Liverpool v Real Madrid Live Commentary & Result, 28/05/22, UEFA Champions League

On an historic occasion in Saint-Denis, Real Madrid enjoy a glorious conclusion to perhaps the finest Champions League campaign in their long history. Thank you for joining us for today's final and goodbye!

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti becomes the most successful manager in Champions League history with a fourth success in the competition - moving ahead of Zinedine Zidane and Bob Paisley in the pecking order. In addition, Spanish clubs have now won their past 17 European finals against non-Spanish sides, and Madrid continue an eight-game winning streak in Champions League finals.

For a record-extending 14th time, Real Madrid are champions of Europe, after a remarkable run to today's final culminates in a classic counter-attacking victory over Liverpool. The Spanish champions now claim the double, thanks to a canny display of defensive fortitude and clinical quality when it mattered in the final third - Vinicius claiming the decisive goal. However, it may instead be remembered as the 'Courtois final', after the Madrid goalkeeper made a series of superb saves to keep his side in it, while their beaten opponents will rue many missed opportunities - particularly in the first half.

90' + 6' FULL-TIME: LIVERPOOL 0-1 REAL MADRID

90' + 5' Fittingly, it seems that Courtois makes the last significant contribution of the final, as he gratefully gathers the ball from Fabinho's overhit free-kick. Surely that's it? Madrid are on the brink of another Champions League crown!

Rodrygo

Vinícius Júnior

90' + 3' Potential matchwinner Vinicius comes off with only seconds remaining, as Rodrygo makes what he hopes will be a brief cameo.

90' + 3' Teed up by his countryman Benzema just outside the area, Camavinga drills a shot over the crossbar, with Alisson untroubled by his wayward attempt.

90' + 2' Making an immediate impact after his arrival from the bench, Ceballos skips through into the area, but a minor hesitation is fatal to his hopes of creating a killer second goal, and Keita can get the ball behind for a corner.

Dani Ceballos

L. Modrić

90' Modric makes way as the final heads towards stoppage time, and Ceballos is his midfield replacement.

89' After colliding with Konate in an aerial challenge, Courtois is briefly down on the turf. However, once some medical attention eats up several more seconds, the Real Madrid goalkeeper is fit enough to continue.

87' Vinicius and Benzema threaten to open up the Liverpool defence with a clever one-two, but Alexander-Arnold recovers to help out the beaten Konate by making a vital interception on the edge of his own area.

E. Camavinga

F. Valverde

85' Apparently stricken by cramp, Valverde is taken off by Ancelotti, and Camavinga is his replacement in Madrid's midfield.

83' GREAT SAVE! The Courtois final continues, as the Belgium international makes yet another crucial stop - this time to deny Salah, who slips into a shooting position on the right side of the area before arrowing a rising effort towards the top corner. The Madrid goalkeeper gets a hand to it, and the ball just evades the crossbar on its way behind!

81' Keita thumps a panicky shot several yards wide of goal with the outside of his right boot, and another chance is spurned by Liverpool.

79' Liverpool attempt to turn the screw on a retreating Madrid side, and Courtois is once again called upon to make an important save. Salah's strike deflects off Jota, and the giant goalkeeper scrambles down to his left to turn the ball wide for a corner.

Roberto Firmino

Thiago Alcântara

77' Thiago's influence on the final has been minimal, and he is now withdrawn as Firmino bolsters Liverpool's attacking options.

N. Keïta

J. Henderson

77' Liverpool have opted for a double change. First, Henderson makes way for Keita in midfield.

76' Casemiro fluffs a good chance to set up a second Real Madrid goal, after a Kroos free-kick catches the Liverpool defence out. The Brazilian midfielder slips in behind the Reds' back four, but his attempted cutback only bounces of his heel and the opportunity is lost.

74' With a slight air of desperation, Alexander-Arnold drives well wide of the target from 10 yards outside the box. That was probably not the best use of the ball.

73' Liverpool initiate another attacking move as the minutes tick down, and it looks like Klopp is soon set to make his second substitution in search of an equalising goal.

71' An excellent tackle by Konate on the brink of his own box stops Vinicius in his tracks, after the young winger surges in from the left flank to threaten a shot from around 20 yards out.

69' SHARP STOP! At his near post, Courtois blocks Salah's close-range attempt from the tightest of angles, after Konate had won a header from Robertson's corner. Jota had then headed across goal towards the Egyptian winger, but the Madrid goalkeeper made a great save with his left leg!

67' An outswinging corner by Robertson is headed clear at the near post, but Liverpool are then afforded another set-piece chance when they earn a second successive corner.

Diogo Jota

L. Díaz

65' A disappointing day for Diaz comes to an early end, as Jota comes on for Liverpool up front.

64' SAVE! Salah drifts in from the right, and then unleashes a shot towards the bottom-left corner, but Courtois again keeps the ball out with a diving save. The big Belgian has certainly played his part in the final so far.

Fabinho

Yellow Card

62' A crunching challenge by Fabinho on Valverde is mistimed; sending the latter flying into the air. The Liverpool midfielder receives the final's first booking as a result.

