The latest from the Champions League final (all times local) :
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) – The latest from the Champions League final (all times local) : ___ 10 p.m. The trophy is theirs, again. Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos grabbed hold of the Champions League trophy for the second year in a row and held it aloft as the fans still in the stadium roared. Madrid became the first team in the Champions League era to win back-to-back tiles when it beat Juventus 4-1 at the Millennium Stadium. Ramos was given the trophy after both teams walked up on stage to receive their winners‘ and losers‘ medals. ___ 9: 50 p.m. The players from both teams are milling about on the field as they await the Champions League trophy ceremony. The Real Madrid side is more animated, as would be expected, while the Juventus side is more subdued. The trophy presentation is about to start. ___ 9: 42 p.m. Cristiano Ronaldo was named man of the match in the Champions League final. The Portugal forward scored two goals in the 4-1 win over Juventus at the Millennium Stadium. ___ 9: 39 p.m. Real Madrid is the European champion again, and Cristiano Ronaldo was the star again. The 12-time champions from the Spanish capital became the first team in the Champions League era to win back-to-back titles with their 4-1 victory over Juventus at the Millennium Stadium. Madrid started the competition, then known as the European Cup, with five straight titles from 1956-60. But since the 1992-93 season, when it was rebranded the Champions League, no team had been able to successfully defend its title. Until now. Ronaldo scored two of the goals, making him the leading scorer in the competition for the fifth straight season with 12 – one more than Lionel Messi. He also became the first man to score in three finals, adding to his goals in the 2008 and 2014 finals. It was also the second Champions League title won under coach Zinedine Zidane, the former France great who took over at his old club last season and led it to the Spanish league title last month. ___ 9: 35 p.m. GOAL: Marco Asensio scores for Real Madrid in the 90th minute. Real Madrid leads Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final. ___ 9: 28 p.m. RED CARD: Juventus defender Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 84th minute after getting a second yellow card. Cuadrado came on as a substitute in the 66th minute. ___ 9: 24 p.m. Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale entered the Champions League final in the 77th minute, replacing Karim Benzema. The Cardiff native was left out of the starting lineup after missing much of the second half of the season because of injuries, including an ankle ailment that forced him to undergo surgery in November. Francisco „Isco“ Alarcon started in Bale’s place. ___ 9: 13 p.m. Cristiano Ronaldo scored another for Real Madrid, right after Casemiro had put their team back in front in the Champions League final. Ronaldo scored in the 64th minute from close range after Luka Modric made a run on the right side of the area and crossed the ball back in. Modric had intercepted the ball near the midfield to start the play. The goal made it 3-1 against Juventus. Three minutes earlier, Casemiro put Madrid back in the lead with a long-range shot. After the Juventus defense partially cleared a shot by Toni Kroos, Casemiro got to the ball and sent a mid-height shot that deflected off Sami Khedira before entering the right corner of Gianluigi Buffon’s net, who stretched out his arms but could not reach the ball. Ronaldo’s goal was his 12th in the Champions League this season, allowing him to surpass Lionel Messi as the competition’s top scorer. He will almost certainly become the first player to be the competition’s leading scorer for five straight seasons. ___ 9: 09 p.m. GOAL: Cristiano Ronaldo scores for Real Madrid in the 64th minute. Real Madrid leads Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final. ___ 9: 05 p.m. GOAL: Casemiro scores for Real Madrid in the 61st minute. Real Madrid leads Juventus 2-1 in the Champions League final. ___ 8: 59 p.m. Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric had the first shot on target in the second half, but the ball flew safely into the arms of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The teams are still even at 1-1 in the 55th minute of the Champions League final. ___ 8: 50 p.m. The second half of the Champions League final has started with Juventus and Real Madrid even at 1-1. If the score remains tied after 90 minutes, the teams will play 30 minutes of extra time. If it’s still tied, there will be penalty kicks. ___ 8: 47 p.m. