Real Madrid are champions of Europe for the 12th time as a Cristiano Ronaldo brace powered Los Blancos past Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final on Saturday night at the Principality Stadium in in Cardiff, Wales.
Ronaldo scored in the 20th and 64th minutes, Casemiro struck in the 60th minute and then substitute Marco Asensio finished off the emphatic scoreline with a goal just minutes before full-time. Juventus’ lone goal came from a dazzling volley from Mario Mandzukic in the 27th minute, but it was Real’s sensational second-half that will be remembered as the determining factor in this final.
The victory marks Real’s second straight Champions League title and third in the last four years, and Saturday’s triumph was arguably their most impressive of the trio. Leading up to the final, Juventus had conceded just three goals the entire tournament, yet in a span of 90 minutes Real had Juventus’ legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon digging the ball out of his own net four times.
The big question pre-match was whether Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane would opt for local hero Gareth Bale or continue with the blazing hot Isco in his starting XI. In the end, The Frenchman went with Isco over the Welshman, who has been battling an injury. Otherwise, it was the usual suspects at the starting whistle for Los Blancos. However, Zidane did raise a few eyebrows by who was left off his matchday roster, with James Rodriguez and Lucas Vazquez among the casualties.
Juve had the better start of the two and Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas was called into action several times inside the first 10 minutes, namely on a swerving shot struck by Miralem Pjanic that forced the Costa Rican into a diving save to his right.
After a flat start, Real soon found their rhythm. Isco was being prevented from creating in the centre of the pitch, but Real found space on the right wing with the overlapping runs of Dani Carvajal.
It was one such lung-busting run from the Real right-back that set up Ronaldo’s opener for Real; a one-two combination between Ronaldo and Carvajal ended with the Portuguese rifling in a right-footer past Buffon to give Los Blancos a 1-0 advantage.
marca.com
