Real Madrid

Deux joueurs de soccer s'enlacent après un but. Vinicius Junior et Karim Benzema. Photo : Getty Images / Javier Soriano. Benzema a certainement engrangé de ...

Nous avons joué un grand match aujourd'hui, nous avons eu une occasion, et nous l'avons marquée. » Tu peux l'avoir une fois, la chance, mais pas chaque fois. Jamais deux sans trois. Il n'y a pas de chance. Nous avons vraiment bien fait les choses. Nous avons vécu une saison fantastique.

Un excellent match de Thibaut Courtois dans les buts et un but de Vinicius (59^e) ont suffi aux «Merengues» pour remporter une finale longtemps fermée, moins ...

Le roi d’Europe est de retour. Mais cette équipe a gagné «à l’arraché» toute la saison, contre le Paris Saint-Germain (0-1/3-1), Chelsea (3-1/2-3 a. À Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp est encore loin de ces chiffres. Après avoir «appris à la dure» en «perdant beaucoup de finales», il commençait à gagner, celle de C1 2019 contre Tottenham (2-0), les deux coupes anglaises cette saison, mais son fameux gegenpressing ou contre-pressing n’a pas étouffé les «vétérans» (le mot est d’Ancelotti) du Real. Karim Benzema, lui, a remporté sa cinquième sur cinq. p.).

Carlo Ancelotti's side had come back from the dead so many times en route to the final but for once they didn't need to in Paris.

And so in an era when most managers espouse a philosophy, when we talk of grand tactical schema and the dominance of Pep Guardiola’s juego de posición and Jürgen Klopp’s gegenpressing, the first manager to win the Champions League four times is Carlo Ancelotti, who is as mutable and pragmatic as they come. Modric’s outside of the boot pass to Benzema to equalise against Chelsea at the Bernabéu is the defining moment of their campaign because it required such virtuosity at such a vital time. But this has not been a normal season for Madrid. They have survived by their nerve, by their capacity to produce moments of brilliance when they have needed them. At the very last he was there, claiming a cross from the left in a crowded box and giving it one last punt downfield. The rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone in injury time was less a rousing call to one last surge than a mournful hymn of defiance. The only difference between the final and what had gone before was that this time there was no point at which Liverpool apparently had the game won, and Karim Benzema didn’t score.

Real Madrid have won more than twice as many European Cups as any other team, and that carefree pedigree showed in their latest win over Liverpool.

Not with Courtois, in the prime of his career, staking a claim as the world's No. 1 between the posts and getting a few things off his chest. Except, even without Mbappe, you suspect this won't be their last -- not when there's a guy like Ancelotti, one of the few men who can pull off the cardigan-cigar-shades combination and lead a team in transition to a league and Cup double. There was David Alaba, demanding and getting a massive chest-bump from his defensive partner, Militao. They needed a spark and they got it from the way they defended. Madrid were on the ropes, but this is a team that knows how to both dazzle and suffer. When Madrid tried to play from the back, they were met with the twin central barrier of Salah and Sadio Mane, with Luis Diaz on the left and either Jordan Henderson or Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right. "This was maybe the most difficult Champions League [win]," Benzema said. That's what happens when arithmetic grants you the league early: You have the luxury to rest and recuperate, tweak and tinker, eyes and minds fully engaged on the prize. He was also able to call upon, on paper, his first-choice XI, but the vibe was different. But the tools of victory were those they had employed in earlier rounds: belief, unflappability and experience. And now the Kylian Mbappe snub isn't quite so infuriating -- it has to be satisfying to win a European Cup in his city, a 10-minute scooter ride from where he was born and raised. But perhaps no team has ever become champions of Europe after overcoming such a tough run in the knockout rounds: Mbappe's (and Lionel Messi's) Paris Saint-Germain, defending champions Chelsea and then Manchester City and Liverpool, No. 1 and No. 1a in most fans' unofficial power rankings. (Or, as club president Florentino Perez put it after the game: "Mbappe is forgotten now and that's OK ... Madrid had a perfect season."

Real Madrid became European champion for a record-extending 14th time after beating Liverpool 1-0 in a Champions League final that started 37 minutes late ...

"I've got really bad asthma and I've been tear gassed twice," Liverpool fan Angela Murphy told The Associated Press through a fence. Some fans climbed fences surround the stadium to get in. Vinicius sank to his knees and covered his face at full time. And this time, there was no need for the kind of stirring comeback that the Spanish giant had to produce in getting past Paris Saint-Germain, defending champion Chelsea and Manchester City in the knockout stage. Marcelo, Madrid's serial winner of trophies who didn't even play a minute of the final, was given the honour of lifting the trophy to a backdrop of fireworks and tickertape. Many of his teammates sprinted the length of the field to celebrate in front of Madrid's fans at one end of the stadium.

For the 14th time, Real Madrid are European champions after defeating Liverpool 1-0 at the Stade de France in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final.

The Brazilian averaged 0.39 expected goals (xG) and 0.26 expected assists (xA) per 90 minutes this season in La Liga and the Champions League combined, leading to a total of 20 goals and 16 assists. This final was always going to be defined by its individual battles, specifically on the wings. All of the focus from a Real Madrid perspective ahead of this game was on Karim Benzema and their ageless midfield trio. Not only is he creating more chances, he's attempting higher-quality shots and the Brazilian is reaping the rewards. That enabled the Uruguayan to bomb down the flank against Virgil van Dijk, who was caught in two minds: push up towards Valverde and allow Carvajal to overlap unchallenged, or hold his position. Los Blancos have mounted unprecedented comebacks against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City. They plotted and lied in the weeds before seizing their opportunity on Saturday.

15 Champions League wins are an extraordinary achievement. Against a Red flurry, it stood firm in Paris, thanks to an inspired goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois, ...

But footage emerging from outside the stadium shows this was a poorly considered event. The events have angered Liverpool, precisely 37 years after the Heysel disaster in which 39 fans died at a match against Juventus in Belgium. But the ones who set the stage are anything but after a chaotic final night, which let down everyone outside the Real bubble. Tested by the pandemic-induced changes to the game’s economy, Real remained financially steady, continuing its Santhiago Bernabéu stadium renovations and winning on the field. Having beaten the best en route to the final, this too was a winning night for Carlo Ancelotti’s players. In attack, it offered little but—like a beast waiting for its moment—bit at the right time, scoring with only its second shot on target compared to Liverpool’s nine.

MADRID (AP) — Several thousand Real Madrid fans spent the early hours of Sunday celebrating the club's latest Champions League title in the Spanish ca...

Fans took to the streets of Madrid and packed the club’s traditional celebration spot, the Cibeles square, after Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 on Saturday for a record-extending 14th European title. The team later on Sunday will parade through the city carrying the Champions League trophy on an open bus. MADRID (AP) — Several thousand Real Madrid fans spent the early hours of Sunday celebrating the club’s latest Champions League title in the Spanish capital, and a big welcome was planned for the players at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium later in the day.

Follow along here as the two European giants meet in a dynamic title match in Paris, where more history will be made.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid won its 35th Spanish league title earlier this year. Four years ago, the two sides met in the Champions League final in Kyiv. Real Madrid prevailed, 3–1, thanks in part to two second-half goals from Gareth Bale. However, the game has been widely remembered for Sergio Ramos injuring Mohamed Salah in the first half, and the Egyptian has vowed to exact a measure of revenge with his new opportunity. The road to Paris has been filled with twists and turns, but on Saturday, two European giants in Liverpool and Real Madrid will meet to decide the Champions League title.