The 2018 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

, the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Cup to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. It was played at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, Ukraine on 26 May 2018, between

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

side and defending champions

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, who had won the competition in each of the last two seasons, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

side

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, making their eighth final appearance and first since

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

. The two sides had previously met in the 1981 final. After Liverpool's

Sadio Mané Sadio Mané (born 10 April 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Senegal national team. Considered one of the best players in the world and amongst the greatest African ...

cancelled out

Karim Benzema Karim Mostafa Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains La Liga club Real Madrid. A creative and prolific forward, Benzema is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time. ...

's opener for Real Madrid, two goals from man of the match

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...

proved the difference in a 3–1 win for the Spaniards, making them the first team to win three back-to-back titles in Champions League era and the first since

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

defeated

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the ...

in the

1976 European Cup Final The 1976 European Cup Final was a football match held at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on 12 May 1976, that saw Bayern Munich of West Germany defeat Saint-Étienne of France 1–0. This was the third consecutive European Cup title for Bayern Munich, b ...

; it was additionally their fourth title in five seasons and their 13th European Cup overall. They also earned the right to play the winners of the

2017–18 UEFA Europa League The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Parc Olympi ...

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

, in the

2018 UEFA Super Cup The 2018 UEFA Super Cup was the 43rd edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League ...

and to enter the semi-finals of the

2018 FIFA Club World Cup The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between ...

, losing the former and winning the latter. Additionally, Real Madrid qualified to enter the group stage of the

2018–19 UEFA Champions League The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first tim ...

, but since they already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved was given to the champions of the 2017–18 Czech First League, the 11th-ranked association according to next season's access list.

Teams

''In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.''

Venue

The NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium was announced as the final venue on 15 September 2016, following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. This was the sixth European Cup/Champions League final hosted at an

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

an venue following those in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

and

finals hosted by Athens, Greece, as well as the 2008 final in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The Olimpiyskiy Stadium was built in 1923 and it has been renovated three times, most recently in 2011 in preparation for the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

tournament. The stadium was used as a venue in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

for its

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

event and the aforementioned European Championship, including the final match, which saw

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

beat

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

by the record-breaking score of 4–0 on the way to their third title. Its current capacity is 70,050 and it is used by the

Ukraine national football team The Ukraine national football team ( uk, Збірна України з футболу) represents Ukraine in men's international football and is governed by the Ukrainian Association of Football, the governing body for football in Ukraine. Uk ...

, Dynamo Kyiv, and major domestic matches like the Ukrainian Cup.

Background

Defending champions

reached a record 16th final after a 4–3 aggregate win against

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

side

, knocking them out of the competition for the second consecutive season. This was Real Madrid's third consecutive final, and fourth final in five tournaments with an opportunity to win a record 13th title. Previously they won finals in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

; and lost in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. This was also their 20th final in all seasonal UEFA competitions, having also played in two

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

finals (losing in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

and

) and two

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

finals (winning in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

). Real Madrid are only the third team since the competition's rebranding as the Champions League to reach three consecutive finals after A.C. Milan in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

. They were the first team in the Champions League era, and the fourth overall, to win three straight finals, a feat only achieved by the Real Madrid side of the 1950s, as they went on to win a record five successive finals, as well as the

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

and

squads of the 1970s in

and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, respectively.

reached their eighth final, their first since

, after a 7–6 aggregate win against Italian side

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. They had won the final on five occasions (

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

), and lost twice (

and

). This was also their 13th final in UEFA seasonal competitions, having played in one

final (losing in

) and four UEFA Cup/Europa League finals (winning in

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

; and losing in

). Liverpool were the first team since

in 2011–12 to reach the final having qualified for the competition through the

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. This was also the most recent occasion the final featured an English team (

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

). Liverpool were the most recent team to defeat Real Madrid in a European Cup Final, winning 1–0 in Paris in

. Besides the 1981 final, the two teams had played each other four times in the Champions League era. Liverpool won both matches in the

2008–09 UEFA Champions League The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. It w ...

round of 16 (1–0 away and 4–0 at home), while Real Madrid won both matches in the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

group stage (3–0 away and 1–0 at home).

