Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the Champions League final for the second time in five seasons, with Vinicius Jr. scoring in the second half to earn the Spanish club’s 14th trophy in the tournament.
It was a night that epitomized Real Madrid’s 2021-22 European campaign, as they were held back by their opponents for long stretches before capitalizing on a golden opportunity.
Thibaut Courtois has been slightly overshadowed in the midst of all the hoopla about Karim Benzema and Luka Modric’s excellent performances, but he has been as important to their success as anybody else and kept his finest performance for the grandest stage of all. By a wide margin, the Belgian was the man of the match in Paris.
The evening was marred by the French police’s heavy-handed behavior before to the game, with Liverpool fans saying that they were tear-gassed as they sought to enter the Stade De France. The game was supposed to start at 8 p.m., but it was delayed for more than 30 minutes because thousands of people were unable to take their seats.
Liverpool opened in commanding form, as indicated by Ibrahima Konate’s brilliant marshaling of Vinicius Jr along the touchline in the early moments, and had the first serious scoring opportunities, as would become a motif of the night.
Courtois responded swiftly to prevent a clever Mo Salah touch from settling in the bottom corner, before stopping the Egyptian again less than a minute later with a more conventional save. Even better was to follow, as he produced a spectacular finger-tip save to redirect Sadio Mane’s effort against the inside of the post, with the rebound squirting to safety.
Following Salah’s header of a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross straight at Courtois, Liverpool’s shooting count after 34 minutes read 8 shots in their favor and 5 for attempts on target. After a rare surge forward, a Real Madrid player didn’t even get a touch of the ball in Liverpool’s area until two minutes later.
However, as they have shown again and again this year, Real always carry a danger no matter how much pressure they are under. Karim Benzema stroked a finish into the goal just before halftime following a mix-up between Alisson and Konate, only for the VAR to intervene and deem him offside after a long pause.
The amount of time it took to make a decision demonstrated that it was far from straightforward. The ball bounced from Alisson, Konate, and Fabinho before landing at Benzema’s feet to score. Former Premier League referee Peter Walton ruled that the goal was disallowed because Fabinho accidentally nudged the ball into Benzema’s path when the striker was offside.
Liverpool continued to appear the most likely to score first, but after failing to convert their dominance, they ultimately went behind. Federico Valverde sprinted down the right flank before slipping a low cross to the back post, where Vinicius was waiting to finish into an empty goal. Alexander-judgment Arnold’s of the scenario as the winger slipped in underneath him to score will be scrutinized.
Courtois extended his excellent performance by racing to his right to palm a goal-bound, curling Salah attempt to safety, and then denied the Liverpool striker for the umpteenth chance when he instinctively diverted a Diogo Jota header towards goal. Similarly, to the first half, Courtois produced a stunning save to avert a certain goal by diverting a Salah shot wide to keep his clean sheet and seal his team’s victory.
According to Opta, Courtois’ nine saves in the Champions League final were the most by any goalie since records started in 2003-04.
Carlo Ancelotti was appropriately impressed. “Trust me, people, I can’t believe Thibaut Courtois did tonight. “Unbelievable!” he said afterward. Ex-Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho was also asked whether he had ever seen a goalkeeping performance like Courtois, to which he answered, “Yes… from Courtois.”
Former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas tweeted: “It’s been a while since I recall such a crucial goalie in a Champions League final.”
Courtois’ heroics contributed significantly to the Champions League’s most decorated team having yet another spectacular night.
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