As the fireworks go off and Real Madrid lift that lovely big-eared trophy, that’s that from me. Thanks for your company, your emails and your tweets. Be sure to stick around on site for all the reports and reaction.
I’ll leave the last word to Thomas Jenkins: “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 120 minutes and at the end, Cristiano Ronaldo always takes his shirt off.”
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Here’s Gareth Bale: “What an amazing feeling. It was difficult but we showed our resilience.”
The match report
Tears in the Atletico end, unadulterated joy at the other. Cristiano Ronaldo, after being anonymous for much of the 120 minutes, proves the man of the moment.
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REAL MADRID WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Real Madrid score! Ronaldo confidently sidefoots home. Real take the shootout 5-3. More heartbreak for Atletico. But for the 11th time Real Madrid are the champions of Europe.
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If Real score this next penalty, they win it … Here comes Ronaldo …
Atletico Madrid miss! Juanfran hits the base of the post! 4-3
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Real Madrid score! Sergio Ramos again sends Oblak the wrong way. He seems to have a problem diving to his left. 4-3
Atletico Madrid score! Saul sends Navas the wrong way. Six flawless penalties so far. 3-3
Real Madrid score! Bale also slots home with Oblak rooted to the spot. 3-2
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Atletico Madrid score! The captain Gabi gives it the full beans. 2-2
Real Madrid score! Marcelo confidently beats Oblak. 2-1
Atletico Madrid score! Griezmann, who missed the spot-kick in normal time, also slots home. 1-1
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Real Madrid score! Lucas Vazquez calmly slots home. 1-0
Here we go then. Real to take first …
The penalties will be taken at the end of the stadium housing the Real Madrid fans.
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Diego Simeone has whipped the Atletico supporters up as best he can, roused his team for one last effort, and then headed back to the dugout.
While we’re waiting for the spot-kicks, have a gander at this piece from Nick Ames on Kosovo’s first Champions League club:
The match goes to penalties!
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEEP!!! The Champions League final will be decided from the spot. Real finished strongly but Atletico were resolute.
An interesting point here from Thomas Jenkins: “Atletico just lost two of the their likelier penalty-takers in Folipe Luis and Koke, and have two players on in their stead whom you wouldn’t fancy to take one. Given that Griezmann and Torres have missed penalties in the semi and the final: advantage Real?”
120+2 min: … Torres nods away.
120+2 min: Danilo sees a shot blocked. Corner to Real …
120+1 min: Two minutes of added time to play. Pepe again attempts to get an opponent sent off for four-fifths-of-nothing.
120 min: What a chance for Lucas Vazquez! The ball finds the youngster 10 yards from the Atletico goal but he takes a touch and Lucas Hernandez is able to make a fine block.
119 min: Atletico might see this as a chance missed – they had Real on the ropes for the entirety of the second half but couldn’t carry that momentum into extra-time. “Champions league, more like crampions league,” offers Pat McIntyre.
118 min: “There’s something pretty anti-climactic about the last half hour of a great contest ending up resembling a lumbering over-40s match,” writes Ben Simmons. And he’s not wrong.
117 min: … which Ronaldo bludgeons straight into the wall.
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115 min: Koke looks like he’s got something rather more serious than cramp. His race is run: Thomas Partey replaces him. And next: this much-delayed free-kick …
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114 min: … but first Koke goes down with cramp. And so does Bale. So Juanfran and Ramos entertain themselves by squaring up and exchanging a few words.
113 min: Godin heads away from Ronaldo under pressure, six yards out. But Fernando Torres has clumsily given away a free-kick for handball, maybe 35 yards from goal and very central …
112 min: Pepe, in full pantomime villain mode, goes into the book after chopping down Gabi.
111 min: Lucas Vazquez wins a corner for his side. Modric swirls it into the mixer, where Griezmann nods clear.
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110 min: Gabi hoiks the ball into the box and Godin fouls Lucas Vazquez. Neither side seem to have the energy to break the other down.
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108 min: Just as Thomas Partey is about to replace Saul, Filipe Luis goes down with an injury. Change of plans for Simeone then – Filipe Luis trudges off, on skips Lucas Hernandez.
107 min: Casemiro – one of the few Real players not struggling with some ailment or other – crashes a shot well over Oblak’s bar from distance.
106 min: Filipe Luis tiredly flops a cross into the box and can only hit the first man. Real break. Slowly.
Peep! One last push then – 15 minutes to find a hero. The evidence of the first half of extra-time suggested we’re on our way to penalties …
Half-time in extra-time
Peep! Half-time in extra-time. Bale is suffering badly with cramp by the looks of it.