Road to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''

Pre-match

Ambassador

The ambassador for the final was former Ukrainian international

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, or Andrii Mykolaiovych Shevchenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian football manager, a former professional football player and a former politici ...

, who won the UEFA Champions League with Milan in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

Ticketing

With a stadium capacity of 63,000 for the final, a total of 40,700 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 17,000 tickets each and with 6,700 tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 15 to 22 March 2018 in four price categories: €450, €320, €160, and €70. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA and national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.

Opening ceremony

English singer

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco-pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Grammy A ...

performed at the opening ceremony preceding the final. Jamaican rapper

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles " Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

joined her as a special guest to perform their collaborative song, " No Lie". The

UEFA Champions League Anthem The UEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled simply "Champions League", is the official anthem of the UEFA Champions League, written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, and based on George Frideric Handel's ''Zadok the Priest''.

was performed by Croatian

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

duo

2Cellos 2CELLOS (stylized 2CΞLLOS) were a Croatian cellist duo, consisting of classically trained cellists Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser. Signed to Sony Masterworks since 2011, they released six albums. They played instrumental arrangements of wel ...

Related events

The 2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was held two days earlier, on 24 May 2018, at the

Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium The Stadion Dynamo imeni Valeria Lobanovskoho is a multi-functional stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine that is modified for football use only. It is the home stadium of FC Dynamo Kyiv yet not the main stadium, for which Dynamo uses the bigger NSC Oly ...

between

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...

and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

, Lyon emerging victorious 4–1. This was also the last time that the host city for the men's Champions League final was also automatically assigned the Women's Champions League final. The annual UEFA Champions Festival was held between 24–27 May 2018 in the Kyiv city centre.

Incidents

In late May, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that some fans with allocated tickets had returned them after having trouble finding flights to and accommodation in Kyiv. Locals in Kyiv began offering free accommodation for fans affected by cancelled hotel and apartment arrangements. Several charter flights arranged for Liverpool fans were cancelled, leaving fans with tickets stranded and leading to an unsuccessful search for alternative solutions by the club and city government. Other airlines offered flights to Kyiv from airports in Liverpool and Manchester, using assigned slots at Kyiv's airports. On 24 May, a group of Liverpool fans were attacked in a restaurant by 20 masked hooligans.

Match

Officials

On 7 May 2018, UEFA announced that Serbian

Milorad Mažić Milorad Mažić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Мажић, ; born 23 March 1973) is a Serbian international association football referee. He became a FIFA referee in 2009. Beside working in the Serbian football league system, Mažić officiated numero ...

would officiate the final. Mažić has been a

FIFA referee This is a list of current FIFA international referees. Years in brackets indicate when the referee was added to the FIFA International Referees List. Afghanistan Men's Referees * Halim Shirzad (2019) Assistant Referees * Nangyal ...

since 2009, and gained UEFA's elite referee status in 2013. He was joined by his fellow countrymen, with Milovan Ristić and Dalibor Đurđević as assistant referees, Nenad Đokić and Danilo Grujić as additional assistant referees, and Nemanja Petrović as reserve assistant referee. The fourth official for the final was Frenchman

Clément Turpin Clément Turpin (; born 16 May 1982) is a French football referee. He has been a FIFA listed referee since 2010, and an UEFA Elite group referee since 2012. Career Turpin became a FIFA referee in 2010. He has served as a referee in the 2014 an ...

Summary

The match began with Liverpool's kickoff and the team's successive attacks to counter Madrid's slower, possession-based buildup. In the 23rd minute, a low shot by

Trent Alexander-Arnold Trent John Alexander-Arnold (born 7 October 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Liverpool and the England national team. Known for his range of passing, crossing and assists, he is regarded as one o ...

went through a defender's legs and forced a late save by Keylor Navas. Two minutes later, Liverpool forward

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly ( ar, محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and captains the Egyp ...

was injured competing for the ball with

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national team. Known for his aggressive play, he is widely regarded as one of the g ...

, who had locked Salah's arm resulting in a fall. Due to a

dislocated shoulder A dislocated shoulder is a condition in which the head of the humerus is detached from the shoulder joint. Symptoms include shoulder pain and instability. Complications may include a Bankart lesion, Hill-Sachs lesion, rotator cuff tear, or inj ...

