Saturday May 31, the Champions League final will pit Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in London. Here are five questions to find out everything about this match.
Gregor Kobel, the X factor of the final?
The Swiss goalkeeper is one of the great architects of Borussia’s epic journey to the final. He is one of the best goalkeepers in the Champions League with the most saves (42) and the 3rd save percentage (85.7%) in the entire competition. The 26-year-old does better than Manuel Neuer or Gigi Donnarumma. It’s no coincidence that Borussia has one of the best defenses, and has kept six clean sheets. If he wins the title, he would become the third Swiss to lift the trophy after Manuel Akanji and Stéphane Chapuisat. The latter won with Borussia Dortmund in 1997.
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Carvajal, Modric… and Ancelotti for history?
A nearly 60-year-old record could resurface. In 1966, the Spaniard Francsico Gento won his sixth “big-eared cup” with Real Madrid against Partizan Belgrade (2-1). The twirling White House winger could be joined by two other Madrilenians: Dani Carvajal and Luka Modric. The two thirty-year-olds will play their sixth final at Wembley with the objective of lifting a sixth Champions League. Pillars of Real Madrid’s domination for ten years on the European scene, Carvajal and Modric could go a little further into the history of the Merengues by relegating their two former teammates Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo one step behind. Already winner of four editions as a coach (including two with AC Milan), Carlo Ancelotti would make history a little more with a fifth European crown, two more than his closest pursuers (Bob Paisley, Zinédine Zidane, Pep Guardiola).
Gregor Kobel stopped Kylian Mbappé in the semi-finals. Kai Pfaffenbach / REUTERS
A spectacular finale?
The two teams have faced each other 14 times in the competition. A duel rich in emotions since there is an average of 3.7 goals/match, which would be a first in a final since the Merengues’ victory against Liverpool in 2018 (3-1). But this year Dortmund’s attack presents fewer guarantees than that of the Spaniards, because top scorer Niclas Füllkrug only has 3 goals compared to 5 each for Joselu, Rodrygo and Vinicius. The last clash between the two teams turned to Real’s advantage in 2018 (3-2). A constant in this duel, because the Madrilenians have six victories against only three for Borussia.
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The farewells of Kroos, Reus and Modric?
This match will feel like a jubilee for two legends of their club who will have the hope of ending their careers with one last title. With the Madrilenians, Toni Kroos will play his 151st match in C1 and his last at club before bidding a final farewell to the Euro with Germany. His compatriot Marco Reus will also set foot on the pitch one last time with the jersey of his favorite club. At 35, he hopes to offer one last gift to Borussia fans and put an end to his reputation as a black cat after a series of failures in the Bundesliga and C1. This final could also be Luka Modric’s last match with the Madrilenians, because, at 39 years old, his future remains uncertain in the Spanish capital, he who has not yet signed an extension.
Will Borussia take revenge on Wembley?
Wembley Stadium is a regular at the Champions League final. Since 1963, the lair of Three Lions holds the record with eight finals. The latest remains a painful memory for Borussia Dortmund, beaten by Franck Ribéry’s Bayern Munich in 2013 (2-1). However, that year, the Borussen eliminated Real Madrid in the semi-finals after an anthology first leg at Signal Iduna Park where Robert Lewandowski scored a quadruple (4-1). The White House failed to reverse the trend at the Santiago Bernabeu to avoid a third elimination in a row in the last four. The rest is history since Real has won five editions in 10 years.
