On the day his side left Merseyside to fly to Madrid, Jurgen Klopp recorded a message to a dying man on the other side of the world. The Liverpool manager talked about life and death and the beauty of belonging to the community of players and supporters that bonds a club together and gives it its identity.
‘The only thing we would try to do the whole year,’ Klopp said to Liverpool fan Dave Evans as he stared into the camera, ‘is to give people some hope. Some joy. Some good moments to remember. We share these moments…We share these experiences. That makes us actually friends.’
Liverpool are a club whose recent history is forged in pain and fuelled by emotional energy and, fired by that hope and that joy of which Klopp had spoken, tens of thousands of their supporters had streamed out of the squares and the bars of the Spanish capital where they had congregated all day and made their way to the Wanda Metropolitano where it squats on the outskirts of the city.
Liverpool have secured their sixth Champions League title win a 2-0 win over Tottenham at the Wanda Metropolitano
Goals from star man Mohamed Salah and cult figure Divock Origi helped see off the threat of Tottenham in Madrid
An emotional Jordan Henderson embraces Jurgen Klopp who has won his first cup with Liverpool after three final defeats
Harry Kane recovered from injury to start the final but at full time he had to collect a runners up medal after suffering defeat
It was heartbreak for Tottenham who were the better side on the night but they couldn’t find a way past Liverpool’s Alisson
A tearful Lucas Moura comforts England defender Danny Rose at full-time after Liverpool secured the Champions League
A left-footed strike from Origi sealed the result for Liverpool in the end as they secured their sixth Champions League title
Hugo Lloris couldn’t reach the ball with his outstretched left palm as Liverpool secured the win after a lethargic display
Origi points to the sky after coming off the bench to secure yet another famous Champions League win for the Anfield club
Tottenham were left heartbroken at full time as despite their late pressure they could not peg Klopp’s side back in Madrid
There in the sultry heat of the evening, a second minute penalty from Mohamed Salah and a late strike from substitute Divock Origi delivered a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur and the joy the supporters craved. It also rid Klopp of the reputation of the man who always loses finals.
The victory in the first all-English Champions League Final since 2008 re-established their team as one of Europe’s elite and banished the pain of their defeat in the titanic Premier League battle with Manchester City when they won 97 points and still it was not enough. They had not hidden from that pain. They had held it close and embraced it and used it.
The match was not a classic. In fact, it was as if both teams had spent all their energy and their taste for drama in their semi-final miracle comebacks against Barcelona and Ajax.
Mo Salah helped Liverpool get off to a fantastic start in Madrid by calmly slotting home a penalty after just two minutes
The Egyptian dealt with the pressure well and with his left foot he swept the ball past helpless Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
The penalty was awarded to the Merseysiders by referee Damir Skomina of Slovenia just 21 seconds into the contest
Sadio Mane’s attempted cross was blocked by the outstretched arm of Moussa Sissoko, leading the referee to give a penalty
Fans barely had time to take their seats at the Wanda Metropolitano before Salah struck for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool
It almost felt on Saturday night as if Liverpool won the trophy that night at Anfield when they scored four unanswered goals and humbled Lionel Messi and his teammates. This was the confirmation of what they earned that magical evening.
This was not a night to marvel at the football but to revel in the history. This was Liverpool’s sixth triumph in the European Cup and Champions League, a record that lifts them above Bayern Munich and Barcelona and behind only AC Milan and Real Madrid in the history of the world’s leading club competition. What a tribute it was to a team’s ability to bounce back.
It was only 12 months ago after all, when they were leaving the pitch at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, desolate having lost to Madrid in the final, haunted by nightmarish images of two macabre bloopers from their goalkeeper, Loris Karius, and a stunning overhead kick from Gareth Bale. They have lived through this season determined to purge themselves of that disappointment.
So what have you actually won Jurgen Klopp? No longer can the accusation that the German is a nearly man be levelled at him. Never again. Saturday night fixed that. He had lost six finals in succession before Saturday night – three as the boss of Borussia Dortmund and three as the manager of Liverpool – but he has won the biggest prize of all now. His image will be paraded on the Kop among the icons of Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Rafa Benitez. He is one of the great ones now.
