2016 UEFA Champions League Final: REAL XI - It's Merengues' Time Again In Europe's Football Theatre But Colchoneros Rue Trampling - VIDEOs Highlights

The UEFA Champions League returns to Milano after 15 years and it's fashion time again / Picture: UEFA.tv

English PL referee Mark Clattenburg's team received
wide criticised for theirs decisions. /Picture: UEFA.tv

Details of Alicia Keys' opening ceremony medley and her entourage / Picture: UEFA.tv

All the Final's men line up before Kick Off / Picture: UEFA.tv

Majestic pitch entrance at the Giuseppe Meazza's S.Siro for the 2016 UEFA CL Final /Picture: UEFA.tv

Real Madrid and Spain captain Sergio Ramos lifting it for the Blancos' 11th time / Picture: UEFA.tv

Real Madrid players Casimiro e Ronaldo taking a back stage at the XIth Cup lifting moments / Picture: UEFA.tv

by Lucio MENIN

@luc_menin

MILANO, Italia. The stadio Giuseppe Meazza, aka the fabulous San Siro, renamed after the legendary pre war Italy and Internazionale FC forward who won two back to back World Cups, never looked so well dressed and in smooth light pink and blue hues in all its almost centenary life and so was for the visuals of any previous UEFA Champions League final opening ceremony.

It that was superb the same cannot be said for the choice of an American street style rap female singer for the opening ceremony act, which left a worldwide uninitiated football audience bamboozled by her show content and street warrior style of her urban guerrilla black dress code entourage, in a mixed subliminal message of promoting the sport's mission of 'Kicking Gender and Racism Out' but in a reflection of Milano's world leading fashion trends.

The multi platinum award winning, classically trained singer song writer Alicia Keys chose to perform a medley of her American hits and presumably, as part of the deal, a chance to showcase her new songs to the biggest audience in the world, the 'football family', as FIFA's Sepp Blatter put it. A move presumably again influenced by a global soft drink sponsor to link up the European event with the US audiences.

After her showcase Alicia Keys left the scene to Milanese football legends AC Milan Franco Baresi and Inter Milan FC Javier Zanetti to parade the holy grail of European club football, the much coveted Champions League cup, now accompanied by what looks like a cliché for major sports events to wheel out Opera singers in this case in the form of the classic and familiar lyrics of the ubiquitous tenor Andrea Bocelli.

MATCH REPORT

FT: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid (AET, 5-3 pens)

So here we are at the kick off of another Madrid's Euro derby. Yet again as I predicted it was to be the year of the 'Cholo' Simeone who himself felt this was to be the right venue - knowing himself the magic of the San Siro fans influence so near to the pitch, when he was for long time an Internazionale FC player.

His feeling after the 2014 Lisbon's Estadio do Luz heartbreak was for the 'Colchoneros' or the 'Mattress makers' so nicknamed because of the Red and White striped shirts (like the old mattresses used to look) to take a sweet revenge over the arch rivals Spanish capital football team, the King of Spain financed 'Blancos' also originally nicknamed 'the Merengues' for their immaculate all White outfits and bring home their first Champions League silverware ever.

It wasn't however to be a win again for the 'Atleti' of Madrid or as Diego Pablo Simeone aka 'El Cholo' declared immediately after the match 'the fate wanted it again' and he went on - expressing badly hidden resentment toward the referee's somehow leniency to rule in favour of the Blancos in as much as four pivotal circumstances before the game went to the penalties - with a sarcastic although pretentious statement of ''football isn't just; it isn't unjust either. It is marvellous!''

Even for BT Sport live commentator Sergio Ramos was 'slightly offside' at the moment Bale deflected for 'phase 2' Real goal. Picture: BT Sport

And here the above picture shows (courtesy of BT Sport) why he felt rueful and deluded about a sport that seems to punish the awarding for less privileged and less budgeted teams like Club Atletico de Madrid, whose sort of economical and essentially Spartan style of play and work rate ethics are now called after his coach 'Cholismo'.

So Diego Pablo Simeone entered his second Champions final in three years this time as favourite, having firstly deservedly knocked out the world's favourite FC Barcelona with their fab strikers MSN trio after an away game were they were blatantly penalized by a referee too eager to please another powerful team's European ambitions.

Then in the semi-final Simeone won his personal football philosophy battle with this year's UCL winner candidate Pep Guardiola, in his last year with Bayern Munich, who is now regarded as the leader of the 'Guardiolismo'.

'El Pep' football in effect represents the elite of esthetical football play, based on rapid, back and forward or sideway one-two first time touch passing called 'tiki-taka', a technique taken up from the warming up sessions, apt to bamboozle opponents whilst finding a way to bring the ball and the action up into the other end's depth throughout a 'free' man search to keep possession and careful of not taking long balls possession risk for a counter attack.

This underlining favourite role however must have dried out the 'Atleti' nervous reserves over the week that preceded the final. The 'Colchoneros' start was abysmal and they weren't in the game for the first 20' in which the 'Blancos' had few chances of scoring and they did it at 16' although it should have been ruled out for offside as Sergio Ramos was over the last defender when the ball kicked by Luka Modric (phase one) was flicked over the Atletico defence line by Gareth Bale header (phase two).

It was immediately clear it was an episode that needed an immediate reply examination but this didn't come neither on the inner media screens nor on the public TV stream but to expert eyes it looked doubtful. The assistant referee (pictured in the above frame) was in the right position and with the right view on the two offside phases.

It remains a mystery (the first of four) why he didn't flag it up. Surely as we said above if the purpose of the opening ceremony was to entice USA audiences to the fairness in 'Soccer', this incident wasn't the right example but more reason to speed up immediately the next season the use of 'Video Assistant Referee' or VAR consultation on the live game, as proposed at the March's IFAB meeting but at the moment being left with another year of 'trials'.

English Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg and his team of assistants were in charge for the final. Although starting the match on the right foot by taking sober decisions he later in the first half also missed out a blatant high arm shot in goal deflection by the same Sergio Ramos that would have deserved a penalty award for the Colchoneros and a possible caution for the Real Madrid captain.

In fact again the Real Madrid and Spain captain with a few minutes to go from the end of extra time made a reckless challenge just inside his own half on Atletico's goal scorer Yannick Carrasco who was running with ball in 3 v 1 situation in the Real Madrid half.

Clattenburg's decision to only penalise the DOGSO challenge with a caution may only please Blanco's fans like Fabio Capello who praised his officiating.

It technically remains a faux pas by the English referee and serious tarnishing for the Game itself and repeat of last year 2015 Berlin final penalties calls on Paul Pogba by Juventus.

VIDEO: Relive the UEFA Champions League Final opening ceremony

VIDEOs: Watch the HIGHLIGHTS of Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid - 2016 UCL Final in Milano - BT Sport

VIDEO: Watch the Moments Real Madrid lift for the XI time the UEFA Champions League trophy