Jürgen Klopp’s mentality monsters became European giants on a sweltering night in Madrid that ended with Liverpool as winners of the Champions League.


Sports Livestream ⚽ JOIN NOW for FREE
Instant access to the BT Sport, Sky Sports and Eurosport


The 13th game of another exhilarating journey through a competition that speaks to the very heart of the club proved anything but an unlucky charm for a Reds team that now rightly earns its own immortal status.

“We want to write our own history,” Klopp has said often and meaningfully in a four-season reign that had included three final defeats and a Premier League runners-up finish.

Where Liverpool’s agonisingly futile pursuit of the Premier League title this season was a test of endurance, this tournament has always represented escapism.

Its intrinsic romance has again, as it did for those who trekked across the continent throughout the golden era of the 1970s and ‘80s and later courtesy of the wily Rafael Benitez, captured the hearts of a new generation of supporters.

You could see it in the joyous scenes at the Fan Park at Madrid’s Plaza Felipe II, arms aloft hours before Old Big Ears was thrusted into the air by the hands of Jordan Henderson.

Thousands of all ages gathered to simply sing songs about conquering the continent and celebrate the fact of it. Another European Cup final. Another opportunity. Allez, Allez, Allez.