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105 min: Carrasco, not for the first time, looks Danilo look cumbersome and wins his team a corner. He ends up with Griezmann at the back post but his acrobatic effort is well wide.
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103 min: The game has slowed appreciably now. We’ve got bursts of furious activity surrounded by spells played at near walking pace. It’s a warm night in Milan.
101 min: A lightning break from Real ends with Bale running onto the ball at the edge of the area and crashing a thunderous shot at goal … which is brilliantly blocked by the outrushing Godin.
100 min: Another Atletico corner. Another stout defensive header from Real. But another corner. And another solid defensive header.
99 min: … nodded away by Casemiro, who then smothers the danger as Juanfran brings the ball back into the box.
98 min: Koke lofts the ball into the box and Danilo heads away for a corner …
96 min: “I’ve found a new level of respect for Atletico’s game tonight,” writes Michael Birke. “They’re far more versatile than I gave them credit for. And Real the opposite.”
95 min: Carrasco is giving Danilo kittens down the Real right. Another surge from the Belgium international creates a decent crossing opportunity but he can’t find a team-mate in the box.
94 min: Isco whips a corner in, Ronaldo is free, six yards out, but flunks his header straight into Oblak’s hands via the back of an Atleti defender.
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93 min: Bale smashes wild and wide from distance. There was more than a hint of desperation about that.
91 min: Casemiro languidly belts the ball at goal from 30 yards but straight at Oblak.
Peep! Off we go again. The second half was as thrilling as the first was torpid. Fingers crossed for more of the same.
While we’re waiting for the restart – catch up with the news from Wembley today:
So: the momentum is with Atletico, who were brilliant in that second half. Real Madrid have a clearly struggling Cristiano Ronaldo out on the pitch and have used all their subs.
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FULL-TIME: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEP!!! That’s that. Into extra time we go.
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90+3 min: Into the 93rd minute: Ramos time. And Ramos is the man in the action again – as Carrasco charges forward, the Real defender hacks him down viciously and takes the booking. That might’ve been a goal saver, but Atleti are predictably furious. Gabi is booked for remonstrating with Clattenburg.
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90 min: Injury-time: a minimum of three minutes.
89 min: “Why didn’t Clattenberg book Pepe for simulating getting a smack in the face despite clearly indicating he’d clocked it?” wonders Andy Tuohy. It’s a fair point:
88 min: Marcelo zips a terrific ball across goal but no one can get on the end of it. Ronaldo stretches his calf at the stoppage. And Zidane has used all of his substitutes.
87 min: … what a chance for Bale! From a couple of yards out he nods against the back of Pepe’s head, which pushes the ball over the bar.
86 min: Bale looks to beat Oblak at the near post. Real corner …
85 min: Real get themselves back on the front foot once more. And Atleti sit into their familiar defensive shape.
83 min: Space for Juanfran once more. Torres darts in to the near post to meet his cross but can only divert the ball a couple of yards wide.
81 min: Atletico deserve that on their second half performance. They’ve been as vibrant as they were flat in the opening period.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Carrasco 79)
And Atleti go straight down the other end and level things up. Griezmann lofts a quite stunning ball down the right channel for Juanfran. He volleys across goal and finds Carrasco, who roofs the ball from close range. 1-1!
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79 min: My word, what a scramble! Lucas Vazquez causes all manner of problems in the Atleti box, Oblak makes a superb stop from Ronaldo, and Savic clears off the line from Bale’s effort. Sheesh.
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77 min: Ronaldo, who has moved inside after that chance, has a chance to finish this off but shoots straight at Oblak.
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76 min: Another Real Madrid substitution: Lucas Vazquez on, Benzema off. Interesting decisions these from Zidane.
74 min: Torres nods over the bar under pressure from Ramos. Time is ticking away from Atletico.
73 min: Pepe rolls on the grass like a happy horse after a nudge from Filipe Luis.
Pepe is such a dick!
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 28, 2016
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72 min: Real subsitution: The excellent Kroos goes off, Isco comes on.
71 min: Superb save from Oblak! Modric finds Benzema with a beautiful ball out to the right. The France striker surges forward and spanks a shot at goal that the keeper does well to keep out. Ronaldo, who had been in the middle and hoping for a pass from his team-mate, looks suitably unimpressed.
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70 min: Ronaldo skips effortlessly past Savic but Godin is across to snuff out the danger. There’s a nice frayed, loose feel about the game now.
