It was all rather ironic - for a side that produced so many swashbuckling performances over the past nine months, their Champions League-winning performance fell well below expectations. Not that it matters - old Big Ears is still heading to Liverpool.
In the ecstasy following the final whistle in Madrid, Andy Robertson reflected on his side's below-par performance. Perhaps the side had learned from their past experiences where they've played exceptionally well and yet fallen short.
In an interview with BT Sport, the Liverpool left-back acknowledged as much,
In a strange way we probably played better against Madrid last season and we ended up on the losing side. When we scored early we were comfortable that we were controlling everything. Tottenham really had many massive chances, but we believe we can keep clean sheets. So when we got the lead I think we all believed.
When we took the lead, for the rest of the first half we were hopeless, to be honest. But we got it together in the second half and the big cup is all that matters.
Standing alongside Robertson soaking up the atmosphere was James Milner, a player who can finally add a Champions League title to the League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League titles he has already won.
''We had to dig in''
James Milner and Andy Robertson were ecstatic after digging in to win Liverpool's 6th European Cup.#LFC #6Times #YNWA
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/6GFJMNmRGx— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) June 1, 2019
But, already, the 33-year-old is looking ahead to winning more trophies under Jurgen Klopp in the coming years.
He said:
[Liverpool has] got such amazing history as a club but we want to create our own history and we've done that and hopefully this is the start of a few more trophies to come - the first one is always the hardest. It's not a bad first one to get together. Hopefully we can push on now and keep going.
Tonight's win was Liverpool's sixth Champions League title, which makes them the third most successful club in the history of the competition behind only Real Madrid and AC Milan. It's also Liverpool's first major trophy since Jurgen Klopp arrived at Anfield in 2015.
