Liverpool headed into the game as a consensus favorite, and they were very likely the superior team throughout the course of 90 minutes at City of Lights. But there's always something magical about Real Madrid in this league; their win on Saturday was their fifth in nine seasons - and they did it without former star Cristiano Ronaldo. The club has already won twice as many European Cups as Italy's AC Milan, the continent's second most successful club.
The final on Saturday was intended to take place in St. Petersburg, but it was changed to Paris when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The late switch was undoubtedly inconvenient from a logistics sense. Still, three months should have been more than enough time to guarantee that the safety of visiting fans was taken care of in a city that is no stranger to hosting high-profile events. Instead, UEFA received another self-inflicted bad eye at its most significant event of the year.
Fortunately, the game did not have to race to 2 extra periods and use the tense penalty shootout like in Penalty Shooters 2 that we so eagerly await. The match ends after 90 minutes of rolling the ball and rewards for the braver team.