David Hytner was at Wembley tonight, and his report is in. Here it is. Congratulations to Real Madrid, commiserations to Borussia Dortmund, and thanks to you, dear reader, for sticking with this MBM. Nighty night!
Dortmund were the better side in the first half, but didn’t take their chances, and Real Madrid secured their 15th title with a much-improved second-half performance
Updated
Sat 1 Jun 2024 17.42 EDT
First published on Sat 1 Jun 2024 13.15 EDT
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Key events
An extremely gracious Edin Terzic speaks to TNT. “It is difficult … it is very tough to find the right words …. performance-wise we showed a great game … but then we also found out why they became champions for the 15th time … they’ve been so effective … it was something we missed … the proud thing is we gave a really good game … we showed everybody we were here to win, not to play a game … we were very close … small things missing … but congratulations to them … to keep this hunger to win again, you see why they are the true champions … this is a proud moment … we brought nearly 100,000 people from Dortmund to London … it was a fantastic journey … to be honest it’s also a bit empty inside as it was a great opportunity and unfortunately we did not make it … now we keep the belief high, the doubt must not take over … everything in life starts with a belief … no room for doubts … I said the same thing to Jude as I said to Erling Haaland, that I was proud to be their manager … I was there when they won their first title in their career when we won the German cup in 2021 … but I was quite sure I wouldn’t be around when they won the Champions League … Erling did it last season, but unfortunately I was here when Jude won it! … it’s a very proud moment for him, so congratulations to him and the whole family.”
Carlo Ancelotti speaks to TNT. “It seems a dream but it’s not a dream … I’m really happy … it’s a really difficult game as usual … they played better in the first half, we played better in the second half … the final is like this … we were able to win and enjoy a fantastic season … we are really happy to be able to win the cup … the history and tradition of this club … the quality of the players … the club is a family … we have a fantastic environment … we are working together … the atmosphere is really good in the dressing room … I have to say thanks to my club and also the players … there is not a big ego, they are really humble … it was not difficult to manage this squad this season … I do not know what we are going to do, but for sure we are not going to sleep!”
Carlo Ancelotti – who has just been flung into the air several times by his delighted players – has now won the competition a scarcely believable five times. Here’s where he stands on the all-time list …
5: Carlo Ancelotti
3: Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane, Pep Guardiola
Jude Bellingham has become only the fifth British player to win the Champions League with a foreign club. Paul Lambert was the first, with Borussia Dortmund in 1997. Steve McManaman won two titles at Real Madrid, in 2000 and 2002, scoring in the first victory against Valencia. Owen Hargreaves managed it with Bayern Munich in 2001, and then there was Gareth Bale, who picked up his medals for Real Madrid in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
Speaking of records … until tonight, Paco Gento was the only player to have won the European Cup on six occasions, doing so for Real Madrid in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1966. He’s now been joined on that mark by fellow Madridistas in Toni Kroos, Dani Carvajal, Nacho and Luka Modric. Kroos is the only one of them to have won one of their titles with another club, having done so with Bayern Munich in 2013.
All this and Kylian Mbappe on the way next year! As if the club aren’t already dominant enough. Here’s how far ahead of the pack they are …
15: Real Madrid
7: Milan
6: Liverpool, Bayern Munich
5: Barcelona
4: Ajax
3: Manchester United, Internazionale
2: Benfica, Nottingham Forest, Juventus, Porto, Chelsea
1: Celtic, Feyenoord, Aston Villa, PSV, Hamburg, Steaua Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City
Nacho takes receipt of the European Cup. A punch of the air. He wanders across to his team-mates, gathered on the stage, and raises the trophy into the air. Real Madrid are kings of Europe for the 15th time! Gold and silver ticker tape rains down, fireworks explode, Zadok the Priest blasts out of the speakers. Then a blast of Queen; Real are the champions all right. Did anyone ever seriously doubt them?
