Ronaldo Leads Real Madrid To Historic 12th UCL Title
By Oladapo Okeowo
Two beautiful goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, a firecracker by Casemiro and an Asensio goal handed Real Madrid a 4-1 win over Juventus in the Uefa Champions League final.
The win marked Madrid’s 12th win and made the team and the manager, Zinedine Zidane, the first to win the Champions League trophy back to back in the modern era.
The game started and ended on an open and fast note. End-to-end stuff all through. Living up to all it was billed to be. A game touted to be a battle between a high-scoring side and the meanest defence in the UCL this season.
Juventus had the better of the early exchanges as Keylor Navas was called into action after some fast footwork and rasping shot by Gonzalo Higuain. With the high tempo, it was not a matter of would there be a goal, it was all a matter of when.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The man here was Cristiano Ronaldo. A quick turnover of play in the 20th minute saw Ronaldo roll the ball to the right for Carvajal who crossed it back to him for him to slot home.
Advantage Madrid but this did not last long.
Juventus replied almost immediately, seven minutes later actually, off a sublime acrobatic kick by Mario Mandzukic.
The second half started in earnest but Juventus were a bit slower off the block and paid for it.
A loose ball fell to Casemiro in the 61st minute and he hit it hard from nearly 40 yards out. A slight defection took the ball away from Gigi Buffon’s outstretched hands.
Less than 3 minutes after, it was 3-1. Modric, who had a fantastic game pullin the strings in the middle of the park, made a run to the byline and crossed in to an onrushing Ronaldo who slotted in at the near-post.
It went from bad to worse for Juventus after Cuadrado got his second yellow card of the night after playacting by Sergio Ramos.
Marco Asensio came on and scored the fourth but it was just gloss on an already impressive performance and with th egame already won.
The two goals make Ronaldo the highest goalscorer in this seasn’s Champions League. His fifth in a row.
