Champions League 2018 Final: When Real Madrid conquered Liverpool on this day three years ago
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It was 26th May 2018. The UEFA Champions League final was set to be held in the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was to be played between the Spanish side and defending champions Real Madrid, who had won the competition in each of the last two seasons, and English side Liverpool, making their eighth final appearance and first since 2007. The two sides had previously met in the 1981 final.
Background of the final
Defending champions Real Madrid reached a record 16th final after a 4–3 aggregate win against German side Bayern Munich, knocking them out of the competition for the second consecutive season. This was Real Madrid’s third consecutive final, and fourth final in five tournaments with an opportunity to win a record 13th title.
Previously they had won the Champions League finals in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, and 2017.
Liverpool, on the other hand, had reached their eighth final, their first since 2007, after a 7–6 aggregate win against the Italian side AS Roma who had just completed the La Romantada against FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the competition the same year.
They had won the final on five occasions (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, and 2005).
A quick tactical analysis of the final
The whistle blew and before Madrid knew it, Mane was nearly through on goal. The boys in red huffed and puffed, looking to rattle a seemingly unshakeable Madrid side. Right from the onset, Liverpool’s press was organized. It was not as hectic and crazy as some pundits made it out to be—Liverpool picked their moments and when they went, they all went there. The Liverpool side set up and lurked in a 4-3-3 Holding formation at the beginning.
Real Madrid was on their heels, but the team never lost its composure. Zidane’s men were ice cold in their pursuit of solutions. And you could see it, the team clearly probed for solutions to the defensive structure Liverpool set up.
This ability to navigate a match and find answers on the fly, it’s an underrated factor—the collective intelligence this group possesses when playing at a high final under Klopp. What seemed to be a clear tactic from Zidane though, was the use of off-the-ball triangles, particularly on the left side, with Ramos, Kroos, and Marcelo making a formidable trio.
Some notable events from the match:
1. Sergio Ramos rips out Mohammed Salah’s arm 30 minutes into the game
It was four minutes before the enormity of the situation truly sunk in and a communal gasp came from the sea of red inside Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium. Mohamed Salah was down for the second time in quick succession, only this time he was down and out of the Champions League final.
A season of joy, brilliance, and 44 goals had been brought to a premature, painful, and tearful halt. Sergio Ramos shared a joke with an assistant referee as the idol of Liverpool and Egypt headed for the tunnel and the worst moment of his career. Real Madrid set the course for their 13th European Cup triumph in his absence.
Recriminations from the Ramos hold and twist that ended Salah’s final – no foul was awarded on the night by the Serbian referee, Milorad Mazic – started long before the Real captain, almost as though rubbing Liverpool’s noses in it, lifted the trophy for a third consecutive season.
Four minutes earlier it had looked so promising for Jürgen Klopp’s team. They started in the ascendancy against Zinedine Zidane’s reigning European champions, pressing with aggression and intelligence that had brushed aside Porto, Manchester City, and Roma en route to the final. Then everything changed. Mo Salah was out and injured and the hopes of Liverpool winning the final went down as quickly as Mo Salah under Sergio Ramos.
2. Gareth Bale’s bicycle kick
First of all, that Bale had the audacity to attempt a goal like that in the Champions League final is just ridiculous. Second, he had the confidence to do so two minutes after coming on. This comes from a man who is always surrounded by transfer rumors and whispers that Madrid will sell him for being too injured, for not living up to his ability, because Marco Asensio is coming into his own. This was a man who was once part of the famed BBC triangle and was now on the bench for the Champions League final.
Finally, and most importantly, the arrogance of Bale to score something that wonderful while looking like a vagabond samurai whose return is announced by the falling of cherry blossoms.
There was always an inevitability to Real Madrid winning their third title in three years, and after Loris Karius’ mistake for their first goal, it looked like the universe was going to fulfill the prophecy in the most comedic way possible.
The goal was made worse because it came after Mohamed Salah, one of the most exciting players in the game and the best story of this year, had to be replaced after he was injured by Sergio Ramos. The game was threatening to become a regretful encounter that wouldn’t live up to the hype beforehand.
Everything else beyond the right-footed cross was gorgeous and executed as best as it possibly could have been. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema occupying the two defenders to give Bale space, the hard step that Bale takes inside that allows him to jump from an angle, how smooth his connection to the ball made the goal look more rehearsed and cinematic than real — it’s like he didn’t even think about doing a bicycle kick but his body and mind had entered into a state of “flow,” a complete absorption into what he was doing and reacted on its own.
3. Loris Karius’ match of the nightmares
I mean, is there anything left to say? To concede 3 goals in a Champions League final is already jarring enough, but to do that by causing 2 absolutely horrendous howlers to let your team lose the match?! That’s even sadder. Loris Karius had established himself as the first team GK with a superb second half of the season.
He had been in incredible form before the final. But he suffered a concussion in the 49th minute, just 2 minutes before he would conveniently throw the ball in Benzema’s path to allow Real Madrid to score the opener and get the lead.
Then he would miss a regular catch off a Bale shot that he would be expected to catch in his sleep. As if that wasn’t enough, Bale scored a bicycle kick to add insult to injury to cap off a nightmare for the Reds and Karius.
Also Read: “If Karim Benzema doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or this year, then there is something wrong with the votes”- Thibaut Courtois
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Aryan Sharma
(95 Articles Published)