Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid, 2016 Champions League final: Live coverage and score updates

(Then he took his top off, because of course he took his top off, because why wouldn’t you take your top off if you were Cristiano Ronaldo and you’d just scored the winning penalty in the Champions League final? It would have been deeply disturbing if he hadn’t; it would have been a betrayal of the brand. He’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Goals and abs, abs and goals, nipples.)

Still, no team wins a European Cup by accident, and Real’s victory tells us interesting things about them and, perhaps, about the competition itself. The club first: this season has been, essentially, a total mess from start to finish. The club appointed the wrong manager, interfered in his team selections, then replaced him halfway through the season. The club’s transfer dealings left one goalkeeper in Manchester and another in tears. By the end of the campaign, the club’s most recent Galáctico, James Rodríguez, couldn’t even get on the pitch.

No surprise there, but what he said after the game was pretty funny.

“I had a vision,” Ronaldo said. “I knew that I would score the winning goal ... I told Zizou that and to let me take the fifth and that’s how it turned out.”

A dramatic and wonderful Champions League final finally had to come to and end, and it was Real Madrid celebrating a win on penalties over Atlético Madrid in the end. The San Siro bore witness to a delightfully well-played match, with everything you could ask for -- a scrappy goal, a gorgeous goal, fantastic play at both ends of the pitch, extra time and a huge penalty shootout capped off by Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the winner.

The tone was set early on with Real Madrid surging forward in attack, interchanging Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale freely while trying to knock a normally sturdy Atlético defense off balance. Diego Simeone’s men seemed to struggle to adapt to what was being thrown at them, giving Real more chances at goal early on than you would normally have expected to see.

Scoring a late goal to level a Champions League final is a dream of everyone who has ever touched a soccer ball, so you should be allowed to celebrate it however you like.

So, we’re pretty sure that’s his girlfriend, but I’m going to spend the rest of my life believing it was a random fan. It just makes the moment all that more magnificent.

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco came off the bench in the Champions League final to give his team a spark, and he’s done just that by scoring an equalizer.

He’ll regret not finishing off that chance, with this goal making it 1-1 late in the second half. If you can’t see the goal above and you’re in the UK, the UK version is here.

It’s almost time for the Champions League final, and both Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid have announced their starting lineups that will take the field at the San Siro in Milan. If the 22 players who will be out on the pitch are any indication, this is going to be an exciting match.

Real Madrid are going with a full-strength starting eleven, with Cristiano Ronaldo headlining the attack, the effective midfield trio Zinedine Zidane implemented, and the best four healthy defenders Real have available. Pepe is starting in place of the injured Raphael Varane, but he was frequently starting in the young Frenchman’s place late in the season, so that may have been Zidane’s choice anyway.

It’s finally, finally, time for the Champions League final. After a long, long season, full of incredible play, dramatic moments, huge upsets, and massive triumphs, it’s time to play one last match to crown the best team in Europe. Will it be Real Madrid, looking to win their eleventh Champions League title? Or will it be their crosstown rivals Atlético Madrid, ever the spoilers, looking to establish themselves as a legitimate power in Europe?

There are no guarantees on the outcome of this match, other than this: it’s going to be fought hard from first whistle to last, and there will be no way to predict the outcome. Sure, we can guess at things ahead of time one way or the other, but they’re just guesses. This match can easily go either way, and that’s only going to make it all the more exciting. Atlético Madrid took four points off Real Madrid in La Liga this season, but Los Merengues have gotten the better of their rivals in knockout competitions in recent years.

It’s once again time for the big one. Milan’s San Siro will play host to the biggest and best match domestic football has to offer: the Champions League final. For the second time in three seasons the game is a Madrilenian derby, with record 10-time winners Real Madrid facing off against their cross-town rivals Atlético, who have twice finished as runners-up but never won this tournament. It is certain to be a thoroughly exciting contest.

When they met in in the 2014 final in Lisbon, Real Madrid ran out 4-1 winners. But to say the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story would be an understatement. The game was an exceptionally close contest, with Atléti taking a first-half lead and holding it until the 93rd minute. Sergio Ramos’ equalizer took the wind out of their sails, and Real netted thrice in extra time to complete La Décima. You can bet Atléti will be fired up and out for revenge.

Real Madrid is a -140 betting favorite to lift the trophy at the end of this championship match at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Atletico Madrid would pay +115 on an outright win. On the three-way line, Real Madrid is a +140 favorite to win the game in regulation time over Atletico Madrid at +210 and a draw at +220.

The 4-1 final score that Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid by in 2014 is not telling of what type of game it was. Diego Godin gave Atletico the lead 36 minutes into the game, and the defensively stout club appeared to be on its way to its first ever UEFA Champions League title as the game went into injury time.

It’s that time again. When we find out which of die besten, les grandes équipes and the champions are the bestest, the grandest and the championest. But unless you have the fortune to be supporting either Atlético or Real Madrid, then presumably you, the neutral, are trapped in limbo. Who to hope triumphs? Who to hope has all their dreams crushed, live on television, broadcast to millions?

We at SB Nation Soccer are here to help. Simply think about what it is that you enjoy about football, consult our guide below, and then you’ll know whether to get your face painted in red-and-white-stripes, or to have NUMBER ELEVEN tattooed across your forehead.