Pre-game crowd issues mar Real Madrid’s Champions League win over Liverpool

Paris: Real Madrid became European champions for a record-extending 14th time after beating Liverpool 1-0 in a Champions League final that started 37 minutes late because of disturbing crowd issues outside the Stade de France.

Brazil winger Vinicius jnr applied a close-range finish in the 59th minute from Federico Valverde’s drive across the face of goal, securing a win that gave Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti a record fourth European Cup title.

While Madrid completed a Champions League-La Liga double, Liverpool finished a season that promised so much – a week ago, they were in contention for an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies – with just the two domestic cups in England. They lost out on the Premier League title by one point last weekend and the Champions League to a Madrid team that had one shot on target in the final.

Playing their 64th game of the season, Liverpool just couldn’t find a way past Thibaut Courtois, who tipped Mane’s first-half shot onto the post and produced an even better save to turn away Salah’s effort in the 81st.

“Today nobody was going to get in my way,” Courtois said. “I was going to win a Champions League no matter what.”

It is unfathomable that Liverpool, who own one of the most devastating attacks in world football, has failed to score a single goal in its three cup finals this season. The Reds won the FA Cup and League Cup via penalty shootouts after 0-0 draws after extra time.

Real Madrid’s Marcelo lifts the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match against Liverpool.Credit: AP

“In the dressing room, nobody feels it was a great season at the moment,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said.

Vinicius sank to his knees and covered his face at full time. Many of his teammates sprinted the length of the field to celebrate in front of Madrid’s fans at one end of the stadium.

Marcelo, Madrid’s serial winner of trophies who didn’t even play a minute of the final, was given the honour of lifting the trophy to a backdrop of fireworks and ticker tape.

Madrid underlined their status as the kings of European soccer, given the Spanish giants own double the number of European Cups as the No.2 on the list, AC Milan.

Players of Real Madrid celebrate as the final whistle is blown to confirm them as winners of the UEFA Champions League.Credit: Getty

And this time, there was no need for the kind of stirring comeback they had to produce in getting past Paris Saint-Germain, defending champions Chelsea and Manchester City in the knockout stage.

It might go down as the most gruelling run to the title in the long history of the competition.

For many, especially Liverpool fans, pre-match crowd issues overshadowed this final, though.

About 15 minutes before the scheduled kickoff of 9pm local time, an announcement was made that there would be a delay. It was greeted by jeers inside the stadium, given those fans had already endured long queues.

Police officers with batons and riot shields ran from gate to gate to prevent pockets of fans forcing their way into the stadium without showing tickets. One policeman collapsed to the ground and had to be helped by other officers. Officers used tear gas on Liverpool fans on repeated occasions.

UEFA blamed the chaos on people trying to get into the stadium without legitimate tickets, without providing details on where they could be from.

Angry Liverpool fans held in the lines were seen hanging onto railings and heard shouting: “Let us in. We’ve got tickets.”

There were many instances of fans breaking through security and attempting to get into the stadium. The Associated Press saw two fans – one was wearing Liverpool attire – wrestled to the ground by stewards and bundled out of the gates.

Three more fans were seen evading stewards and sprinting through the concourse and into the bottom level of the stadium. Other people, wearing no obvious club attire, climbed the fences instead as Liverpool fans shouted at them to get down.

“I’ve got really bad asthma and I’ve been tear gassed twice,” Liverpool fan Angela Murphy said through a fence. “I’m really struggling.”

Asked what provoked the tear gassing, Murphy replied: “Nothing, we’re stood here. There was nothing. It’s just been horrendous. We have been well-behaved.”

Liverpool supporter Joe Moorcroft complained about being treated like animals.

“It’s a disgrace. We’ve seen this before, it’s a risk to health,” he said. “We’ve seen this and it’s going to happen all again. I feel it now. They threw tear gas in the fans.”

UEFA said it was “sympathetic to those affected” and it announced an urgent review by French police and authorities along with the French Football Federation.

“In the lead-up to the game, the turnstiles at the Liverpool end became blocked by thousands of fans who purchased fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles,” UEFA said in a statement.

“This created a build-up of fans trying to get in. As a result, the kick-off was delayed by 35 minutes to allow as many fans as possible with genuine tickets to gain access. As numbers outside the stadium continued to build up after kickoff, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them away from the stadium.”

Liverpool want a formal investigation.

“We are hugely disappointed at the stadium entry issues and breakdown of the security perimeter that Liverpool fans faced,” the club said in a statement. “This is the greatest match in European football and supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”

The scenes were reminiscent of the chaos outside Wembley Stadium before the European Championship final last year. That was largely due to England fans aggressively trying to get into their home stadium for the game that Italy won.

AP

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