Spanish giants Real Madrid drew the first blood in the mouthwatering Champions League match final against Italy’s Juventus in an entertaining 4-1 victory in the Cardiff City.
This was their record 12th Champions League trophy courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace.
10-man Juventus were unable to match Real Madrid’s pace and game allowing the latter to retain their Champions League crown, making them the first team in the Champions League era to successfully defend the trophy.
Ronaldo scored in the 20th minute of the thrilling first half of the game making him the first player to score in three different Champions League finals in the process.
600 – Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 600th goal in all competitions for club and country. Legendary. pic.twitter.com/QbHprSwhzj
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 3, 2017
Mario Mandzukic equalised for Juventus with a spectacular overhead kick that will live long in the memory.
Juve collapsed in the second half with Madrid’s dominance producing Casemiro’s goal thanks to a huge deflection. Ronaldo made sure of the victory from close-range, ensuring he finishes above Lionel Messi as the competition’s top scorer this season.
Substitute Juan Cuadrado was sent off 18 minutes after coming on killing any hopes of a comeback by Juve. The winger received a second yellow card for a clash with Sergio Ramos.
Madrid substitute Marco Asensio finished it all as an icing on the cake in the last minute, just eight minutes after coming on.
The win seals a famous double for Zinedine Zidane in his first full season at the helm, with Madrid the first side since AC Milan in 1990 to win back-to-back European crowns.
Juventus, who had been seeking a treble after winning Serie A and the Coppa Italia, on the other hand, have now lost five straight finals since last tasting continental success back in 1996, including two of the last three, having also lost to Barcelona in Berlin two years ago.
Here are some of the key Opta statistics after Saturday night’s entertaining final:
- Real Madrid have won their last six European Cup finals, last losing one in 1981 versus Liverpool.
- Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich, Juventus) became the third player to score in a European Cup/Champions League final for two different teams after Velibor Vasovic (Partizan Belgrade, Ajax) & Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd, Real Madrid).
- Ronaldo has now scored at least twice as many Champions League goals as any other player in the quarter-final stage (20), semi-final stage (13) and final of the competition (4).
- Ronaldo made his fifth European Cup/Champions League final appearance – only Paolo Maldini, Paco Gento (8) and Alfredo Di Stefano (7) have played in more.
- Juan Cuadrado became the third player to be sent off in a Champions League final, after Jens Lehmann (2006) and Didier Drogba (2008).
- Gianluigi Buffon was the third oldest player to feature in a European Cup final (39y 126d) after Dino Zoff and Edwin van der Sar.
- Juventus (4) conceded more goals in this game as they had in the rest of the campaign (3).
