Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 to win Champions League

With a goal each, one scored in the first few minutes and the second scored just before extra time, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi secured their club’s sixth victory at a European cup, breaking the five-year reign of Spain at Europe’s most-coveted tournament.

For Tottenham Hotspurs, who were playing their first-ever Champions League final, disaster struck by just the 28^th second, when midfielder Moussa Sissoko obstructed a cross by Liverpool’s Moussa Sissoko. The referee called a penalty which Salah scored past Hugo Lorris with ease — the second-fastest goal in a Champion’s League final.

Ironically, the fastest-ever goal in a Champion’s League final was also in a match that Liverpool won — albeit scored by the team they played against. In 2005, A.C. Milan scored in the very first minute in a match that finally ended 3-3 with a Liverpool victory from a penalty-round.

For Jurgen Klopp and Mohamed Salah alike, the victory at Madrid proved a redemption from previous finals. Klopp broke a six-time losing streak at major finals while Salah redeemed himself from his first Champion’s League final, where he was taken off the field within 30 minutes of play due to an injury that saw him watch the rest of the match from a hospital bed.

Klopp told reporters after the match, “Obviously we want to challenge for every trophy if possible. We have the squad for it, but you've also seen it this year, you still have to do it, and hopefully we can challenge Manchester City again next season for the title, because I don't think they will go anywhere, so we won't go anywhere either.”

Making history in Europe

This marks Liverpool’s sixth victory in Europe. The Reds had three wins under what used to be known as the UEFA Europa Cup, in Rome in 1977 against Borussia Mönchengladbach, in London in 1978 against Club Brugge, and in Paris in 1981 against Real Madrid and again in Rome in 1984 against Roma. After the tournament was renamed to the Champions League in 1993, Liverpool have won just twice: Against A.C. Milan in Istanbul, 2005, and against the Spurs in Madrid on June 2, 2019.

Liverpool FC have been celebrating the win with the hashtags #ThisMeansMore and #SixTimes.

The 2018-19 season was one of Liverpool's best yet, with the team missing out on the top spot at the English Premier League by a single point — denying them a double victory.

The match took a bizarre turn in the 18^th minute when a model in a swimsuit invaded the pitch, briefly halting proceedings. Later identified as Kinsey Wolanski, she did so as a publicity stunt for the website Vitaly Uncensored, which is run by her boyfriend, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy.

Goal.com calculated that Liverpool’s winning from the League would be €110m (Rs 857 crore) including the amount earned from winning group stages and knockout rounds.