‘I feel mostly relief,’ he said after the match. ‘Mainly for my family, actually. The last times we were always on holiday with a silver medal which didn’t feel too good. Tonight was so emotional, it was so big. It means so much to us. I know how Tottenham feel better than anyone else in the world.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is joined by Roberto Firmino and Trent Alexander-Arnold to celebrate the early strike
The 26-year-old forward puts his fingers to his nose in celebration after opening the scoring the only goal of the first period
Referee Skomina dismissed the appeals of Tottenham’s players but the decision did not require a formal video review
Jan Vertonghen reacts after seeing his side make the worst possible start to a major final by conceding an early penalty
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino folds his arms after his side fell a goal down in the opening stages of the match
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1)
Lloris 6; Trippier 6, Alderweireld 6.5, Vertonghen 7, Rose 6.5; Winks 5.5 (Moura 66 6.5), Sissoko 5.5 (Dier 74); Eriksen 7, Alli 6 (Llorente 82), Son 6.5; Kane 6
Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Vorm, Sanchez, Foyth, Davies, Aurier, Walker-Peters, Wanyama, Lamela.
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6.5
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3)
Alisson 8; Alexander-Arnold 8, van Dijk 7, Matip 7, Robertson 8.5; Wijnaldum 6 (Milner 62 6.5), Fabinho 6, Henderson 6; Salah 6, Firmino 6 (Origi 58 7), Mane 8 (Gomez 90).
Subs not used: Mignolet , Lovren, Sturridge, Moreno, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Brewster, Kelleher.
Goals: Salah 2 (pen), Origi 88
Manager: Jurgen Klopp 7
Referee: Damir Skomina – (SLO) 6
PLAYER RATINGS BY PETE JENSON AT THE WANDA METROPOLITANO
Divock Origi secures the win in the 88th minute. For more from our brilliant MATCH ZONE feature, click HERE.
Joel Matip lunges into a challenge on England captain Harry Kane in the early stages of the Champions League final
Tottenham star Son Heung-min and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold went head-to-head in a fierce battle on the Spurs left
Kieran Trippier receives instructions from Tottenham manager Pochettino as Spurs try to get a foothold in the contest
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris rises above Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to punch the ball clear after a corner
‘Jordan Henderson is captain of the Champions League winners of 2019 and that sounds good. It is overwhelming. My life is much better than I expected it so winning something is cool but it is for us. I have talked to Uefa already and we will be there in Istanbul for the final next year. We carry the burden of history so it will be a target to play in Istanbul again.’
The doubts about Klopp were always ridiculous anyway. He won Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund against the might of Bayern Munich. Before, he was the underdog. Saturday night, his team was the favourite and they made their class count. It wasn’t the classic many had been expecting. The heat saw to that. It was not high-energy. It was subdued. But history will not care too much for that.
History will say that this vibrant, brilliant team that hums to the beat of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s youth, James Milner’s combativeness, Virgil van Dijk’s imperiousness, Andy Robertson’s energy, Jordan Henderson’s indomitability, Sadio Mane’s trickery, Salah’s pace and Roberto Firmino’s creativity walks with the club’s giants now.
They take their place alongside the heroes of Rome in 1977, Wembley in 1978, Paris in 1981, Madrid in 1984 and Istanbul in 2005. They belong now in the same company as legends like Tommy Smith and Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
For all Liverpool’s joy, it was a desperately disappointing night for Spurs. Their hopes of becoming the 23rdclub to win the competition were dashed without them ever getting close to their best. They improved in the second half but Liverpool have replaced Karius with an altogether better goalkeeper in Alisson and he was equal to everything Spurs threw at him.
The Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino had gambled by recalling both Harry Kane and Harry Winks in the starting line-up after long injury lay-offs and the gamble did not pay off. Winks played well but Kane looked short of match fitness and Virgil van Dijk, the man of the match, and Joel Matip were not troubled by him.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp steps out of his technical area to protest a decision made by the referee in the first half
Moussa Sissoko battles with Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum in the heart of midfielder during a fiercely contested first half
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson was the closest to finding the net after the goal when he let rip with a 25-yard pile-driver
Harry Kane goes to ground under pressure from Brazilian midfielder Fabinho who marshaled the Spurs threat well early on
Harry Winks takes control of possession for Tottenham as they slowly built some momentum after half time in Madrid
Spurs looked better once Lucas Moura, the hat-trick hero of the semi-final second leg comeback against Ajax, came on midway through the second half but Pochettino said he had no regrets. Inevitably, Pochettino was asked about his future after the match amid doubts he will stay at the club. ‘It is not the moment now to talk too much,’ he said.
If Klopp was under added pressure because of his list of final defeats, his team soon settled his nerves. A few passes after kick-off, Henderson lofted a ball over the Spurs defence to Sadio Mane, who was in more space than Spurs should have allowed him. Mane checked when he got to the edge of the area and when his cross hit the outstretched arm of Moussa Sissoko, the referee pointed to the spot. There were 21 seconds on the clock.
Replays suggested the decision was harsh but not harsh enough to warrant it being rescinded. There was a delay while the referee checked with VAR and then confirmed the penalty. Salah, Liverpool’s leading scorer, stepped up and blasted the ball past Hugo Lloris.
Only 1 minute and 48 seconds had elapsed, making it the second fastest goal in the history of Champions League finals, beaten only by Paolo Maldini’s opener after 50 seconds against Liverpool in Istanbul in 2005, a goal that turned out to be the prelude to one of the greatest comebacks the game has seen.
The game settled for a little then, becalmed, as if it did not quite know what had hit it. The cloying heat grabbed at the players and sucked the drive out of them. Both sides gave possession away regularly. It was another 15 minutes before Liverpool threatened the Spurs goal again, Trent Alexander-Arnold whistling a shot across Lloris and just wide. It was three weeks since the end of the English league season and both teams struggled to find fluency.
Tottenham improved after half time with Dele Alli in particular proving to be a handful with his clever movement off the ball
Wijnaldum and Kane help each other to their feet after a coming together in the second of the Champions League final
Hugo Lloris dives on the ball after a fiercely whipped Robertson cross almost finds the outstretched leg of Sadio Mane
Tottenham’s hat-trick hero from the semi-final win over Ajax, Lucas Moura, came on for Harry Winks as a substitute
After the interval, the Spurs fans sensed their team beginning to gain the ascendancy and roared them on as they attacked their end. Liverpool’s defence was starting to get stretched now and Heung-Min Son almost wriggled free in the area only for his shot to be blocked. Klopp knew the momentum was shifting. He brought on Origi for Roberto Firmino and Milner for Gini Wijnaldum.
Liverpool began to respond to the changes. The clock ticked down, bringing the prize closer and closer, and they searched for the goal that would put the game out of reach. Mane jinked his way past Christian Eriksen and when the ball broke to Milner, he lashed it just wide of Lloris’s left-hand post.
It was end-to-end stuff now, the game we thought we might have had from the start, the game we might have had in English temperatures.
Son burst through the Liverpool defence next and cut the ball back to Dele Alli but his chip was easily caught by Alisson. Alisson was pressed into action again and again now, beating away a shot from Son and diving low to stop a shot from Lucas Moura.
Ten minutes from the end, hearts leapt when Milner brought down Danny Rose on the very edge of the area. It was a free-kick not a penalty, but even though Eriksen struck it sweetly, even though it was curling towards the far corner, Alisson flew across his goal and pushed it wide.
After all that pressure, though, Spurs were undone in the final minutes. They failed to clear a corner and when the ball fell to Origi ten yards out, he took a touch to steady himself and then drove it past Lloris low into the corner. This time, for Spurs, there was to be no comeback.
Alisson claims a floated cross from Kieran Trippier to kill a Tottenham attack as the Londoners sought an equaliser
Alisson made a superb save to deny midfielder Christian Eriksen from a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area
Liverpool and Tottenham paid tribute to former Arsenal, Real Madrid and Sevilla player Jose Antonio Reyes who passed away
The Wanda Metropolitano was packed with fans filled with nervous anticipation as the contest got underway in Madrid