Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Real Madrid
The 2024 Champions League Final.
In the words of the Athletic, in the white corner were Mythical Madrid, a side who have shown time and time again, including in this season’s quarter and semi-finals, that they are never beaten.
In the yellow corner, a wall built in Dortmund, were a club whose only Champions League success came back in 1997 when they beat Juventus 3-1 in the final, another showcase they started as underdogs.
Here they both were at Wembley, vying for the biggest club prize in Europe.
The SBOTOP Champions League betting odds predicted victory for the Spanish champions against the fifth best side in Germany.
So did I. But would it be that straightforward?
Highlights of the game
There were a number of stories behind the main event.
For a start, this was the sixth Champions League Final in the dugout for a man I believe to be the most talented manager in the game today.
Not only was it Carlo Ancelotti’s sixth European Cup final as a coach, it was Real’s sixth in 10 years and the 1,324th game Ancelotti has taken charge of in his career.
Then there was the farewell effect for a player on each side with numerous respect for Real’s German maestro Toni Kroos in his final club game and his midfield counterpart Marco Reus, who should go down as one of the best players in the club’s history – Dortmund through-and-through and a German international team mate.
Who would bow out in style by leading their team to European glory?
Could Kroos win a fifth Champions League crown or would Reus, 429 appearances for Dortmund and second in the all-time scoring charts with 170 strikes, crown the perfect farewell from the bench.
And of course, there was also the Jude Bellingham link
The player of the season in the Bundesliga last term and the newly crowned La Liga player of the year this term, could he shoot down his former colleagues to cap a quite remarkable season for a 20 year-old.
Even though they benefited from the kinder side of the knockout draw compared to some other clubs, no-one could say Dortmund had done this the easy way.
First, they had emerged from a ‘group of death’ comprising AC Milan, Newcastle United and Paris St Germain, and they saw off PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and PSG again to return to the scene of their biggest European heartbreak – defeat in the 2013 Final against arch rivals Bayern Munich.
To prove the point that their place in the showpiece was not luck, they went into the final having conceded nine goals in their 12 European matches this campaign, including six clean sheets.
Up against a Los Blancos side unbeaten in 25 outings, Dortmund knew they were big underdogs, but manager Edin Terzic believed his team could break their opponents’ unbeaten run in Champions League finals since the tournament was rebranded in 1992.
The early Champions League highlights didn’t actually involve any players but three pitch invaders who were quickly removed.
When the game settled down, Dortmund were the better side in the first half.
Karim Adeyemi failed to beat Thibaut Courtois when one-on-one, and when the returning Belgian was later beaten, Niclas Fullkrug saw his shot bounce off the post to safety.
At half-time the feeling was Dortmund would rue failing to take their chances and, after Courtois – also superb in this final two seasons ago – flung himself to keep it out a Fullkrug header midway through the second half, it was the final warning.
Real were a much improved outfit after the break and two goals in 10 minutes did just the job.
First, a Kroos corner was whipped into the Dortmund box and Dani Carvajal rose to head home for his first goal in the tournament for five years.
Then a mistake by Ian Maatsen let in 2022 Final matchwinner Vinícius Jr and the Brazilian was clinical to cue the start of the Madridstas’ party.
Dortmund were determined and spirited but was there really ever any doubt Real Madrid would clinch a 15th European crown.
Not really.
For Ancelotti’s Real Madrid win even when they’re not at their best.
Football’s European ‘royalty’ have done it again.
Key statistics
This was the 15th clash between the teams.
Los Blancos have the upper hand, winning seven of those outings with Dortmund winning on three occasions.
Real have only trailed for 7.5% of their total game time in the Champions League this season (90 minutes out of 1,290), the lowest percentage of any side. They have come back to win four matches in which they have been behind in the competition this term, with only Barcelona in 1999/2000 and Real themselves in 2016/17 (five each) having more comeback victories in a single campaign in the competition.
Across the last three Champions League campaigns, Vinicius has been directly involved in more goals than any other player (32 – 17 goals, 15 assists). 18 of those have come in the knockout stages (nine goals, nine assists), which is also the most of any player in this period.
What’s next?
And that concludes the 2023/24 football season. Have an enjoyable summer!
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