Champions League final

It's all over! Spain's best ever performance in the top European competition came to an end with the victory of Real Madrid over Valencia in the final in Paris. This was Real Madrid's eighth European cup, taking them well clear of second placed Milan who only have five, with Liverpool and Ajax on four. Their victory earns them a place in next year's competition, with the league's fourth placed team Zaragoza being bumped out to make room for them. They will now have to make do with the UEFA cup. Valencia had already qualified for next season, but will have to play a qualifying round before the first league stage.

See European section for fixtures and results. Match report follows:

Real Madrid 3 - Valencia 0

Real Madrid: Casillas; Iván Helguera; Michel Salgado (Hierro 85'), Karanka, Iván Campo, Roberto Carlos; McManaman, Redondo, Raúl; Morientes (Savio 72'), Anelka (Sanchis 80'). 1-4-3-2.
Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Djukic, Pellegrino, Gerardo (Ilie 69'); Farinós, Gerard, Mendieta, Kily González; Angulo; Claudio 'Piojo' López. 4-4-1-1.

Goals:
1-0. 39. Morientes. Headed in Salgado's chipped cross from close range.
2-0. 67. McManaman. Scissors kick from edge of area after ball headed up.
3-0. 75. Raúl. Rounded keeper after 60 yard sprint from own half.

Valencia's incredible run in the Champions League finally came to an end after they were easily beaten by a more experienced Real Madrid side. Opinions were divided before the match kicked off, with bookmakers giving similar odds for both teams. Valencia had humiliated top clubs such as Lazio and Barcelona in earlier rounds and had been lauded as the best team in the competition, but Madrid had also been on good form recently, eliminating both of last year's finalists, Manchester United and Bayern Munich, in the last two rounds. They also needed to win to return the competition next season after finishing out of the top spots in fifth place in the Spanish league, whereas Valencia were already assured of a place after finishing third. Real Madrid's manager Vicente Del Bosque had been confirmed as manager for next season by president Lorenzo Sanz the day before the game, and he decided not to change a winning side, playing his 'trident' of three forwards, Anelka, Morientes and Raúl, the latter playing on the left behind the other two. Valencia were without their suspended left back Carboni, and after much soul-searching, manager Héctor Cúper finally opted to put midseason signing Gerardo in that position, even though he is normally a right sided player. Kily González passed a late fitness test, although he was clearly not 100%. The event seemed to get to the Valencia players in the end, with Mendieta, Gerard and Farinós not on their usual form in the centre of the field. Madrid on the other hand won this competition only two seasons ago, and they settled down early on and took control. On the quarter hour mark, Anelka forced Cañizares to save one handedly from his header, and the keeper was called upon fifteen minutes later to save from McManaman who half hit a shot through a crowd of players. Five minutes before half time Madrid got a free kick well outside of the area, and up stepped Roberto Carlos to try his luck. His shot was blocked by the defence, but the ball fell to Michel Salgado, who pushed it wide to Anelka. The French striker played it back to the full back, who held off Farinós to chip the ball across the goalmouth to Morientes for him to head past Cañizares. Redondo and McManaman were controlling the midfield, and the Englishman rounded off one of his best matches since joining the club with his team's second goal in the 67th minute, hitting the ball first time as it fell after the defence had only partially cleared. Cúper brought on an extra striker, 'Cobra' Adrian Ilie, for a Gerardo who had appeared out of his depth, and Del Bosque replaced Morientes with Savio, with Raúl moving forward to accompany Anelka. With Valencia throwing everything forward their defence was wide open, a dangerous thing to do with players like Raúl around, and the young star added to his growing reputation with a 60 yard dash from his own half with no-one in front of him to round his friend and Spanish teammate Cañizares and score the third. It was all over as Valencia fans burst into tears, their dream shattered at the final step. Del Bosque (who smiled for the first time in living memory after the third goal) showed his more humane side near the end, bringing on veterans Sanchis and Hierro for the last few minutes. With his entry Sanchis broke the record for European appearances, this being his 98th game in European competitions (although some sports papers reported that it was his 100th). The ex Spanish international went forward to collect his second cup in three years, also beating his father who lifted the trophy once for Real Madrid a generation ago. Spanish domination this year was absolute, and their fans also showed others how to behave, with not one violent incident being recorded during the whole event, a far cry from the disgusting scenes between British and Turkish fans in the UEFA cup final. And long may it last.