Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)
Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)
Real Madrid were strong favourites ahead of the match to be crowned as European Champions for a record 15th time. They had won the La Liga title in Spain by ten points ahead of Barcelona and have a team full of stars. Not only this but Spanish clubs have a very impressive record in European finals – in 22 finals over the past 23 years which have involved a Spanish team in a major final (at club or international level) a Spanish team has emerged as winners on every single occasion!
Dortmund were massive underdogs having ended the Bundesliga in a lowly fifth position. However they had impressively defeated a strong PSG in the semi finals (perhaps with a bit of luck as the French hit the woodwork six times across the two legs). BVB also had the added incentive of qualifying for the Champions League again the following season if they could win and were keen to put to bed the bad memories of their last visit to Wembley Stadium in the 2013 final where they painfully lost to German rivals Bayern Munich.
The game itself started at a frantic pace with Dortmund really flying into the tackles. Karim Adeyemi went around the Madrid keeper Courtois but just ran it too far. Two minutes later Niclas Füllkrug did great at the edge of the box to get his shot away but unfortunately for him it hit the inside of the post and came back out. Dortmund continued to dominate the first half but couldn’t make the breakthrough.
The second half started with Madrid going into another gear. They had more possession on the ball and more control of the game but Dortmund still looked dangerous on the break. In the 74th minute a corner from German Toni Kroos for Madrid hit the head of Carvajal to make it 1-0 to the Spanish side. In the 83rd minute a beautiful through ball to V Junior and he was through on goal to easily put it past Kobel in the Dortmund net to make it 2-0 and seal Madrid’s 15th title.
The victory brings Carlo Ancelotti his seventh European title (two as a player and five as a manager) to make him the Godfather of European football.
Who would bet against Madrid making it 16 titles next season, especially with French star Mbappe making the move from Paris to Madrid.
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