, Salah was substituted four minutes later for Adam Lallana. Madrid's Dani Carvajal was substituted in the 37th minute with a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

injury after an unsuccessful

backheel Association football (more commonly known as football) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier.

. Minutes later,

appeared to score by finishing a shot started by a

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

header. His goal was disallowed however because he was judged to have been in an offside position. The first half ended scoreless, with Madrid dominating possession but Liverpool having more chances to score. The first chance of the second half fell to Isco, who hit the crossbar. In the 51st minute, Benzema scored the match's first goal by deflecting a throw by Liverpool goalkeeper

Loris Karius Loris Sven Karius (born 22 June 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Born in Biberach, Karius began his career with Stuttgart before moving to Manchester City in 2009. After two years in Manchester City's youth ...

back into the net. Liverpool equalised four minutes later with a tap-in by

, who finished a header by

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Croatia national team. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to ...

after a corner kick by James Milner from the right.

was substituted in for Isco in the 61st minute and scored Madrid's second goal two minutes later, using an acrobatic

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

to finish a cross by

Marcelo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...

from the left. Liverpool pressed for a second equalising goal, with a shot by Mané that hit the goal post and calls for a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

for an alleged handball, but were also losing possession to Madrid. Ronaldo had a chance to score his first goal of the match during a counter-attack in the 73rd minute, but was tackled by Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson in the penalty box. Bale scored his second goal of the match in the 83rd minute on a shot that swerved in front of Karius and went through his hands and into the net. A second chance on goal for Ronaldo in the 93rd minute of play was interrupted by a pitch invader, who was captured by stadium stewards.

Details

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw, which was held on 13 April 2018, 13:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German: or ; outdated Italian: , ) is a municipality in Nyon District in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Ge ...

, Switzerland.

Statistics

Post-match

Real Madrid became the first team since

in 1974–76 to win three consecutive UEFA Champions Leagues or European Cups. The title was Madrid's 13th, another Champions League record, and their fourth in five years. Real Madrid's victory was the fifth consecutive title for a Spanish side in the Champions League, becoming the longest run for the trophy to be held by teams from the same country since English sides won six consecutive titles between 1977 and 1982. Manager

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

became the first to win three consecutive Champions League titles and matched

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

's record of Champions League era wins. Five days after the final, Zidane announced that he would step down as manager in favour of a "different voice".

became the first player to win the Champions League five times, surpassing the record set by

Clarence Seedorf Clarence Clyde Seedorf (; born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is regarded by many to be one of the best midfielders of his generation. Seedorf is considered one of the most successful players in U ...

in 2007 and by

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of hi ...

in 2015.

became the first substitute to score two goals in a Champions League final and was named man of the match. His first goal received acclaim as one of the best in Champions League history and was compared to Ronaldo's bicycle kick goal against Juventus in the quarter-final and manager

's goal in the 2002 final.

's tackle on

received mixed reactions from the press and fans on whether the injury was the result of a deliberate blow or an accident. Egyptian fans responded with anger on social media, including insults that became trending topics on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. A Change.org petition calling on

and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to punish Ramos for the challenge received 400,000 signatures within two days. A separate incident involving Ramos and Liverpool goalkeeper

raised questions after a video showed him allegedly elbowing Karius in the face prior to his first goalkeeping error. UEFA declined to take action against Ramos for the incident with Karius. After an examination, on 4 June 2018, physiatrist Ross Zafonte at the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

said in a statement that Karius suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration ...

during the match and that, according to him, it was possible the concussion could have affected the player's performance. Liverpool manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing ...

lost his sixth of seven major finals, including Champions League and league cups. After the match, Loris Karius tearfully apologised to Liverpool supporters who remained in the stands and stated that his mistakes "lost the team the final". After the match, Karius received online death threats and hate messages directed at him and his family. He would move to Turkish club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, ...

on loan the following season.

References

External links

UEFA Champions League
(official website)

UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Uefa Champions League Final 2018

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Champions League Final

International club association football competitions hosted by Ukraine European Cup Final 2018 European Cup Final 2018 Champions League Final Champions League Final 2010s in Kyiv May 2018 sports events in Europe