Real Madrid, the Kings of Europe - UEFA Champions League final review

#1 Los Blancos are the Kings of Europe

Kings of Europe!

So much had been said about Real Madrid on every stage of the Champions League this season. Real Madrid's poor domestic form and their leaky defense being the main reasons contributing to the barrage of criticism Real faced.

Everybody counted them out at every stage of the competition. Many people argued that the European champions would be dumped out of the competition early as soon as Real drew PSG in the last 16 encounter, and to be honest, the chances of Real being able to resist the prolific attacking prowess of PSG looked bleak.

But Real survived and came out on top, people blamed the injury to Neymar and his inability to participate in the second leg as the reason.

PSG - put to the sword by Real

Then came Juventus in the quarterfinals, but they were demolished by the team from Madrid in the first leg. The second leg, was a different story and Juventus with all their might looked as if they will push Real Madrid out the door.

We all know what happened then, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up in the 98th minute to convert a highly controversial penalty to give Real the victory. Again, people blamed the referee for awarding that penalty and sending off Buffon. But was that really the reason? Maybe.

Bayern - put to the sword by Real

And then came the semi-finals, where Real met the high-flying Germans who had run riot in Bundesliga and looked destined to win the coveted treble.

The Bavarians threw the kitchen sink at Real in the first leg but still ended up trailing by a goal. In the second leg, Real finished the job and made their way into a third consecutive final and their fourth in the last five years. And rest as you know, was last night.

Champions!

Like the three previous knockout rounds, the odds were seemingly stacked against the reigning European champions. People claimed the Real defense wouldn't be able to handle the phenomenal trio of Salah, Mane, and Firminho.

And it certainly looked like that in the initial stages of the game. Then Salah was forced to leave the field in tears due to a shoulder injury, which again gave the critics a point to harp on in the post-match reports.

The men in white fought like champions and won like champions. And the phrase "you make your own luck" has never been more justified as Real got lucky in the form of not one but two errors from the Liverpool goalkeeper. In the end, the champions claimed their third consecutive UEFA Champions League title, their 13th in total. And proved to the world that they are indeed the Kings of Europe.