Liverpool vs Real Madrid: Gareth Bale’s goal, Mohamed Salah’s injury and Loris Karius dominate talking points
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Liverpool’s extraordinary Champions League run ended in heartbreak as Real Madrid won the final 3-1 in Kiev.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring in almost comical fashion as Loris Karius rolled the ball to him in the second-half, with the Frenchman poking the ball into the empty net.
Sadio Mane levelled the score only for Gareth Bale to score a stunning overhead kick, to restore Real’s lead. The Welshman then made sure of the win when his long-range strike was fumbled into the net by Karius.
But the game will of course be remembered for an injury to Mohamed Salah which could rule him out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Here are five things we learned.
1. Luck and brilliance: Real prove why they are true champions
It takes luck to win any tournament. And Real Madrid had plenty of good fortune in their Champions League final against Liverpool, from Mohamed Salah’s untimely first-half injury to Karim Benzema’s frankly comical opening goal, to Loris Karius’s pair of howlers.
But after Sadio Mane’s brilliant second-half equaliser, Real Madrid had to work hard to get their noses back in front. Step forward Gareth Bale, who scored one of the all-time great European goals, restoring Real’s lead with an outstanding bicycle kick finish. So much for the Welshman’s poor form. So much for Zinedine Zidane’s lack of tactical nous.
That combination – luck and brilliance – sums up his team well. They are best team this competition has ever seen: a group of ruthless winners who have swept aside every team that has been unfortunate to meet them in the Champions League.
And while Liverpool certainly made their lives a little easier on an exciting night in Kiev, Real deserved their win.
2. Like it or not, Ramos at top of his game
It will be the moment this final is forever remembered for. Stepping across Mohamed Salah to make a well-judged tackle, Sergio Ramos lost his balance, falling away from the ball and down onto the turf. Only as he fell, he made sure to link arms with the Egyptian, dragging him to the floor and collapsing in a heap onto his shoulder.
It wasn’t pretty. Nor was the reaction. Twitter didn’t react so much as break completely – the sheer volume of apocalyptic tweets from northern Africa briefly overwhelming the website’s servers – something that wasn’t much helped by a snippet of video that showed a smirking Ramos laughing with the linesman as a tear-stained Salah plodded off down the tunnel.
Did he mean it? It’s impossible to say although he certainly made sure to fall on Salah with the full weight of his body. It was sly, cynical and very – very – smart, and yet another example of what makes Ramos one of the shrewdest defenders in the world.
3. Liverpool struggle without Salah
Lots has been said about Liverpool this season but despite Mohamed Salah’s incredible season and all the plaudits that the Egyptian received, they’ve managed to avoid being labelled a one-man team owing to the potency of that whole front three.
Based on this performance after Salah was substituted with injury, the suggestions that they’re reliant on the Egyptian may be forthcoming.
After all, Liverpool were the better team for the first half an hour. They had 56 touches in the attacking third compared to Madrid’s 21. It wasn’t even a debate who was more likely to score. But after Salah was substituted on 31 minutes they were shellshocked. Lacking in ideas, they touched the ball just once in the offensive third before the break. In that same period Real Madrid managed an incredible 65.
When Liverpool went behind it was difficult to see where the goal would come from and the Spanish giants seemed overwhelming favourites. But a set-piece goal was precisely what Jurgen Klopp needed in a period when they weren’t putting together flowing attacking moves.
4. Bale delivers when it matters
Gareth Bale has had a difficult time in Madrid. That may sound stupid given the amount of trophies he has won in that world-famous white shirt, but he has struggled with the language and settling in, he’s been in and out of the team due to injuries and form while never quite reaching the heights Madrid had hoped for when they unloaded a world-record fee on him all those years ago.
But what Bale will always have is a handful of incredible moments for Real Madrid that will etch his name into their history whether they liked him or not.
The solo goal that won the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in 2014, the header to help bring Madrid the fabled decimal, and now this.
122 seconds after coming on, Bale saw Marcelo’s flat cross from the left and, back to goal, propelled himself up into the warm evening air of Kiev to cartwheel home one of the most memorable goals in Champions League history.
It was better even than the bicycle kick scored against Madrid in Bale’s hometown, Cardiff, last year in this fixture. A stunning piece of improvisation to break a tie in the most important match club football can offer.
Should Bale leave the Bernabeu this summer – and that remains incredibly likely – then this is the sort of goal, the sort of moment, that means he can leave behind an up-and-down spell at the club with his head held high. Oh, and a bunch of Champions League winners medals in his suitcase.
5. Liverpool have to invest this summer
Liverpool have been linked with Brazilian international and Roma goalkeeper Alisson for weeks now. This game showed why.
Loris Karius has improved a lot this season, after a difficult start to life at Anfield. But his calamitous error of judgement for Real Madrid’s opening goal – throwing the ball directly at a quick-thinking Karim Benzema, who poked the ball into an empty net – was a truly awful moment.
He was also directly to blame for Real’s decisive third, and Bale’s second
In recent weeks Klopp has started to suggest that he was happy with his goalkeeping options ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. But this was yet another painful reminder that he needs to invest.
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