Gareth Bale, the 130 million-dollar man, is worth every penny spent on him for Real Madrid as he gave the lead to his team in the 111th minute last night, in the UEFA Champions League Final in Lisbon. This made an eventual 4-1 win possible over its local rival, Atletico Madrid, and thus ended the 12-year frustration for The Vikings.
Atletico Madrid, after winning the La Liga and the Spanish Cup, was up in Lisbon for the biggest prize of all, the Champions league trophy, and was hoping to finally create history after a long span of 31 years.
On the other hand, Real Madrid was determined to add its tenth Champions League trophy in its cabinet after a wait of 12 years. Carlo Ancelotti’s men were under more pressure last night because of the high expectations of their 41-million fans worldwide.
Atletico started off brilliantly in every department, choking off Real’s midfield and a hobbled Christiano Ronaldo to not influence the game much from the left flank. Gareth Bale too, on the right flank, wasn’t on song in the first half after he missed the best chance for Real Madrid to go one up in the first half. With Juanfran, Diego Godin and Felipe Luis making Benzema’s, Bale’s and `Ronaldo’s presence irrelevant, it was Di Maria and Luka Modric who were left to chase the play; all their efforts were in vain.
Atleti finally took advantage of the lack of discipline of Real Madrid in set pieces as Diego Godin headed home for his team in the 36th minute, after a small misjudgement by Iker Casillas.
Atletico also suffered a huge blow in the first half after Diego Costa was taken off by Simeone, as he was no longer able to carry on due to his hamstring tear. But, it seemed, Atletico came out stronger after the blow, with Gabi, Koke and David Villa frustrating Sergio Ramos and Khedira throughout the first half. This of course led to the rise in temper of Ramos who was booked for his lack of discipline shown by him after he fouled Gabi.
Real, after a horrible first half, bounced back pretty well in the second half with Di Maria getting more menacing in the and the move of bringing on Isco paid off really well as Real finally started to get some hold on the ball. Although, they were still failing to convert the opportunities into an equaliser. Ronaldo tested Courtouis with a dipping free kick but Courtouis did really well to punch it behind for a corner. Atletico was just a minute away from clinching the cup, but Ramos spoiled Atletico’s party plans and headed into the bottom right corner from a beautiful cross by Di Maria.
The match went on to extra time. After a very uneventful first period of extra time, it seemed like penalties would be a sure way to resolve the deadlock. But, the legs of the back four of Atletico were getting tired now and Di Maria took full advantage of the situation. He took a beautiful shot, unfortunately got saved by Courtouis, but Bale was running in too, from the right flank. He jumped over Godin and headed into the goal in front of the Real fans. The players were ecstatic, the crowd erupted and Real Madrid had its one hand on the trophy in the 111th minute of the match.
Atletico Madrid, after winning the La Liga and the Spanish Cup, was up in Lisbon for the biggest prize of all, the Champions league trophy, and was hoping to finally create history after a long span of 31 years.
On the other hand, Real Madrid was determined to add its tenth Champions League trophy in its cabinet after a wait of 12 years. Carlo Ancelotti’s men were under more pressure last night because of the high expectations of their 41-million fans worldwide.
Atletico started off brilliantly in every department, choking off Real’s midfield and a hobbled Christiano Ronaldo to not influence the game much from the left flank. Gareth Bale too, on the right flank, wasn’t on song in the first half after he missed the best chance for Real Madrid to go one up in the first half. With Juanfran, Diego Godin and Felipe Luis making Benzema’s, Bale’s and `Ronaldo’s presence irrelevant, it was Di Maria and Luka Modric who were left to chase the play; all their efforts were in vain.
Atleti finally took advantage of the lack of discipline of Real Madrid in set pieces as Diego Godin headed home for his team in the 36th minute, after a small misjudgement by Iker Casillas.
Atletico also suffered a huge blow in the first half after Diego Costa was taken off by Simeone, as he was no longer able to carry on due to his hamstring tear. But, it seemed, Atletico came out stronger after the blow, with Gabi, Koke and David Villa frustrating Sergio Ramos and Khedira throughout the first half. This of course led to the rise in temper of Ramos who was booked for his lack of discipline shown by him after he fouled Gabi.
Real, after a horrible first half, bounced back pretty well in the second half with Di Maria getting more menacing in the and the move of bringing on Isco paid off really well as Real finally started to get some hold on the ball. Although, they were still failing to convert the opportunities into an equaliser. Ronaldo tested Courtouis with a dipping free kick but Courtouis did really well to punch it behind for a corner. Atletico was just a minute away from clinching the cup, but Ramos spoiled Atletico’s party plans and headed into the bottom right corner from a beautiful cross by Di Maria.
The match went on to extra time. After a very uneventful first period of extra time, it seemed like penalties would be a sure way to resolve the deadlock. But, the legs of the back four of Atletico were getting tired now and Di Maria took full advantage of the situation. He took a beautiful shot, unfortunately got saved by Courtouis, but Bale was running in too, from the right flank. He jumped over Godin and headed into the goal in front of the Real fans. The players were ecstatic, the crowd erupted and Real Madrid had its one hand on the trophy in the 111th minute of the match.
Atletico, being devastated, wasn’t able to cope up with the attack of Real anymore, and thus Marcelo and Ronaldo scored the third and the fourth goal in the next 9 minutes and led to a very unfairly lopsided fulltime score as Atletico was the deserved winners in the actual 90 minutes.
With this, Ancelotti became the only person after Liverpool’s Bob Paisley to lift the Champions cup for three times as a manager and Casillas became the first player to lift it thrice.
On a whole, it was a good match of football to watch for the fans and ended the 2013-14 season on a high note, with Real Madrid coping with the pressure and winning the cup convincingly in the end.
-Ritabrata Ghosh, Guest Writer
With this, Ancelotti became the only person after Liverpool’s Bob Paisley to lift the Champions cup for three times as a manager and Casillas became the first player to lift it thrice.
On a whole, it was a good match of football to watch for the fans and ended the 2013-14 season on a high note, with Real Madrid coping with the pressure and winning the cup convincingly in the end.
-Ritabrata Ghosh, Guest Writer