UEFA Champions League

The Champions League final is set. Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 on aggregate. We all knew Real madrid would win. We pretended that Atletico Madrid had a chance, that they could really do this, but we were fooling ourselves.

Real Madrid is Atleti's big, mean older brother who's smart enough to give the little guy a little hope before ripping his heart out.

This time, Real allowed two early goals to bring the aggregate score to 3-2, and then Karim Benzema danced down the end line past three Atletico Madrid defenders and Isco finished the play, ending Atleti's hopes.

Well, for the neutral fans out there it was fun while it lasted. After a high-octane first 30 minutes that included five yellow cards and two goals from Atleti, Karim Benzema and Real Madrid decided they had enough of delaying their spot in the UCL Final. Benzema did some magical dribbling (what are you doing Godin, Savic and Giménez?) on the endline that ended in a crucial away goal by Isco.

Isco 42'

With a spot in the Champions League final on the line you knew Atletico Madrid would not go silently into the night. A chaotic first five minutes included two big saves by Keylor Navas and Jan Oblak, and a yellow card on Stegan Savic. Being down three goals to none, many questioned if Atletico had the firepower to crack Real Madrid’s defense. But early on the Vicente Calderon stadium has ignited Diego Simeone’s team to an early two goal lead.

Saul 12’

Gigi Buffon is a legend. At 39 he sports a six-matche shutout streak in the Champions League, and he’s on the verge of returning to the UCL final for the third time. 

A Champions League title has eluded him to this point, but Buffon has won just about everything else:

UEFA Cup (Europa): 1999

Supercoppa Italiana (6 times)

Coppa Italia (2015 and 2016)

World Cup (2006)

Golden Foot Award (2016, only GK to win)

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (2003)

The semifinals of the Champions League returned to Monaco’s Stade Louis II for the first time since 2004, and the 18,000+ in attendance would’ve surely expected their side to add to the 16 home Champions League goals they’d already witnessed since the beginning of their campaign.

But a Juventus side that had only given up two goals in this competition, and none throughout the knockout rounds, proved to be an entirely different challenge for Monaco’s goal-crazy attackers.