English Premier League (EPL) runners-up Liverpool will be facing Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid in the final of the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 season. This is the second time that the two heavyweights are facing off in the ultimate match of the season, which decides the team that will go on to become the champions of Europe. The last time that these two sides in a UCL final was on May 26, 2018, and it was the Real Madrid side that ran away with the trophy, their third in a row and 13th in total.
Here, we recap the match that saw Zinedine Zidane win yet another Champions League trophy, while Liverpool established themselves as the team to beat.
Mohamed Salah suffers an injury
Liverpool suffered a devastating blow in the first half when they lost their top scorer and star of the season Mohamed Salah midway through the first half. The Egyptian had to get off the pitch after suffering a shoulder injury following a a challenge from Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.
Loris Karius howlers etched into history
Goalkeepers making horrible mistakes in a final with the magnanimity of the Champions League final is usually unheard of. But German goalkeeper Loris Karius made a couple of very expensive mistakes for Liverpool in what ended up as his final game of the season.
Six minutes into the second half, the German threw the ball into forward Karim Benzema, who was not even challenged as the Liverpool fans saw the ball rolled into the net behind him. But the drama extended when Liverpool recovered from the shock to equalise through Sadio Mane before Gareth Bale stepped off the bench to score a wonderful goal.
Gareth Bale and his exemplary goal
Bale scored one of European football's greatest goals which sealed Liverpool's fact and secured an unprecedented 13 titles of Real Madrid. It was also their third successive Champions League title as goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered a personal nightmare. He scored an overhead kick to put Real 2-1 up after 64 minutes.
For Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, it was disappointment yet again — he had lost his third successive final since arriving at Anfield, having suffered defeats in the League Cup and Europa League finals of 2016. But these demons were soon banished after Liverpool won the coveted title in 2019, before winning the Premier League the very next season, establishing themselves among the best teams in modern European football.
