Journalist Dan McDonnell joined Joe Molloy on The Football Show to discuss the Champions League final.
Real Madrid's route to the Champions League crown was historically good.
They beat the two best teams in England and the best team in France. A team that boasted Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. On paper, there should be no question that this Real Madrid team are the best in Europe and one of the best teams in the history of the sport.
Alas, the specifics of the squad, the age of the star players, and the nature in which Madrid won their games suggests they are closer to the 2005 Liverpool team that won the Champions League. A team that is remembered as special, but also cynically remembered as lucky.
Joe Molloy asked Dan McDonnell who the best team in Europe is on Tuesday night.
"If you take that point, then Man City should have won it then," McDonnell said.
"At the end of the Champions League final and you ask who is the best team in Europe, it's probably Man City I think really. They probably did a job on Madrid, they should have done a job completely and they won the league. But they weren't in [the Champions League final] so.
"Man City in the half an hour of extra time were probably paralyzed in the same way as Liverpool were."
With Manchester City adding Erling Haaland ahead of next season, they are the strong favourites for every competition they are in. Liverpool are set to lose Sadio Mane but will retain the majority of their stars to compete once again. Real Madrid are also adding new names with Antonio Rudiger already confirmed.
But ultimately those moves will impact next season. For the 2022 season, Real Madrid won the games and performed when they needed to.
It's not a mantle that should be taken away from them.
"Madrid in the end, they sort of probably deserved it. In the business end of the game they sort of came to the fore. But it's one that got away from Liverpool for sure. It will haunt them for a while. They haven't lost to a team that is going to be remembered as one of the greats.
"But they're great winners."
I could not believe the patience of Liverpool fans - Henry Winter
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