KEIR RADNEDGE in KIEV —- Substitute Gareth Bale scored twice in the second half – his first truly sensational – as holders Real Madrid shook down Liverpool 3-1 in the Champions League Final in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.

Earlier in the half Karim Benzema had grabbed a bizarre opener for Madrid before Sadio Mane levelled for a Liverpool team operating without top-scoring Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian had been substituted in the first half after injuring his left shoulder in a tangle with Madrid captain Sergio Ramos. The injury threatens his presence at the World Cup next month.

While Bale was named as official man of the match, the opponent left to carry the can in defeat was Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius. His careless throw-out gifted Madrid’s opening goal to Benzema and he let Bale’s long shot slip through his hands for the holders’ third which effectively ended the game 10 minutes ahead of time.

Futures questionable

Afterwards Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane found himself fending off questions about the futures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale when all he wanted to do was enjoy having coached his club to their third latest triumph.

He said: “That’s not what’s on my mind. We have to focus solely on this latest major achievement and then we’ll see what happens.”

Asked whether Bale’s goal was better than his own decisive volley against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 final, Zidane said: “The last goal is always the most important so right now Gareth Bale’s goal is more important than mine.”

Zinedine Zidane’s men thus vindicated their pre-final status as favourites by once again calling up their matchless Champions-occasion experience and almost surreal self-belief.

Liverpool had outscored Madrid in the overall Champions League campaign leading up to the final by 40 goals to 30 but there was no first-half goal to reward the fans’ expectations.

First attempts

Marcelo delivered the first attempt on goal with a long-range angled drive which scudded safely wide before 15-goal top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, having started on the left, suddenly emerged at speed on the right to unleash an angled drive over the top of Karius’s goal.

Then it was Liverpool’s turn. Virgil Van Dijk headed a Salah corner over the bar before a low drive from Trent Alexander-Arnold was superbly held by Madrid keeper Keylor Navas.

However the 26th minute spelled trouble for Liverpool.

That was when Salah needed initial treatment for an injury to his left shoulder after he had been dragged to the ground, by his right arm, by Sergio Ramos. The Egyptian returned to the action but went down again almost immediately after a corner and left the pitch in tears, substituted by Adam Lallana.

Minutes later Madrid were forced into a change of their own. Dani Carvajal was injured in a counter-attack which went wrong and had to be replaced by Nacho.

Madrid now began to enjoy significant periods of possession with Liverpool standing off them, perhaps nervous of being caught out on the counter. One such spell ended with Benzema popping the ball into the net from close range but, fortunately for Liverpool, Ronaldo had been fractionally offside with his initial headed goal attempt.

Nacho stormed in from the right to hit the side net and Toni Kroos skimmed a shot narrowly wide on the left before a halftime whistle which could not have come soon enough for Liverpool to rethink, reorganise and regroup.

Keeper’s blunders

However, whatever advice manager Jurgen Klopp had to offer did nothing to calm his players’ nerves or persuade them to refocus.

They carelessly conceded possession in front of their own penalty box two minutes after the restart to let Isco hit the bar. Worse followed in the 51st minute when Karius saw his throw-out ricochet off the extended leg of Benzema and pop back into the net.

Madrid’s celebrations lasted only four minutes before Mane equalised from close range after forcing a right-wing corner. But that was the last sight of Liverpool as an effective attacking force.

The world and European champions returned to the attack with devastating effect.

Isco had a shot saved for a corner by Karius and was then surprisingly substituted for what proved a masterstroke of a change by Zidane.

The newly-arrived Bale almost immediately restored Madrid’s lead by meeting Marcelo’s left-wing cross with a sensational overhead bicycle kick which must have stunned not only the entire stadium but the 160m watching on television around the world.

Ronaldo should have increased Madrid’s lead in the 72nd minute but, when clear through the middle, he hesitated just long enough so the recovering Van Dijk could stretch out a leg and deflect his shot for a corner.

Not that it mattered. Bale struck again, decisively, in the 83rd minute. This time he drifted in from the right to strike a lofted drive from 30 metres which skimmed through the hands of the hapless Karius and into the net.

Klopp verdict

Liverpool manager Klopp dealt regretfully with both Salah’s injury and Karius’s mistakes.

He said: “Of course the Salah injury was a big moment. It was a harsh challenge, a bit like wrestling. It was bad luck that he fell on his shoulder and it’s a really serious injury. You need a little luck in football and we not only did we have no luck we had bad luck.

“Karius’s mistakes were obvious. He knows it. I know it. You all know it. He has to deal with it and we have to deal with it.

“I’m turning 51 next month so I have lost games before and won games. I know how to deal with that but you cannot avoid the feeling you have in the night after the game. We all feel really, really bad. We wanted everything and we got nothing.”

The teams

Real Madrid: Navas – Carvajal (Nacho 36), Varane, Ramos, Marcelo – Modric, Casemiro, Kroos – Isco (Bale 61), Benzema (Marco Asensio 88), Ronaldo.  Coach: Zidane.

Liverpool: Karius – Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson – Wijnaldum, Henderson, Milner (Can 82) – Salah (Lallana 29), Firmino, Mane. Manager: Klopp.

Referee: Milorad Mazic (Ser)

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