Postcard from Cardiff and the Champions League Final

Macdara Ferris reports from Cardiff

 

It certainly was a different type of occasion to the last football match I’d attended in the same venue. A decade ago, I’d been in Cardiff to watch a Republic of Ireland side managed by caretaker boss Don Givens play out a dead rubber Euro 2008 qualifier against Wales. This time around I was there for a game, to use an FAI type stat, between two teams who between them had won 13 European Cups.

 

On the eve of the 2017 Champions League Final between Juventus and Real Madrid, when I arrived at the stadium - formerly known as the Millennium Stadium, then the Principality Stadium and for UEFA purposes last weekend the National Stadium of Wales - the roof was open. When I watched all three teams train out on the pitch - first the match officiating team, next Juventus and finally Real Madrid – the roof was closed to match the conditions for Saturday’s final.

 

The Welsh FA had taken the decision to have the roof closed “following discussions between all stakeholders . . . and taking into consideration the recommendations made by the authorities over the last few weeks”. This was a reflection on the heightened security risk in the UK which was sadly to become all too apparent in London just as the game in Cardiff concluded on Saturday night.

 

Security was very apparent in Cardiff all weekend, with heavily armed police visible and massive barriers for pedestrian protection noticeable at all entrances to the fan areas. The local police, and indeed Italian and Spanish police, were still happy to pose for photographs with travelling and local fans.

 



After his press-conference on Friday, when Zinedine Zidane came out the tunnel to go oversee his team train, he was greeted by several Madrista heroes who were in town to play in UEFA’s ‘Ultimate Champions’ legends match. Zidane had a warm embrace for Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Christian Karembeu, Clarence Seedorf, Pedrag Mijatovic and Raul.

 

The city centre in Cardiff was a pedestrianised zone for the weekend, with the main football fan festivities taking place in Cardiff Bay. On Saturday morning I joined the throngs of supporters on the 25-minute walk to the ‘UEFA Champions Festival’ where fans of both clubs and locals from Cardiff enjoyed the usual Champions League Final fan zone sights.

 

 

 

There were giant Adidas sponsored footballs to be photographed beside, giant Champions League inflatable trophies to be photographed in front of and novelty picture frames to hold up and be photographed between – oh and there were life sized team photos of both Real and Juve with slots to put your own face into. Your extratime.ie reporter may have taken up some or all of these photo opportunities!

 

In Cardiff’s Millennium Centre, adjacent to the Welsh Assembly, there was the Champions Gallery - an excellent in-depth photography exhibition with images from each of the European Cup finals down the years – plus a display of signed jerseys from each of the 32 teams that competed in group stages of this season’s competition.

 

Of course it wouldn’t be a UEFA Champions Festival without Gaizka Mendieta playing a DJ set. The Cardiff Bay backdrop wasn’t quite as stunning as being on the decks in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo in 2016 but he looked to be enjoying himself all the same!

 

The media operation for the game was massive. 1,800 staff from host broadcaster BT Sport and other Champions League broadcasters – including RTÉ who had an excellent commentary position just one away from BT. There were 570 members of the written press and my pass gave me a seat in the second last row of the press box. When my teamsheet reached me, there were no major surprises – although I did notice that the UEFA delegate was Irishman Dennis Cruise.

 

 

 

We had Black Eyed Peas out on the pitch for the opening ceremony ahead of kick off - you can watch it back in full here if you really want to! There was no appearance of Fergie beforehand but we did see a different Fergie in the post-match press conference (more of that later).

 

“Let's get this started” was what we were thinking as they were still performing as the match kick off approached. The on pitch pyro left smoke hanging in the air under the closed roof but there was no way the referee was going to delay things any more – especially as referee Felix Brych was in charge, he was the ref when Robbie Brady scored out of the gloom in Bosnia in Ireland’s Euro 2016 away play-off.

 

Juventus took the game to Real Madrid from the off but against the run of play the Spanish champions went ahead through Ronaldo on 20 minutes as he became the first player to score in three Champions League finals. Cheering in the pressbox doesn’t usually occur but the equalising goal from the Bianconeri was just so stunning that there was a collective yelp when Mario Mandzukic’s overhead kick found the back of the net.

 

Real’s performance in the second half in the post-match press conference was described by Zinedine Zidane as “spectacular”, with Cristiano Ronaldo saying his team “were very impressive. I think it's the best second half we've had this season.”

 

Real simply overran a Juventus side who showed a brittleness in defence that they hadn’t shown all season. Isco, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric pulled the strings in midfield. Three goals came through Casemiro, Ronaldo and 21-year-old Marco Asensio. Ronaldo’s second goal made him top scorer in the Champions League for an incredible fifth straight season.

 

Gareth Bale’s face may have been plastered on a 40m high banner on the Stadium House highrise building which looms above the stadium itself but his ankle injury – plus Isco’s superb recent form for Real – saw the Welshman only make a 13-minute cameo off the bench en-route to winning his third Champions League medal.

 

The trophy presentation was down on the pitch as UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin described the pitch as “the player’s stage and it is only fitting that their achievements are celebrated there.” Sergio Ramos was handed the trophy before moving amongst his teammates to become the first captain to lift the Champions League trophy in back-to-back finals. Afterwards there was the usual unseemly scrum on the pitch and I’m not talking about the on-pitch photographers but the players’ kids milling around!

 

Max Allegri began his press conference by sending best wishes to the fans in Turin who had been injured, three of them seriously, after firecrackers had caused panic in Piazza San Carlo at a public viewing of the game. Meanwhile a more tragic story was unfolding in Britain. Beside me at the press conference, just before Allegri came in was a South African journalist on the phone talking to his newsdesk about returning to London to cover the latest terror attack.

 

The post-match press conference took place in a marquee just outside the stadium. It meant Alex Ferguson was handing Ronaldo a UEFA man of the match trophy in a tent in a Cardiff carpark for the second time in three years (to go with his Super Cup one from 2014)! After, Ronaldo a beaming Zidane spoke about his team’s “spectacular year. You couldn't dream of anything better (see here).”

 

 

 

It was after 1am by the time I headed out of the press room. The usual exit would be to walk half way around the stadium through the tunnel lined with photos of past performers in this venue - such as recent Welsh Six Nations Champions, Leinster’s Brian O’Driscoll and even Take That. However, out on the pitch there are plenty of people milling around and taking photographs. So I exit the stadium by taking a short cut, strolling across the playing surface where Real Madrid had won their 12th European Cup just a few short hours before.

    About Macdara Ferris

    Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile