Merciless against strong BVB
Real Madrid destroys Dortmund’s Champions League dream
01.06.2024, 22:57
Borussia Dortmund was the better team for a long time in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, but in the end the Spaniards triumphed. Madrid made consistent use of their few chances. German international Toni Kroos bid farewell to the Royals with his sixth Champions League title.
Borussia Dortmund’s great Champions League dream has been shattered in a bitter way. Despite a strong performance and the best chances, the Bundesliga club lost the final on Saturday evening against the big favorite and now 15-time Champions League winner Real Madrid 0:2 (0:0). In front of 86,212 spectators at London’s Wembley Stadium, BVB should have taken the lead several times. The goals for a Madrid that had been disappointing for a long time were scored by Daniel Carvajal (74th minute) and Vinícius Júnior (83rd).
Real’s German international Toni Kroos won the Champions League for the sixth time in his last game for the Spanish champions before retiring after the European Championships and is now one of the five record winners of the most important European club title. Shortly before the end, the 34-year-old was substituted to loud cheers from the Real fans (86th minute). Marco Reus, on the other hand, said goodbye to Borussia Dortmund in his last BVB game without the greatest triumph.
Strong start for Dortmund
The more than 30,000 BVB fans in the stadium welcomed their players with an impressive choreography. Back home in Dortmund, thousands of people watched the preliminary highlight of the German football summer at the public viewing. And in the first half hour, the underdog actually seemed very close to achieving something “great”, as coach Edin Terzic had hoped before the match.
After a brief interruption immediately after kick-off due to several streakers, who were surprisingly allowed to run around the sacred London pitch for a few seconds without being disturbed by the stewards, Dortmund were clearly the better team. Terzic kept jumping up from his red coach’s chair and pushing his team into the offensive.
Julian Brandt was the first to have a promising chance with his shot in the penalty area (14th minute). And Karim Adeyemi, who was not nominated for the home European Championship by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, could have put Germany ahead twice in the first half. But the 22-year-old first put the ball too far past Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (21st minute). Then Courtois was there when Adeyemi scored after winning a sprint against Carvajal (28th minute).
Real long time not seen
And Real? The Spanish champions remained invisible in front of the Dortmund penalty area during this phase – which was not particularly unusual given the brutally composed style of play of coach Carlo Ancelotti’s star ensemble. But did the record winners of the Champions League expect Dortmund to be so brave? A bad pass from Maestro Kroos, who never actually makes bad passes, led to the next Dortmund chance through Marcel Sabitzer, which Courtois again had to defuse (41′).
The 0:0 at half-time was therefore not enough for Dortmund. Especially since Niclas Füllkrug had hit the post in a suspiciously offside situation (23′). There was much less to see from Madrid than in the semi-finals against FC Bayern (2:2/2:1). The national players from Munich watched the final with their DFB teammates in the German European Championship headquarters in Herzogenaurach, where Dortmund’s Füllkrug and Nico Schlotterbeck as well as Real stars Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger are expected in the coming days.
Lucky charm Klopp doesn’t help
BVB icon Jürgen Klopp was enthusiastically cheering in a box in the final stadium of the 2021 European Championship. The 56-year-old was Dortmund’s coach eleven years ago when the club lost the Champions League final to Bayern at the same venue. The decision in the long, open game was only made shortly before the end – a course of events that was also apparent this time. But Real became stronger.
Shortly after the restart, Kroos tested BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel with a very strong free kick from the corner of the penalty area, and from the resulting corner, Carvajal headed the ball over the Dortmund goal (49th minute). Madrid defended more effectively now and repeatedly took the tempo out of the game. Dortmund chances such as Füllkrug’s header were seen less frequently (63rd minute).
In the 72nd minute, Reus came on and Adeyemi left the field. And just a few minutes later, the big setback followed: Carvajal headed the ball powerfully into the goal after a Kroos corner. The Real pros celebrated the goal wildly. Now it became very, very difficult for BVB. Vinícius Júnior decided the game, the supposed goal by Füllkrug did not count (87th).