Champions League final: Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool – in pictures
Liverpool fans enjoy the Kiev sunshine with a sing-song in Shevchenko Park’s Liverpool fan area. Inside the stadium, the Liverpool end is decked in banners and the fans are in fine voice before kick-off.
Liverpool players, including Mo Salah, warm up before the match. No prizes for guessing who his favourite player is.
Before the action gets underway, the 61,561 in the stadium were treated to an opening ceremony and a performance by the singer Dua Lipa. The stage is set and the players are out.
Real Madrid are having trouble dealing with their tempo and pace, while the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold (pictured) are a menace. This is the kind of “big balls” football Jurgen Klopp demanded of his players before the match.
The game changes in the 25th minute when Sergio Ramos grabs Mo Salah by the arm and hauls the Liverpool forward to the floor. Salah lands awkwardly and looks in a lot of pain. The referee says it’s not even worthy of a free-kick.
Salah receives treatment before eventually going off with a dislocated shoulder. A huge blow for Liverpool but also for the Egyptian fans in Cairo, with the World Cup less than four weeks away.
Soon afterwards, Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal is in tears as he too goes off injured.
Early in the second half, Loris Karius does a total Loris Karius: with Real striker Karim Benzema directly in front of him, he attempts to throw the ball out of his penalty box.
Needless to say Benzema sticks out his leg and diverts the ball into the empty net to give Madrid the lead. Benzema wheels off in delight as Karius complains hopelessly to the linesman.
Less than five minutes later, Liverpool are back on level terms when Sadio Mané extends his leg to divert Dejan Lovren’s header into the net from a looping corner. That’s probably not how Liverpool imagined scoring tonight but any goal will do.
Sadio Mané celebrates the equaliser. However, Real Madrid get their noses back in front again in the 63rd minute courtesy of a stupendous overhead kick by Gareth Bale.
Here’s another angle of his stunning shot. Gareth Bale celebrates his wonder strike. He’s only been on the field two minutes!. Madrid fans celebrate Bale’s fantastic finish. Los Blancos fans at the Bernabéu are in raptures too.
The Liverpool fans attempt to rally their players and get back into the game. But with seven minutes to go, Liverpool’s fate is sealed: it’s another absolute howler from Loris Karius.
Bale hits a hopeful shot from 30 yards that goes straight down the throat of Karius, albeit with a little dip and swerve, and Karius spills it over his shoulder into the net. Whoops.
Karius falls to the floor in disbelief at his latest gaffe. His final has been calamitous and Liverpool are totally shot. Gareth Bale celebrates at the final whistle. Madrid have won 3-1 .
Meanwhile Karius sinks to the truf. It’s an age before anyone comes over to console him. So much for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Liverpool’s manager, Jürgen Klopp, walks past the trophy before the presentation. That’s his sixth successive defeat in a cup final and his second on this stage.
Madrid become the first side since Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s to lift three consecutive European Cups. Sergio Ramos is the man, once again, to lift old ‘big ears’.
Some of the 160 photographers at the match surround the Real Madrid captain, Ramos, as he kisses the Champions League trophy.
Now it’s Karius is a mess, as you’d expect, but at least he has the guts to go over to the travelling Liverpool fans and over them his apologies. Surely his future at Liverpool is over?. ale’s turn to plant a smacker on the big cup. During a TV interview shortly after the match he openly questions his future at Madrid. A dejected Liverpool fan alone with his thoughts.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his fifth Champions League title with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez as his son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr plays on the stage.
The Portuguese makes a bizarre post-match statement lauding his own achievements, despite being a ghost for most of the match. Zinedine Zidane has been a manager three seasons, and he has won the Champions League three times – that’s some record.