It certainly wasn’t a classic but Liverpool won’t care. Their UEFA Champions League final win over Tottenham Hotspur made them European champions for the sixth time.

The final was poor, oddly stunted, the three-week break after the end of the domestic season clearly having an effect. Its supposed benefit for Spurs - giving their injured players a chance to get close to fitness - arguably worked against them.

England manager Gareth Southgate is a smart man. He won’t have been surprised to see his captain, Harry Kane, off the pace on his return from injury.

Kane showed a bit of quality on the ball in Madrid but he wasn’t right. Mauricio Pochettino might be thinking for some time about his selection of Kane over semi-final hero Lucas Moura.

Southgate has Callum Wilson in his squad, fit and raring to go, and Kane’s place in the starting line-up when England face the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals on Thursday isn’t guaranteed.

Kane was joined in the Spurs side by Danny Rose and Dele Alli, and also by England omissions Harry Winks and Kieran Trippier. Eric Dier came on for Moussa Sissoko in the 74th minute.

The truth is none of them stood out for reasons good or bad, though a better final ball from Alli might have made a big difference and Winks’ substitution was criticised after a solid showing.

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold played well in victory, defensively sound for the most part - notwithstanding one occasion on which his positioning went awry - and his delivery with a moving ball was excellent. Set pieces, less so.

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Former England man James Milner played the last half hour, Joe Gomez just a few, but the moment belonged to Jordan Henderson, Liverpool’s captain, who was presented with the trophy that confirms his place in Reds history.

Their bench also featured Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rhian Brewster - champions of Europe.