The Spanish club Real Madrid FC beat the English club Liverpool FC by 3-1 in the finals of the UEFA Champions League 2018 on May 26, 2018. The match was played at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine in front of a huge crowd of 61,563. This was Real Madrid's third Champions League title in a row and 13th in total. Real Madrid's Welsh player Gareth Bale got the man of the match award for his outstanding two match-winning goals.
The match started with Liverpool kicking off the ball, and they accelerated to the attacking mode within a few minutes. Real Madrid seemed slightly pale in the first few minutes as they were building up their attack. In the 25th minute, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah retired with a shoulder injury and had to be substituted. Real's Dani Carvajal, too, was substituted in the 37th minute due to a hamstring injury. The two teams went into the change room during the half-time with a scoreline 0-0.
Gareth Bale's magic goal
Read: Champions League final build -up: Real Madrid V Liverpool
Six minutes into the second half, Karim Benzema scored a goal for Real Madrid to put them in front.
Four minutes after, in the 55th minute, Liverpool countered it, with Sadio Mane scoring a goal.
It was after this when Gareth Bale was called in as a substitute in the 61st minutes. He scored two goals in the 64th and 83rd minute to seal the third consecutive Champions League title for the Real Madrid.
Real Madrid will now meet Atletico Madrid, the winners of UEFA Europa League 2018, in the UEFA Super Cup 2018 match in August in A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia.
Road to the finals
Real Madrid: They were the runners-up of their Group and qualified with 13 points. After that, they defeated Paris Saint-Germain FC and Juventus FC in the Round of 16 and Quarter Finals respectively to make into the last four.
The defending champions then went on to beat Bayern Munich FC by 4-3 (aggregate of two legs) in the Semi-Finals to qualify for the Finals for the third time in a row.
Liverpool: They were the toppers of their Group and qualified with 12 points. After this, they defeated FC Porto and Manchester City FC in the Round of 16 and Quarter Finals respectively to go through to the last four. Then, they went on to beat A.S. Roma by 7-6 (aggregate of two legs) in the Semi-Finals to qualify for the Finals for the first time since 2007.
TV telecast
In the US, Fox Sports and ESPN telecast the final while BT Sport had the rights to broadcast in the United Kingdom. Online streaming was available at the ESPN website across the globe.
The match was broadcast live on Sony Six and Sony Six HD channels in India.