Real Madrid defends Champions League title

Tuesday, June 6, 2017 

After last year's victory against crosstown rivals Atlético Madrid at San Siro in Milan, Spanish capital football club Real Madrid defeated Italian giants Juventus FC 4–1 in the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff, Wales on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first goal of the match from Dani Carvajal's pass in the 20th minute becoming the first player to score in three Champions League finals. This marked the 500th goal in the European Championship for Real Madrid. Not much later, Mario Mandžukić scored a goal from an overhead kick in the 27th minute from former Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuaín. Three players were booked in the first half — Juve's Paulo Dybala, Real Madrid's captain Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal as the first half ended 1–1.

Just after the one hour mark, Casemiro made it 2–1 as his right footed shot deflecting off Sami Khedira found the net, and three minutes later, Ronaldo netted his 600th career goal from Luka Modrić's cross from just six yards in front of the goal. Juan Cuadrado, who was substituted after the scoreline was 1–3, was booked twice in the span of eleven minutes, in the 72nd and 83rd minutes, making the situation harder for trailing Juventus. The ten-men Juve had seven minutes plus injury time to minimise the damage. But, a 90th minute goal by Marco Asensio ensured the game ended without going into extra time like last year's final. Asensio was shown a yellow card for his celebration.

Real Madrid, under Zinedine Zidane, secured their twelfth European title; their sixth Champions League trophy after the tournament's rebranding, becoming the first club to win consecutive Champions League titles. They also won the La Liga title this season. Juve's goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, missed out on what would have been his first Champions League title. Juventus missed their second chance to win a treble, previously denied by FC Barcelona two years ago.

Ronaldo is to face his former club Manchester United and his former manager at Real Madrid in 2012, José Mourinho in the UEFA Super Cup in Macedonia, scheduled for August 8. Ronaldo has now won four Champions League titles — three with Los Blancos and one with Manchester — and finished as the Champions League top scorer netting twelve goals this season ahead of Lionel Messi. For the last four years, Spanish clubs have won four European Championship in a row, Real Madrid and Barcelona, more than any other European country.

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June 3, 2017
	Juventus FC	1–4	Real Madrid	Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
	Mario Mandžukić 27' Paulo Dybala 12' Miralem Pjanic 66' Alex Sandro 70' Juan Cuadrado  72', 83'	1–1 (HT)	Cristiano Ronaldo 20' 64' Casemiro 61' Marco Asensio 90' 90+1' Sergio Ramos 31' Dani Carvajal 42' Toni Kroos 53'

Related news

• "Manchester United bests Ajax to win Europa league" — Wikinews, Friday, May 26, 2017
• "¡La Undécima!: Real Madrid wins 2015-16 UEFA Champions League 5-3 on penalties" — Wikinews, Monday, May 30, 2016
• "F.C. Barcelona wins UEFA Champions League 2014/15" — Wikinews, Monday, June 8, 2015

Sources

• "Stats breakdown: Madrid and Ronaldo rewrite record books" — UEFA, June 4, 2017
• Phil McNulty. "Juventus 1-4 Real Madrid" — BBC Sport, June 3, 2017
• AP. "Real Madrid defeats Juventus in UEFA Champions League final" — USA Today, June 3, 2017
• "Can Juventus become ninth team to complete treble?" — UEFA, May 31, 2017
• "Jose Mourinho: Chelsea sack boss after Premier League slump" — BBC Sport, December 17, 2015
• "Barcelona break new ground with second treble" — UEFA, June 6, 2015