LORIS Karius was the villain for Liverpool, while Gareth Bale scored one of the greatest goals seen in Champions League history as Real Madrid notched an incredible 13th title.
In an extraordinary final, Liverpool were rocked by a devastating first-half injury to star Mohammad Salah that could leave the Egyptian’s World Cup hopes in doubt.
And while the first half was a goalless arm wrestle, the second half produced even more drama as Karius produced two mind-boggling howlers – and Bale etched his name into Champions League history as Real Madrid triumphed 3-1 to claim the biggest prize in European football.
Bale, controversially benched by Zinedine Zidane, was introduced into the game in the 61st minute with scores level at 1-1.
Within three minutes he’d sent the crowd at Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex into raptures with a spectacular, athletic bicycle kick which gave Real Madrid the lead.
Earlier, Real Madrid had taken the lead through a stunning howler from Karius who cleaned up a simple ball – only to roll it into the path of Karim Benzema, who stuck his foot out and poked it into the goal.
Karius’ blushes were, briefly, spared when Sadio Mane tapped home four minutes later following a pinpoint James Milner corner.
In the 83rd minute, Bale sealed the final with another winding long-range effort, but it should’ve been saved by Karius who produced his second blunder.
Bale rocketed a shot from long distance and it appeared comfortably in Karius’ grasp, before bursting through his fingers.
