Opinion: Was this really a Champions League final?

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool won their sixth Champions League in Madrid in a game that was marked by a debatable penalty given before 30 seconds were out. It was a final without football, between two physically colossal sides but who seemed to forget about the ball until the last 15 minutes when the game was broken and the title was a coin in the air.

If Liverpool ended up winning it was because they had a great goalkeeper in Alisson Becker, but for the fans there was little exciting - despite the formidable speed of Mane, the personality of Kane and the brutal security of Van Dijk.

The Champions League was watched by 500 million around the world, the Wanda was majestic, the opening ceremony spectacular and the images of fans invading Madrid gave goosebumps.

But it did not deliver, with a grey spectacle with the only thing extraordinary was the physicality of both teams, sluggish on the ball but ferocious in their pressing and recuperation. We saw 22 athletes perfectly guided by their coaches but little of the talent and creativity that makes football the most universal sport.

There will be a lot written about Liverpool these days, an admirable club who have won the most Champions Leagues behind Real Madrid (13) and Milan (7), leaving Barca and Bayer behind on 5. They will write a lot about Klopp too, his fun personality and enviable energy. But nobody will remember the game, because there is nothing to remember. When it finished we had to ask ourselves if we had really seen a Champions League final.