In the astonishing opening
to this incredible final, Real Madrid had seemed liked a bewildered bystander.
Juventus had begun with a
purpose which suggested that all the lost finals and all those regrets would be
forgotten.
Cristiano Ronaldo was
appealing to the referee for fouls, but he looked like a man who lived under a
flightpath rushing out into his garden to wave his fist at planes.
Juventus had started with
a ferocious intensity which seemed to take Real Madrid by surprise. Champions
League finals should be tentative and tense. If there was tension, Juventus
were determined to release it. They attacked and swarmed all over Madrid. They
were answering the questions asked of them and answering some others too.
And then, in the middle of
all this, Ronaldo scored. And then, in a second half which was as cruel as the
first was compelling, Ronaldo scored again, his 600th goal for club and
country. It would be tempting to say that the personal milestone didn't matter
here in Cardiff, but of course it did, it always does.
Few footballers
have made the pursuit of personal goals so advantageous to their team, few men
have done so much for their team by being so focused on individual targets.
Ronaldo's goals took the sting out of
Juventus in the first place, and then made Real Madrid’s third European Cup in
four years inevitable. Madrid became the first team to retain the trophy since
Milan in 1990 and Zinedine Zidane has shown that sometimes great players can
make great managers or, at least, become managers who know how to get the best
out of great players.
This was a night where
greatness kicked the door in. Juventus’s supporters had taken over the city
with a spirit that added to the sense that, after 21 years, they should finally
claim another European Cup. But Juventus have lost four finals since then and
if many things were confirmed in the Principality Stadium, there was a
reminder, ruthlessly delivered, that sentiment rarely gets a look in.
Romance was on the side of
Juventus which was a statement in itself. The club which has won six straight
Serie A titles and has a chequered past was seen as the underdog, but in their
own way Real Madrid were demonstrating that the relentless pursuit of glory
matters more.
When Juventus’s players
had been ushered off the field beforehand in order for the opening ceremony
could begin, it confirmed what many felt about modern football. As the Black
Eyed Peas provided the music in the opening ceremony, there were many who felt
the Champions League final was demonstrating again how football has lost touch
with all that makes it so important. But then the final began and everything changed,
modern football had never seemed better.
Ronaldo’s goal seemed to
bring an end to an early period of Juventus dominance and illustrated how
lethal they can be as they broke on the left, moved to the right where a
one-two between Ronaldo and Dani Carvajal ended with Ronaldo sweeping the ball
past Gigi Buffon.
Madrid were finding their
range of passing and the goal gave them a greater authority. For seven minutes,
they played with that sense of purpose that comes from winning two Champions
Leagues in the past three years, that sense they were born to rule.
Then Juventus moved
forward and scored one of the great goals in football history with the ball
being knocked fromAlex Sandro to Gonzalo Higuain who teed it up for Mario
Mandzukic who did the rest.
The second half
promised a lot, but if it didn’t sustain itself as a contest, it provided the
platform for Zidane’s side to prove their greatness.
Casemiro got
the second goal with a deflected shot which added to the suffering for Gigi
Buffon, but then Ronaldo got a third which ended the game as a contest.
Of course,
Madrid take their lack of sentiment too far and there was time for Sergio Ramos
to do what Sergio Ramos does as Juan Cuadrado was sent off for Juventus. Marco
Asensio got the fourth to ensure Real Madrid had their 12th European Cup,
Ronaldo was
named man of the match and while others might have provided the foundation, he
had, once again, ensured that it was ruthlessly executed.
He wouldn't
have wanted it any other way. Without that worldview, Ronaldo could not have
undergone the process of reinvention he has. Only a man so sure of his own
greatness could continue making himself, not just relevant, but essential. Only
a man who is so certain of his own indispensability could continue to find ways
of emphasising why the world should savour every triumph for this astonishing
side.
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