REAL Madrid are the kings of Europe for a record 11th time after they beat Atletico Madrid 5-3 on penalties in the San Siro, Milan.
In a penalty shoot-out where neither goalkeeper looked like saving any spot-kicks, Juanfran hit Atleti’s fourth penalty against the post to give Cristiano Ronaldo the opportunity to win the trophy for Los Blancos and the former Manchester United man blasted home past Jan Oblak.
Sergio Ramos’ close range finish – television replays showed the defender was offside – put Zinedine Zidane’s side ahead in a first half they dominated before Atletico striker Antoine Griezmann blasted a penalty off the crossbar after the restart.
Substitute Yannick Carrasco finally made Diego Simeone’s side’s second half dominance tell when he fired home from inside the six yard box.
However, Atletico failed to go for the jugular in extra time and will rue not making the most of their opponent’s poor display, a decent first 45 minutes aside.
This was a second heartbreak dished out by Los Blancos to their city rivals in the space of third years on European football’s grandest stage, Atletico having led the 2014 final courtesy of Diego Godin’s header until Sergio Ramos headed home an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Real winning 4-1 after extra time.
As a spectacle the game left a lot to be desired, Atletico failing to impose their high tempo, rapid counter-attacking game for much of the game while Real, with Gareth Bale and Ronaldo in particular failing to shine on the night.
