Favorite Real Madrid goes into the Champions League final on Saturday evening in London (9 p.m./ZDF and DAZN) with great respect for German opponent Borussia Dortmund. “They deserve to be in this final. We have a lot of respect for our opponent. But we hope that everything goes according to our plan tomorrow,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on Friday at the Spanish champions’ press conference at Wembley Stadium. “When you reach a final, success and failure are so close together that you naturally worry that it might not work out.”
Real star Luka Modric was similarly appreciative of Dortmund ahead of the possible sixth Champions League victory of his career. “Everyone says we are the clear favorites. But we don’t necessarily see it that way,” said the 38-year-old Croatian. “It’s a 50-50 game. We’re playing against a great team that has had a great season in the Champions League. We have a lot of respect for Borussia.”
With 14 victories in the Champions League and the former European Cup, the Spaniards are the record winners of the most important European club football competition. The Italian Ancelotti won the cup twice each with Real and AC Milan, making him the most successful coach in Champions League history.
Only four games of the season, but Courtois is in goal
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Belgian Thibaut Courtois will be in goal for Real on Saturday evening, despite having only played four games this season due to a serious knee injury.
“Yes, Courtois will be our goalkeeper tomorrow,” said Ancelotti. His replacement Andrei Lunin was unable to train recently due to a cold, but will fly to London on Saturday and sit on the bench.
BVB is in London – “We still have a score to settle”
Borussia Dortmund was bid farewell by around 300 fans at Holzwickede airport on Friday afternoon before departing for the Champions League final in London. Coach Edin Terzic travelled to England with all currently available players, where the final against Real Madrid will take place on Saturday (9 p.m./ZDF and DAZN) at Wembley Stadium.
“We want to achieve great things, and we are ready to do so,” said sporting director Sebastian Kehl. “We have the opportunity to make history.” The great euphoria, this black and yellow madness, is reminiscent of 2013, when BVB lost the final against Bayern Munich at Wembley Stadium with an unfortunate 2-1 loss. “We have the feeling that we still have a score to settle. That we still have something to make up for in this city, in this final,” said Kehl, who was the captain eleven years ago.
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Club boss Watzke talks about the big game
Borussia Dortmund and Hans-Joachim Watzke are facing one of the biggest games in the club’s history. The Champions League final is against Real Madrid. Time for an in-depth conversation with the club boss about his BVB, money and FC Bayern.
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The final will be broadcast on free TV
The Champions League final on Saturday (9 p.m.) at London’s Wembley Stadium will be broadcast in well over 100 countries. In Germany, the match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid will be shown free-to-air on ZDF. This is only because a German team is in the final.
The live rights are actually held by DAZN, and the match will also be broadcast there. However, the 1991 Interstate Broadcasting Treaty states that events that are “of significant social importance” must be available to everyone. This includes a Champions League final with German participation. This was last the case in 2020, when FC Bayern beat Paris St. Germain 1-0 in Lisbon.
At 7:25 p.m., ZDF will start its pre-match coverage with presenter Jochen Breyer, who has two 2014 world champions as experts: Christoph Kramer and Per Mertesacker. Manuel Gräfe will be there as an expert on refereeing issues. The commentator for the game will be Oliver Schmidt, along with co-commentator and ex-professional Moritz Volz. Nils Kaben and Claudia Neumann will conduct interviews on the sidelines.
Emre Can criticizes the national coach
Emre Can is in the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid. He thinks his club has a good chance. After that, the BVB captain will go on holiday because he was not considered for the European Championship. He doesn’t like how it happened.
The whole text:
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Lineups: How they could play
The expected team lineups for the grand finale:
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel – Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen – Can – Sabitzer, Brandt – Sancho, Adeyemi – Füllkrug. Real Madrid: Courtois – Carvajal, Rüdiger, Nacho, Mendy – Camavinga – Fede Valverde, Kroos – Bellingham – Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior.
Dortmund’s reunion with Jude Bellingham
A year ago, Jude Bellingham left Borussia Dortmund and moved to Real Madrid. The Englishman immediately took on the role of boss there. They will meet again on Saturday in the Champions League final. Time to make history, he says.
Here is the text about the early maturity from our reporter Oliver Müller, who will be on site in London:
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Hitzfeld sees compactness as the key for BVB
Borussia Dortmund’s former coach Ottmar Hitzfeld sees the greater pressure on Real Madrid. “The pressure is even greater for Real because they are the favorites. The psychological strain is definitely higher. Dortmund can create a sensation. Real can lose a lot more,” said the 75-year-old. “They are the favorites, they certainly have the better team overall and a lot more experience. But one of the most important things in this game will be the psychological aspect.”
For the duel with the Spaniards, Hitzfeld recommends that Dortmund remain compact in all parts of the team. “The decisive factor is the determination with which you go into the game. That you remain compact in all situations and wait for counter-attack opportunities,” he said. “That is exactly what has distinguished Dortmund in most Champions League games: this compactness. All the attacking players almost always worked backwards.”
Here he explains why Hitzfeld himself will not be in London:
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This is the final referee
Slavko Vincic (44) will referee the match. The Slovenian has been a FIFA referee since 2010. Vincic has refereed seven Champions League matches this season, including the quarter-final second leg between Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid (4:2).
Slavko Vincic referees in London
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
Vincic, who will also be playing at the European Championships in Germany, showed a confident performance throughout the entire match. He also refereed the second leg of the round of 16 between Bayern and Lazio Rome (3-0).
