No one can resist your will to win

Real Madrid won their 14th European Cup after beating Liverpool 0-1 at the Stade de France de Paris in Saint Denis in a complicated match for the madridistas, who once again showed their competitive spirit to win the Champions League thanks to a goal from Vinicius and an absolutely spectacular performance from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

In the lyrics of the Real Madrid anthem that was composed to mark the winning of the tenth European Cup there is a phrase that goes: "Because no one resists your will to win", and that is precisely the best summary of Saturday's final in the French capital and of Real Madrid's run in this edition of the Champions League. 

The match at Saint Denis was a complicated one for Real Madrid. Many pundits tipped Liverpool as favourites because of their pace and because they are the top team along with Manchester City in the English Premier League, considered by many to be the best league competition in the world today.

The first half of the final in Paris was a reflection of this. The English side pressed high up the pitch with their lines very far forward and stifled a Real Madrid side that had no outlet except for long balls to Vinicius. Neither Luka Modric nor Toni Kroos were able to get the ball and could not give the team any peace of mind with possession or control of the game. 

Carlo Ancelotti's side were struggling to get out of their own half and were suffering under the onslaught of Jurgen Klopp's side. There were even two clear-cut chances for Liverpool, one with Mohamed Salah's almost forced shot in the six-yard box that was well saved by Thibaut Courtois and an even more dangerous shot from Sadio Maneh that was deflected by the Belgian keeper and ended up crashing against the goalpost. With those two actions, Courtois began to emerge as the decisive player of the night.

The Madrid team held off the attacks of the Reds as best they could and suffered more than they should have, but thanks to their competitive nature and their grit, they managed to score just before half-time through an action by Karim Benzema in the box. The French striker was able to play back to Federico Valverde, who was forced to reach the goal and left a loose ball that the France international took advantage of to beat Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker. However, the goal was disallowed for a dubious offside, which was ruled as such when the referees deemed Fabinho's final touch that could have set up Benzema was unintentional. 

That's how the half-time whistle went and in the second half Real Madrid did manage to balance the balance of play. Modric began to appear more and Casemiro and Valverde began to have more presence and to recover and bring more balls forward. Liverpool, who had dominated the game, with a lot of involvement up front from their strikers Salah, Mané and Luis Díaz, but had not converted their dominance into goals, and had even suffered a major scare with Benzema's disallowed goal.

And so it came to the play that turned the game on its head. Valverde drove powerfully down the right and put in a tense, strong cross that found its way to the far post, where Vinicius was able to finish at his leisure after beating Trent Alexander-Arnold. It was the 58th minute and Real Madrid were ahead to the ecstasy of the Madrid fans and the disbelief of the English fans. 

Liverpool again laid siege to Courtois' goal, but he stepped up and earned man-of-the-match honours with some outstanding saves that saved Los Blancos from an equaliser. Above all, two key saves against Salah, one a long-range effort and the other a close-range effort from the Egyptian after he had beaten Ferland Mendy in the box. The Belgian goalkeeper managed to get a hard, close-range save that already crowned him the hero of the night. Proof of this is that Eder Militao, David Alaba and Dani Carvajal all rushed to embrace the Belgian giant for the saving save.

Carlo Ancelotti's side had a couple of dangerous counter-attacks to have put the game to bed as Jurgen Klopp's side were on the attack, but Benzema and Dani Ceballos failed to hit the target despite the advantageous position they enjoyed. 

And so it practically came to pass at the end of a final in Paris that crowned Real Madrid once again as kings of Europe. The final in the French capital was a reflection of Real Madrid's season in the Champions League: ties against Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain in which the Madrid side were inferior in many sections, but in which they showed courage and quality to turn the situation around and win, making the Madrid legend in Europe even bigger. Just like this Saturday's final in Saint Denis, with Liverpool dominating, but with Madrid's competitiveness allowing them to become European champions once again, for the fourteenth time. The white legend continues and grows bigger in Europe.

Real Madrid appealed again to the famous epic, to the commitment and quality of the players and to the victorious history of the club and the argument worked again. And it is true that "nobody can resist your will to win".