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal against Juventus was Real Madrid’s 500th in the Champions League, the first team to reach that mark. He also scored the team’s 400th in the competition. The goal also extended Madrid’s streak of scoring at least one goal in 65 matches. ___ 8: 43 p.m. With his first-half goal, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in three Champions League finals. Ronaldo also scored with Manchester United in the 2008 final against Chelsea, and with Real Madrid in the 2014 final against Atletico Madrid. Last year, when Real Madrid again defeated Atletico in the final, he converted the deciding penalty kick in the shootout. The goal on Saturday in Cardiff also allowed Ronaldo to tie Lionel Messi as the top scorer in this year’s competition with 11. Ronaldo is the only player to have scored more than 100 goals in the Champions League. ___ 8: 34 p.m. Cristiano Ronaldo put Real Madrid ahead in the Champions League final, but Juventus quickly hit back with a superb overhead shot by Mario Mandzukic to leave the teams level 1-1 at halftime. After being set up with a touch pass by Gonzalo Higuain inside the area, Mandzukic used his chest to control the ball and sent a 27th-minute volley over goalkeeper Keylor Navas with his back to the goal. Seven minutes earlier, Ronaldo scored with a low shot from just inside the box after a pass by defender Dani Carvajal from the right flank following a breakaway that started with Karim Benzema near midfield. Juventus had started well, creating most of the chances, but Madrid steadily evened the action at the Millennium Stadium. The teams had fewer chances going into halftime. ___ 8: 17 p.m. Mario Mandzukic scored with an amazing overhead shot from inside the area to put Juventus level with Real Madrid 1-1 in the Champions League final. Gonzalo Higuain set up Mandzukic with a touch pass, and the Croatian forward controlled the ball with his chest and sent a volley over goalkeeper Keylor Navas with his back to the goal. Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo fed Dani Carvajal on the right flank and the defender sent a low cross back for Ronaldo inside the area. The Portugal forward scored with a low shot into the far corner, with Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon diving but not being able to reach the ball. ___ 8: 13 p.m. GOAL: Mario Mandzukic scores for Juventus in the 27th minute. Juventus and Real Madrid are even at 1-1 in the Champions League final. ___ 8: 07 p.m. GOAL: Cristiano Ronaldo scores for Real Madrid in the 20th minute. Madrid leads Juventus 1-0 in Champions League final. ___ 7: 58 p.m. After 10 minutes, it’s still scoreless in the Champions League final and Juventus is still the better team. Real Madrid has improved, making it harder for Juventus to get out its own area, but the chances in the match so far belong to the Italian team. ___ 7: 53 p.m. Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain put two balls on target in the opening minutes of the Champions League final. Higuain first sent a header toward the net that Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas easily controlled. A few seconds later, a shot from Higuain was fumbled briefly by Navas but he soon got a hold of it. Two more attempts from Juventus soon followed, putting the Italian team in control at the start. ___ 7: 47 p.m. The Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid has started, a bit later than scheduled for the second year in a row. Again because the opening ceremony ran long, the match started a short time after its 7: 45 p.m. local time slot. ___ 7: 40 p.m. The Black Eyed Peas performed on a makeshift stage in the middle of the field before the Champions League final as part of the opening ceremony. With pyrotechnics and dancers around the stage, the hip-hop group played for several minutes. The dancers soon emerged on the field with huge flags for both teams, Juventus and Real Madrid. ___ 7: 35 p.m. The Champions League final is set to be viewed in more than 200 territories. UEFA estimates a global television audience of more than 160 million. ___ 7: 30 p.m. With 15 minutes to go before kickoff in the Champions League final, the players have cleared the field and the opening ceremony is about to begin. The players for Juventus and Real Madrid went back into the locker rooms as a giant tarp was pulled over the field by dozens of soldiers in uniform. ___ 7: 25 p.m. Real Madrid is practicing volleys akin to the one Zinedine Zidane scored for the team in the 2002 Champions League final. Zidane scored one of the greatest goals in the competition’s history when he volleyed in a shot against Bayer Leverkusen, giving Madrid its ninth European Cup. The players lined up inside the area as a coach sent in volleys to kick on goal. ___ 7: 15 p.m. As the „away“ team, Real Madrid will be wearing purple uniforms for the Champions League final. Juventus, which is technically the „home“ team, will be in its usual black-and-white striped shirts with white shorts. ___ 7: 05 p.m. Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the players on Real Madrid and Juventus are on the field warming up for the Champions League final. The players walked through the tunnel and onto the field to a huge roar from the thousands of Real Madrid and Juventus supporters already in the stadium with about 40 minutes to go before kickoff. Juventus came out first, followed by Madrid. ___ 7 p.m. Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas was one of the first players to run out on the field to warm up for the Champions League final against Juventus. Navas and backup Kiko Casilla did some light runs and stretches as coaches set up some balls in the area. ___ 6: 55 p.m. Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane will play with Francisco „Isco“ Alarcon instead of Gareth Bale in the starting lineup. Bale, who was born in Cardiff, was left out of the squad despite having fully recovered from injuries that had kept him sidelined for several months, including an ankle ailment that forced him to undergo surgery in November.
