Real Madrid wins UCL title
Gareth Bale’s eye-catching scissor-kick helped Real Madrid toa third successive Champions League title on Saturday in Kiev with a 3-1 victory over a Liverpool side thwarted by a pair of goalkeeping blunders and Mohamed Salah being forced off injured.
Making an explosive impact as a second-half substitute, Bale showcased athleticism and technique of the highest quality by sending Madrid in front with only his fourth touch of the final in the 64th minute.
If these were Bale’s final moments in a Madrid jersey, they won’t be forgotten.
Confounding doubters, including coach Zinedine Zidane, Bale sealed Madrid’s record-extending 13th European title with his second goal — a long-range strike that owed much to Loris Karius’ second calamity of the game in Kiev’s Olympic Stadium. The Liverpool goalkeeper allowed Bale’s shot to squirm through his hands into the net in the 83rd.
Six minutes into the second half, Karius’ sloppy rollout had been seized on by Karim Benzema to put the Spanish side in front. Liverpool struck back through Sadio Mane but the five-time European champions were only fleetingly back in the game.
Having lost Salah — scorer of 44 goals this season — to a suspected shoulder or collarbone injury in the first half, Liverpool lacked the firepower to find a way past the aristocrats of European football. After leaving the pitch in tears and heading to the hospital, the Egypt forward will be fearing the worst for his hopes of going to a first World Cup next month.
RED BULLS DRAW
Goalkeeper Luis Robles was honored in a pregame ceremony for the conclusion of the longest Ironman streak in MLS history and the Red Bulls and the Philadelphia Union both had their winning streaks snapped as they played to a scoreless draw in Harrison.
Robles sat out due to a knee injury he suffered in the final minutes of a win at Colorado a week ago, ending his streak of 183 games dating to September 2012.
Backup goalkeeper Ryan Meara had two saves to record the shutout in Robles’ absence. Philadelphia’s Andre Blake preserved his shutout with four saves, including a leaping grab in the 13th minute.
The Red Bulls (7-3-1) had their four-game win streak snapped.