Zinedine Zidane, who won this trophy as a player for Real Madrid in 2002, and as their manager in 2016, 2017 and 2018, arrives with the trophy and pops it on the plinth. Then he gives Carlo Ancelotti the warmest of hugs. Real form a guard of honour and applaud the officials, then their vanquished opponents. What chance would you have given Borussia Dortmund of doing all this when they were drawn in a group with PSG, Milan and Newcastle? Not much of one. But they so nearly won the final. They leave Wembley disappointed, again, but when it all comes down will surely feel huge pride at making the final. Their silver medals well earned, even if a few immediately take them off. An excellent, if ultimately flawed and ill-fated, display from the underdogs.
Post-match postbag. “I wanted Real Madrid to win for only one reason,” begins Richard Gibbs. “The last time they lost a European final was against a wee Scottish club in 1983, and as an Aberdeen supporter I want to be able to continue to bore all and sundry with that stat.”
Krishna Moorthy adds: “Time we started calling them unReal.”
… but if you play for Real Madrid, you can never be totally content, and Bellingham adds: “We missed out on the Copa del Rey … there’s always many more years to try and get that one!” Watch out, world, he’s not going to stop. Next up, Euro 2024.
A very emotional Jude Bellingham speaks to TNT. “I’ve always dreamed of playing in these games … you go through life and so many people say you can’t do things … it gets hard at times … nights like tonight make you realise … I was alright until I saw my mum and dad’s face … there were nights when they could have been at home by seven o’clock but they’re doing trips at 11 or 12 to take me to football … and my little brother who I’m trying to be a role model for … I can’t put it into words, it’s the best night of my life!”
Yes, this story has been told before all right. Borussia Dortmund were the better team in the first half, but didn’t take their chances. Real Madrid held firm, and slowly cranked up the pressure. Dani Carvajal arrived with the inevitable, Vinícius Júnior iced the cake after Ian Maastsen’s mistake, and Real Madrid will soon be taking possession of the European Cup for the 15th time in their gilded history. This club are an amazing force of nature. Borussia Dortmund – to a man drained, as their opponents cavort – will wonder how they didn’t convert their chances and let a huge opportunity of glory slip through their fingers. The answer is obvious, though: Real Madrid happened. Real Madrid happened. It’s just what they do!
FULL TIME: Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti embraces his opposite number Edin Terzic, then the whistle goes, and Jude Bellingham crumbles into the happiest of tears. Come in, number 15!
90 min +5: A free kick for Dortmund out on the right. Reus swings it in. Éder Militão heads behind for a corner, which Courtois punches clear. That’s it, surely.
90 min +4: Lucas Vázquez comes on for the goalscoring hero Vinícius Júnior. Not a bad evening’s work for someone with heavy flu!
90 min +3: Vinicius Junior barrels down the left and wedges a cute ball towards Modric in the middle. Modric prepares to bring it down but Ryerson intercepts and clears. Three would be cruel on Dortmund.
90 min +1: The first of five additional minutes passes by.
90 min: All that’s left is admin. Éder Militão replaces Rodrygo.
88 min: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens comes on for Jadon Sancho.
87 min: … Malen crosses from the left. Fullkrug powers a header into the left-hand side of the net, Courtois with no chance of saving. But the flag goes up immediately for offside, and it’s the correct decision. More heartbreak for Dortmund!
86 min: Kroos continues to celebrate on the bench. He knows this is over … unless Dortmund can do to Real what Real did to Bayern. And …
85 min: Luka Modrić and Joselu come on for Jude Bellingham and Toni Kroos, the latter saluting the Real Madrid fans as he takes his leave of club football. What a way to sign off!
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Real Madrid (Vinicius Junior 83)
Maatsen plays an awful blind pass across the face of his own box from the Dortmund left. Bellingham intercepts and rolls the ball into the path of Vinicius Junior, who takes a touch down the inside-left channel before bundling the ball past Kobel and in. Number 15 so close now!
