Two-goal Ronaldo keeps Madrid kings of Europe

On Saturday he made the difference yet again with two goals to help Real Madrid secure a third Champions League title in four years as they crushed Juventus 4-1 in a riveting final.

It was an unbelievable weekend for Real Madrid as, after being FC Barcelona to the La Liga title, Los Blancos became the first club in the history of the Champions League to retain the trophy.

But Juventus had started brightly and they were level seven minutes later thanks to a stunning overhead volley from Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic.

They put more goals past Juventus in 90 minutes than the Italian champions had conceded in their previous 12 Champions League games.

After substitute Juan Cuadrado was sent off, Marco Asensio rubbed salt into Juve’s wounds as they fell to their fifth successive defeat in a Champions League final. “I say it every year but it’s true!”

“It’s been a spectacular year, I couldn’t dream for better”.

“The players have entered into the legend of Real Madrid and of football, as has our coach”, said club president Florentino Perez.

After another potent demonstration of Cristiano Ronaldo’s enduring scoring prowess, surely no Real Madrid fan can contemplate criticizing him now.

A smiling Zidane speaking to the press afterwards unsurprisingly described himself as “extremely happy” as he became the first manager to coach a team to back-to-back Champions League titles – and the first Real Madrid manager to do the European and domestic double in 59 years.

“It is hard to say (how long), but we need to enjoy what we are doing and we will see”.

“I don’t see why we can’t be in that company”.

Zidane opted to leave Gareth Bale out of the starting lineup even though the Cardiff native was fully recovered from his injuries.

“The squad has been great and it’s been good for me individually, too”. “My only criticism of my team is that after the second goal we should have found a solution to stay in the game”, he said. “We are very confident and the plan is to win more”.

“The most important (thing) is that I again had an wonderful season, me and my team-mates have done the double”.

Veteran Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon’s hopes of becoming the oldest player to win the trophy were crushed by a ruthless Madrid side and his chances of adding a Champions League winners’ medal to his collection of silverware now look slim. We won Serie A and the Coppa Italia and reached the Champions League final.