After defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final on Saturday, Real Madrid set a new record by becoming the champions of Europe for a record-extending 14th time. The game didn’t get underway until 37 minutes later than scheduled due to disruptive crowd disturbances outside the Stade de France.
In the 59th minute, Brazil winger Vincius Jnr delivered a close-range finish to Federico Valverde’s effort across the face of goal, which secured a victory for Real Madrid and earned coach Carlo Ancelotti a record fourth European Cup trophy.
Liverpool’s season came to a close with victories in both of England’s domestic cup competitions, while Real Madrid won both the Champions League and the Spanish league. A week ago, Liverpool was in the running for a quadruple of major trophies, which would have been a first in sports history.
The English club was unable to find a method to get the ball past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who made a fantastic stop to deflect Sadio Mane’s attempt from the first half into the post and an even greater save to deflect Mohamed Salah’s shot from the 81st minute.
The fact that Real Madrid has won twice as many European Cups as the team that comes in second place on this list, AC Milan, solidified the Spanish club’s position as the dominant force in European soccer. The score remained at six for Liverpool.
However, problems with the crowd before to the match were a distraction, and they will almost certainly be the subject of an inquiry by UEFA and the relevant authorities in the days to come.
There were still large queues of Liverpool supporters waiting to be permitted into the stadium with 45 minutes left before start. Additionally, there were isolated incidents of people bursting past security and racing into the concourse.
The Associated Press saw two supporters, one of whom was dressed in merchandise associated with Liverpool, being thrown to the ground by stewards and escorted out of the gates, while other fans were able to enter the stadium in its entirety.
The situation began to spiral out of control when riot police fired tear gas on Liverpool supporters who were waiting in line, and some of the fans were spotted jumping the railings around the stadium. Officers armed with batons and riot shields went from gate to gate within the stadium in an effort to stop groups of spectators from getting into the venue without presenting their tickets.
An announcement that there would be a delay in the game was made around 15 minutes before the planned start time of 12:30 a.m. local time (1900 GMT). The reason for the delay was given as the late entrance of supporters to the stadium. Given that those spectators had already been in lengthy lines, they welcomed it with boos and jeers inside the stadium.
