Real Madrid create history by retaining Champions League title
Cardiff: Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid beat Juventus 4-1 in a memorable Champions League final full of attacking verve and brilliant goals here Saturday as the Spanish giants won the title for the third time in four years and 12th (Duodecima in Spanish) in all.
Portugal forward Ronaldo hit Real Madrid’s first and third goals to become only the second man to score in three European Cup finals and take his career goal tally to 600 for club and country.
Few of those will have matched Mario Mandzukic’s spectacular overhead equaliser for Juventus, which was eventually in vain for the Italian side who had the best of the first half before being swept aside in the second.
A long-range deflected effort by Casemiro and a neat finish by the irrepressible Ronaldo within four minutes effectively settled one of the most entertaining finals for years, with a late tap-in by substitute Marco Asensio adding the gloss.
The victory means Real Madrid are the first team to successfully defend the trophy in the Champions League era. AC Milan were the last team to retain Europe’s top prize when they triumphed in 1989 and 1990.
“It’s been a spectacular year, you couldn’t dream of anything better,” said Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. “We won the (Spanish) league on the very last day of La Liga. It’s very difficult to reach the Champions League final two years running, but we did that and also won it.”
It was heartbreak again for Juve who let in more goals Saturday than the three they had conceded in the 12 games they played to reach the final.
Juventus looked the more adventurous side in the first 20 minutes but it was Real who struck first after the sort of trigonometric build-up that coaches write books about.
Ronaldo was at the heart of it, playing the ball into the path of Dani Carvajal who cut it straight back to allow the Portuguese forward to sweep the ball sweetly into the far corner.
Ronaldo’s effort was eclipsed seven minutes later by one of the all-time great final goals. Juve centre-back Leonardo Bonucci drove a long diagonal ball which Alex Sandro reached and cushioned back across the box.
With another volley Gonzalo Higuain knocked it to Croatia striker Mandzukic, who took a touch on his chest and, with his back to goal, struck a stunning bicycle kick that looped over Real keeper Keylor Navas. The ball did not touch the ground between leaving Bonucci’s boot and hitting the net.
It was a different story after the break. Casemiro made it 2-1 after 61 minutes when his deflected long-range wrong-footed veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon and Ronaldo swept in the third at the near post after a great run and cross by Luka Modric.
Agencies
