Real Madrid clinched their third straight Champions League title on Saturday night as Gareth Bale produced a magical display off the bench to help beat Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev.

Karim Benzema opened the scoring, intercepting Loris Karius’ throw out howler in the 51st minute before Sadio Mane equalised from a set-piece four minutes later.

From there, it was the Welshman’s stage after he entered the field for Isco in the second-half.

He netted an audacious bicycle-kick to put Madrid ahead before his effort from range drew another nightmare from the Liverpool goalkeeper.

STATS

Real Madrid

Goals – 3

Shots – 14

Possession – 66%

Tackles – 11

Dribbles – 10

Liverpool

Goals – 1

Shots – 13

Possession – 34%

Tackles – 18

Dribbles – 9

30-SECOND REPORT

Zidane

The Madrid boss set his side up in a 4-3-1-2 formation with Isco and Karim Benzema both getting the nod ahead of Bale. The defending champions struggled in the early part of proceedings as they failed to assert their authority on the ball.

Mohamed Salah’s injury turned the game in their favour as they began to create chances. After Mane equalised, Madrid weathered the storm and looked the stronger outfit again. Zidane capitalised on that advantage by throwing on Bale who did the rest.

Klopp

There were no surprises from Klopp as he deployed Liverpool’s usual and ever-so-effective 4-3-3 formation that tends to extract the best out of their fearsome front three of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Mane.

The injury to their talismanic Egyptian threw a spanner in the works and Adam Lallana who came on in his stead barely mustered a modicum of the threat Salah posed. The Reds switched to a 4-4-2 and predictably lost their edge.

TACTICAL TALKING POINTS

Zidane

MADRID STEP UP

Before Salah went off injured, Liverpool had nine shots and none for the rest of the first half following his substitution in the 31st minute. That’s the kind of weight his presence carries in terms of Liverpool’s attacking threat.

Zidane pushed his troops forward thereafter as they grew in confidence, ending the the opening 45 minutes with 67 per cent of possession. Marcelo, though having to cope with Mane instead, was able to venture forward with more freedom while Madrid’s midfield began to move the ball around with greater authority.

BBC THE REAL FRONT THREE

Leaving Bale on the bench was the only real question mark over Zidane’s team selection given the Welshman’s form of late. Isco did hit the bar but didn’t have his most influential outing. Once Bale replaced the Spaniard on the hour mark, it changed the dimension of their attack.

Isco tended to drop off Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo but with Bale on the pitch, the front three interchanged seamlessly. His incredible first goal will dominate headlines but the impact his introduction had and the openings it created were priceless.

Klopp

PINNING MADRID DOWN

The high press is a big part of Liverpool’s game but against Madrid, Klopp seemed to tweak that aspect of their repertoire. Their front three took up great positions to contain Los Blancos inside their own half in the opening exchanges, and threatening in the transition every time there was a turnover.

Had they closed them down aggressively like they normally tend to do, they would’ve run the risk of Madrid’s technically gifted players passing the ball around them. This strategy helped them gain the upper hand in the early exchanges.

VERDICT

Zidane

Nothing spectacular about the Frenchman’s tactical input other than the Bale substitution but his greatest strength has always been getting the best out of the world class talent at his disposal and he did that once again.

Rating – 7/10

Klopp

His set up was unquestionably the better of the two managers’ but he didn’t prepare for the worst case scenario. His introduction of Lallana was uninspiring, although he was lacking options.

Rating – 6/10