In a match that opened in thrilling fashion before settling down for the long haul, Liverpool ended up topping Tottenham 2-0 in Madrid to capture the 2019 Champions League title.
It’s Liverpool’s sixth, and their first since 2005.
The final opened with a shock, Tottenham conceding a penalty for a handball after less than thirty seconds of play:
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1134898887213363200
Mo Salah converted for a 1-0 lead:
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1134899186925805569
That early goal perhaps robbed the game of some drama. Tottenham seemed surprised, whatever plan they’d had seemingly disappearing thanks to a combination of surprise and Liverpool understandably sitting back with the lead.
After a streaker briefly interrupted proceedings, and after American viewers were treated to different announcers for the second half thanks to a broadcast feed switch, Tottenham picked up the pace a bit throughout the second half, threatening a few times.
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1134924484937441280
Then, though, a failed clearance saw the ball fall to Divock Origi in the box, and he put things away for good.
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1134925593148084224
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1134925978881470464
That ended up being the end of the scoring, as Liverpool easily held on for the title.
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1134927567105011715
Liverpool came up just one point short of Manchester City in the Premier League race, while delivering inspiring comebacks en route to today’s title. They also avenged last year’s loss 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the 2018 final.
Today’s game may have fallen a bit short of fireworks, but at least we got a deserving champion.
