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Football Language Podcast: From the Archive a€“ 2018 Champions League Final – The Good, the Bad , and the Ugly: We continue our run up to the Champions League final with another post from our archive. This time from 2018 and the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Football Language Podcast: From the Archive – 2018 Champions League Final – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Introduction
DB: Welcome to languagecaster.com and our look back at the Champions League finals in past years. My name’s Damon, and thanks for dropping in and listening to our series of archive posts in the build up to the Champions League final of 2019. This post from our Champions League final archive is a bit painful for me. Maybe that’s why it was only Damian that recorded the podcast. My team, Liverpool, lost the final against Real Madrid, and I must admit it took a while for me to recover. Anyway, here is Damian looking over the game and picking out what was good, bad, and ugly!
2018 Champions League Final: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Introduction
DF: Hello everyone, my name is Damian and I am here in a very sunny London the day after the 2018 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in which Madrid won their 13th title – that’s six ahead of the second most successful side in European Cup/Champions League history, thata€™s AC Milan. Madrid won 3-1 in a pulsating game – a really exciting match – which had a little bit of everything: goals, howlers, tears and controversies. So, in this audio report, I am going to review some of the good, the bad and the ugly from the 2018 Champions League final.A If you’d like the transcript to this report – great for learners and teachers of English – please show your support by becoming a patron (through Patreon) and if you have questions or comments, then you can email us at: admin@languagecaster.com (Damian=DF).
Good
As we have already mentioned, Real Madrid have now won 13 European Cup/Champions League titles in total and have also won three titles in a row, three consecutive years. They are the first side to win a triple since Bayern Munich did it between 1974 and 1976; indeed they’ve won four out of the last five titles. Their manager, Zinedine Zidane, has been in charge for all three of those Champions League wins and is the first manager to win three titles in a row and is now ranked as the most successful Champions League manager along with Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti, for AC Milan and Real Madrid, with those three wins.
It was also a good, no great, night for Gareth Bale who came off the bench to score one of the best ever goals in a Champions League final to put Madrid 2-1 up in the 64th minute. The Welsh superstar’s overhead kick flew into the top corner (or the top bin) giving the keeper no chance at all only 120 seconds after coming onto the pitch. He then rounded off the night with another strike – from nearly 40 yards – to win the man-of-the-match award and seal the 3-1 win for Los Blancos with his brace.
Bad
It was not a good night at all for Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius who was at fault for two of the three Madrid goals. His howler in the 51st minute, when his lack of concentration when throwing the ball out, allowed Karim Benzema to open the scoring for Real Madrid. This lack of concentration returned in the 83rd minute when the German keeper let the ball slip through his hands from Gareth Bale’s long-range effort. Yes, the ball moved in the air but this was a regulation save and this mistake, or gaffe, ended the game for Liverpool. A bad night for the Liverpool keeper.
Ugly
There were so many incidents in this action-packed game that it might be easy to forget that there was a pitch invader – someone who ran onto the field – in injury time when Real’s Ronaldo was about to shoot. He was stopped by stewards but this was poor from the security at the stadium and could have been a very ugly moment.
Most fans and pundits would agree that Mo Salah’s injury in the 30th minute was a turning point in the game after the Egyptian striker fell and damaged his shoulder following a tackle from Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos. It appeared that Ramos held on to Salah’s arm for too long which may have been a factor in the injury. The Spanish defender did not further endear himself to Liverpool fans as he also hit the Liverpool keeper Karius with his elbow in an off-the-ball incident and theatrically went down after a tackle from Liverpool striker Mane that earned the Senegalese player a yellow card. Ramos is a winner but at times his on-the-field performances overstep the mark. Pretty ugly.
You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Urdu)
DB: I remember the match well. I was watching in a bar, Once, in Tokyo with equal Real Madrid and Liverpool supporters, and I believed we could overcome the set back of that first goal – Karius’ howler. Mane scored and things looked much better, but Salah’s injury really took the steam out, deflated, Liverpool, and then there was Bale’s goal. A real moment of class. Ouch! It still hurts.
Thanks for listening and we’ll be back with more posts as the 2019 final approaches!
