For the 11th time in its history Real Madrid won the Champions League final.

Rivals Atletico Madrid, despite being the better side for most of the game, choked when it counted most getting burned in the penalty shootout.

But that said, Atletico's path to victory was shut down tremendously with the team surprisingly losing the edge in a number of ways against rivals that it had owned throughout the last two years. Here are reasons why Real Madrid ultimately managed to win it all.

Aerial prowess

Atletico is the better team in the air and had a lot of opportunities to expose Madrid's defensive weakness from the set piece. Atletico got six corner kicks to capitalize on and got only one attempt on goal from it.

Overall however, Real Madrid's single goal in regulation was the result of winning the aerial battle with a free kick skipping off of Gareth Bale's head and then taking a redirection off Sergio Ramos past Jan Oblak. The result of the night saw Real Madrid cruising in the air, winning 28 of 43 aerial duels.

Real's defense deserves a lot of credit for handling Atletico's aerial attackers quite well.

Shutting down the counter

Atletico is best when it can counter attack against the opposition. And yet for most of the match, Los Blancos let their rivals play a possession game that really never suit Diego Simeone's team. Despite possessing the ball 52 percent of the time, Real Madrid not only had more attempts overall (25-17) but also more shots on target (8-4) over the entire 120 minutes. Moreover, Atletico saw 11 attempts blocked and never really had the space to truly create high danger chances.

When the team did seem to get going on the counter, they were either shut down or fouled off the ball. At one point Sergio Ramos made a dangerous tackle to shut down an Atletico counter. At another Casemiro came in an stymied Atleti's movement forward.

Casemiro rewarded his coach's faith

While some of Zinedine Zidane's personnel choices were questionable over the course of the game, his decision to keep Casemiro in the starting lineup paid off in spades. The midfielder had a tremendous game producing eight tackles, more than any other player on the pitch. He was key to shutting down Los Colchoneros advances, thus keeping his squad out of high danger throughout the game. Despite not being the best of passers, he was rarely pressured and produced some solid play moving forward, completing 92 percent of his passes (second best on the team) and even getting in four crosses and one key pass. This was a banner game for Casemiro if there ever was one.

Incredible Luck

Let's be honest. Madrid got a few things right on the evening, such as containing Atletico's counter attack and aerial presence as well. Some players had strong games overall (Casemiro, Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, even Danilo grew into the match!) but the reality is that Atletico was the better team for the balance of the game.

The opening goal probably should have been ruled offsides as replays indicated. But it stood and Real Madrid managed a 1-0 lead in the opening stages of the game, something the team never had the luxury of in the Champions League final two years ago.

From the moment Real took the lead, Zidane's men sat back, letting the opposition have a go at their defense. In the opening of the second half, Atletico's persistence paid off with a penalty shot. But alas, luck came to the rescue as top scorer Antoine Griezmann hit the crossbar.

Later on the luck would turn as Madrid's attackers got a few quality chances that resulted in nothing, before Atletico got a tying goal. But Los Colchoneros continually flubbed their lines when given chances and could have won before 90 minutes expired. Real's players also could have been sent off at a few junctures but avoided that fate.

Zidane made some poor substitutions with the game still undecided and it nearly cost him. Atletico remained fresh through extra time with Real Madrid's player cramping up. And yet, with the game finished and penalties beckoning, it was luck that made the decision.

Juanfran, the hero of the shootout against PSV Eindhoven, hitting the post that ultimately decided the shootout.

Of course luck always plays a role in sports and this time was no different. But Zidane and his men should thank their lucky stars, but those ethereal beings played just as big a part as the superstars on this squad in deciding the title.

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