Real Madrid accounted for their 15th UEFA Champions League title on Saturday night after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final at the Wembley Stadium in London.
This marked Real Madrid’s 17th appearance in the UEFA Champions League final. Ahead of this one, Real Madrid had lost just twice in 54 games in all competitions this season. They won Spain’s La Liga by 10 points and thrashed Barcelona 4-1 to lift the Spanish Super Cup along the way.
However, they had to dig deep to win what coach Carlo Ancelotti described as the “biggest game of any season” in the Champions League.
Moreso, Dortmund started brightly, with Niclas Füllkrug being denied by the post. Karim Adeyemi was also a menace in the first half.
DANI CARVAJAL AND VINICIUS JNR FIRED REAL MADRID TO VICTORY
When play finally resumed from the break, Real Madrid were now starting to get more time on the ball. But goals remained elusive until the 73rd minute when Dani Carvajal headed the ball home from a corner-kick.
Vinicius Junior then doubled Madrid’s lead after a backpass mistake by a Dortmund defender on the 83rd minute, to seal the win.
Madrid have relied on the prowess of Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior to fire them to a sixth final in 11 years.
As such, they came into this one confident of accounting for a record 15th European crown, keeping Los Blancos, who have built an impeccable reputation of competition specialists.
Ancelotti’s side won all of their group games before edging RB Leipzig, Manchester City FC and Bayern Munich in the knockouts.
Madrid lifted their 33rd La Liga title this season. Dortmund, similarly, were in fine form and second to Madrid in the competition this season, with only one defeat in their last 11 European matches.
Dortmund’s task was not only to take down the latest crop of Real Madrid on their relentless to history.
But also, arguably, the competition’s greatest coach, Ancelotti, who has won seven of his eight appearances in the final. The 64-year-old Italian Ancelotti has won a record four titles as a coach and two as a player.
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