The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

The Sunday Times May 29, 2022 5

champions, had seemed the team

burdened by the occasion. They

settled for containment, hoping the

pressure exerted by Liverpool would

ease. Early in the third quarter it did

and during a brief respite in the

Liverpool pressure, Real got their

goal.

Soon after Liverpool were back in

control. There were corners and free

kicks, a chance for Naby Keita that he

blazed over the bar and a moment of

brilliance from Salah that drew

another fine save from Courtois. So

many times during the game the

goalkeeper stood between Liverpool

and victory.

After that save from Salah, the

midfielder Casemiro jumped into the

goalkeeper’s arms in joyous relief.

Liverpool were that close.

There are times when a team loses

a final because it didn’t perform at its

best level. That was the case four

years ago when Liverpool last lost to

Real in this final. Then they didn’t

really perform.

Here in Paris, they performed

well, were the better team for much

of the game, had by far the more

chances but they just couldn’t beat an

outstanding goalkeeper.

It’s not often a goalkeeper wins a

major final but Courtois has now

done that. He was the difference on

the night his team won their 14th

European Cup.

had raised security concerns with

Uefa on numerous occasions in the

build-up to the match, said: “We are

hugely disappointed at the stadium

entry issues and breakdown of the

security perimeter that Liverpool fans

faced at the Stade de France.

“This is the greatest match in

European football and supporters

should not have to experience the

scenes we have witnessed tonight. We

have officially requested a formal

investigation into the causes of these

unacceptable issues.”

The final was originally due to be

held in St Petersburg but was moved

to Paris because of Russia’s invasion of

Ukraine. Among those in attendance

were the 13-times French Open cham-

pion, Rafael Nadal, and the Brazilian

football great Ronaldo, along with the

former Real Madrid player and head

coach Zinédine Zidane.

supporters were stuck outside

Gate U.

Mark Tudor, a Liverpool supporter

from Widnes, said: “No one has said

what is going on. No one knew the

kick-off was delayed. It took two hours

to get from a pub round the corner to

the turnstile. You had to walk through

an underpass and it became a bottle-

neck. Getting to the ground, only half

the turnstiles were open. Do they not

hold events here? There have been

people pushing in the queue, but they

didn’t have Liverpool tops on.”

A spokesman for Liverpool, who

twice and frequently troubled the

Merseysider as Real knocked

Liverpool out of last season’s

competition.

Alexander-Arnold was even

booked for dissent following an

incident when he caught Vinicius

with his arm.

As the second half opened,

Alexander-Arnold continued to try to

impose his talent, curling in a ball

which caused chaos in the Real

defence, but was picked off, as was

another driven pass moments later.

He then moved inside, brought

down Casemiro, and received a

lecture from Clement Turpin, before

then dispossessing Casemiro cleanly.

But then came that error. For all

the precision of Valverde’s pass,

Alexander-Arnold lost his man.

He got dragged across, going with

Benzema, who really should have

been Konate’s responsibility, and the

unmarked Vinicius had the simplest

of tasks to tuck the ball away.

He got away from Alexander-

Arnold again, touching the ball back

to Benzema, but the Englishman read

the danger this time.

It was the night of the long wait. First

for the game to start, a 37-minute

delay that came in three parts. Then

before half-time what seemed an

endless wait to see if Karim Benzema

had been offside when scoring.

Goodness knows how it took more

than two minutes to make a decision.

But the longest wait was to see when

Real Madrid would properly turn up.

You could say it was the moment

Federico Valverde drove that cross to

Vinícius Júnior at the far post, leaving

the Brazilian with the simplest of

chances. It had taken the Spanish

team almost an hour to make that

breakthrough and though they’d

played second fiddle to Liverpool up

to that point, it never feels like a

shock when this team conjure up

something against the run of play.

After that, the game was more evenly

balanced and you could sense that

Real believed this was going to be

their night.

