For a record-breaking fifteenth time, Real Madrid raised the Champions League trophy amid a flurry of gold and silver confetti. The most recognizable sight in the biggest club soccer competition in Europe seemed as new as ever following a 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the championship match at Wembley Stadium thanks to goals from Vinicius Junior and Dani Carvajal. Growing accustomed to it? Never, Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real Madrid, stated, adding five more victories to his own coaching record. “The dream goes on.” Ancelotti continued, “It was a very difficult game, much more difficult than we had expected.” “We made changes because we were a little too slack in the first half.” After recovering from two significant knee injuries, Thibaut Courtois was playing in his first Champions League match of the season, and his saves kept Madrid in the game until it happened. Niclas Fullkrug struck the post during a run of first-half opportunities that Dortmund missed, and their carelessness ultimately cost them dearly. Three different pitch invaders managed to avoid security, causing the game to be stopped in the first minute of the match. Wembley Stadium reported that arrests had been made. When the game got back under way it was Dortmund, watched on by former coach Jurgen Klopp, which was the better side but a tough Real performance ultimately saw them come out on top once more. Although Madrid hasn’t lost a significant European final since Aberdeen’s Cup Winners’ Cup loss to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team in 1983, there were moments when it seemed like it might not win. While Edin Terzic’s team was up early, Julian Brandt stumbled over his lines and gave Edin Terzic’s team a familiar feeling. Karim Adeyemi quickly wasted a fantastic chance to break the game as he sprinted through a huge opening in the Madrid defense and attempted to round Courtois, missing the mark by a small margin. The Bundesliga’s underdogs continued to have opportunities, with Fullkrug striking the inside of the post this time after Ian Maatsen had too easily recovered the ball from the otherwise outstanding Federico Valverde. Although Real was not present at the races, Dortmund was unable to capitalize on its early lead thanks to a superb save from Courtois against Adeyemi, whose quick speed was causing a lot of issues. As soon as Vinicius was booked for a late challenge on Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, frustration was beginning to mount among the Madrid players. Soon after the break, Real started to show some life. Kobel made a great save to end a free kick from Toni Kroos, and Carvajal’s header also nearly broke the tie. But it didn’t take long for Courtois to return to action, as he made a fantastic save from a header from Fulkrug. Bellingham, for Madrid, missed an opportunity to connect shortly after. With 16 minutes remaining, Carvajal headed a Kroos corner past Kobel to give Ancelotti’s team the lead, proving that Dortmund’s defense had not yet learnt their lesson. As Real looked to seal the deal in the closing minutes, Kobel did well to stop another free kick from Kroos as well as a curling drive from Eduardo Camavinga and a header from Nacho. And there was nothing Kobel could do as Vinicius, following a misdirected ball from Maatsen, collected and scored Bellingham’s pass to double the lead. Fullkrug felt he had given Dortmund a response, but his attempt was flagged as offside. As Dortmund celebrated winning a record-tying sixth European Cup, Carvajal, Modric, Nacho, and the retiring Kroos wondered what may have been, much like how they felt after losing to Bayern Munich in the final at Wembley 11 years ago.
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