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PARIS — The numbers, and not for the first time in this remarkable run, favored the opposition. Liverpool had 24 shots and an expected goals of over two, Real Madrid just four shots and an xG of under one. But it was, of course, the Spanish giant that won the UEFA Champions League title on Saturday here in the French capital, its record 14th European success story, for that is how it has been throughout the knockout stage and triumphs against PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and now Liverpool: Madrid is under pressure, Madrid holds out, Madrid scores just when it needs to. If this did not feel quite so incredible as what had happened in previous rounds, it was perhaps only because this sort of performance has become so familiar.
In this era, in which managers speak of tactical philosophies, it is the great pragmatist Carlo Ancelotti who becomes the first coach to win the Champions League four times following the 1–0 triumph at the Stade de France. He has only ever won five league titles (one in each of Europe’s Big Five leagues, for what it’s worth). There is something paradoxical about that, but it fits the nature of this season and of this Madrid team.
