Liverpool vs Real Madrid LIVE: Champions League final result, score and reaction
Relive all the action from the Stade de France after Vinicius ensured Real Madrid of a record-extending 14th European Cup
Liverpool were denied a seventh European crown as Real Madrid became kings of the continent once again thanks to Vinicius Junior’s strike in a Champions League final marred by chaos outside the Stade de France.
Paris stepped in as host after UEFA stripped St Petersburg of the showpiece following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it did not provide a fitting host as European royalty went toe-to-toe in the biggest club match of the season.
Kick-off had to be delayed by 36 minutes due to substantial security issues outside the Stade de France, where Liverpool would be edged out 1-0 in a tense, engaging final settled by Real star Vinicius Jr.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were unable to find a response to the second-half strike as Carlo Ancelotti, managing a record fifth Champions League final just a year after leaving Everton, oversaw the Spanish giants’ 14th European Cup triumph.
It was a heartbreaking end to a memorable season for Liverpool, who won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup before being pipped to the Premier League title by a point and losing in the French capital.
Relive all the action from Paris:
From tears to beers: How Liverpool found defiance amid despondency of Champions League final defeat
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Champions League final 2022: Odds in Liverpool’s favour
Liverpool are tipped to win the Champions League final and Betfair’s historical odds reveal 8 out of last 10 pre-match favourites have gone on to lift trophy.
Liverpool are the Evens favourites to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final with the Spanish side 13/5 to win in 90 minutes the same odds as the final ending in a draw.
Only Chelsea, both in 2012 and 2021, have prevailed against the odds to win the Champions League
Elsewhere Liverpool are 8/15 to lift the trophy and Real Madrid are 11/8 to add to their impressive Champions League collection.
‘The game of the season’: Weight of history adds to Champions League final shaping up to be a modern classic
Although the Liverpool players attempted to treat this like any of the many big games they’ve played, it took a mere step on the Stade de France pitch to change that. This is the club’s third Champions League final in five years, but there’s still that extra electrical charge to the air.
“It’s the occasion, it’s talking in a press conference here,” Trent Alexander-Arnold said. “There’s different things you do around the game. It’s the special game, the one that everyone wants to play in.
“It’s the game of the season.”
The hope is that it will also be the game of the season in terms of spectacle. That is one thing the Champions League has not really served up amid all its drama, and you arguably have to go back to 2005 for the last truly great showpiece, but there are little elements coming together that could set up a classic.
Weight of history adds to Champions League final shaping up to be a modern classic
Two of Europe’s heavyweights meet on the grandest of stages and in a repeat of the 2018 final
Champions League final 2022: ‘Nobody has to worry about Mo'
Jurgen Klopp was asked whether Mo Salah was too intense in his focus for tonight’s game after being injured in the 2018 Champions League final between these sides - a match that Liverpool went on to lose.
“Nobody has to worry about Mo and that he takes it too much. It’s completely normal.” replied Klopp. “For him it was a very special situation [in 2018]. We all lost that day but he got injured early in the game; he is now in a very good shape, he was then in a very good shape so it feels for him different.
“You ask him, that’s a normal feeling. We all get motivated by different things. I have here 26, 27 players and they all get motivated by different things. That’s completely fine and I have no problem with that.
“The only thing is if that’s the only motivation, but that’s not the case in Mo’s case that it’s the only motivation he has. But it’s normal that he wants to put things right. We want to put things right.
“We didn’t forget what happened that time, it’s just a while ago and we cannot come here and tomorrow I show the movie of that game and it’s enough motivation for the game, that makes no sense.
“We have so many reasons that we give our absolute everything tomorrow night and this might be one reason but not the reason.”
Champions League final 2022: Marcelo on nerves
Real Madrid’s captain says he gets nervous the night before playing important games such as the Champions League final but explains how the professionalism of the Madrid squad focuses the mind in time for kick off. He said:
We know what it is to play a final, to play for this club. Nerves kick in a bit the night before the game, but we were all in the right mindset for this match right from the second we qualified for it.”
The great irony of Champions League’s clash of titans
When Mohamed Salah insisted he wanted Real Madrid in the Champions League final, it wasn’t just about revenge, or even himself. It reflected the view of a fair few people within Liverpool, but also the top levels of European football.
A grand showdown with Manchester City would have represented the zenith of modern football, bringing an era of rivalry to a peak, but it also would have peaked in terms of emotional intensity and Premier League domination. Jurgen Klopp’s players would have been ready, of course, but a third all-English final in four years would likely have been subject to the sort of stifling tension most one-country finals generally suffer from.
