have done brilliantly. They've done
08:20nothing wrong. Yes they were they missed out on Premier League thanks to some Man City heroics
08:25and here they lost to the Champions League thanks to some Thibaut Courtois heroics
08:29but they should not feel sad at all. They've done brilliant. They've done brilliant and in fact Jurgen
08:33Klopp's already been saying yesterday in his press conferences that they should the Liverpool fans
08:38should be booking the hotel at Istanbul for next season because he's that confident that he's going
08:42to be getting them to the Champions League final again. I think I mean with that team that they've
08:46got obviously there's been some rumors about Sadio Mane about what his next move is going to be.
08:51Mo Salah has already said he's going to be staying on for another season. They've got the likes of
08:55Diaz there, Jota there, Firmino, Van Dijk at the back. We know how strong they are but what do you
09:00think they can achieve next season? Was this a chance you know for that quadruple? Do you think
09:04they'll ever have a chance like this again? Do you think they can achieve this next season?
09:08I mean it's not like when you say the word quadruple it's not an easy task. Come on like yes
09:13they were contending for everything. Credit to them. Even you know when you're contending for
09:18four trophies in one that's a big deal so credit to them but it's not easy to win a quadruple.
09:24If you're asking me if they'll get it again I can't really say that but you know why not? Why
09:29can't they do it again? They have such a fantastic squad and for Mane I mean the way he's talking in
09:35the press conference I'm not going to say anything now because he's not sure. He might want to leave
09:40the way when someone says that they're not sure. They might want to look for another adventure
09:45so it looks like Sadio Mane might leave from what he speaks in the press conference.
09:51Yeah it does seem that way. If that is the case I mean that is going to be a big player to try
09:56to replace. Obviously we know what he does for the team from the front. They defend from the front
10:00with that front three. The way they press the defenders if they could get someone
10:04who's similarly as good as doing that you know it could still be a good season for Liverpool
10:10next season but unfortunately for them they've lost the Champions League final. Congratulations
10:15to Real Madrid. We'll end it there. Sahil thanks for joining us. In the meantime guys
10:19head to golfnews.com for all the latest news reviews and videos and we'll be back for more
10:23football chat soon. Thank you. Thank you.