Real Madrid lifted their 11th Champions League crown with a 5-3 win over rivals Atletico in the penalty shootout at the San Siro in Milan on Saturday night. The game ended 1-1 in normal time and extra-time could not separate the two sides. The win also sees Zinedine Zidane become only the seventh person to win the Champions League title as a player and a manager.
Squads
Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema
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Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Juanfran, Savic, Godin, Filipe Luis, Koke, Gabi, Augusto, Saul, Torres, Griezmann
Controversial Ramos goal gives Real Madrid the lead
If there were any notions that this would not be a physical contest, they were quickly put aside within the first 10 minutes. Rash challenges and fouls were on the agenda and the game was stopped a number of times, testing referee Mark Clattenburg.
One such challenge on Gareth Bale from Gabi saw Real Madrid win a free-kick on the right. Gareth Bale sent in a teasing cross and Casemiro made a well-timed run to take a shot from point-blank only to be denied by Jan Oblak on the line.
Meanwhile, the fouls kept coming. Juanfran, always tasked with keeping Ronaldo on a leash in Madrid derbies, clattered into him near the centre-circle while Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres were also involved in a tussle of their own. The first yellow card of the game finally came when Dani Carvajal’s sliding tackle only tripped Antoine Griezmann as Diego Simeone reacted furiously near the touchline.
Eventually, Real Madrid took the lead. Sergio Ramos, the hero of the 2014 final, got into the act yet again, only this time, it was well within the first 15 minutes of the game instead of injury time.
A free-kick into the box from Toni Kroos was flicked on by Bale with his head and Ramos just about managed to get a toe in to push the ball past Oblak and over the line. Although there was a suspicion of offside as he was the first one into the six-yard box after the flick-on, the flag stayed down as Ramos wheeled away in celebration. Replays, however, showed that the Spaniard was close to a foot offside.
Atletico failed to make their mark
Strangely, Atletico were not at their usual pressing best in midfield. Real, on the other hand, looked settled after taking the lead and dominated the midfield battle with Atletico struggling to keep a check on Kroos and Luka Modric who drifted across midfield with purpose to create space.
Simeone’s side were also struggling to get into the final third. In fact, Torres did not complete a single pass in the first 45 minutes of the game, purely playing as a decoy to allow Atletico to get the ball to Griezmann in space. But the French forward struggled to make an impact, getting closed down on every occasion and reduced to taking shots from distance that were either comfortably saved by Keylor Navas or wide of the target.
Half-time couldn’t come sooner for Simeone as he looked to rally his troops before Real Madrid did any more damage as Bale threatened to get into the box time and again in the last five minutes of the first half.
The Rojiblancos had their best chance to equalise as early as the first minute of the second half, though. A pass from Griezmann to Torres inside the box saw the Spanish striker cleverly shield the ball before he was brought down by Pepe. Clattenburg did not hesitate in pointing to the spot as Real protested. Navas was even booked for time-wasting.
Unfortunately, Griezmann’s spot-kick was hit with power straight at the underside of the crossbar with Navas well and truly beaten. Atletico failed to make use of the rebound and their hearts sank once again. Simeone had to pull Griezmann aside during a stop in play when Carvajal was down injured to give the Frenchman a pep-talk and keep his head in the game.
But it was the end of Carvajal’s night as he left the pitch in tears, unable to continue. He was quickly replaced with Danilo as Real Madrid continued their onslaught on Atletico's goal.
Atletico equalise to take it to extra-time
Atletico did have a couple of chances on goal soon after as Simeone looked to lift the mood of the supporters inside the San Siro. Savic almost managed to bundle the ball into the net at the far post when he tried to connect from a corner kick while Koke and Saul had chances that were just off target.
With time running out for Atletico, they almost went 2-0 down when Karim Benzema had a shot on goal on a counter-attack. In spite of having support in the box, he attempted to test Oblak with a shot from a tight angle and the goalkeeper made no mistake in making the block.
Zidane then rang in the changes and surprisingly replaced Kroos with Isco. The German was arguably Real’s best player as he marshaled the midfield and was a huge threat on set pieces. Benzema also made way for Lucas Vazquez.
Then came the goal Atletico were looking for. Gabi chipped the ball over the defence to Juanfran on the right flank and the Spanish right-back sent in a cross without missing a step that reached the far post to find Yannick Carrasco getting the better of Vazquez to beat a scrambling Navas with a side-footed shot that found the roof of the net.
With three minutes of stoppage time added, Atletico almost broke on a counter-attack that was timely stopped by Ramos, albeit with a foul and taking one for the team, getting booked in the process.
The first half of extra-time yielded no goals but saw plenty of players tiring, especially those in the all-whites. Real’s best chance saw Ronaldo send in a low cross into the box that saw Isco turn and lay it off for Bale. But the Welshman’s shot was blocked by the resolute Atletico defence.
Meanwhile, Simeone was yet to make two more substitutions. It wasn’t until the second half of extra-time when he was forced into changing his plan of bringing on Thomas Partey for Saul as Filipe Luis limped off for Lucas Hernandez to take his place.
Partey did come on with five minutes to go as Koke also saw his game end with cramps. Ultimately, neither side were able to take a crack at goal as the match went into penalties.
Real wrap it up in the penalty shootout
The penalty shootout saw near-perfect penalties from both sides until Juanfran saw his penalty come off the post. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the decisive spot-kick and calmly found the back of the net to give Real Madrid their second Champions League title in three years – their 11th title overall.