F. Valverde

Assist

59' Valverde sprinted clear down the right before splitting the Liverpool defence with a low cross to pick out Vinicius' far-post run.

Vinícius Júnior

Goal

59' REAL MADRID LEAD! Sneaking in behind Alexander-Arnold, the ever-alert Vinicius fires home at the back post to give Madrid a 1-0 lead just before the hour mark! Excellent work from Valverde down the right was rewarded by the Brazilian's well-timed run and cool finish from the left side of the six-yard box.

58' Twice, Salah sees goalbound shots denied by white Madrid shirts, and Alaba blocks the second with an arm. However, he could not have moved out of the way, so no penalty is awarded.

57' After a brief assessment, Militao is cleared to continue, and the final resumes.

56' Militao is down on the much-maligned new turf at Stade de France, after being felled by a challenge by Diaz, and the game comes to a momentary halt as he receives treatment.

55' Courtouis launches himself from his goal to punch clear a dangerous cross by Alexander-Arnold, who struck the ball with fierce power across the box.

53' Mane sets of an attack by sweeping the ball out to the left for Diaz, and from the return Mane's shot is blocked by Militao on the edge of the box. Casemiro then shuts down an follow-up attempt from Alexander-Arnold.

51' Both sides have been guilty of gifting the other the ball on several occasions since the interval, as the tempo continues to build.

49' Mane steals the ball from Casemiro deep inside the Madrid half, but Diaz is then unable to escape the close attention of Militao on the edge of the box, and the chance is lost.

47' Liverpool make a fast start to the second half. Alexander-Arnold almost picks out Diaz, arriving late at the back post, but Carvajal intervenes with a crucial touch to get the ball away from danger.

46' Modric gets us back under way in the Champions League final!

It appears that Madrid's 'goal' was disallowed due to Fabinho's final touch - that rolled straight into the path of Benzema - being unintentional, which means the latter was ruled offside. Nevertheless, such a moment of panic in the Liverpool defence will surely encourage the Spanish champions, who are accustomed to riding out storms against Champions League opponents before going on to clinically capitalise themselves. Can they do so one more time today; capping an incredible path to the trophy?

After all the drama and delay whch preceded kick-off in Paris, the first half perhaps panned out in line with pre-match expectations, as Liverpool took the fight to a cautious Madrid, who almost broke the deadlock with a late counter. While the Reds have been denied by a combination of Courtois and the goalframe, their opponents remain very much in the contest and are proven to be particularly potent in the final 20 minutes of matches. This final remains perfectly poised.

45' + 4' HALF-TIME: LIVERPOOL 0-0 REAL MADRID

45' + 2' Inside first-half stoppage time - which will be played for a minimum of three minutes - the game enters a scrappy period, with neither side able to retain the ball successfully.

45' NO GOAL! Benzema was just offside as he received the ball for a second time inside the area, and after an interminable wait, the VAR delivers such a verdict. Liverpool have a lucky escape just before half-time!

42' Cutting inside Robertson, Benzema gets one-on-one with Alisson, but after a minor mix-up between the goalkeeper and his two central defenders under pressure from Valverde, the ball breaks back to the French forward, who then turns it home! Will it count, though? The VAR will now decide if it was offside.

40' Following the corner, Henderson drives a shot from outside the box well wide of the left-hand post - it had plenty of power but entirely lacked direction.

39' An outstretched boot from Militao denies Mane a clear shot at goal from inside the six-yard box, after Robertson picks out his Liverpool colleague with a neat pass from the left. That's a corner for the English side.

37' Another potential attacking chance comes to an end, following positive play by Vinicius and Benzema, as Carvajal overhits his pass towards the box and Liverpool get the ball clear.

35' A corner for Madrid offers an opportunity to finally get a shot in at goal, but it ultimately leads to a Liverpool counter that sees Carvajal bring down Diaz midway through his own half.

33' Konate strides forward and feeds Alexander-Arnold the ball deep inside the Madrid half. The latter crosses for Salah, who stretches to direct a header towards goal, which only finds Courtois' gloves.

31' A rare moment of promise for Madrid sees Benzema attempt a cute throughball for Vinicius on the edge of Liverpool's area, but Van Dijk reads the danger and cuts it out with relative ease. Los Blancos are yet to have a shot at goal.

29' Kroos covers to help out Mendy in the left-back spot; dispossessing Salah as the Liverpool forward slaloms into the Madrid area from the right.

27' With a wild attempt from 25 yards, Fabinho slashes a shot far over Courtois' crossbar and into the no-man's land between the goal and stand.

25' Madrid are making a concerted effort to retain the ball a little further up the pitch, as the threat from Liverpool's livewire front three grows. Ancelotti's men have yet to force any openings of note, though.

23' Liverpool have had 57 per cent of the possession to this stage in proceedings, and they have used it well - pushing Madrid back inside their defensive third for most of the first 20 or so minutes.

21' SHARP STOP! After slipping away from Casemiro on the edge of the box, Mane fires in a low shot towards the bottom corner, but Courtois makes a top-notch save to keep the ball from reaching the back of the net! It clips the inside of the post and rebounds away from immediate danger.

