Goalkeepers rally round Karius after disastrous Champions League final display
- Published
Not that it's going to be a massive consolation...
So there you have it - after the Premier League and FA Cup had been decided, it was time for the Champions League and the play-off final. And you couldn't accuse either of being a disappointment - that is, assuming you weren't an Aston Villa or Liverpool fan.
There were wonder-goals, pantomime villains, stats for the numbers-bods out there, and - amid all the heartbreak for one player in particular - a few kindly words of understanding and condolence.
1) The Goalkeepers' Union is a real, actual union
Loris Karius, you may have heard, had something of a shocker during the Champions League final in Kiev. He didn't have to wait long for his fellow goalkeepers to rally round:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
2) Letting it go, with Peter Shilton
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Thirty-two years on, and with another World Cup looming, some wounds will just never heal.
3) Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The great Clive Tyldesley here, with some elegant all-caps handwriting for the big occasion.
4) The John Terry Story, Chapters 1,084 & 1,085
A collective scoff could be heard this week with the news that John Terry wouldn't be keen on facing Chelsea if Aston Villa secured promotion back to the Premier League...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
...an approach which soon ran into some difficulties in the play-off final...
...and then became rather irrelevant in the end.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
5) Cottage industry
Fulham, the team who just won't stop passing, managed to find a way round Terry at Wembley...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
...which quickly half-emptied at the final whistle, a perfect image to sum up the agony of missing out on the top flight.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
6) All set in Kiev
During the build-up to the Champions League final, we had some harmless stats: turned out to be nothing ominous about this one, nothing at all...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
...while Cristiano Ronaldo sized up the competition.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
7) A Sergio Ramos masterclass in being Sergio Ramos
Salah's final would end in tears after being taken out by a black-belt judo throw from Real Madrid's dark-artist-in-chief, Sergio Ramos. The reaction was appropriately vitriolic:
It turns out that Egyptians do creative fury better than most:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
But, somehow, the villain of the piece was exonerated.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
8) Bale force
With Salah off injured, and Ronaldo destined to be denied a goalscoring opportunity by an injury-time pitch invader, there was only one man who could make a memorable mark...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
9) And finally...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
That's a lot of W's. In fact, Zidane has now won more Champions League finals (3) than he has completed full seasons as a manager (2).
10) No wait, Ronaldo wants to say something
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
So, after Mohamed Salah's tears of agony, Loris Karius literally throwing the game away, Gareth Bale scoring the greatest goal ever produced in a Champions League final... it was still all about Cristiano.