It similarly would have left the rest of Europe again feeling shut out.
There is little of that with Madrid. There isn’t quite the same sense of suffocation, since it feels someway different to be facing a big European club.
The great irony of Champions League’s clash of titans
Meeting of the game’s royalty draws parallels between the European Cup’s greatest eras – and why it might also be the future on a much more regular basis
Champions League final 2022: Fans arrive in Paris
Supporters from both Spain and England continue to arrive in Paris ahead of tonight’s big game. The weather is perfect for them to enjoy themselves and celebrate the achievements of both Liverpool (two domestic cups) and Real Madrid (La Liga winners) this season.
But, there is still one trophy left to claim. Will it be heading to Madrid or to Liverpool?
From tears to beers: How Liverpool found defiance amid despondency of Champions League final defeat
It was the morning after the Champions League final and Liverpool found the trophy in a European Cup-winning captain’s bathroom. Or they pretended they did, anyhow, because the silverware actually belonged to Real Madrid.
Nor had Steven Gerrard left a replica of the Champions League trophy in his old home, either, as much as a vase that Jurgen Klopp’s assistant decided resembled it. But, amid the despondency of defeat in 2018, after the tears of returning to Merseyside, they sought solace in taking pictures with a vase and drunkenly singing songs with the frontman of a German rock group whose name translates as “the dead trousers.”
But a dream had died, rather than an item of clothing. “It started as one of the worst nights in my life,” Klopp recalled. It included being beaten by Real, with Loris Karius horribly at fault for two goals and Mohamed Salah’s shoulder dislocated by Sergio Ramos.
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Champions League final: Who are favourites?
Liverpool have seemingly cruised to the final of this competition, winning every game in the group stages and every tie from the knockouts will comfortably leads.
But, Jurgen Klopp remained hesistant about calling his team the favourites to lift the trophy this year saying: "I don’t know - I don’t have an easy answer.
“If you look at the history of the clubs and the way Real Madrid celebrate those comebacks, then I would say it’s them because of the experience.
"I want us to be on the same level in these kind of things. I want us to be completely ourselves in this game - if we are on the top of our game, we are difficult to play."
Champions League final: ‘I’ve got good memories of finals’
Carlo Ancelotti was the unfortunate manager of AC Milan in 2005 when Liverpool fought back from 3-0 down to force the Champions League final into extra-time before eventually winning on penalties.
Ancelotti was asked about what he remembers from that match and he replied: “I’ve got good memories from the finals I’ve been in. I lost against Liverpool in 2005 and ironically that was probably the best performance one of my teams has given in a final!
“We’ve had time to prep, we are in a good moment, we’ll give our best – we’ll see whether that’s enough to win the game, as sometimes in football things can happen that are beyond your control.
“We’ve deserved to get to the final because of our quality. If you don’t have this, then you don’t get to a final. But quality and talent aren’t enough. You need to make a team, ensure they all buy into it.”
Carlo Ancelotti can bury the ghosts of Istanbul even deeper against Liverpool
Carlo Ancelotti does not need reminding about what happened on this day 17 years ago. Thoughts of that wild night in Istanbul in 2005 always resurface for the Real Madrid coach in late May, but those memories are even more urgent because the 62-year-old is preparing for another Champions League final against Liverpool on Saturday in Paris.
This will be the third time the Italian has faced the Merseyside club in European football’s showpiece game. That first meeting will forever haunt Ancelotti. His Milan side were 3-0 up at half-time in the Ataturk Stadium but lost on penalties after Liverpool made a stunning comeback. The Serie A team got their revenge two years later but Milan’s 2-1 victory in Athens ranks way down the list of memorable Champions League finals. The drama of Istanbul makes it unforgettable.
Without that blot on his resume, Ancelotti would already be the most successful manager in European Cup/Champions League history. He has won the trophy three times. Only Bob Paisley and Zinedine Zidane can boast the same record, although the Liverpool and Real greats both did it in a short timeframe. Paisley’s three cups came over five seasons, Zidane’s over three. Ancelotti has won with two clubs and his first victory was 19 years ago. That is a remarkable record.
Carlo Ancelotti can bury the ghosts of Istanbul even deeper against Liverpool
The Italian, who was on the wrong end of Liverpool’s epic comeback in 2005 before avenging that defeat two years later, can cement himself as the Champions League’s most successful manager
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