- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The width of the post was all it took to crush not only Atletico Madrid’s dream, but no doubt the dreams of neutral fans watching the UEFA Champions League final everywhere.
No disrespect to Real Madrid, but could there have been a worse result for club football than the Spanish aristocrats winning their 11th European Cup on Sunday?
It’s not like Los Merengues earned it by out-playing their city rivals in an at-times absorbing final.
» Champions League final highlights, live blog
Nor did Real Madrid impress on their way to the decider. They overcame a 2-0 first leg defeat in Wolfsburg to ultimately beat the Germans 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, before needing a Fernando own goal to down Manchester City in their two-legged semi-final.
And they were largely out-played by an Atletico side that saw Antoine Griezmann rattle the crossbar with his penalty barely two minutes in the second half.
Atletico were already 1-0 down thanks to a scrappy Sergio Ramos opener, and it said much for the character of Diego Simeone’s outfit that they managed to equalise through substitute Yannick Carrasco with 11 minutes remaining.
Griezmann will have nightmares about taking penalties for the rest of his career, after the Frenchman smashed his spot-kick against the underside of the bar.
He stepped up in the shoot-out to convert his second spot-kick of the game, and his exasperated reaction suggested he’d have been better off preferring placement over power during normal time.
Sadly for defender Juanfran – who started his career at Real Madrid – his radar was fractionally askew when he sent his penalty crashing into the post.
All that was left was for Cristiano Ronaldo – who else? – to sidefoot home and hand Real Madrid their second Champions League title in three seasons.
And with Barcelona winning it last year, Spanish clubs have now lifted the trophy for the past three years in succession.
Yet Ronaldo’s reaction after slotting home the winning spot-kick hinted at a change in the way the game is played by the biggest clubs in Europe.
Instead of running to his teammates, Ronaldo removed his shirt – naturally – flexed in front of the cameras and seemed largely content to celebrate by himself.
Of course, it’s hardly the first time Ronaldo’s extravagant celebrations have raised eyebrows.
He did almost the same thing after converting a penalty in extra-time of the 2014 Champions League final, and his ‘calma’ celebrations are routinely mocked by fans and players alike.
Then there was Gareth Bale’s infamous photo of the Real Madrid players celebrating a Clasico win over Barcelona earlier this year, with Ronaldo bizarrely clad only in his underwear.
It’s in keeping with a player who appears to think of himself first before any of his teammates.
Yet you can hardly blame him when Real Madrid themselves instituted their infamous ‘galacticos’ policy – a move which has seen them stockpile some of the most talented individuals on the planet.
If ever proof were needed of the way TV money has distorted the European game, simply consider the fact that in James Rodriguez, Real Madrid had the fourth-most expensive signing in history on the bench.
He failed to get on the pitch on Sunday, but Real Madrid will no doubt use the riches earned from their win to snatch up several more big-name stars during the off-season.
And a Champions League which was so dull this season it sparked renewed debate about a European Super League, will invariably become all the more predictable next season.
Coupled with a Championship play-off Final at Wembley played out against the backdrop of tens of thousands of empty seats, football continues its inexorable march towards becoming a predominantly TV game.
It’s one thing to salute the technical standards on display in Europe, but when the same teams dominate year after year, the whole thing gets very tedious.
And on a weekend in which Real Madrid added another trophy to the cabinet, I found myself wondering when the new A-League draw would be released.