By the end
he could barely walk. He looked as though he played half injured from
his thigh strain. He was some way from his best. And yet, come that
final moment, when Real Madrid needed a penalty to be scored to win a
record eleventh European Cup, it was, of course, inevitably Cristiano
Ronaldo who stepped up.
Somehow,
he is destined to dominate, even when not at his best. A season which
has often been chaotic, haphazard and saw Rafa Benitez dismissed and a
rookie coach appointed in Zinedine Zidane, ends in a historic
achievement.
As
for their cross city rivals, Atletico, it ends desperately again. In
1974 they came within minutes; in 2014, against Real Madrid, they came
within seconds. Last night they came within a penalty kick of this
trophy. Juanfran, so excellent in the game, was their fall guy hitting
the post on Atletico’s fourth penalty, allowing Ronaldo his moment.
Forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his winning spotkick after a tense penalty shootout resulted in success for Real Madrid
Ronaldo reserves
himself for the fifth penalty and after Juanfran had seen his spotkick
strike the foot of the post he made no mistake
Keylor Navas dives to his right and
nearly gets fingertips onto Juanfran's penalty but it mattered not as
the shot cannoned off the post
Juanfran trudges back to the centre
circle after missing the crucial penalty to give Ronaldo the chance to
clinch the victory for Madrid
The Real Madrid players celebrate and
their joy will spill long into the night after the club clinched their
11th European Cup at the San Siro
Atletico Madrid substitute Yannick
Carrasco fires in from close range to bring his side level after 79
minutes of an absorbing encounter
The Belgian wheels away in delight
having brought the scores level and the 22-year-old celebrated with his
girlfriend on the sidelines
Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos celebrates giving his side the lead with a close range finish after 15 minutes at the San Siro
Ramos steers the ball underneath the
fallen goalkeeper as Atletico failed to play to their strengths in the
first 15 minutes of the encounter
The 30-year-old defender showed once
more his appetite for the big occasion by scoring a crucial goal in the
Champions League final
Before
him, Lucas Vazquez, Marcelo, Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos had all
confidently rolled their penalties into the right-hand corner. Antoine
Greizmann, Gabi and Saul had done the same, but to the left side, for
Atletico.
It
was excruciating to watch them miss out again, having disposed of
Bayern and Barcelona and with their commander in chief, Diego Simeone,
managing to hold his own on a fraction on the budget of his opponents.
Yet succumb they did and Real Madrid have transformed a season which
threatened to be awful into something glorious.
Real Madrid
have spent good parts of this season looking like a mal-adjusted
collection of ego-centric multi-millionaires. On Saturday night, they
actually started like a team; a good one at that.
True,
they have come to appreciate that Casemiro is more than just an
adornment to sit on the bench while James attends to the important
business of selling shirts, but rather a vital part of the team who adds
balance. And, having accepted that, then they have a midfield to
overwhelm even the hard-working Atletico.
Antoine Griezmann had the opportunity
to restore parity three minutes into the second-half but he could only
fire his shot onto the bar
Griezmann watches his shot rebound off the underside of the bar and into the sky as a good chance went begging for Atletico
The Atletico Madrid fans travelled in
their numbers to Milan to get behind their team with the banner 'Your
Values Make Us Believe'
Opera singer Andrea Bocelli performs
prior to the final and the Italian gave an unforgettable version of the
Champions League anthem
Real Madrid supporters similarly
unfurled a banner at the other end of the ground which translated 'Until
the End, Come on Real!'
