Ronaldo departs Real Madrid as a hero they didn’t deserve

Cristiano Ronaldo now has three Champions League winners medals. There is almost no doubt that he specified that he took the penalty that would be decisive. Had that been the third penalty, then you would imagine that he would have been accommodated and moved up the list. Because of the largely exceptional quality of the penalties up until his, he was afforded the final kick of the game. It hadn’t been, though, a performance of exceptional quality from Ronaldo until that point. It hadn’t been from his team-mates, nor had it been from the Atletico team. There was too much at risk and the teams were too evenly balanced for one team to give an inch to the other, and as such talent wasn’t given much room for expression over the course of two hours. And yet, as Ronaldo often does, despite not playing especially prominently, he was still the vital presence, the man to make the difference when it mattered.

When Ronaldo leaves in the summer, and he almost certainly will, he leaves with just one Spanish league title after so many in England, but with two Champions League medals, making it three overall. Unless something special happens to Manchester United or Paris Saint-Germain, he will probably not win another. It doesn’t matter. He has achieved a ridiculous amount with a ridiculous work ethic, all while being blighted by the ridiculous nature of Real Madrid. No other club has so much power and ambition and spoils it with executive ego. Ronaldo is still able to overcome that to be the best player in the world, but it is a shame he has to.

Fernando Torres’ tears stem from overuse at Liverpool

Torres has his Champions League title already, won with Chelsea, but he had earlier talked of this game being the biggest of his life. It was the chance to win the most important trophy in the world with his childhood side, one that had revitalised his career after years of decline. In second half of the season, his resurgence had been so strong that there was support for his inclusion in the Euro 2016 squad for Spain, albeit one based mainly in sentiment. However, Torres failed to take a penalty for Atletico, and it was Juanfran, a defender, who missed the crucial spot-kick. It’s not Torres’ job to be perfect, but his absence when cool finishing was needed, sums up how he has struggled since Rafael Benitez ran him into the ground at Liverpool.

Carrasco hints that Atletico have further room for improvement

Yannick Carrasco played well for Monaco in his time there, and Atletico Madrid were wise to take advantage of their economic realignment, and pluck him from the French(ish) club for a very reasonable 20 million euros. Should Antoine Griezmann depart in the summer, then he will probably be an able and ultimately profitable replacement.

It is bizarre to consider just how many players that Atletico have bought, developed under Diego Simeone, sold and then replaced. In many cases, the new blood has often proved to be an improvement on the previous occupant of the shirt. This summer, more players will leave Atletico, and younger versions will come in. In most other instances, this would be a reason to worry for the club. Only at Atletico does it currently seem like it could be an exciting opportunity. Being able to afford the very best players in the world is obviously the position everyone would like to occupy, but few others can match Atletico for their ability to offer an exciting future to the best young talent in the world.

Pepe’s risible behaviour is nowhere near as damaging as his incompetence

Pepe got away with it with the penalty missed by Griezmann. However, despite being 33, it seems like he is yet to learn how to fully engage his brain. He is cynical and dirty, both of which are excellent things to have in any position on pitch, but especially handy in central defence. He ruined that when he embarrassed himself late in the second half when he rolled about on the floor so much that notorious non-hardman Owen Hargreaves complained about his gutlessness.

He could have been sent off at a crucial time by flailing a leg out, and then threw himself around after a hand brushed his face. But worst that that, he witlessly piled into the back of Fernando Torres as the striker gamely but obviously tried to spin him in the box. Either stand off the defender, or stay tight and make sure you don’t make a mistake. Pepe is a player who has stayed a perplexingly long time at Real Madrid, and for all his good points, it is hard to see how they will ultimately improve without his destructive behaviour.

The weird obsession with crying children shoud not be embraced

Thank God for the camera crew at the San Siro and their near relentless obsession with finding pictures of young people crying. Once or twice, after a match, and it might have been acceptable. It would be crass and a touch on the nose, but this is football and television, and they are both crass, on -the-nose things. It is standard to watch a young child bawl into a scarf while his or her dad looks sheepish, wondering if he’s allowed to have a cry too. But for the Champions League final, it seems an arms race has started, as the camera crews found several crying children throughout the match, crying in despair or relief, followed by a lachrymose explosion in the aftermath of penalties. Not to be outdone, we now look forward to the Premier League and Ed Woodward boasting of just how many litres of children’s tears they produce per match, and how that compares to the lacklustre international competition.