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Sergio Ramos lifts the trophy above
his jubilant Real Madrid team-mates after their penalty shootout victory over
Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final at San Siro. Photograph: Stefano
Rellandini/Reuters
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Juanfran’s miss in the shootout allows
Christiano Ronaldo to score the winning kick and seal Real’s 11th
Champions League title 5-3 on penalties.
It was another epic encounter between
the two rivals Real Madrid and Atlético, featuring some of the best and worst
traits of Spanish football.
Real Madrid have won it 11 times in a
row, something that not Barcelona, Manchester United or even Juventus have achieved
yet. Gareth Bale played a considerable part, just as he did at the Estádio da
Luz in Lisbon two years ago, and Zinedine Zidane to have won Europe’s most cherished
club competition as a player and coach, alongside Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni
Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola.
However, the game is never for the
faint of heart due to its brutal climax. Diego Simeone’s team showed it is
possible to excel and to lose, ended up on their knees, distraught and beaten.
But it was the spontaneous applause at the end from the loud, boisterous
supporters on Curva Sud before the kick off, lift up their spirits. It was
followed by an unfurled banner with a message: “Tus Valores Nos Hacen Creer.” which was translated as “Your Values
Make Us Believe”.
They will not want the tag of brave losers
but the players in red and white gave everything, as they always do, before the
agonies of a penalty shoot-out when Lucas Vázquez, Marcelo, Bale, Sergio Ramos
and, finally, Ronaldo all scored for Real in the same corner. Antoine
Griezmann, Gabi and Saúl Ñíguez converted the first three for Atlético but
Juanfran’s shot came back off the post and, ultimately, it did not matter that
Ronaldo had been on the game’s edges for most of the night. He had the chance
to deliver the winning kick, show off that chiseled torso and reiterate his
heroic status – and that is just the way he likes it.
The equalizer arrived in the 79th
minute when the inspirational Gabi dinked a delicate little up-and-under into
Juanfran’s path. The cross was delivered beautifully, volleyed across the
six-yard area, and Carrasco was the quickest to react, rifling his shot high
into the net. After that, both teams had chances to win, neither settling for
penalties. Juanfran, who had been one of the outstanding players, was a few
inches out with his kick and, with Ronaldo next in line, that mistake was
always likely to be fatal.
Source: The Guardian
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