69 min: There’s a Real foul from the corner. Neat work from Saul gets Atletico moving forward once more, but Filipe Luis’s loose touch ends the attack.
68 min: … Bale thunks his shot into the wall and away for a corner.
67 min: Ronaldo goes down in spectacular fashion on the edge of the box after a poor Godin challenge. Danger here …
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65 min: Gabi gives possession away cheaply in the Atletico half, but Savoc gets his captain out of trouble with a towering defensive header.
63 min: Eleven white shirts behind the ball as Atletico look to build another attack. They eventually run out of patience and Saul flashes a wild shot well wide from the best part of 35 yards.
61 min: Koke lines up a shot on the edge of the box but Pepe charges out to block. It’s an open game now.
60 min: Torres goes into Clattenburg’s Big Book Of Very Bad Boys after a trip on Ramos in midfield.
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59 min: Carrasco again skips forward down the left and zips a cross into Saul, who acrobatically volleys wide.
58 min: A gorgeous reverse pass from Griezmann has Carrasco skittering in behind the Real back four. Eventually the ball is worked back to Koke, who blasts over the bar from distance.
57 min: … Kroos pings it in, it’s flicked on, but Casemiro fouls Juanfran at the back post.
56 min: Danilo surges forward and wins his team a corner …
54 min: What a chance! A series of chances in fact! An Atletico corner finds Godin at the far post – he has a free header but gets it completely wrong, sending the ball down and across the box, where it falls to Savic, who can only poke wide from close range.
53 min: Carrasco (who is playing on the left, Koke having moved inside) has given Atleti a certain amount of thrust. They’re all over Real now.
52 min: Carvajal has pulled up with an injury. That’s his final over. He goes off in tears, to be replaced by Danilo.
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50 min: … swung in by Kroos and just about dealt with by Oblak.
49 min: Simeone has got the fire back in the belly of his side. But Juanfran brings down Benzema on the left of the Atletico box …
GRIEZMANN HITS THE BAR!
47 min: Navas is booked for timewasting before Antoine Griezmann slams his penalty onto the underside of the bar!
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PENALTY TO ATLETICO MADRID!
Torres cleverly gets across Pepe, and lets the ball run past him and the defender bundles into him. Clattenburg points to the spot!
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46 min: Filipe Luis swings a cross into the box but Pepe nods away from Torres. Bright start from Atletico, though
Peep! Off we go again.
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Atletico are making a substitution: holding midfielder Augusto Fernandez is replaced by Yannick Carrasco.
A Diego Simeone rollicking is currently being administered.
Peep! PEEP!! That’s half-time. Real are worth their 1-0 lead although Atlético improved as the half wore on. It’s not been a classic, though.
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45 min: “Fernando Torres is reliving his days in the Premier League,” writes Charles Antaki. “But not the right ones.” There’ll be (a minimum of) one minute of injury time.
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44 min: Bale tumbles over Savic’s challenge and looks to Clattenburg for a free-kick. The referee is unmoved. Bale is perplexed. And the cosmic ballet goes on …
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42 min: It’s a bit of a Freaky Friday situation here. Atletico have had 62% of the possession, while Real sit back and soak up the pressure.
41 min: Godin gets himself in the way of Benzema’s pass as Real look to break.
40 min: Ramos nods a better cross away as Saul looks to sneak in unwatched at the back post.
39 min: Griezmann shoots optimistically at goal from distance – straight at Navas.
37 min: Again the buildup from Atlético is, depending on your point of view, either commendably patient or far too sluggish. Another rather hopeful cross into the box – where Fernando Torres is the only man in a red shirt – is comfortably cleared.
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35 min: Griezmann volleys at goal from close range but the flag is up for offside.
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34 min: Augusto Fernandez picks the ball up in space on halfway and looks forward to see an entirely static set of players ahead of him. Koke has better luck, though, and picks out Griezmann, who attempts an audacious chip from 25 yards out but succeeds only in lofting the ball gently to Navas.
32 min: Benzema jinks past Godin and thumps the ball across the six-yard box. Oblak gets a fist to it and pushes the ball away.
31 min: … which is curled in to the near post and punched away by Navas.
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30 min: This is definitely better from Atletico – Griezmann wins a corner off Ramos …
28 min: Atleti are slowly – sllllloooooowwwlllyyyy – working their way into the game. A little more possession for Simeone’s side now though they’re not doing all that much with it.
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26 min: Real knock the ball about neatly in midfield where their trio is dominating. Eventually a cross plops tamely into Oblak’s hands.
