Sportskeeda Football 2018 awards: 5 images that defined football in 2018

#4 Real Madrid's third consecutive UCL triumph

At the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Real Madrid were far off the pace in terms of their approach towards the title race. With Barcelona consistently victorious, the LaLiga title was certain to switch from Madrid to Catalonia.

However, Zidane and co. took giant strides in their UEFA Champions League campaign and blew away opponents comprehensively. They were drawn in the toughest group that comprised world-class opponents in Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund.

Despite that, the European giants progressed and upstaged fellow contenders Paris Saint-Germain (round of 16), Juventus (quarterfinals) and Bayern Munich (semi-finals) to set up a final against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. Quite a journey, ain't it?

A couple of errors from Loris Karius added to Gareth Bale's staggering bicycle-kick ensured a 3-1 victory over the Reds, and a record third consecutive UCL triumph.

This remarkable Champions League story of Real Madrid is definitely a major highlight of football in 2018.

Edited by Arvind Sriram