Gareth Bale came off the bench for Real Madrid and handed the club their third consecutive UCL on Saturday. It was an odd night that must have allowed Cules little sleep if any at all.
We often criticise Real Madrid, yank their chain and mock Zinedine Zidane for not being the most tactical coach in the world--all fair criticism riddled with banter. However, the blame for this season’s UCL is entirely on Barcelona.
Every major European contender underperformed this year and the fact that Liverpool was in the final establishes the hypothesis.