FRANCE: Real Madrid won the Champions League for the 14th time after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in a final that began 37 minutes late due to problematic crowd issues outside the Stade de France on Saturday.
Vinicius Junior of Brazil scored from close range in the 59th minute after Federico Valverde’s drive across the face of goal, giving Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti a record fourth European Cup title.
The English team couldn’t get past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who tipped Sadio Mane’s first-half shot onto the post and then made an even better save to deny Mohamed Salah’s effort in the 81st minute.
Madrid has firmly established itself as the king of European soccer, having won twice as many European Cups as AC Milan, the second-ranked team on the list. Liverpool is still on six points.
However, pre-match crowd issues marred this final, which UEFA and authorities will undoubtedly investigate in the coming days.
45 minutes before kickoff, there were still long lines of Liverpool fans waiting to enter the stadium. There were a few instances of fans breaching security and sprinting onto the concourse.
According to the Associated Press, two fans were wrestled to the ground by stewards and bundled out of the gates, while others made it into the arena.
The situation escalated when riot police used tear gas on Liverpool fans in the lines, and some fans were seen climbing the fences. Officers armed with batons and riot shields ran from gate to gate, preventing pockets of fans from entering the stadium without tickets.
An announcement was made about 15 minutes before the scheduled kickoff time of 12:30 a.m. local time (1900 GMT) that there would be a delay, blaming the late arrival of fans at the stadium. It was met with jeers inside the stadium, given that those fans had already waited in long lines.
The chaos outside Wembley Stadium before England’s European Championship final against Italy last year was reminiscent.
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