Champions League

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Real Madrid reached a record 14th final in 2018 after a 1–0 aggregate win against Manchester City. They had previously won finals in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2014, and lost in 1962, 1964, and 1981. Their manager, Zinedine Zidane, who scored the winning goal for Real Madrid in the 2002 final, became the seventh man to win the Champions League as both player and manager, joining Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, and Pep Guardiola. The team had had a disastrous first half of the season, being left out of contention to win La Liga, sacking newly-appointed Rafael Benítez in January.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the San Siro was thick with tension, the Italian night cold against the burning white shirts. Six minutes into the game, Gareth Bale delivered a free-kick into Atlético Madrid's penalty box, which found Casemiro. His goalbound shot was cleared off the line by goalkeeper Jan Oblak. In the 15th minute, Toni Kroos sent a free-kick into Atlético's penalty box, which was flicked on by Bale. In the subsequent scramble, Sergio Ramos touched the ball past Oblak to score for Real. Watching the goal back at half-time, referee Clattenburg realised that there had been an offside in the build-up to the goal and that it should not have stood. In the 46th minute, Fernando Torres won a penalty kick for Atlético after a foul from behind from Pepe. Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas was shown a yellow card for delaying the kick. Griezmann took the penalty but his shot missed the goal, with the ball ricocheting off the crossbar. Substitute Yannick Carrasco latched onto a cross by Juanfran from the right to equalise from close range for Atlético in the 79th minute. After a goalless extra 30 minutes, the game was settled by a penalty shoot-out. Juanfran missed Atlético's fourth penalty, hitting the post, thus allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to seal Real Madrid's 11th Champions League title.

Did You Know?

• Sergio Ramos became the fifth player to score in two Champions League finals, having also scored the equaliser against Atlético Madrid in the 2014 final.
• Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane became the first French coach to win the Champions League and the seventh person to win it as both a player and a coach.
• The 2016 final was the first UEFA Champions League final to employ goal-line technology, using the Hawk-Eye system.
• American singer Alicia Keys performed in the opening ceremony, the first time the UEFA Champions League final featured a live music performance.
• The all-Madrid final guaranteed the city of Madrid becoming the most successful city in the European Cup with 11 wins and 17 final appearances.