Saturday’s Champions League final is unlikely to be an evening that Juventus will want to look back on with much pride after they were hammered 4-1 by Real Madrid.
The Italian side held their heads up high for a period but ultimately crumbled under the sheer weight of pressure from their opponents in the second half of the encounter. During the opening period, they had matched them and deserved to go in at the break level – not least because they scored one of the competition’s all-time great goals through.
Trailing 1-0, they pieced together a glorious move that ended with Mario Mandzukic taking the ball on his chest and firing a looping overhead kick into the net beyond Keylor Navas’ reach.
How does it rate in terms of other great goals in previous Champions League finals? Here’s our definitive list of the best five.
#5 David Villa (Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United, 28/5/2011)
Barcelona sealed the Champions League title in 2011 with a goal of the highest quality from David Villa. As was often the case for Pep Guardiola’s great side, it was Lionel Messi who was the detonator for the Blaugrana.
Fifteen minutes earlier, the Argentine had put his side 2-1 ahead after Wayne Rooney had equalised Pedro’s opener. Not only did he score what proved to be the winner, he was also the catalyst as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were finally killed off.
He gathered the ball on the right wing, frankly embarrassed Nani with some smart footwork then beat Patrice Evra as he broke into the box in trademark fashion. His cutback might not have been accurate, but his surge had been enough to destabilise the defence.
When Barca won possession back, David Villa was left unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. Sergio Busquets slipped the ball to him, and he took one touch before planting a shot into the top corner of the goal, well out of Edwin van der Sar’s reach.
#4 Lars Ricken (Dortmund 3-1 Juventus, 28/5/1997)
Borussia Dortmund went into the final of 1997 as rank outsiders to get the better of a powerful Juventus side that contained the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps and Alessandro Del Piero.
The Germans’ strength from set pieces allowed Karl-Heinz Riedle to fire them two goals to the good at the break, but a deft Del Piero backheel, in itself a stunning goal, brought Juve back into the game.
Ricken, however, would come off the bench to kill the game off instantly. Indeed, he had been on the field only 16 seconds when he raced onto a through pass from Andreas Moller to send a lob over the stranded Angelo Peruzzi and into the goal.
It remains perhaps the best first touch from a substitute in footballing history.
#3 Dejan Savicevic (AC Milan 4-0 Barcelona, 18/5/1994)
The Champions League final of 1994 was expected to be the crowning glory of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’, but instead they were decimated by a great Milan outfit. By the interval, the game was already heading in the direction of the Italians thanks to Daniele Massaro, who scored twice, but two minutes after the restart Savicevic sealed the victory.
He blocked a clearance near the right touchline, but there appeared to be nothing on when he gathered possession at an acute angle. With no-one in support, he took the only option that was open to him: to try a lob over Barca keeper Andoni Zubizarreta. It was a shot perfectly executed and arced delightfully over the shot-stopper into the far corner.
Savicevic’s moment of brilliance killed off any hopes of a revival from the Catalans and Marcel Desailly soon grabbed a stunning fourth.
#2 Mario Mandzukic (Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus, 3/6/2017)
Overhead kicks are always special, but they are doubly so when they come in the final of the Champions League. Mario Mandzukic has a moment to treasure from a match he will want to otherwise forget, as he brilliantly brought Juventus back on terms against Real Madrid in Cardiff.
Not only was the execution of his finish magnificent, it was aided by a fine build up, during which the ball did not touch the ground. A long diagonal pass picked out Alex Sandro on the left side, with the Brazilian lifting a first-time cross to Gonzalo Higuain, who in turn passed the ball off to Mandzukic.
From a seemingly impossible situation, the forward chested the ball into the air and pivoted so as to give himself the angle to fire a wonderful bicycle kick over Claudio Bravo and into the net.
Had it been the winner, it might have challenged for top spot, but it proved a mere footnote on a night that was otherwise Cristiano Ronaldo’s.
#1 Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen, 15/5/2002)
Now Real Madrid boss, Zinedine Zidane would have appreciated the artistry of Mandzukic’s goal on Saturday. Not only was he one of the outstanding players of his generation, he also scored what is perhaps the most memorable goal in the history of Champions League finals.
His moment arrived in the final minute of the first half of the 2002 showpiece, with the score locked at 1-1. Madrid left-back Roberto Carlos hared onto a pass down his wing but did not cross the ball with any grace. It looped up in the air to a seemingly impossible height, but Zidane found the space on the edge of the box to draw his left foot back, pivot his body and launch a stunning shot into the top corner.
It was the game’s winning goal and it was utterly breathtaking. And it was done with his ‘weaker’ foot. Unbelievable.
