The highly anticipated Champions League final, held at Wembley Stadium, saw Real Madrid claim victory despite Dortmund’s relentless attack. Thanks to Thibaut Courtois’s stellar performance and goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior, the Galacticos emerged victorious with a 2-0 scoreline. This triumph marks the sixth Champions League title for four of Real Madrid’s star players, equaling the record set by the legendary Paco Gento and relegating Cristiano Ronaldo, with five titles, to outside the historic top three.
Real Madrid had navigated a treacherous path in the knockout stages, overcoming Manchester City in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals and miraculously turning the tide against Bayern Munich in the semi-final with a last-minute comeback. Meanwhile, Dortmund emerged from the “Group of Death” before defeating Atlético Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain to reach Wembley for the first time in 11 years.
It’s worth mentioning that Toni Kroos has announced his retirement at the end of the season, while Marco Reus will also be leaving Dortmund this summer. The fate of these two German legends was a significant focus for fans.
Looking back at the match, Dortmund put in a near-perfect performance. They managed eight shots in the first half alone, and if not for Courtois’s brilliance and the goalpost denying Niclas Füllkrug, Real Madrid might have been completely overwhelmed. Yet, the Galacticos have a knack for defying the odds and staging remarkable comebacks when all seems lost.
In the 74th minute, Kroos delivered a precise corner, setting up the 1.73-meter tall Carvajal for a header that broke the deadlock. Then, in the 83rd minute, Jude Bellingham intercepted the ball in the midfield and sent a through ball to Vinicius Junior, who finished with a clinical strike to extinguish Dortmund’s hopes. This 2-0 victory saw Real Madrid set several historic records, including their ninth consecutive win in a Champions League final and Carlo Ancelotti’s fifth Champions League title as a manager, surpassing Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, and Sir Alex Ferguson to claim the top spot.
Interestingly, with this triumph, Real Madrid’s quartet of Carvajal, Kroos, Luka Modrić, and Nacho have all achieved the feat of winning six Champions League titles. They join the legendary Paco Gento, making it five players with this record.
Some fans have suggested that the most disappointed figure on this night is not Dortmund, who finished as runners-up once again, nor the emotional Reus, but Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo won three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid in 2018, making him the current record holder with five titles, and with his 140 goals, he is considered the king of the competition.
However, Ronaldo left Real Madrid in a fit of anger in the summer of 2018 and has been unable to lift the coveted trophy again with Juventus and Manchester United. Meanwhile, the more understated Kroos, Modrić, Carvajal, and Nacho have achieved the feat in Madrid. With Kroos retiring and Modrić and Carvajal likely to stay, the arrival of Kylian Mbappé could see them have another opportunity to claim their seventh Champions League title.
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