Real Madrid ruin Liverpool and Mohamed Salah’s Champions League revenge mission

Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League title after a narrow victory over Liverpool on a controversial night in Paris.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, and Mohamed Salah in particular, came into the match hoping for revenge following their defeat against the same opponents in Kiev four years ago.

Despite creating the better opportunities, Liverpool found Thibaut Courtois at the peak of his powers and were forced to stomach a painful defeat, just a week after their Premier League dreams were dashed in equally agonising circumstances.

Given the chaotic and dangerous scenes that preceded kick-off, which resulted in a 36-minute delay, the final took a while to get going.

Almost 20 minutes passed before Liverpool registered a meaningful shot on target and when they did, they found Courtois a formidable barrier.

The Belgium international got down smartly to denySalah from close range and moments later needed all of his agility and wingspan to tip Sadio Mane’s rasping drive onto the post, after the Liverpool winger had cut in menacingly onto his right foot.

Real failed to offer any semblance of an attacking threat during the opening 45 minutes but were only denied the opening goal during first half stoppage time following a lengthy VAR check, which eventually saw Karim Benzema penalised for offside after a defensive mix-up involving Alisson Becker, Ibrahima Konate and Fabinho.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Stop it, Thibaut Courtois! 𥵠Joke of a save! #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/3KunsBBN9G

The second period began in a similar fashion with Liverpool offering more of a threat and Courtois having to be at his best to repel a dangerous Trent Alexander-Arnold cross.

The Liverpool full-back’s defensive deficiencies were exploited shortly