Bale lights up final as Madrid wins UCL
Gareth Bale scored one of the great goals in UEFA Champions League history and added to Loris Karius's ordeal by sealing Real Madrid's third consecutive UCL title with a 3-1 win over Liverpool.
Much of the pre-match build-up centred on the anticipated battle between star forwards Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo in Kiev, but the duel was cut short before the half hour when Liverpool's talisman suffered a shoulder injury.
The 25-year-old landed awkwardly on his left shoulder after grappling with Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo remained on the periphery throughout.
Step forward Bale, from the bench.
With the game locked at 1-1 in the 64th minute and 122 seconds after replacing Isco, who had hit the crossbar moments earlier, Bale scored and overhead kick of rare brilliance inside two minutes of his introduction.
The opening goal six minutes into the second half was as farcical as the winner was fabulous, Karim Benzema the beneficiary of goalkeeping incompetence from Karius, much like he was against Bayern Munich and Sven Ulreich in the semi-finals.
Sadio Mane found a swift response for Liverpool but Bale, benched frequently on the big occasions this term, had other ideas.
Karius had no chance on that occasion but seven minutes from time he pushed the Welshman's speculative drive tamely into his net, confirming Madrid as European champion for the 13th time in its illustrious history.