82 min: … Nacho sends a powerful header goalwards, only to be denied by Kobel’s sensational fingertip save. But it’s all in vain, because …
81 min: Another big save by Kobel, and this one is a stunner, tipping over Camavinga’s forensic heatseeker, bound for the top left. And from the resulting corner …
80 min: Kroos curls the free kick towards the top left. Kobel is behind it all the way. Then a roll of the dice by Dortmund, who send on Sébastien Haller and Donyell Malen for Julian Brandt and Emre Can.
79 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner, but Real scent blood now. Camavinga works his way down the middle and is upended by Hummels, who goes into the book. A free kick just to the left of centre, just outside the D, and one for Kroos. A fairytale ending coming up?
77 min: The last four finals have ended 1-0. Just saying. Though as I type that, Camavinga cuts the ball back from the byline on the left. Bellingham looks to slot from 12 yards, and shapes to aim for the bottom right … only for Schlotterbeck to arrive and slide-tackle the ball wide right of the post! What an intervention! He’s kept Dortmund in it.
76 min: Dortmund had been warned about that, Carvajal flashing a header over from the same spot just after the break. And now the smash and grab is on!
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Real Madrid (Carvajal 74)
Kroos whips the corner from the left to Carvajal, who rises on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box and flicks a power header across Kobel and into the top right! Unstoppable, and Real Madrid, on the back foot for so long, are on course to doing what they do in finals yet again!
73 min: Vinicius Junior zips past Ryerson on the left and prepares to skitter along the byline, only for Hummels to arrive late and poke behind for a corner. The set piece is worked out to Valverde, who shoots from distance. Maatsen shanks a clearance out for another corner on the left. And from that …
72 min: The first change of the evening is made by Edin Terzic, who replaces Karim Adeyemi with Marco Reus, 35 yesterday and making his final appearance for BVB tonight. Meanwhile here’s Kári Tulinius on the good-guy debate: “Let’s not forget that back in the day Real Madrid associated with the sorts of people, that if Real Madrid was your grandfather, there would be a tacit agreement not to bring it up at family gatherings.”
70 min: In fact, replays show Kobel took a slight touch, which might even have saved the ball sailing into the net, so it should have been a corner. But Dortmund get away with one, big time!
69 min: Vinicius Junior crosses from the left. A looping inswinger towards the top-right corner. Kobel goes up with Bellingham. Both miss the ball, which flies inches wide of the post. So close!
68 min: The Yellow Wall is making one hell of a noise. They draw breath momentarily, though, when Bellingham turns up for the first time this evening, sashaying down the inside-right and entering the box before being crowded out by Sabitzer.
67 min: Real are applying a little bit of pressure for the first time this evening, and Rodrygo wins a corner on the right. Kroos sends it in. Hummels heads it back to him. Kroos tries again, and Vinicius Junior flashes over. On the touchline, Carlo Ancelotti chews gum with the ferocity of Peter Reid on amphetamine.
65 min: Another corner for Real, another break upfield from one by Dortmund. Brandt has the opportunity to release Adeyemi down the left but clanks the pass out of play. Careless.
63 min: Adeyemi crosses from a deep position on the left. Fullkrug comes flying in from the other flank and sends a Keith Houchenesque diving header towards the bottom right. It’s a piledriver, and parried sensationally by Courtois. What a goal that would have been!
62 min: Real still look shaky. Nacho’s poor pass out from the back is intercepted by Adeyemi, who looks to have been bowled to the ground by Carvajal, just outside the box. It’s a free kick all day long, but the referee isn’t interested in awarding one.
60 min: Ryerson drives down the right flank with purpose. Real just about close him out, but the Dortmund full-back has looked impressive every time he steps forward.
58 min: Carvajal gets back up and on with it, and latches onto a cross whipped in from the left flank. He attempts a first-time steer of the dropping ball into the bottom right. Kobel fumbles then claims. Real have improved in attack since the restart.
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