Real Madrid lifted their 14th European Cup trophy as they narrowly beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final. 

Vinicius Junior's tap-in at the back post won Madrid the match but it was an excellent cross from Federico Valverde who drilled the ball with great accuracy across the 18-yard box. 

A special mention must go to Thibaut Courtois who was impeccable in goal from the first minute to the very last. 

Prior to kick-off, there were awful scenes involving the French police and Liverpool fans that led to a delayed kick-off. 

Story of the match

The match was due to start with a kick-off time of 21:00 (local). That was delayed and the jumbo screen in the stadium read: "Due to the late arrival of fans at the stadium, the match has been delayed. Further information will follow in 15 minutes maximum." 

That was not entirely the case as plenty of fans had been attempting to access the stadium for over two hours. The lack of control surrounding the event was worrying and would have caused thousands of fans to miss kick-off had the match not been delayed. 

Fans that managed to successfully get in shared stories of being shoved into walls by police despite having tickets. One fan also explained how the police were making entrances to the stadium narrower with their vans. 

This tweet was sent with 50 minutes until kick-off. 

The chaos then intensified as French police pepper-sprayed supporters and used tear gas. 

It is true that some fans attempted to jump the gates to get inside, however, that was a slim minority and the police were quick to arrest those who tried. 

But with over 80,000 supporters expected to attend, there is no doubt some will have managed to get in without tickets. 

This was one account of the events outside the national stadium of France. 

But the show must go on and that is exactly what happened. UEFA's opening ceremony headlined by Camila Cabello commenced as the appalling events outside continued. 

In the middle of the second half, Liverpool issued a statement on the horrendous scenes. 

The final eventually got underway over half an hour late. 

Ibrahima Konate started for Liverpool and soon proved why Jurgen Klopp selected him ahead of Joel Matip.

Liverpool were dominant in the opening stages of the match and Thibaut Courtois was forced into making multiple saves. 

But it was Sadio Mane who came closest for the Reds when his low-driven strike was fingertipped onto the post by the Madrid goalkeeper. 

Karim Benzema thought he had given Los Blancos the lead when he hammered the ball past Alisson after a six-yard box scramble. But he was ruled offside by the linesman and after a seriously long VAR check, they agreed too. 

At half-time, the two sides were level but Liverpool had the better chances and probably should have been ahead. 

Minutes before the hour-mark, Salah demanded a penalty after his shot was blocked by David Alaba. The referee rightly waved play on. 

Seconds after Salah's attempt, Vinicius gave Madrid the lead. Valverde's cross to the back post saw the Brazilian forward have an open goal to aim at, he remained measured and slotted past Alisson. 

Alexander-Arnold praised Vinicius in the pre-match press conference and said he is "fantastic to watch", but the right-back was caught out at the back post not watching the forward. 

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Klopp made the first change as Luis Diaz made way for Diogo Jota. He was instantly involved and nearly impacted the match immediately as Trent Alexander-Arnold fizzed an effort wide of the goal and Jota nearly redirected it goalwards which would have sent Courtois the wrong way. 

Courtois continued to pull off miraculous saves to deny Liverpool an equaliser and Madrid won their 14th European Cup title.