Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in 2022 Champions League Final

Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in 2022 Champions League Final originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The European Champion Clubs’ Cup is headed back to Spain’s capital.

Real Madrid earned the trophy again on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final. It’s Madrid’s 14th time winning the league, doubling any other European club, and fifth time in the last nine years.

The clash was a rematch of the 2018 Champions League Final. There were more goals on both sides of that 3-1 contest, but that match also ended with Madrid on top.

There was controversy at the Stade de France before Saturday’s match even began. Police deployed tear gas on spectators attempting to enter the venue as security struggled to keep a handful of fans from getting through. The match was ultimately delayed 37 minutes due to crowd issues.

Once the contest got started, Thibaut Courtois stepped up in a major way for Real Madrid. His top first-half moment came on a sprawling save off a shot from Sadio Mane, tipping the ball into the post to keep the game scoreless.

Despite Liverpool getting the better chances in the first half, Real Madrid came the closest to getting on the board in the first half. Karim Benzema found the back of the net after a broken play in the box, but he was deemed offside. The officials went to a lengthy VAR review and the initial call stood.

Real Madrid got their first goal in the 59th minute thanks to some precision passing. Casemiro got it to Federico Valverde, who fired a ball right to Vinicius Junior through the box for a tap-in goal.

Once Madrid got their goal, their goalkeeper was the star to close out the game. Courtois made a handful of stellar saves, including one off the boot of Mohamed Salah in the 82nd minute that very well could have been an equalizing strike:

In the end, Courtois had nine saves in the victory to secure his first Champions League title.

Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti also made history with the win, becoming the first manager to win eight European trophies.