Real Madrid emerged victorious yet again in another Champions League final. The Spanish giants beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley to clinch their 15th Champions League trophy. Madrid was the favorite to win the trophy and they got the job done even though they stumbled in the first half. At this point, the Champions League is Real Madrid’s competition, other clubs just play in it. Last night’s final really embodied the saying that “The Champions League is where you play your best football and lose to Real Madrid”, because Dortmund played better, especially in the first half.
The match which was attended by many club legends and global figures kicked off a bit slowly. Both teams were a bit reluctant to come out and play but they gradually got in to the game. The first half completely belonged to Dortmund as Real Madrid did not have a shot on target. The first real threat came from Julian Brandt in the 13th minute as he hit a shot that went just wide off the Real Madrid post. Real Madrid were passing at the back and passing backward; just rotating the ball amongst themselves and not really doing anything with it. Vinicius Jnr was kept quiet by Mats Hummels in the first half. Dortmund on the other hand pounced on loose balls in the midfield, dispossessed Real Madrid countless times, and won most of the aerial duels from long balls. They created chances in the first half but just did not have the quality or luck upfront to put the ball past Courtois into the net. In the 20th minute of the match, Kareem Adeyemi received a beautiful through pass from Hummels that put him one one-on-one with Courtois, he rounded the keeper and attempted to shoot the ball with his weaker foot but Dani Carvajal was there to block the shot.
Image source: @goal on X
Three minutes later, Maatsen won the ball high up on the pitch and laid a pass putting Fullkrug one-on-one with Courtois again. At full stretch, he managed to hit the ball past the goalkeeper but hit the woodwork back on the pitch and was quickly cleared by the Madrid defenders. Again in the 28th minute, Adeyemi received a well-timed pass from Brandt but his shot was parried by Courtois. Brandt pounced on the ball with a header but it was deftly caught by the Real Madrid goalkeeper.
Dortmund’s fourth shot on target came in the 41st minute as Marcel Sabitzer hit an audacious shot from outside the penalty area forcing a crucial save from Courtois. The goalkeeper had to stretch and parry the ball for a corner kick to deny Dortmund. The first half ended goalless with Madrid not registering a shot on target while Dortmund had four. The German side had missed a one-on-one and two other big chances. The closest Madrid came to an attempt was Valverde’s ball early in the first half which he hit way off target.
Real Madrid came alive in the second half and started to create their own chances. In the later stages, the pressed the German side and looked to be more in control of the game. In the 69th minute, Vinicius cut inside and played an excellent cross to an unmarked Bellingham. Dortmund’s goalkeeper Kobel missed the ball as he leaped to catch it but the Englishman somehow failed to head the ball.
Adeyemi was subbed off for Marco Reus in the 72nd minute for what would be his final appearance in a Dortmund game. It didn’t make much of a difference though as two minutes later, Madrid took the lead from Carvajal’s header. Vinicius Jnr nutmegged a Dortmund defender close to the edge of the box, but he couldn’t catch the ball before it was kicked off for a corner by Mats Hummels. Toni Kroos took the corner and it found Carvajal’s head and landed in the net.
From this point on, Madrid took the match by the balls and created more chances. Jude Bellingham’s shot took a deflection and went wide a few minutes after his side took the lead. Real Madrid sealed the deal in the 83rd minute when Bellingham pounced on a loose pass and fed it forward to Vinicius who finished with his left foot to put Madrid 2-0 up. This goal was the second time Vinicius would be scoring in a Champions League final, the first coming in 2022 when he scored the winner against Liverpool. Madrid took out Kroos and Bellingham for Modric and Joselu a few minutes later.
Fullkrug seemed to pull one back for Dortmund late in the game but his header was immediately ruled out for offside. The match ended a few minutes later to jubilation from Real Madrid fans and Disappointment from Dortmund.
This Champions League victory means that Madrid has won six Champions League trophies in the past ten years. Nacho, Kroos, Modric, and Carvajal join Real Madrid legend Pavo Gento as players with the most Champions League trophies (6). Manager Carlo Ancelotti now has five Champions League in his managerial career and is the most successful individual in the competition with a total of seven; two as a player and five as a manager. Arda Güler is now the first Turkish player to win the competition.
Image source: @ChampionsLeague on X
While Carvajal was named Man of the Match, Vinicius Jnr was getting shouts for Ballon d’Or from fans and teammates as he seems to inch closer and closer to the coveted award. His goal makes him Real Madrid’s highest goal scorer this season with 24 goals; one more than Jude Bellingham who has 23. As it stands Vinicius Jnr is the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or over Bellingham but their performances in international games later in the year will probably be the decider.
Real Madrid are the Champions of Europe for a record 15th time and it doesn’t look like the dominance will stop any time soon. They have some big talents coming in the summer that will boost their squad and improve an already star-studded team. Adding Kylian Mbappe to this team would send shivers down the spines of whichever team has to face them.
It wasn’t a fairy tale ending for Marco Reus who has now lost both UCL his first and last UCL final in the same place; at Wembley but it was the perfect end and send-off for Toni Kroos who has now won his last UCL at the same stadium he won his first in 2013. Coincidentally, it was Marco Reus Dortmund that Bayern beat in 2013 at Wembley as Kroos won his first UCL and now in a full circle moment, Kroos defeats Reus again to win his last. As the Dortmund account posted on their X page, “Football isn’t a fairytale and there aren’t always happy endings”.