Real Madrid vs Liverpool - LIVE: Champions League final reaction and Mohamed Salah injury latest
Follow latest reaction from Liverpool 1-3 Real Madrid in Kiev after Salah was forced off with a shoulder injury in the first half
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Real Madrid have beaten Liverpool FC to claim the Champions League title and lift the European Cup for a third year in a row.
Madrid's victory makes it a record 13 overall and denies Liverpool a sixth crown in their first final since 2007 after last winning it in the memorable 2005 final.
Cristiano Ronaldo was fit and firing but his battle with Mohamed Salah was cut short after the Egyptian was forced off with a shoulder injury in the first half.
Here's how it all played out in Kiev:
What time is it?
The game will kick off in Kiev at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium at 7.45pm BST on Saturday 26 May.
Where can I watch it?
The final will be shown live on BT Sport 2 from 7pm BST and also available to watch for free on YouTube. Alternatively, you can follow The Independent’s live coverage above.
Fans are beginning to gather in the streets of Kiev.
The atmosphere is building with everyone itching for the game to arrive.
What a game it promises to be.
Loris Karius is ready - or at least his social media manager is...
Meanwhile, the press are getting into the swing of things in the Ukrainian sunshine.
They played against the assembled media from the host country earlier this morning, with a few international ringers thrown in.
Liverpool will be hoping it's not an omen for tonight. They lost 7-2.
Georginio Wijnaldum believes that victory for Liverpool in tonight's Champions League final could act as a platform to challenge Premier League champions Manchester City next season, though warns there are no guarantees of success in football.
Liverpool hope to beat Real Madrid at Kiev's NSC Olympiskiy and lift the European Cup for the sixth time in the club's history this weekend, having progressed all the way through the competition from the play-off round.
Jurgen Klopp's side memorably defeated Pep Guardiola's City 5-1 on aggregate in last month's quarter-finals, but finished 25 points behind the champions in the end-of-season Premier League table.
Wijnaldum believes Liverpool's target next season should be to challenge City domestically as well as bettering them in Europe, and he believes success on Saturday could give them much-needed momentum into the new campaign.
The final preparations are being made inside the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium.
Kick-off now only four hours away.
Nervous yet, Liverpool fans?
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has some big decisions to make about who to pick in Kiev, with Gareth Bale, Lucas Vázquez and Isco all in contention to start alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
However, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has a settled starting XI and far less of a tactical headache. The Reds have only one gear – full throttle – and he knows that his best chance of a world famous victory will be through outscoring their illustrious opponents.
He could yet spring a surprise in the middle of the park, while an untimely injury may well force his hand. But The Independent understands Klopp is already settled on his Champions League XI.
Sadio Mane has revealed he keeps in close contact with incoming Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita and that the Guinean sent a congratulatory text message to him when they qualified for the Champions League final.
Keita will join the Reds in July having been chased by Jurgen Klopp for almost the entirety of last summer before Liverpool and RB Leipzig came to an agreement that he would sign for £60m the following summer.
Mane and Keita are good friends and the Senegal forward believes the highly-rated 23-year-old will be a huge hit at Anfield.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has admitted he may have to adapt his laid-back style to suit the level of the occasion ahead of the Champions League final against Real Madrid.
The world's most expensive defender has brought a calmness and composure to the Reds' back four since arriving for £75m from Southampton in January.
Van Dijk has previously stated he does not suffer from nerves but accepted that approach almost cost him in their quarter-final second leg against Manchester City when they conceded a goal inside two minutes.
He has learned from that and hopes not to make the same mistake against Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kiev.
"To be calm, that is sometimes a very good thing to have, but personally sometimes I have to learn, too," he said.
"Against Manchester City in the away game I was a little bit too calm in the beginning for example. That is something I have to learn as well.
"The most important thing is we as players have to enjoy every bit of this. When the whistle goes that is a different story, but when we arrive in Kiev, when we see all the Liverpool fans, when we go on the pitch for the warm up, we have to enjoy it and make yourself ready.
"Other players maybe need to be tense, for myself I like to look around, embrace it and then when we are in the tunnel - full focus."
Van Dijk's influence on the side since arriving at the turn of the year has been noticeable, a commanding figure who takes charge of organisation.
His role will be key in keeping Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema quiet at the weekend but he insists he was not bought just to help win the big games.
"People are trying to put pressure on me?" he said, laughing. "Any player who arrived at this club they want to play in these games, they want to be under this kind of pressure, they want to get trophies. That is basically the situation.
"I don't think I have been bought to win the Champions League final. I have been bought to hopefully get the best out of myself and the best out of the team with the help of everyone else.
"To be in the final right now - it has been a crazy journey. We are there, 90 minutes from the trophy and now we need to give everything we have."
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