Bale’s brilliance, Karius errors give Real third straight European triumph

Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos lifts the trophy as they celebrate winning the Champions League against Liverpool at NSC Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, May 26, 2018. REUTERS

• Real becomes first team to win three straight titles in the Champions League era
• Ronaldo becomes first player to win five Champions League titles

KIEV (Reuters): A sensational overhead strike from Real Madrid substitute Gareth Bale and two calamitous errors by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius gave the Spanish side a third straight Champions League title with a 3-1 win in an incident-packed final on Saturday.

Welshman Bale came on just past the hour with the score at 1-1 and after three minutes produced an astonishing bicycle kick finish and then netted with a speculative long-range effort that somehow went through the hands of the unfortunate Karius.

The German keeper had earlier handed Real a 51st minute lead when he threw the ball straight at striker Karim Benzema and the ball rolled into the unguarded net off the Frenchman’s leg.

“Great emotions. To lift three Champions League trophies with this club, this team is magnificent,” said Real’s ZinedineZidane, who became the first coach to win Europe’s top trophy in three consecutive years. “We don’t quite realise what we have achieved yet. We are going to enjoy the moment. “

Liverpool, who crucially lost their leading scorer Mohamed Salah to a suspected dislocated shoulder in the 31st minute, had equalised in the 55th minute when Sadio Mane found the net from close range after DejanLovren headed the ball into the area.

In truth, though, despite their best efforts Liverpool never looked as much of a threat once Egyptian international Salah went down under a challenge from Real captain Sergio Ramos.  “We started well and played exactly like we wanted to,” said Liverpool manager JuergenKlopp, who has now lost his last six finals as a coach.

Liverpool, who crucially lost their leading scorer Mohamed Salah to a suspected dislocated shoulder in the 31st minute, had equalised in the 55th minute when Sadio Mane found the net from close range after DejanLovren headed the ball into the area.

In truth, though, despite their best efforts Liverpool never looked as much of a threat once Egyptian international Salah went down under a challenge from Real captain Sergio Ramos.

 “We started well and played exactly like we wanted to,” said Liverpool manager JuergenKlopp, who has now lost his last six finals as a coach.

 “The situation with Sergio Ramos (and Salah) looked really bad and it was a shock for the team, we lost the positive momentum and they immediately came up,” he said.

It was a night which confirmed Real’s ability to superbly manage the biggest of games.

Bale, who has not been first-choice at Real this season and whose future has been the subject of much speculation, was man of the match while 24-year-old Karius ended the night in tears as he lay flat out on the turf of the NSC Olympic Stadium.

Real have become the first team since Bayern Munich in 1976 to win Europe’s elite club trophy three years in a row. The Spaniards won five straight European Cup trophies in the 1950s. Real’s fourth Champions League triumph in five years, and 13th European Cup success in total, was fully deserved despite Liverpool, the competition’s top scorers this season, making an aggressive start to the game in an electric atmosphere.

Ronaldo, who now has five Champions League winners medals, could have added a fourth goal for Real near the end but the Portugal forward was distracted as he burst goalwards when a fan ran onto the pitch before being stopped by security. This time it was Bale who had grabbed all the headlines as Real and Zidane continued their continental dominance.