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Sports - Football - Champions League - RMA 3:1 LIV
Liverpool keeper Loris Karius was in tears after giving away two howlers and watching substitute Gareth Bale's stunning smacker of a goal, seeing his side fall 3-1 against Real Madrid at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on Saturday night, handing the great Spanish side and their manager Zinédine Zidane their third consecutive Champions League trophy, 13th European Cup overall.
The score does not reflect the match in the slightest, it was no real competition, as in Real have been handed a very generous result for a mediocre performance thanks to the Red number 1.
Jürgen Klopp's men were dominant and in control in the first half, no real sign of Cristiano Ronaldo and co apart from one offside goal, Karim Benzema denied on the rebound after Karius saved the number seven's header.
The first and biggest blow for the Reds came after Real skipper Sergio Ramos clashed and fell with LFC star man and top scorer Mohamed Salah.
The great Egyptian landed awkwardly on his shoulder and arm, the pain reflected in his tears and devastation having to come off and be replaced by Adam Lallana with only half an hour gone.
Ramos' actions and reactions looked very calculated and menacing, close to ridiculing his opponent, no respect whatsoever, shame on the Spaniard. (A petition against him and his actions has collected over 150,000 signatures!!!)
A few minutes later Daniel Carvajal was forced off as well due to injury, replays showing his ankle giving way, Nacho replacing him.
It remained goalless at the break, both teams trying to cope and reset after receiving injury blows. It was all to play for.
Benzema was handed the opener six minutes after the restart, Karius throwing the ball against the French striker in protest of the player not keeping his distance, to watch the ball ricochet off the man and into the back of the net. 1-0 out of nowhere, like a bad comedy outtake clip!
But the Reds fought back, Sadio Mané equalizing four minutes later, prodding in Dejan Lovren's header off James Milner's corner and taking his total of the season to 20 goals. Game on.
Then came the decisive substitution, Bale on for Isco with just over an hour gone, and three minutes later the former Tottenham striker thanked his manager with an absolute stunner, overhead kick into the back of the net. Wow. 2-1
Liverpool were still in the game, and their Senegalese forward had a couple of chances including hitting the woodwork, until seven minutes from time when Bale gave it a try with a shot from distance for Karius to softly glove the stoppable attempt into the back of his own net. Ouch.
The Welsh striker is only the second Brit to score a brace in a European Cup/Champions League final after Bobby Charlton for Manchester United in 1968, the first player ever to do so coming off the bench.
It was absolutely heart-breaking to watch as an LFC fan with players like Andy Robertson and youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold having played their hearts out and owned the opposition throughout the 90 minutes, to be beaten and broken in such embarrassing manner.
It was Klopp's sixth final defeat out of seven, third with Liverpool, whilst Zidane joins Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti having won the European trophy three times - the (in)famous Frenchman being the only one to have done it in three consecutive seasons.
The Reds fans kept singing on, despite the result, proud of their side and full of hope that they learn from their mistakes and come back even better and stronger next season!!!!! WALK ON!!! XxXxX YNWA!!!
Real Madrid Goals: Benzema 51', Bale 64' & 83'.
Liverpool Goal: Mané 55'.
Match Stats: RMA 3-1 LFC
Possession: 66%-34%
Shots: 14-13
On target: 5-2
Corners: 9-5
Fouls: 5-18
Yellow cards: 0-1
Real Madrid Team: 1 Javas; 12 Marcelo, 4 Ramos (c), 5 Varane, 2 Carvajal (6 Nacho 37'); 8 Kroos, 14 Casemiro, 10 Modrić; 22 Isco (11 Bale 61'); 7 Ronaldo, 9 Benzema (20 Asensio 89'). 4-3-1-2
Subs not used: 14 Casilla, 15 Theo Hernàndez, 17 Lucas Vázquez, 23 Kovačić.
Manager: Zinédine Zidane
Liverpool Team: 1 Karius; 26 Robertson, 4 van Dijk, 6 Lovren, 66 Alexander-Arnold, 5 Wijnaldum, 14 Henderson (c), 7 Milner (23 Can 73'); 19 Mané (booked 82'), 9 Firmino, 11 Salah (20 Lallana 30'). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 17 Klavan, 18 Moreno, 29 Solanke.
Manager: Jürgen Klopp
Referee: Milorad Mazic
Man of the match: Gareth Bale
Ground: Kiev Olympic Stadium
Attendance: 61,561
Click here for my last LFC match report.
All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report and Sky Sports app, Twitter and BT and beIN sports coverages.
Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week
WOW!
