With 14 Champions League trophies under their belt, it is fair to say that Real Madrid are the most successful clubs in Europe, and certainly the most successful club in the Champions League.
Now Real Madrid have the chance to extend their trophy cabinet and win a 15th Champions League trophy in this season’s final against Borussia Dortmund.
The Spanish giants are set to face the German side on Saturday 1st June at Wembley to decide who are the Champions of Europe for the 2023/24 season. In comparison, Dortmund have only one Champions League trophy under their belt, and are set to appear in their 3rd Champions League final a week on Saturday.
Both sets of supporters will arrive in London in large numbers and in good spirits and with many on both sides desperately looking around for UCL Final tickets in the bars and clubs of England’s capital city. The only thing that’s guaranteed is a capacity crowd at Wembley for European football’s premier match of the season.
Although Real Madrid are set to play in their 18th Champions League final, their journey to this point wasn’t exactly easy. In the last fixture, where Real Madrid faced Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu, it looked like Real were about to exit the competition, as the German side went 2-1 up on aggregate, with an unexpected goal from Alphonso Davies in the second half.
And with only minutes left, it certainly looked like it was going to be an all-German UCL final. However, with a formation change from both Thomas Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti, and the introduction of Joselu onto the pitch, the game dynamic shifted and Bayern were put onto the back foot.
This immediately cost Bayern, as a rare mistake from the experienced Manuel Neuer allowed Joselu to even the scores and bring the aggregate to 2-2.
With Tuchel taking off most of his attacking threats, Bayern looked vulnerable and out of options, which was quickly taken advantage of by Real, who once again relied on the boot of Joselu to bag a 91st minute winner and put Real Madrid in their 18th UCL final.
As Real Madrid have won 14 of their 17 Champions league finals so far, this puts their win rate in the UCL final at a daunting 80%. This clearly shows the strength and experience Real Madrid have in the Champions League and is a statistic that the Dortmund camp will be acutely wary of.
With that said, Borussia Dortmund’s UCL run hasn’t exactly been easy either, with Atletico Madrid and PSG standing in their path to the final. Although losing their first leg in Madrid in the quarter finals, the three performances they put in subsequently in the UCL, with a 4-2 victory over Atletico, conquerers of Celtic in the group stages, and two comfortable 1-0 victories over Mbappe’s PSG, Dortmund have proven themselves as a realistic contender for the UCL final against Real Madrid.
Both Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen fans were hoping for European glory this season but fell just short in the Champions League and Europa League respectively. Now though it could be third time lucky for the Bundesliga contingent with Dortmund shocking the Los Blancos next Saturday.
Part of a mini series on The Celtic Star looking at major cup finals over the next few weeks…
