PARIS: A ‘winning culture’ may be one of the most over used terms in modern football but Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti proved on Saturday, at Liverpool’s expense, that there truly is meaning and value in the concept.

With the 1-0 win over Juergen Klopp’s side, Ancelotti became the first coach to claim the Champions League four times, with his second victory as Real boss coming after two triumphs with AC Milan.

As for the Spanish champions, this was the 14th time they have won Europe’s elite club competition — twice as many as the next most successful team Milan — but rarely have they taken a more chaotic road to glory.

That pedigree, on the bench and on the field, has created a calm confidence that has seen them come through the toughest tests in this year’s competition.

To reach the final, Real came through a knockout stage which first saw them up against a Paris St Germain side with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe — they came back from 2-0 down on aggregate to progress thanks to a Karim Benzema hat-trick.

Defending champions Chelsea were next, beaten in extra time thanks to another Benzema goal before the Frenchman then got the decisive goal in the remarkable late comeback to beat Premier League champions Manchester City in the semi-final.

More madness ensued at the Stade de France, where kick-off was delayed by over half an hour as security problems outside the ground prevented fans from taking their seats.

Amid the confusion, Real had experience on their side in the form of the most successful coach in the competition’s history.

Ancelotti surpassed Bob Paisley’s three European Cups with Liverpool and Zinedine Zidane’s hat-trick as Real boss between 2016 and 2018.

“I am a record man,” said Ancelotti. “I’m pleased to have won the Champions League four times, but I am even more thrilled to have come back to Real and had such a spectacular season.”

Even once the action got underway there was more controversy as Real had a goal ruled out late in the first half for offside against Karim Benzema despite Liverpool’s Fabinho playing the ball into the Real captain’s path.

Other coaches would have raged at the officials, but Ancelotti was charismatically cool on a night he wrote himself into the history books.

Just a year ago, Ancelotti was on the other side of Merseyside at Everton, after his stock suffered from short spells at Bayern Munich and Napoli.

Yet the 62-year-old delivered the favour Everton fans craved by denying Liverpool a joyous end to a momentous season.

“Everton weren’t that happy,” added Ancelotti on his return to Real, where he also won the Champions League in the debut season of his first spell in 2014. “I think they are a bit happier now.”

ANTICLIMATIC END

Six days ago, Liverpool were dreaming of an unprecedented quadruple.

Instead they have to suffice with a League Cup and FA Cup having come up short by the finest of margins in both the Premier League title race and now in the Champions League final.

City claimed the English title by one point after a dramatic final day when Pep Guardiola’s men came from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2.

“These boys played an outstanding season,” said Klopp. “The two competitions we couldn’t win we didn’t win for the smallest possible margin. City was one point better and tonight Real was one goal better.”

Klopp has now won just one of his four European Cup finals.

Four years ago, Real also won a clash between the sides 3-1 in Kiev. Liverpool bounced back a year later to win their sixth European crown in Madrid.

And Klopp is confident his side will not stop at reaching the showpiece for a third time in five years.

The difference between now and 2018 is I see us coming again,” he said. “I wished it but I couldn’t know it. They have an incredible attitude, it’s a fantastic group and we will go again.”

The week also did not start well for Madrid.

The Spanish giants were jilted by Mbappe, who decided to remain at PSG for a further three years.

Mbappe’s arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu could have had major implications for the future of Vinicius Junior.

The 21-year-old Brazilian, who plays in the same position as Mbappe on the left of the attack, has enjoyed his breakout season under the tutelage of Ancelotti and scored 22 goals with 20 assists.

His youth, energy, aggressiveness and unstoppable explosion perfectly complements Benzema, who had a career-best year alongside the Brazilian, scoring 44 goals in 45 games in all competitions and a chance of winning his first Ballon D’or.

Vinicius was decisive in Real’s amazing run of comebacks and delivered the biggest moment of his career on 59 minutes against Liverpool, ghosting behind Trent Alexander-Arnold to score the winner from Federico Valverde’s perfect cross.

COURTOIS THWARTS LIVERPOOL

But Real’s remarkable run to the European crown was not done yet and it was in no small part down to the heroics of Thibaut Courtois who was named man-of-the-match for a string of stunning saves to thwart a Liverpool revival.

He was credited with a total of nine saves, including a fine early stop to turn a Sadio Mane shot onto the post when Liverpool were in the ascendancy.

“The most important was the save from Mane. I really had to use my two metres to get there and turn fast to get the rebound,” Courtois said after collecting his award for man of the match.

The pick of the Belgian giant’s saves came when he flew low to his right to turn Mohamed Salah’s drive wide 10 minutes from time.

Sensing his side needed an intervention, Ancelotti’s experience shone through in the closing stages as he used his three allocated stoppages of play late on to see the game out.

Real’s performance was of team which knows how to win in the biggest games, something which Klopp’s side for all their qualities — and despite one Premier League title and one Champions League triumph — have yet to truly learn.

In their six games against top four opponents in the Premier League this past season, Liverpool failed to win, drawing them all. In the two domestic Cup finals they won against Chelsea, they failed to score, claiming the trophies after shootouts.

Liverpool are talked about, along with City, as one of the two best teams in the world. Yet it is Real, seen by many at the start of the season as an ageing, fading force, who finished with a rare La Liga and Champions League double.

“At the beginning of this season people didn’t think we would win La Liga or even reach the semi-finals of the Champions League but we have and it is down to the work done by the coach,” said Courtois. “Now we need to rest well and come back strong again next season.”

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2022