Southampton kept possession and pressure high against Manchester United, the stats were stunning! Even Sir Alex Ferguson knew his side were fortunate to escape with three points! That doesn't happen all too often at Old Trafford! Saints opened the scoring and made it 0-1 after just two minutes when Jay Rodriguez got the better of David De Gea after Michael Carrick's screwed-up pass back. Wayne Rooney equalised soon after off a nice loft in by Shinji Kagawa who hit woodwork minutes later. The former Evertonian then tapped in Patrice Evra's header off Robin van Persie's free kick to make it 2-1, United's 1600th Premier League goal. Both goalkeepers were kept busy till the end. De Gea spilled Rickie Lambert's free kick after Adam Lallana was fowled by Carrick, but the keeper reacted nice and quick after that to avoid the worst. Artur Boruc blocked a couple of chances aswell, including a great save off RVP, who also had a goal disallowed for offside. Rodriguez was blocked by Nemanja Vidic and De Gea got across to save Lambert's free kick to deny Saints a single point.
OMG!
The Emirates saw great chances for both sides and a great comeback by Arsenal. With the defensive shambles of the Gunners, it could have been 3 or 4-0 to Liverpool! But the visitors stayed too deep and eventually lost their lead. We certainly saw the best and worst by both. Luis Suarez scored the opener finishing the job after slips and mess ups all over the place by the Arsene Wenger's men. Suarez and Daniel Sturridge were both far and fast ahead. Pepe Reina had to produce a couple of splendid saves against Theo Walcott at the other end too. But sloppy play ended up costing Arsenal again. Daniel Agger's header off a corner was cleared off the line before Jordan Henderson saw his shot high, Wojciech Szczesny was very lucky as he was off his line. Henderson's next shot was half-blocked by sub Andre Santos before it ricochet in to make it 0-2. But it took the Gunners only three minutes to come back into the game, Olivier Giroud heading in Jack Wilshere's free kick, unmarked, 1-2 and Walcott smashing in the equaliser from the right. Late action included Giroud's booking for simulation, messing up a walk-in chance and Suarez pulling a last-minute save out of Szczesny, both sides ending up dropping two points rather than winning one!
TOP!
It was a huge win for Fulham against West Ham at Craven Cottage! Dimitar Berbatov was brilliant and could have had a hat-trick!!! Damien Duff's free kick was squeezed in by the the Czech striker with a fine header from a very tight angle, 1-0. The goal looked offside, even he himself looked over to the linesman! Kevin Nolan put the Hammers level from a quickly taken free kick, Fulham were caught napping, 1-1. Seconds later, Hugo Rodallega headed in Duff's cross beating three defenders, 2-1. Berbatov saw a couple of chances go wide before Andy Carroll pulled a block-save out of Mark Schwarzer. At the other end, Rodallega pulled save out of Jussi Jaaskelainen before Mladen Petric hit the post off the rebound and Joey O'Brien eventually saw it into the back of his own net, JUST over the line to make it 3-1 and three points to Fulham!
FLOP!
Norwich were much better than the side that flopped against Liverpool and Luton, whilst Tottenham disappointed until Andre Villas-Boas got his changes, notes and influence going. Wesley Hoolahan stroked the ball into an empty unguarded net after a fine one-two, one-touch build-up, to make it 1-0. Tottenham were nowhere. A handball appeal against Jan Vertonghen was not given. Norwich were on top before Spurs sub Lewis Holtby came on with a couple of notes for the team. The notes worked their magic, Gareth Bale equalising with a top-draw left-foot smacker after a fine run ten minutes from time. Gylfi Sigurdsson pulled brilliant last-minute save out of Mark Bunn, keeping one point for Norwich, dropping two for Spurs.
HERO!
With five late goals in last three games, 10 in 13, Adam Le Fondre has been stunning for Reading once again! He pulled the first goal back against Chelsea with a sweet finish off a beautiful ball in to make it 1-2 three minutes from time. Adam Federici produced a fine leap-save off Ramires before taking late free kick deep into injury time for Le Fondre to curl in the equaliser after a couple of headers across the box. Super sub, or what?! It seemed like same old, same old for Chelsea, dropping goals and points late on, just like against the Saints the other week. And the Blues made such a strong start when Juan Mata was in off Fernando Torres, 0-1, showing off some top-class one-touch football! Frank Lampard claimed the second, seeing his header deflect in off a corner to double the lead. Oscar missed some golden chances, it could have been 3 or 4-0! Interim boss Rafael Benitez will be left scratching his head and wondering...
ZERO!
Brilliant saves by both keepers denied both QPR and Manchester City to alter the scoreboard, the prior being the happier winning the point whilst the latter will see it as two crucial points dropped in the title race. This clash was very different to the other goalless draw of the week between Sunderland and Swansea, the Welsh visitors creating more, but the whole game not having much to write home about.
My Predictions => Actual Results
Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle => 1-2
QPR 1-2 Man City => 0-0
Stoke 2-1 Wigan => 2-2
Sunderland 2-0 Swansea => 0-0
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool => 2-2
Everton 2-0 West Brom => 2-1
Norwich 2-3 Tottenham => 1-1
Fulham 2-2 West Hame => 3-1
Man United 4-3 Southampton => 2-1
Reading 1-2 Chelsea => 2-2