24 min: Atletico put together a coherent attack for the first time in the game. Griezmann sweeps the ball out to Filipe Luis, whose cross evades everyone in the box but drops kindly to Juanfran on the edge of the area. The right-back, though, skews his effort high and wide.
23 min: Here’s that offside decision on the goal:
This is the offside shout against Ramos in the centre when Bale (left) flicked the ball on. pic.twitter.com/Tgq7BRyCOp
— Jacqui Oatley (@JacquiOatley) May 28, 2016
22 min: The otherwise anonymous Griezmann gets a couple of touches in the Real half but it comes to nought.
20 min: Real are well worth their lead. Atlético haven’t been at the races as yet.
18 min: Ramos has joined a pretty elite group with that goal:
Scored in two Champions League finals:
— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) May 28, 2016
Sergio Ramos
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi
Samuel Eto'o
Raúl
(Though that’s Champions League rather than European Cup, obviously)
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17 min: There was a hint of offside there – Ramos was just beyond the last man as Bale flicked on although it was very, very tight.
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GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Ramos 15)
It’s that man again! The player who broke Atleti hearts in Lisbon has given Real the lead tonight. Kroos swings in the free-kick from out on the left, Bale smartly flicks on, and Ramos gets a touch to force the ball past Oblak from close range.
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15 min: Juanfran has a little ill-advised nibble at Bale’s calf. Another dangerous free-kick …
14 min: “Obviously I hope for a ding-dong classic with plenty of goals and lead changes,” writes Kári Tulinius. “But if we can’t have that, a small part hopes that Clattenburg has an absolute nightmare, if only to see what would happen if this set of players and coaches all fly off the handle at the same time.” He’s coped pretty well so far I reckon.
12 min: Carvajal’s booking was the first of the game – Gabi didn’t in fact see yellow for that challenge on Bale (though he easily could’ve done).
11 min: … which doesn’t come to much. It’s one-way traffic at the moment, although Carvajal has just shown that Real are up for the scrap by scything into Griezmann as Atletico look to break. He goes into the book.
10 min: Bale creates a little space for Kroos 30 yards from goal. The Germany international’s effort is a slightly scuffed but deflects behind for a corner …
8 min: Torres flops under a challenge from Sergio Ramos. It’s already clear that Clattenburg will be a very busy man tonight. Though that was always to be expected.
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7 min: Juanfran barges into Ronaldo in midfield and is a little fortunate, as was Gabi, not to go into the book.
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6 min: … swung in by Bale and turned goalwards from close range by Casemiro but Oblak makes a stunning point-blank save.
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5 min: Bale surges forward dangerously and Gabi either gets his timing wrong or, if you prefer, cynically brings him down. Hugely dangerous free-kick …
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4 min: Torres thunks into Pepe as the Real defender clears – there have been a couple of what we might call Statements Of Intent from Atletico in these early exchanges.
3 min: Atletico win a series of throw-ins down the right flank. Saul makes space for a cross but can only shank his effort behind for a goal-kick.
1 min: CRUNCH! Koke crashes into Casemiro as he looks to make an early clearance. Clattenburg has a word but no more.
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Peep! The 2015-16 Champions League final is go! Referee Mark Clattenburg blows his whistle and Atlético get us under way.
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OK, handshakes all round and we’re about set.
Finally out come the players, though the playing surface is still covered by a giant cloth star.
'Your Values Make Us Believe' - Curva Sud tonight. Translation: @sidlowe pic.twitter.com/1RvAi1hQI7
— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) May 28, 2016
As kick-off time arrives, Andrea Bocelli is now belting out something or other. This is ludicrous.
Click-clack, click-clack … The players are in the tunnel. And Alicia is wandering off. Even so, we’re not kicking off on time here.
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Alicia Keys is playing the pre-match show while people dance on the pitch. “Is Milano here toniiiight?” she asks. “Is Madrid here toniiiiight?”
A fair chunk of Madrid is indeed here tonight – shame they aren’t permitted to create any kind of atmosphere. Although if you haven’t seen Keys’ cover of the Gummy Bears theme tune you’re missing out:
Fifteen minutes until kick off. And here’s Dan Schulwolf: “Here in the USA, broadcaster Fox just had a magnificent intro montage narrated by James McAvoy that compared each of the major figures on both teams to … characters from the upcoming X-Men movie, which is being distributed by … 20th Century Fox! What a world we live in! What a time to be alive!”
Hmm. I can see Simeone as Beast.
The Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid is usually pretty busy at this time on a Saturday. This is how it looked a few minutes ago:
Elsewhere in the wide world of football, Hull City are back in the Premier League after a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship play-off final. Here’s the report:
Meanwhile in the BT Sport studio, Rio Ferdinand appears to have dressed for the world snooker championship final:
The teams
The lineups have been announced and they are pretty much as expected, with Stefan Savić pipping José María Giménez to partner Diego Godin at the back for Atlético.
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo. Subs: Casilla, Nacho, James, Lucas Vázquez, Jesé, Isco, Danilo.
Atlético Madrid (4-4-2): Oblak; Juanfran, Godín, Savic, Filipe Luis; Saúl, Gabi, Augusto, Koke; Torres, Griezmann. Subs: Moyà, Tiago, Correa, Lucas Hernández, Carrasco, Partey, Giménez.
And there was also this beautiful front page from Marca today:
#LaPortada 'En tu casa o en la mía'. El mundo se para hoy... y la Champions se viene a Madrid. ¡Buenos días! ☕ pic.twitter.com/IZgu5i60KP
— MARCA (@marca) May 28, 2016
Pre-match reading
If you were not already slavering at the prospect of this evening’s showpiece, we’ve got a vast array of stories to whet the appetite:
Preamble
So here we are then. For the second time in three seasons the Champions League final is an all-Madrid affair. Two years ago at the Estadio da Luz Atlético were seconds – seconds – from victory before Sergio Ramos’s headed an equaliser and Diego Simeone’s shattered side suffered something of an extra-time meltdown. Revenge is in the air in Milan tonight. Simeone says the scars of Lisbon have healed but he’s fooling nobody.
Real are the narrow favourites and Atlético relish the role of underdogs but to paint them as plucky happy-go-lucky upstarts would be a mischaracterisation. This isn’t really the Evil Empire v the Ewoks. There’s plenty of enjoyment to be had in the win-at-all-costs-and-I-mean-ALL-costs mentality that Simeone has imbued in his side but it doesn’t necessarily make them universally likeable. Still, few outside the white half of the city would begrudge Atletico a redemptive victory at San Siro this evening.
Road to the final
For Real it has been plain sailing – a group-stage campaign featuring five wins, blemished only by a 0-0 draw in Paris against PSG and concluded with an 8-0 walloping of Malmo. Roma should’ve made Real pay for their sloppiness in the last 16 but were eventually swatted aside 4-0 on aggregate; Wolfsburg did make Real pay in their quarter-final first leg but their 2-0 lead was wiped out within 17 minutes at the Bernabeu and Cristiano Ronaldo finished the job (and his hat-trick) in the second half. Manchester City provided stubborn resistance in the semis but Fernando’s own goal was enough for a 1-0 Real win.
Atletico’s road has been rather rockier. A home defeat against Benfica and a 0-0 draw in Astana left them sweating with two games to go in the group stage before two wins took them over the line with plenty to spare. In the last 16 there were 210 goal-less minutes against PSV before the two sides showed they could actually find the target in a thrilling penalty shootout, Atleti running out 8-7 winners. Barcelona awaited in the quarters and a couple of Antoine Griezmann suckerpunches in the second leg led to a 3-2 aggregate win. Bayern also suffered at the hands of the France forward, Griezmann’s goal at the Allianz Arena proving the difference as Atleti advanced on away goals.
Previous meetings
Recent history looks pretty good for Diego Simeone’s side. Atlético have lost only one of their last 10 Madrid derbies – the 1-0 defeat in the quarter-finals of this competition in April 2015. That game was the last of eight meetings between the sides last season, with Atletico going unbeaten in the other seven. Their two meetings in this campaign ended in a 1-1 draw at the Calderon back in October and a 1-0 Atleti win at the Bernabeu (courtesy of an Antoine Griezmann goal) in late February.
And if you want the full breakdown: this is the 201st meeting between the sides. Of the previous 200, Real have won 102, Atléti 50 and there have been 48 draws.
Recent form
Real ended the La Liga season with 12 wins on the bounce, a run that began after that February defeat to their neighbours but one that was interspersed with a couple of less impressive European performances – namely that almost bizarre defeat in Wolfsburg in the last eight and the 0-0 draw at the Etihad in the semis.
Atlético couldn’t quite match the late season form of their neighbours from across the Spanish capital. Their were 10 wins in those dozen post-derby league fixtures but crucially two defeats – at Gijon in mid-March then, painfully, at Levante on the penultimate matchday of the campaign. There were away defeats against Barcelona and Bayern too in the Champions League but Simeone’s side still found ways to get the job done.
Kick-off
… is 7.45pm BST.
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