Real won 5-3 on penalties.
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Tens of thousands of fans endured the rain to greet Real Madrid players as they returned home early Sunday from their Champions League triumph, then packed the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium at night to watch them lift the trophy one more time.
With Cristiano Ronaldo clearly not match fit, Real’s win owed more to the gutsy determination of defensive midfielder Casemiro and man-of-the-match Sergio Ramos than the flair players.
Antoine Griezmann missed a penalty at the start of the second half for Atletico when he fired his shot against the bar.
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, who struck in stoppage time two years ago, showed a forward’s hunger to score in the 15t by forcing the ball past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak from close range. However when Juanfran’s penalty came back off the post, it allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to end the contest and claim the 11th European Cup for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane hailed Spanish giant as the “club of my life” after victory against cross city rivals. The team that wins is always the best – Real Madrid were better because they won. “I’m very proud of my team-mates and we’ll continue fighting for our objectives, so we’ll keep dreaming”.
Ronaldo became the only player with three goals from three different UCL finals, beating his Argentine rival, Messi to the record while Ramos is now the first defender in history to score in two UEFA champions league finals. “For seven years now I’m scoring more than 50 goals every year, but I am always asking more from myself”. I’m happy because I’ve been part of this great club for a long time now.
“I am very proud of my team”. Asked if he would be playing against England, he said: “No, come on!”
Real Madrid had a golden opportunity in the 120th minutes to finnish off the game but missed it.
“We worked well with Benitez, although things didn’t go well with him, and Zidane gave us a different air”, he said.
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Atletico’s shattered coach Diego Simeone added: “It hurts to see the people who paid for the tickets and I couldn’t give them what they wanted”.