Alicia Keys provided the pre-match entertainment on the pitch during the opening ceremony to the 2016 Champions League final
An impressive fireworks display accompanied Keys' performance in the centre circle on a humid evening in Milan ahead of the game
Former Manchester United manager Sir
Alex Ferguson - a winner of this competition on two occasions - was
among the stars in the stands
Zidane will have been delighted with
the manner in which his side took control of proceedings from the very
first minute on Saturday
Real defender Pepe ensured Fernando
Torres struggled to impose himself on the encounter in the first-half as
Zidane's side dominated
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale rises above and Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke during a fiercely contest Champions League final
Diego Simeone will have been
frustrated at failing to break down Real in the opening half and he had
to find a different method of playing
Ronaldo lets fly with a speculative effort but the Portuguese forward was unable to find a third goal in Champions League finals
Mark Clattenburg was handed the honour
of refereeing the final and he was kept busy by both teams putting in
tasty challenges early on
Griezmann was by far the most
dangerous player for Atletico in the first half but Luka Modric and his
Real team-mates kept him at bay
Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran
looks to shield the ball from Real striker Karim Benzema during an
improved second-half performance
Filipe
Luis found Gabi who chipped a wonderful pass into the path of
Griezmann, whose volleyed first time, driving goal-wards but saw Keylor
Navas equal to his striker, the Real Madrid keeper pushing it away on 36
minutes. Griezmann then went close on 43 minutes, shooting low and just
past the post from outside the box. They were small encouragements but
enough for Atleti to remind themselves of their past heroics.
And
second half they immediately revived hope, Griezmann playing in
Fernando Torres, who drew the challenge from Pepe. Clattenburg awarded
the penalty, correctly. It wasn’t a bad foul; but it was a foul.
Griezmann stepped up for the penalty. Keylor Navas was booked for trying
to delay it. The Frenchman struck it hard and high. It struck the
underside of the bar and bounced away to safety. It felt like a crushing
blow.
And
yet Atletico would come again, Greizmann shining despite his miss. They
dominated possession for the next fifteen minutes of play. It was hard
to break through Real Madrid’s lines, but Koke almost managed it on 58
minutes with a strike just wide. Then Yannick Carrasco, on a sub, broke
down the right, pulled in a cross which Saul Niguez produced an
acrobatic flick which almost beat Navas.
Torres - who failed to complete a
single pass in the first half - earned his side a penalty early in the
second period after Pepe's foul
But France international Griezmann was unable to capitalise after he slammed his spot-kick against the cross-bar as Real escaped
Navas was booked in the build-up to the penalty and the Costa Rican antics worked as Griezmann failed to keep his composure
Saul Niguez shoots at goal as Atletico made a good response to the setback of missing the penalty early on in the second half
Real Madrid soaked up the pressure at
the start of the second period and Griezmann's miss from 12 yards would
prove costly to his team
Ronaldo arrived at the San Siro with
his fitness questioned and the Portuguese had a quiet game suggesting he
was not fully match fit
Bale impressed on the counter-attack for Real and the Welshman also tracked back to make decisive contributions throughout
Their
fans never faltered, urging them on constantly, gradually growing in
confidence that their equaliser would come. Yet on the break, Real
Madrid were inevitably dangerous. Just past the hour, Modric picked out
Benzema with a delightful pass. The Frenchman sprinted goal-wards and it
felt as if a defining moment was coming.
He
struck wel but Oblak, who had been excellent, was again equal to the
shot, parrying away. On 78 minutes, Oblak was on hand to thwart a
Ronaldo attempting an elaborate dummy when a straightforward finish
would have done, while, from the rebound, Bale’s shot was cleared off
the line.
From
the counter, Atleti struck, a lovely lofted ball releasing Juanfran. He
fired it across goal and Carrasco was racing in to slide it home from a
few yards out in front of Atleti’s jubilant fans.
Karim Benzema ought to have put the game to bed when he shot straight at Oblak when put through by Luka Modric after 70 minutes
First Ronaldo and then Bale had
chances to score a second for Zidane's side and they were made to pay as
50 seconds later it was 1-1
Carrasco got in front of substitute
Lucas Vazquez to fire home the equaliser as Real were made to pay for
those missed opportunities
The midfielder joined his girlfriend
Noemie Happart on the sidelines to celebrate his goal with a kiss as
Atletico showed their resilience
Ramos was booked for a cynical
challenge on Carrasco as the midfielder broke clear with options both
sides of him late in the second half
Referee Clattenburg was hounded by the
Atletico players after Ramos' foul which resulted in captain Gabi being
cautioned himself
Bale suffered
from a severe bout of cramp and could hardly run during the closing
stages in very humid conditions during extra time
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