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FULL TIME! Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus. What a performance by Los Merengues. Three titles in four years. Ronaldo's 4th in his career, matching Lionel Messi. Recap:
GOAL! Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus. What a way to cap off the game. Marcelo beats his man down the left, cuts back towards the penalty spot, and Marco Asensio hits a calm side-foot finish from 8 yards. Brilliant stuff.
Most people are quite annoyed at the theatrics by Sergio Ramos to draw that red card, but a reminder: Ramos already knows that you think he's a cheating jerk, and his response will be "RINGZZZZZZZ!"
84' - Juan Cuadrado's been shown a red card. He has a cynical kick at Sergio Ramos, which earns him a second yellow.
83' - Isco gets a standing ovation from the Madridistas as he comes off for wonderkid Marco Asensio.
82' - Alex Sandro misses by less than a foot with a header. Would have set up a wild finish.
77' - Gareth Bale gets to play in his hometown. He enters for Karim Benzema.
75' - Real Madrid think they've got this won now. They're all over Juventus and trying to get Ronaldo his hat trick.
Here's Ronaldo's second goal. Fantastic stuff from Modric here.
Pretty much.
66' - Juventus needs another attacker on the pitch. Andrea Barzagli comes off for Juan Cuadrado.
Here's the Casemiro goal that put Madrid on top
GOAL! Real Madrid 3-1 Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo puts his team into full control. Luka Modric runs to the right flank and plays a near-post cross. Ronaldo times his run perfectly and has an easy finish.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Juventus. That's some bad luck for Juve. Casemiro has a shot from 30 yards and it takes a huge deflection. It wasn't finding the back of the net without that, but after it strikes a defender and pops up, Buffon didn't have a chance.
58' - An excellent spell of possession for Madrid ends with Marcelo crossing to the back post for Ronaldo and Alex Sandro doing just enough to stop him from getting a good shot off.
55' - First save of the game for Buffon off a 20-yard shot by Luka Modric.
53' - This is getting nasty, players keep going down under heavy challenges. Sami Khedira is hurting after a tackle by Toni Kroos, who gets a yellow card.
51' - Bonucci is playing on with some tissue up his nose. Hopefully that's the issue, rather than his brain.
49' - Leo Bonucci is down grabbing his head. He doesn't look great. Would be a real shame if he had a concussion.
Here's how well the Juventus back 3 is performing so far:
46' - Second half kickoff! No substitutions for either team, though we expect to see Gareth Bale at some point.
We need your take on this:
It hasn't been a great half for Karim Benzema, while Isco is excellent in possession, but poor defensively. Here's a solution:
HALFTIME: Real Madrid 1-1 Juventus
Well, this has had everything. It's been a tactical chess match, but one with a lot of fast play, chances, and two very good goals. You couldn't ask for any more than this from a final.
42' - Less than a minute after getting up, Mandzukic gets wrecked again. Yellow card for Dani Carvajal.
41' - Mandzukic gets treatment after a heavy challenge but he won't be coming off unless he needs emergency surgery.
Game recognize game
37' - On a set piece, Giorgio Chiellini dives for a header and fouls Sergio Ramos. They look like they're going to fight for a second, then smile, help each other up and embrace. Enforcer on enforcer mutual respect.
Here's Mandzukic's goal. Outrageous.
33' - Chance for Madrid! Marcelo crosses for Ronaldo, but he hits his header sideways.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Juventus My goodness, what a goal by Mario Mandzukic! One of the best you'll ever see in a European final. He hits an unstoppable chipped half-volley and Real Madrid can't believe it.
26' - Juventus have responded to going behind by amping up the tempo. They're putting Madrid under a lot of pressure, but also leaving themselves open to a counter-attack.
Here's how Ronaldo scored:
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus. What a goal by Cristiano Ronaldo! Toni Kroos starts the move, but Ronaldo does most of the work. He draws defenders towards him before laying off to Dani Carvajal, then running towards the penalty spot. Carvajal finds him with a return pass and Ronaldo scores from 12 yards. His shot took a minor deflection, but it was still an excellent finish.
19' - Mandzukic has a bit of a kick-out at Ramos, no call. Ramos isn't happy, springs up and gets in Mandzukic's face.
18' - Dani Alves picks the ball off Ronaldo's feet as he's shooting. Ronaldo wants a foul, but doesn't get one. Spectacular tackle.
17' - Great 30-pass sequence by Real Madrid, but Juventus clears Marcelo's eventual cross easily. Both teams are defending very well.
12' - The first yellow card of the night goes to Paulo Dybala, who hacks down Toni Kroos to prevent a counter attack
10' - Real Madrid has recognized Juve's unbalanced defense tactic and shifted Cristiano to the right, so we've got a chess match.
Tough stop from Navas here.
7' - Juventus well on top early! They've had most of the possession and forced Keylor Navas into three saves. His one just now on Miralem Pjanic is the first difficult one, he pushes aside a 20-yard drive.
3' - It looks like we guessed mostly right on the Juventus defense. They're playing in what can be best described as a back three, but it's not symmetrical. Alex Sandro is getting deep faster than Dani Alves, while Andrea Barzagli is playing a bit wider than Giorgio Chiellini on the left. Juve's defense is probably right-leaning on purpose to stifle Cristiano Ronaldo.
1' - The UEFA Champions League final has kicked off!
The players look thoroughly annoyed about being crammed in a narrow tunnel for longer than usual while the stage is disassembled.
A+ joke
Your opening act is, for whatever reason, Black Eyed Peas.
Notably, Dino Zoff and Edwin van der Sar both lost those games. Buffon will be the oldest ever winner if Juventus is victorious today.
Notably, Juventus is listing their lineup as a back four with the rather slow, aging and injury prone Andrea Barzagli as a right back. We're not buying it and think it's an attempt at some gamesmanship.
The big pre-game story is that Isco retains his place in the starting lineup over Gareth Bale, who was hoping to come back from an injury and start in his hometown. Bale's fit enough to make the 18-man squad, but Zinedine Zidane has stuck with Isco, who is in great form. Here's the story of how Isco turned his Real Madrid career around:
Juventus starting lineup (3-4-2-1): Gianluigi Buffon; Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli; Alex Sandro, Miralem Pjanic, Sami Khedira, Dani Alves; Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandžukić; Gonzalo Higuain
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3): Keylor Navas; Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphaël Varane, Dani Carvajal; Casemiro, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Isco
Hello! The Champions League final is just 45 minutes away. If you're in the United States, pregame coverage is already underway on FOX. The match will kick off at 2:45 p.m. ET. Lineups to follow...
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