Zinedine Zidane hailed an historic day for Real Madrid as the Spanish champions became the first club to retain the Champions League with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Juventus, on a night when Cristiano Ronaldo wrote his name into the record books with another two goals.
Ronaldo became the first player to score in three Champions League finals and took his tally of career goals to 600 with a man-of-the-match performance against a Juventus side that started brightly but badly lost their way in the second half. Mario Mandzukic equalised for the Italian side with a spectacular overhead kick after Ronaldo had put Madrid ahead but the complexion of the game changed after the interval.
Madrid scored twice in three minutes through Casemiro and Ronaldo, with Marco Asensio adding a fourth in the 90th minute after Juventus had been reduced to 10 men following Juan Cuadrado’s harsh dismissal. Zidane described Madrid’s second-half performance as “spectacular” and was thrilled that the club won the Spanish title and the European Cup in the same season for the first time since 1958. Incredibly, it is Madrid’s 12th European Cup in total.
“You can say today is an historic day for all Madrid fans, for the players and for myself,” Zidane said. “I feel extremely happy because the truth is it’s been a special year, you couldn’t dream of anything better. We won the league on the last day and we know it’s very difficult to win a Champions League final for the second year running – we’ve managed to do it.”
Ronaldo, who was given his man-of-the-match award by Sir Alex Ferguson, pointed to his list of staggering career statistics when reminded that some people have criticised him in the recent past and also suggested that, at the age of 32, he feels as good as he has ever done.
“What is important is that I did again, an amazing season, me and my team-mates won the double,” said Ronaldo, who has now scored 108 goals in the Champions League. “I think the people don’t have words to criticise because the numbers don’t lie. I’m very happy, it’s one of the best moments in my career – I seem to say that every year. My head is just a number. I feel like a young boy.”
Zidane, who has presided over those back-to-back Champions League successes, admitted that Madrid struggled in the first half, when Juventus played with no shortage of belief. “We started with difficulties but I think in the second half we were clearly superior,” the Madrid coach said.
“We kept the ball, pressured higher up and physically I think we won the game there as well because of the determination we showed.”
It turned into a chastening night for Juventus, who have now lost seven of their nine European Cup finals and five in succession. Massimiliano Allegri, the Juventus manager, admitted his players were unable to respond mentally when Madrid regained the lead and also recognised the difference that Ronaldo made on the big occasion once again.
“In the first half we played beautifully,” Allegri said. “In the second half Real Madrid pushed the accelerator and we remained too static and sat back too long. We knew we were playing against a very strong team. It’s obvious that if somebody wins the Ballon d’Or and scores so many goals it’s a big advantage for Real Madrid. The only criticism I can make of my players is that after conceding the second goal we should have stayed in the game mentally to try to find solutions and equalise but we couldn’t do that.”
Asked whether this was the end of an era for some of the Juventus players, Allegri replied: “No, I don’t think that Juventus has reached the end of a cycle. [Gianluigi] Buffon will still be the Juventus goalkeeper next year, Andrea Barzagli will still be with us. These players still have a lot to give.”