WATCH: Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in Champions League final to win their sixth European Cup

• Scroll down for match highlights, reaction and stats
• Player ratings & talking points
• Liverpool's route to Madrid glory
• Liverpool's six European Cups

Match report

Liverpool won their sixth European Cup after defeating Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League final on Saturday night.

Thousands descended on Madrid for a legacy-defining encounter at the end of a scarcely-believable continental campaign, with both Premier League sides narrowly making it through the group stage and then completing jaw-dropping semi-final wins.

But only one could emerge triumphant at the Wanda Metropolitano and it was Liverpool who persevered in a hard-fought clash as a controversial early penalty from Mo Salah and a late second from Divock Origi helped Jurgen Klopp end his finals hoodoo by securing his first trophy with the Reds at the end of his fourth season at Anfield.

The German boss had lost his last six finals as a manager, including three with Liverpool, but 12 months on from their defeat to Real Madrid they edged past Spurs in the second ever all-English Champions League final.

This triumph, which sees them make the most of their heroic comeback against Barcelona in the semi-finals, also helped the Reds overcame the pain of missing out on their first Premier League title three weeks ago despite a stunning haul of 97 points.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino will be frustrated his side were not able to produce more, although Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was in fine form to deny Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Christian Eriksen in the second half while Virgil van Dijk weighed in with a man-of-the-match performance at the back.

Moura came off the bench to replace the ineffective returning star Harry Kane, who had just 11 touches in the first half and although he made a positive impact, there would be no repeat of his hat-trick heroics against Ajax.

Tottenham may well continue to debate the moment referee Damir Skomina pointed to the spot after just 22 seconds, having adjudged Moussa Sissoko to have handled Sadio Mane's clipped cross in the box. VAR did not reverse the decision and Mo Salah kept his cool to open the scoring.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson also went close in the first half while James Milner's low shot after the break went wide, but there was no debating Origi's cup sealing effort late on.

Match Highlights

Moussa Sissoko gives away a controversial penalty in the first minute...

Mo Salah keeps his cool from the penalty spot

Pundits debate whether the penalty should have stood

Liverpool fans celebrate the opening goal back home

Divock Origi seals the final with a late second

Alberto Moreno's tribute

Liverpool lift the European Cup for the sixth time

Liverpool players give Klopp a celebratory carry

An incredible moment between the players, staff and supporters

Match reaction

Click here for more reaction from players and pundits

Jurgen Klopp told BT Sport: "I'm so happy for the boys. I'm so happy for all these people, I'm so happy for my family, they suffer every year when we go to the final last game of the season and we lose it.

"Did you ever see a team like this? Fighting with absolutely no fuel in the tank any more.

"We have a goalkeeper that makes difficult things look easy, very nice thank you very much. This is unbelievable, what a night, the night will be much better now.

"It's really the best night of my life professional-wise."

Mauricio Pochettino speaking to BT Sport - giving no clues about his future...

"When you live this experience you want it again. You want to repeat. It's the best situation in the best game in the world after the World Cup. I hope we can repeat in the future."

Asked if he would be staying at Spurs, he said: "Always it's about trying, about believing, about ensuring it can happen again as soon as possible."

Opta Stats

• Liverpool have won their sixth Champions League/European Cup trophy – twice as many as any other English team has won (Man Utd, 3).
• Jurgen Klopp is the fourth Liverpool manager to win the Champions League/European Cup, after Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Rafa Benitez.
• Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp is the fifth German manager to win the Champions League/European Cup, after Dettmar Cramer, Jupp Heynckes, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Udo Lattek but he’s only the second German to win the trophy with a non-German side (also Jupp Heynckes with Real Madrid).
• Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ended a run of six consecutive unsuccessful finals in major competitions, since winning the DFB-Pokal with Borussia Dortmund in 2012.
• Mauricio Pochettino has lost both of his major finals as Tottenham Hotspur manager, also losing the League Cup final versus Chelsea in 2015.
• Tottenham Hotspur appeared in their first ever European Cup/Champions League final, becoming the eighth different English side to do so. Indeed, the last six first-time finalists have ended up on the losing side (Spurs 2019, Chelsea 2008, Arsenal 2006, Monaco 2004, Bayer Leverkusen 2002 and Valencia 2000).
• Liverpool have beaten Spurs three times in a single season for only the second time in their history, and the first since the 1985-86 campaign (4 times).
• Liverpool (35.4%) have become the first side to win the Champions League final despite having less possession than the opposition since Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in 2010; a final which was also played in Madrid.
• This was the first ever Champions League final without a single card shown.
• Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah became the fifth different African player to score in a Champions League/European Cup final, after Rabah Madjer, Samuel Eto'o, Didier Drogba and Sadio Mane.
• Mohamed Salah’s opener for Liverpool was the second fastest goal in a Champions League final, only behind Paolo Maldini (00:50) for AC Milan versus Liverpool in 2005.
• Liverpool’s Divock Origi became only the second Belgium player to score in a Champions League/European Cup final after Yannick Carrasco for Atletico vs Real Madrid in 2016; Origi has scored with all three of his shots in the CL this season.
• Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (20y 237d) became the first ever player aged under-21 to start in consecutive Champions League finals.

Follow Sporting Life on social media - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLifeFC

Related football links

• Sky Bet's transfer window specials
• Sporting Life's betting tips
• Latest football fixtures
• Football results
• Latest Paper Talk