20' Smart work by Salah on the right side of the area draws two Madrid defenders, and his layoff picks out Alexander-Arnold on the edge of the area. The full-back's strike is wayward, though, and flies well over the crossbar.

18' Mane plays in his strike partner Salah, whose shot from the centre of the area is then saved comfortably by the well-positioned Courtois.

16' SAVE! Courtois drops down to his left, making a sharp stop from Salah's close-range effort - Liverpool are in the ascendancy here, but Madrid escape!

14' Being closed down by Salah deep inside his own penalty area, Mendy manages to chest the ball back to the grateful gloves of Courtois.

12' Carvajal and Casemiro combine to shepherd the ball behind near the corner flag, under pressure from the lively Diaz, as Liverpool start to take the upper hand.

10' Moving with more freedom, Mane surges to the right byline to keep the ball in play with a cutback, which is then cleared away from Madrid's six-yard box.

8' There has been little between the two sides during the early stages of this final, and both have been disciplined defensively so far.

6' After a challenge by Casemiro, it looks like Mane is struggling to shake off a knock to his thigh, and the Senegal striker is certainly not moving freely.

4' Alert to the danger of Mane in the inside-right position, Militao covers across to intercept a long throughball by Alexander-Arnold towards the area.

2' Thiago goes down midway through the Madrid half, under a challenge from Carvajal. However, Alexander-Arnold's inswinging free-kick lacks accuracy and is headed away to safety by Benzema.

1' After a significant delay, the 2022 Champions League final gets under way in Saint-Denis!

Raul and Ian Rush join forces to bring the trophy out onto its plinth, and the players follow them out onto the Stade de France pitch. Finally, kick-off is now just moments away!

The opening ceremony belatedly begins in Saint-Denis, as the latest UEFA announcement states that kick-off will now be at 21:36 local time.

Long renowned as specialists in Europe's elite competition, Real Madrid are aiming to lift the trophy for the 14th time today - that would be twice as many as their closest challengers in that regard, Ancelotti's former club Milan.

As the Liverpool players warm up on the pitch, UEFA has announced that kick-off has been delayed another 15 minutes due to fans being unable to access the stadium.

Today, these teams meet for the third time in the final of the European Cup or Champions League, which is the most between two clubs throughout the history of Europe's premier competition - they have previously won one each.

When we finally get under way, today's final will be the ninth meeting between Liverpool and Real Madrid in the European Cup or Champions League. After winning the first three encounters between 1981 and 2009, the English club are actually winless in the last five - including defeat in the 2018 final.

After days of speculation, Thiago and Konate start for Liverpool, after the former passed a late fitness test to feature. The latter is preferred to Matip as central defensive partner for Van Dijk, who was an unused substitute in the Reds' last two league games after coming off in the FA Cup final with a hamstring injury. Selected ahead of both Jota and Firmino, Diaz joins mainstays Salah and Mane up front.

Real Madrid have named a team featuring five members of the 2018 final side, as Benzema and Carvajal join midfield trio Kroos, Modric and Casemiro in Ancelotti's starting XI. As expected, Valverde starts on the right flank, while semi-final saviour Rodrygo is consigned to the bench alongside fellow young gun Camavinga.

Due to difficulties for fans getting into Stade de France, kick-off has been delayed by a minimum of 15 minutes.

SUBS: Andriy Lunin, Isco, Rodrygo, Eduardo Camavinga, Mariano, Marco Asensio, Eden Hazard, Marcelo, Gareth Bale, Lucas Vazquez, Dani Ceballos, Nacho.

REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.

SUBS: Caoimhin Kelleher, Roberto Firmino, Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, James Milner, Joel Matip, Harvey Elliott, Takumi Minamino, Kostas Tsimikas, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andrew Robertson; Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz.

LaLiga champions Real Madrid are today targetting a record-extending 14th Champions League and European Cup success, and they rarely lose when reaching the final. On only three occasions out of 16 have Madrid failed to finish the job off when down to the final two - the most recent in 1981, when beaten by Liverpool in Paris. This season, Carlo Ancelotti's side have entertainingly eliminated holders Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City to reach this point - the latter thanks to a late Rodrygo double to force extra-time in the semi-final, before Karim Benzema then decided the tie with a penalty. Having cruised to the Spanish title with weeks to spare, Los Blancos managed only one win from their final four La Liga fixtures, but are now primed for the showpiece occasion.

Seeking a seventh continental crown from 10 final appearances, Liverpool can move into joint second with Milan in the all-time list of champions by lifting the trophy today. The Reds would, though, still trail in the wake of their opponents, who ran out winners when the clubs last clashed in the final, four years ago in Kyiv. This year, the EFL and FA Cup winners have seen off Inter, Benfica and Villarreal en route to Paris, and a second-leg loss to the former back in March represents their last defeat anywhere. Though they narrowly missed out on being crowned Premier League champions, Jurgen Klopp's side have since enjoyed an 18-game unbeaten run - including 10 wins from their last 11.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2022 Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Stade de France!

Liverpool v Real Madrid Live Commentary, 29/05/22

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