Key performers from both sides made history on Saturday night, as Real Madrid got the better of Liverpool on club football’s grandest stage.
The European season, of course, came to a definitive close a short time ago.
On the back of a long and testing road to Paris, Liverpool and Real Madrid locked horns for supremacy once more, in a redo of the 2018 Champions League finale.
And, as proved the case four years ago, when all was said and done, it was the Spanish heavyweights who emerged triumphant.
A solitary goal ultimately proved enough to see Carlo Ancelotti’s men over the line, as Vinicius’ Jr’s back post finish just shy of the hour mark, coupled with a masterful defensive display, assured that the name of Los Blancos was carved into the Champions League trophy for a record 14th time.
REAL MADRID LEAD! ?
Vinícius Júnior steals in at the back post to tap home from close range ⚽️#UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/owgAzrA75V
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 28, 2022
Courtois’ new benchmark
As alluded to above, though, Real, as a collective, were not the only ones to make history on Saturday night.
Elsewhere, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois too secured for himself an altogether impressive record.
As per statisticians Opta, the Belgian international’s nine saves over the course of the 90 minutes in Paris represent the most ever made by a shot-stopper in a single Champions League final:
9 – Thibaut Courtois’ nine saves tonight is the most on record (since 2003-04) of any keeper in a single #UCLfinal. Impenetrable. #LIVRMA pic.twitter.com/zIKhl5zaXT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 28, 2022
Not only that, but, on the Liverpool side of things, Mohamed Salah’s six shots on target too proved the most racked up in a Champions League final since records first began:
6 – Mohamed Salah’s six shots on target tonight is the most on record (since 2003-04) of any player in a single #UCLfinal. Denied. #LIVRMA pic.twitter.com/KBFao7r4sT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 28, 2022
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