The night Liverpool were crowned European champions for a sixth time
Six times. It wasn’t pretty, but will Liverpool care when recounting this tale in years to come? Of course not. Michael Hincks was at the Metropolitano Stadium to watch Madrid 2019 get added to the list.
If the semi-finals were the stuff of fairytales, then this was the difficult read you soldiered on through just to find out the ending.
Sure it hooked you in before going flat, and then provided a thrilling finale, but all that depends on which side you were backing to sit upon the throne as European champions anyway.
First things first, this was a final we never imagined we would witness.
Tottenham had taken one point from their first three group games, trailed Manchester City at the Etihad, and then fell three goals behind Ajax on aggregate.
Liverpool had lost all three away group matches, were held by Bayern Munich at Anfield, and then fell 3-0 at Barcelona.
Neither side was supposed to be here, but against all the odds, a second all-English final was upon us, and the prospect of number six for Liverpool or a maiden one for Tottenham soon became very real as their supporters descended on the Metropolitano Stadium.
Bizarrely, once the pre-match shenanigans subsided and after the Champions League anthem bellowed out, there was a storm which arrived before the calm.
Thirty seconds in Liverpool were awarded a penalty, and a minute later Mohamed Salah thumped it past Hugo Lloris for the second fastest goal in a Champions League final.
What followed was a strange 43 minutes, however. The early goal stunned almost everyone into silence, while it soon became apparent that two sides who had not played since May 12 were looking very out of practice.
By the end of the first half, Liverpool’s passing accuracy down was down at 68.7 per cent – they played the fewest passes in any half they’ve played this season – while Spurs were without a shot on target. Harry Kane and Roberto Firmino had made 11 touches, and Giorginio Wijnaldum 10.
‘It was about the result’
Trailing at half-time would not have deterred Spurs. They had not been ahead at the break in any of their previous 12 Champions League games this season (level in six, trailing in seven) and yet they were still here.
Buoyed by their previous endeavours, Pochettino’s side took the game to Liverpool, but eight times Alisson batted away their attempts, while it was the introduction of another semi-final hero, not Lucas Moura, which ultimately dealt the killer blow.
Adding to his match-winner against Barcelona, Divock Origi can now call himself a Champions League final scorer, firing in a goal which came 85 minutes after their first, and one which ensured Liverpool would bounce back from the disappointment of losing last year’s final and missing out on the Premier League.
In the end, Liverpool got the job done. The match will not go down as a classic, but after falling at the final hurdle twice – with Borussia Dortmund and then last year with Liverpool – Klopp knew it was simply about getting over the line and avoiding further heartache.
„[It was about] the result,“ he said after the match. „We spoke about it a lot, we’ve played better football in other finals.
„I usually have to sit here earlier and explain how I lost, but now I’m here as a winner I don’t want to explain how we won, I want to enjoy it.
„Now you can say it, 97 points in the Premier League and to be Champions League winners is incredible.“
And as Klopp went on to say, it will only truly sink in when they parade the trophy through Liverpool on Sunday.
Rome 1977. London 1978. Paris 1981. Rome 1984. Istanbul 2005. And now, Madrid 2019. The destination will be forever be remembered, but in truth, it was the journey that was far more memorable.
Poch: So painful but we need to keep going
The journey was equally as memorable for Tottenham, who will want to bottle up the emotion from their memorable victory at Ajax in the semi-finals and cherish that forever.
In their first Champions League final it was ultimately not meant to be, and while Pochettino was steadfast about his decision to pick Kane over Moura, the Spurs boss was keen to point out what an achievement getting to Madrid was.
„We are all disappointed but the season was fantastic,“ he said. „I feel so proud, but we can’t give a massive reward to our fans in the last moment.
„It is so painful, but we need to keep going. We need to be clever now. After a very painful situation, it is about the next period in your life. It is going to be tough, but we need to change our minds and be positive.“
That positivity will take a while to come back, but when it does, they will remember this night, all of its emotions, and ensure they return to this stage as soon as possible.
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
