Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2:0 in the Champions League final. At Wembley, the Royal Club held the Yellow and Black until the break and with goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior lifted the trophy for a record 15th time in its history.
Before even a minute had passed since the start of the match, the game was stopped due to fans invading the field who wanted to take pictures with some of their favourite players. Two minutes later, the game practically restarted. In the opening minutes, Real gave the ball to the opponent and started more cautiously, while Dortmund combined very quickly and flowed well from the defensive phase to the attacking phase. After about 20 minutes, Borussia came up with a great chance to open the scoring. Mats Hummels sent a deep pass to Karim Adeyemi, who was thwarted and unable to beat Thibaut Courtois. Niklas Fühlkrug's shot hit the side post shortly afterwards, with the Kings being warned that they could not afford too much composure in the game. Edin Terzic's men continued to be more active and Courtois again had to intervene after Adeyemi's shot. At the other end of the goal, Real rarely threatened Gregor Kobel and certainly needed a change at the break.
It eventually came in the opening minutes of the second half when Kobel first deflected a dangerous shot from Toni Kroos and then Carvajal was left unmarked and headed over the bar. Gradually, Dortmund's players dropped physically, although they had a good chance to open through Fühlkrug, but Courtois was again in his place. It came to the 74th minute when Carvajal was once again dropped at a corner and this time he made no mistake to give the White Ballet the lead. Real pressed, sensing their opponents were already too tired, and sealed their triumph less than 10 minutes later when Vinicius beat Kobel after a mistake in the Germans' play. After the Brazilian's strike, the Madrid colossus had several more chances to make it a classic, but former Dortmund man Jude Bellingham, who assisted the second goal, Eduardo Camavinga and Nacho, all missed, with Kobel also in fantastic fashion on several occasions. Fühlkrug was able to head home a cross from the left to restore hopes for the Yellow and Blacks, but the team's joy was short-lived as VAR stepped in and correctly disallowed the goal for offside.
Until the end, the status quo remained unchanged and so Real rejoiced with the trophy for a record 15th time in its history, with only three lost finals. The team last won the cup in 2022 when they beat Liverpool 1:0 in Paris. Dortmund have held the trophy once back in 1997, losing a second final after that and in 2013, again at Wembley.
The match in London was the last for Marco Reus with the Dortmund team. The midfielder is leaving the club after 12 years. His compatriot Toni Kroos played his last match at club level. He has announced he will retire from football after Euro 2024 on home soil in Germany, bringing to an end an impressive five Champions Leagues with Real. The coach of the Royal Club Carlo Ancelotti won his record fifth trophy of the competition - two with Milan (2003 and 2007) and three with Real (2014, 2022 and 2024). I BGNES
