Real claimed their 11th Champions League, winning 5-3 on penalties after they and bitter rivals Atletico Madrid ended 120minutes 1-1.
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Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are resuming their intense city rivalry in the Champions League final on a hot and humid Saturday evening at San Siro Stadium.
Once again a Champions League final between the two teams could be heading into extra time as Atletico equalizes with 11 minutes remaining. You never know what’s going to happen. “I knew that I would score the winning goal”.
Despite an inaccurate game for both teams, the penalty shootout was anything but.
There are also more than 300 volunteer performers, 12 professional dancers and 100 people who bring in and take away the props in a glitzy 9-minute act. “We have to rest now”. “What an wonderful feeling”, he said. “We tried not to show it too much but we just kept going and I can’t wait to lift that trophy again”.
“I had cramp after it (the penalty) thank God it wasn’t before”. I was nervous after the penalty, not while taking it.
“I was given the chance to come to this awesome club, and then to coach it”.
“The boys gave everything. The club, the fans have been wonderful on this journey and they deserve it”. “It is the most important competition for us”. We fought right until the final whistle.
“Everyone was struggling.I spoke with a few of their players who were struggling”.
Zidane, a Champions League victor with Real as a player in 2002, replaced Rafael Benitez as manager at the Bernabeu in January, with Real still reeling from a bruising 4-0 hammering by Barcelona earlier in the season and facing the prospect of a second successive campaign without major silverware. “We’ll be celebrating this with him!” said Ramos.
These games are often decided by the narrowest of margins, and with the amount of technically gifted players on display, it was no surprise that this was a close game.
“It’s great! This season has been very hard but we fought to the end”, said Benzema. I’m happy and proud. We showed character at the end – we were calm on the penalties.
You can’t say they didn’t deserve it! “I feel sorry for Atletico but I am glad for ourselves”.
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Ex-Nigeria captain and coach Sunday Oliseh has praised Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane for winning the prestigious UEFA Champions League after five months in charge of the Spanish club. This time, it was Real Madrid instead of Atletico in the role of long-time leader giving up a late equalizer.
