The Champions League Final Is Once Again an All-Madrid Affair

For the second time in three years, the Champions League final will pit crosstown rivals Real Madrid against Atletico, following Real’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Gareth Bale’s deflected goal in the 20th minute was the only time either side found the net over the two legs, but the aggregate score concealed how comfortable things really were for Real. Manchester City, playing in the semifinals for the first time, never threatened the 10-time European champions — perhaps from stage fright, perhaps from simple lack of creativity. On Wednesday night, City didn’t register a single shot on target.
“They created very little over the two legs. So did we, in fairness,” City goalkeeper Joe Hart said. “We just came out the wrong side of it.”
The first leg had been a dull 0-0 affair, which meant Real would need an outright win at home to advance. And everything about their history in the tournament this season suggested they would get it. They had won all five of their previous Champions League games at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium this year, scoring 18 goals in the process. But in the semis, one was enough.
City’s resolute defending only cracked for a moment and was never rescued by its muted attack.
“Did we do enough to win the game? I don’t know,” Hart said.
For Real, this season’s Champions League run has been a major endorsement of the club’s decision to hire Zinedine Zidane as its manager in January. A former star midfielder and Champions League winner with Real during his playing days, he will be the 14th man to both play and manage in a European Cup final.
Zidane was there, too, during the 2014 all-Madrid encounter. On that night, he served as an assistant coach to then-manager Carlo Ancelotti. Diego Simeone’s Atletico led for most of the evening, until Sergio Ramos headed home a 94th-minute equalizer. Los Blancos then blew away its exhausted in extra time to win 4-1.