Spanish Real Madrid took over the German Borussia » in the London final of the UEFA Champions League of the 2023/24 season and became the winner of the most prestigious club tournament in Europe for the 15th time. The Sport correspondent shares his emotions from the strange match at Wembley, the “royal” calm of the favorite and the sparkling last minutes that became decisive in Saturday’s show.
UEFA Champions League01 June 2024 • starts at 22:00Finished
Borussia Germany0 : 2< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/10547283db1b054bb16be9d8193cc7cb.png" />Real MadridSpain
74' • Daniel Carvajal (Toni Kroos)
83' • Vinicius Junior (Jude Bellingham )
Waiting for a new coronation We know a lot of examples when a team creates magic in a certain tournament. The Spanish side Sevilla, which collects Europa League trophies, comes to mind. And, of course, Real Madrid. The team that has won seven Champions League finals this century, escaping in extra time against Atlético Madrid, stupefying poor goalkeeper Lorius Karius in Kyiv and destroying Liverpool's fairy tale even as a clear underdog.
Two years have passed since the Paris final, and now the «creamy» are the clear favorites. Simply because it was impossible to imagine Borussia Dortmund winning at Wembley. Real (on paper) had the best player in every position, Thibaut Courtois returned to the goal, replacing Andrei Lunin, who had recovered from illness, and only Mats Hummels and captain Marco Reus (they lost to Bayern in the London final in 2013) had experience of playing at this level for the «bumblebees».
The latter, by the way, like compatriot Toni Kroos from Real Madrid, played his last match in the T-shirt of his current club. And it was to the German, who had not won a single major trophy in 12 years in Dortmund, that the greatest attention was focused before the main match of the European season.
The intrigue came to life While the Germans and Spaniards tried to adapt to their opponents and create the first dangerous moment (it happened in the 14th minute when Julian Brandt missed the far corner), the fans in front of the TV screens could only enjoy the atmosphere of the legendary stadium. The 90,000-seat Wembley was buzzing with fan emotions, and the yellow sea behind the right gate turned into a stirred up hive, going crazy after every attack on the Real Madrid goal.
And there were a lot of them in the first half. “Real” seemed to crumble, and only luck (how lucky Madrid is in the Champions League!) helped the favorites not to concede. Karim Adeyemi failed to beat Courtois twice, Niklas Füllkrug hit the post, and Marcel Sabitzer's long-range shot was saved by the Belgian goalkeeper.
Where did Real Madrid's attack go? During the first half, ex-Dortmund player Jude Bellingham and his teammates never really bothered Gregor Kobel, except for a hard tackle by Vinicius while pressing the goalkeeper. During the break, Carlo Ancelotti had to wake up the Spanish champions, because the sensation was getting closer…How do they do this?! In the 48th minute, Real still pleased its fans with the semblance of an episode worthy of being included in the highlights of the match. Kroos circled the wall from the free kick and sent the ball into the top nine, but Kobel entered the game and saved the Bumblebees. Then there was a lull for a quarter of an hour… Which was interrupted by a tight header from Füllkrug directly at Courtois, who successfully closed the near corner. Edin Terzic's players continued to outperform Real Madrid, ridiculing predictions for the Champions League decider.
However, Borussia were also lucky. Vinicius crossed into the penalty area in the 68th minute, but Bellingham missed the ball, which hit the goalkeeper's hand and narrowly missed the far corner.
While Hummels continued to hold the defense, and Real unsuccessfully leaned on the German goal, Reus appeared at the edge of the field… But before the Borussia legend had time to enter the game, Madrid, completely different from themselves this evening, opened the scoring. It was impossible to score from the game — why not use a set piece? Perhaps this is what Dani Carvajal thought, as he scored from a corner in the 74th minute.
This is such magic.
For Borussia this blow was not fatal. Dortmund began making defensive mistakes over and over again, but Kobel's brilliant play and unexpected help from fortune kept the score 0:1 on the scoreboard. However, in the 83rd minute it all ended — Vinicius found himself alone in front of the goalkeeper and easily hit the German goal for the second time.
Then there was the bright replacement of Kroos with Luka Modric (the great Croatian could also leave Real at the end of the season) and the canceled Borussia goal due to offside. A miracle did not happen — the fans in yellow are crying again in London… And along with them, poor Marco Reus is sad, 11 years later he lost the Champions League final again.
Real = successDespite the fact that Madrid had a bad final, they were better again. A real drama, in which the German miracle was very, very close, but, as in Paris, even the inferior Real Madrid is capable of winning. And rewrite history.
- The Royal Club took their 15th Champions League trophy, six of them won in the last ten years;
- The treble didn't work out, but Real Madrid are still cool. In 2024, Los Blancos won not only the Champions League, but also La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup;
- The genius Ancelotti updates his record for the most Champions League victories among coaches. The Italian already has five of them;
- Kroos, Modric, Carvajal and Nacho Fernandez repeated Paco Gento's unique achievement by becoming six-time Champions League winners.
- The icing on the cake: Real took the big-eared trophy, going through the entire Champions League without defeat. In 13 matches — nine wins and four draws! This happened for the first time in the history of the club.
The match for the UEFA Super Cup will take place on August 14 in Warsaw. Real's rival will be the Italian Atalanta, which won the Europa League for the first time in history.
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