2018 UEFA Champions League final
The 2018 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine on 26 May 2018, between Spanish side and defending champions Real Madrid, who had won the competition in each of the previous two seasons, and English side Liverpool, making their eighth final appearance and first since 2007. The two sides had previously met in the 1981 final.
Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2017–18 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Date | 26 May 2018 | ||||||
| Venue | NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) | ||||||
| Referee | Milorad Mažić (Serbia) | ||||||
| Attendance | 61,561 | ||||||
| Weather | Sunny 20 °C (68 °F) 37% humidity | ||||||
After Liverpool's Sadio Mané cancelled out Karim Benzema's opener for Real Madrid, two goals from man of the match Gareth Bale proved the difference in a 3–1 win for the Spaniards, making them the first team to win three back-to-back titles in Champions League era and the first since Bayern Munich defeated Saint-Étienne in the 1976 European Cup final; it was additionally their fourth title in five seasons and their 13th European Cup overall. They also earned the right to play the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Atlético Madrid, in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup and to enter the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, losing the former and winning the latter. Additionally, Real Madrid qualified to enter the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, but since they already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved was given to the champions of the 2017–18 Czech First League, the 11th-ranked association according to next season's access list.