Dani Carvajal’s header in the 74th minute and Vinicius Junior’s late goals (83rd) secured the Spanish team’s second success. Since the UEFA Champions League began in 1992/93, Real Madrid have won the title in nine finals. The last time the “Royals” lost a European Cup final was in 1983 (in the Cup Winners’ Cup against Aberdeen).
Real remained unbeaten in the Champions League this season, and coach Carlo Ancelotti celebrated his fifth win in the league. Alaba added the second triumph with Real after 2022 to the titles he won in 2013 and 2020 with Bayern Munich. After a good 60 minutes in the third Champions League final, Dortmund only realised that they had not made more of their initial superiority.
Reuters/Carl Recine Captain Nacho (centre) was able to lift the championship trophy for the sixth time, along with David Alaba (top row, left)
False start into the final
First, Lenny Kravitz warmed up the 86,212 fans at Wembley Stadium with his classics such as “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, the legends Zinedine Zidane and Karl-Heinz Riedle carried in the mighty championship trophy, and then the players were finally allowed onto the field, led by the Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic.
The Dortmund team, for whom Sabitzer was supposed to provide momentum in midfield, briefly went into the Real half before kick-off to applaud their fans. Some supporters were apparently so motivated by this that they ran onto the pitch just a few seconds after the game had started and tried to take selfies with the players.
GEPA/Michael Zemanek After the stewards had remained inactive for a long time, the players, like Marcel Sabitzer, also tried to stop the troublemakers
While the fans were already active, the stewards were still asleep, and so four pitch invaders were able to cause trouble for quite some time without being stopped until they were finally caught. Security was then on the scene when a fifth troublemaker came along. As usual, nothing was caught by the TV cameras – but that has never stopped a streaker from abandoning his plan.
Dortmund takes command
The game then actually began after a delay of a few minutes and was played with verve by both teams. On the one hand, Sabitzer pushed his colleagues forward, while at Real the lively Vinicius was a source of unrest. Dortmund had more of the game in the first quarter of an hour, and had the first good chance to score through Julian Brandt after a pass from Füllkrug (14th).
In the 21st minute, the next goal alarm came in the Real penalty area when the ex-Salzburg player sprinted into a pass and headed towards Thibaut Courtois. However, his last move around the Belgian went too far and Adeyemi was unable to finish successfully.
Reuters/Carl Recine Füllkrug’s (M.) shot only hit the inside post. A goal would probably not have counted because of offside.
But Dortmund were much better in the game, switched quickly after winning the ball aggressively and had the next big chance through Füllkrug in the 23rd minute. He flicked the ball past Courtois and onto the inside post. However, a goal would probably not have stood up to review due to an offside position beforehand.
Final Fleets
At this point, Real had significantly more possession (62:38 percent), but this was a number without any value. Dortmund were more dangerous, even when Adeyemi sprinted towards Courtois’ goal again, but was pushed to the left again. The fast-paced finale swayed back and forth, and Vinicius was shown the yellow card in the 35th minute after an unmotivated attack on Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, and was basically lucky.
Sabitzer also tried a long-range shot in the 41st minute, but it was saved by Courtois, who was somewhat surprisingly called up for the final instead of Andrei Lunin after his long injury. Shortly afterwards, the 30-year-old Austrian was also shown a yellow card after criticizing the assistant referee, who interpreted a shove by the ÖFB international as a foul.
Borussia with more energy
Dortmund were the more active team, showed a lot of drive towards the opponent’s goal, acted decisively and with a lot of energy, but the Real defense around Nacho held tight. So Vincic blew the whistle for half-time. The second half began with a well-taken free kick from Toni Kroos, who played his last game for the Madrid team. However, Kobel dove into the top corner and blocked the ball.
After a quieter phase, it was Füllkrug who tested Courtois with a powerful diving header in the 63rd minute. But once again the Belgian was the winner. Jude Bellingham had been virtually uninvolved in the White Ballet’s game up until then. The former Dortmund player Jude Bellingham, voted player of the season in Spain, was not a factor in the final – until he narrowly missed a Vinicius cross in the 69th minute and Kobel could only watch the ball.
Real does what Real does
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic brought BVB icon Marco Reus, who was playing his last game for Borussia, into the game in the 72nd minute. But what had already become apparent from the course of the game became reality in the 74th minute. Dortmund had become increasingly defensive, and Real had, as so often this season, taken the initiative as the game progressed.
AP/Alastair Grant The moment of decision: Carvajal (M.) is there and heads the ball to make it 1-0 (74′). The beginning of the end for Dortmund.
After a corner from Kroos, the 1.73 meter tall Carvajal rose up and headed the ball into the net to make it 1-0. A possible 2-0 by Bellingham shortly afterwards was just prevented by Nico Schlotterbeck’s big toe. Real then dominated proceedings with long-range shots from Kroos and Eduardo Camavinga (81′).
Vinicius closes the bag
The 2-0 was in the air, but Dortmund were far from equalizing. A devastating cross pass from Ian Maatsen sealed the fate of the Germans. Bellingham grabbed the ball and played it to Vinicius, who increased the lead to 2-0 despite a sloppy shot (83′).
A supposed goal by Füllkrug was rightly disallowed for offside shortly before the end, and so after five minutes of stoppage time the Madrilenians were once again able to celebrate and Dortmund were able to digest their second defeat in the third Champions League final. Marcel Sabitzer had tears in his eyes.
Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier As had happened 14 times before, Real Madrid players were allowed to dance and celebrate at the end of a Champions League final
Voices about the game:
Carlo Ancelotti (Real coach): “It was a difficult game, especially in the first half. After the break we came into the game better, it was a pretty good second half.”
Toni Kroos (Real player): “Of course I wanted to say goodbye with this Champions League win, it means an incredible amount to me. The decisive factor was that we didn’t concede a goal in the first half, that wasn’t good from us, Dortmund played very well. We then came into the game better. It took a long time until we were the better team.”
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Edin Terzic (Dortmund coach): “We showed from the beginning that we wanted to win the final. There are mixed feelings. On the one hand we are proud, on the other hand disappointed. We will learn from this and we showed that we can compete at the highest level. They were simply efficient. We were closer to the lead and had really good opportunities. But we didn’t manage to score goals.”
Mats Hummels (Dortmund player): “We played a great game, I’m proud of the team, how we performed – with heart, with everything that comes with it. We missed the opportunity and made a few small mistakes, and then Real struck. Today the disappointment of losing the final outweighs everything.”
Champions League, Finale
Saturday:
Dortmund – Real Madrid 0:2 (0:0)
London, Wembley Stadium, 86,212 spectators, SR Vincic (SLO)
Torfolge:
0:1 (74.) Carvajal
0:2 (83.) Vinicius Junior
Dortmund: Kobel – Ryerson, Hummels, N. Schlotterbeck, Maatsen – Can (81./Malen) – Sancho (87./Bynoe-Gittens), Sabitzer, Brandt (81./Haller), Adeyemi (72./Reus) – Füllkrug
Real: Courtois – Carvajal, Rüdiger, Nacho, Mendy – Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos (86./Modric) – Bellingham (85./Joselu) – Rodrygo (90./Militao), Vinicius Junior (94./Vazquez)
Yellow cards: Schlotterbeck, Sabitzer, Hummels and Vinicius Junior
