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For the second time in Champions League history, two English clubs clashed in the showpiece event of Europe's biggest club competition, as Liverpool and Tottenham battled it out for continental glory.
Both sides had shown great tenacity and desire to get here, posting some impressive results in their respective journeys to the final, none moreso than in their semifinal clashes where they each came back from seemingly unsurmountable deficits to progress.
While the final might not have lived up to its pre-match expectation, Liverpool fans would not really care, as their side ran out 2-0 winners to make it six European Cups in total for them, while Spurs would have to wait longer for their first Champions League title.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting five reasons why Liverpool defeated Tottenham in the 2018/2019 Champions League final.
#5 Their big names failed to show up
Tottenham deserve immense praise for how far they have come in recent years, growing from top four hopefuls into Premier League and Champions League contenders.
The club infamously became the first Premier League side not to make a summer signing during the transfer window last year and they towed that line once more by failing to bring anyone in January.
Rather than towing the path of most other teams, their progress has rather been founded on a core of young players who have been together for the last few years, being molded into a compact and well drilled team.
Hitherto unknown players Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli have all been transformed into world beaters who can hold their own against the best in the world and on their day, Tottenham can fancy their chances against anyone.
The biggest games are where the biggest players take center stage, rising to the occasion to drag their team over the line, but in this regard, Tottenham's players went woefully missing.
Of all their star names, only Heung-Min Son can genuinely claim to have made an impact in the match, while Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli were nothing more than spectators, failing to offer any attacking impetus.
On the biggest night in Tottenham's history, the club needed its star players to show up, but this did not happen and was the major reason why Tottenham lost the match against Liverpool.
#4 Questionable tactics by Mauricio Pochettino
56 minutes into the Champions League quarterfinal first leg with Manchester City, Harry Kane came together with Fabian Delph and showed immediate signs of discomfort.
Totteham's worst fears were confirmed as their talisman limed off and scans showed he had suffered ankle damage with initial estimates ruling him out for the rest of the season.
The 25-year-old is a bonafide world class striker and his goals have been crucial to everything the North London outfit have achieved over the last few years, so it was understandable that there was genuine concern over how the club would cope without him.
That answer turned out to be "very well indeed", as Heung-Min Son proved to be the hero - scoring three goals across both legs in the last eight fixture with Manchester City to eliminate their more fancied Premier League rivals.
In the semifinal against Ajax, the Lily Whites were down and out, and facing elimination, having been three goals down on aggregate to Ajax before former PSG reject and Brazilian international Lucas Moura totally turned the tie on its head with a second half hat-trick to eliminate Ajax in their backyard in the most dramatic of circumstances and book his team's place in the final.
Few days to the showpiece event, reports emanated that Harry Kane was in line for a shock recovery, and in the week leading to the final, the World Cup Golden Boot winner had recovered fully and was training with the side.
A major question heading into the final was whether Harry Kane would be started in the match, seeing as he had been out of action for 53 days and the answer proved to be affirmative as Pochetino handed his number 10 a start at the expense of the man who got them there, while also starting Harry Winks who had been sidelined for the same time as Kane.
This decision backfired spectacularly, as both men failed to offer much to the match, as Harry Winks was hauled off after 66 minutes, with his replacement unsurprisingly injecting some bite into the Tottenham attack.
Prior to Lucas Moura's entrance with 24 minutes to go, Tottenham had failed to get a shot at Liverpool's goal. At full time, they had forced eight saves out of Alison and it is not rocket science that this came about due to the increased penetration Lucas Moura offered.
While Harry Kane huffed and puffed in vain, Lucas Moura's impact was almost immediate and one of the great 'what ifs' questions of this final would be what would have happened had Lucas Moura started in Harry Kane's place.
#3 Alisson stood tall when called upon
When Liverpool splashed a then world record fee to sign Brazilian international Alisson Becker from AS Roma, few could have begrudged them that luxury.
For many seasons, Koppites had seen their darling team lose points and trophies due to shambolic goalkeeping, with Loris Karius' show of shame in last season's Champions League decider against Real Madrid being the nadir.
In a poetic climax, Alison showed Karius what it means to be a top quality goalkeeper with his performance in the city which the German gifted last season's Champions League trophy.
While the 26-year-old was largely a spectator for the first half and most of the second, he was exceptional as usual when called upon.
The former Roma goalie faced his first shot on target in the 78th minute and he did well to parry Son's shot, before also saving spectacularly from a Christian Eriksen free kick among six other shots on target that he faced.
Just how much this meant to Liverpool's victory was evident in that at the blast of the full time whistle, all players of the newly crowned European champions ran to the 2018/2019 Premier League Golden Glove winner to praise him for his performance.
While at Roma, the Italian side's former Sporting director Monchi referred to Alisson as the 'Messi of goalkeepers' and the Brazilian showed that those words were not mere grandstanding with his displays against Tottenham.
#2 Contentious penalty decision against Sissoko
With Las Vegas Rock Band Imagine Dragons having belted out hits after hits for a wonderful performance at the opening ceremony of the 2018/2019 Champions League final, fans would understandably have barely switched back from the concert like feeling into the football atmosphere when the first major incident of the night occurred.
Less than 30 seconds into the match, Sadio Mane received a harmless ball at the edge of the 18 yard line and with no Liverpool player in any significantly threatening position in the box, the Senegalese international seemingly intentionally flicked the ball at Moussa Sissoko's outstretched hands.
Slovenian referee Damir Skomina wasted no time in pointing to the spot, with his decision drawing outrage from fans all over the world over the merit of the penalty.
Mo Salah expectedly converted the penalty and it was always going to be an uphill battle from then on for Tottenham to get back into the game and unfortunately for the Lily Whites, they were not quite able to recover from that early contentious blow.
#1 Liverpool maintained their tactical solidity
While Liverpool's vaunted attack might get much of the praise, it is pertinent to note that a key contributor to their success in the 2018/2019 season was their defensive solidity.
Having gotten a very early lead on the night, Liverpool players showed great professionalism in maintaining their compactness for the entirety of the match.
The Reds kept their defensive shape, controlling the game without really offering much threat in attack and dictating the tempo at which they wanted the match to go.
Their dominance in the first half was almost total, having almost 70% of the possession and having six corners to Tottenham's two, and two shots on target to their opponent's zero, but it was telling that their dominance did not really translate into attacking impetus (evidenced by their just three shots on target all match).
Rather, Liverpool's players kept their Tottenham counterparts at bay without having to break a sweat.
Having held off Tottenham for most of the game, Jurgen Klopp turned to his bench and brought on semifinal hero Divock Origi and the Belgian international kept with his good form by striking the killer goal in the 87th minute to effectively kill of Tottenham's hopes.
While we might be more attuned to a gung ho, no holds-barred style from Klopp's men, the severity of the occasion meant that they had to keep it compact and tight to achieve glory and this was a plan they followed to the letter at the expense of Tottenham.