The most prestigious occasions in

sport are not often the most

beautiful. Fear of losing inhibits

teams, causes them to forsake the

game that got them to this point. And

yet when this final eventually started,

Liverpool were true to themselves.

Jordan Henderson set the tone in the

first minutes, hounding more than

pressing the opposition deep in their

half.

That was the skipper’s way of

saying that it would be business as

usual. Liverpool were much the

better team through the opening half

as Real were twice saved by Thibaut

Courtois. The second save from Sadio

Mané was borderline astonishing.

What was impressive was the ease

with which Liverpool were handling

the occasion.

They played exactly as they do on

their good days. Mané and Mohamed

Salah played their one-twos and

though a goal seemed inevitable, it

just wouldn’t come. That didn’t

discourage them. Their midfield

controlled the game.

Returned from injury, Thiago

Alcántara and Fabinho were

outstanding. Pre-match questions

about Real’s midfield were not being

answered convincingly. Casemiro is

only 30, the youngest of the three but

the one who looks the oldest. His

energy levels are nowhere near

where they once were and the same

can be said of Toni Kroos, the 32-

year-old German.

The great Luka Modric is now 36

and he can seldom have endured a

first half quite like this one. So often

the conductor of the team orchestra,

the player through whom everything

flows, Modric was mostly on the

periphery, unable to take back

control of the ball and play those

clever passes that have defined his

career.

This is a Real team who will

always find a way to win

Konate and Liverpool’s defence had to be on their guard against Benzema

The confidence that came from

controlling the ball seeped into every

aspect of Liverpool’s performance.

Central defender Ibrahima Konaté

came out with the ball, beat one and

then another Real player before

linking up with Salah. Konate’s

excellence would remain a constant.

Not that Virgil van Dijk had breezed

through the half with hardly a

moment’s stress.

You looked through the Liverpool

side for one player below his best

level and found not one. Trent

Alexander Arnold wasn’t afraid to

play the daring cross field pass to

Andy Robertson and the Scotland

defender attacked down his wing the

way he does in almost every game.

There was a period the 15th to the

20th minute when Liverpool had four

chances and without Courtois in the

form of his life, one of those, if not

two, would have been goals.

But supremacy in football is as

fragile as a china cup. What happens

if the goal doesn’t come? Well,

Liverpool stayed patient, continued

to play their game and from a fine

Trent Alexander Arnold cross, a

header flashed straight at Courtois.

The danger though is always in the

effect on the opposition of the

dominant team not taking its

chances.

All through that first half Real

Madrid, the 13-time European

DAVID

WA LS H

Chief Sports Writer

Paris

A statement by Liverpool FC last

night said: “We are hugely

disappointed at the stadium entry

issues and break down of the

security perimeter that Liverpool

fans faced this evening at the

Stade de France. We have

officially requested a formal

investigation.”

Uefa responded with a

statement of its own claiming that

“in the lead-up to the game, the

turnstiles at the Liverpool end

became blocked by thousands of

fans who had purchased fake

tickets which did not work in the

turnstiles. This created a build-up

of fans trying to get in. As a result,

the kick-off was delayed by 35

minutes to allow as many fans as

possible with genuine tickets to

gain access. As numbers outside

the stadium continued to build up

after kick-off, the police dispersed

them with tear gas and forced

them away from the stadium.

“Uefa is sympathetic to those

affected and will further review

these matters urgently.”

LIVERPOOL AND UEFA

ISSUE STATEMENTS

MATTHIAS HANGST/GETTY IMAGES

the heat out of a ferocious cross-field

pass by Thiago. Amid all the talk of

“revenge” following Liverpool’s

defeat to Madrid in 2018, Alexander-

Arnold had a more recent score to try

to address, and specifically against

Vinicius. The Brazilian had scored

Vinicius Jr made Alexander-Arnold

pay for a lapse of concentration

Klopp, the Liverpool manager, during last night’s Champions League final