Real Madrid is aiming to win its 15th European Cup. Susana Vera/Reuters
There must be few sights in football more daunting than lining up against Real Madrid in a Champions League final.
Not since losing 1-0 to Liverpool in 1981 have Los Blancos been defeated in a European Cup final, a run of eight successive victories that have spanned 43 years and taken the club’s total tally to 14 – twice the amount second-placed AC Milan have racked up.
Borussia Dortmund will be the next team to try and put an end to Real’s remarkable streak when the two meet at Wembley Stadium for Saturday’s Champions League showpiece.
Unsurprisingly, Madrid heads into this final as the overwhelming favorite to lift the trophy.
Over the years, the team has developed an unerring knack for producing improbable comebacks in this tournament and did so again in the semifinals this season, scoring two goals in the closing minutes to eliminate Bayern Munich and reach the final.
“We’re not thinking about being the favorites,” Carlo Ancelotti told reporters. “We’re focused on playing against an opponent that has earned the right to reach the final after knocking out top quality teams like PSG and Atlético.
“Borussia are a side with quality, commitment and attitude. We’re convinced that we’re going to have to dig deep, fight and battle as we do in every final.”
Three successive comebacks – against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City – the last time Los Merengues reached the final in 2022 led defender and club captain Nacho to say there was “magic” around the team on European nights.
Simply put: No matter how perilous the position, never count Real Madrid out in the Champions League.
The team’s road to the final in the knockout stages this season was marginally less fraught.
After winning all six group games without getting out of second gear, Real narrowly edged past RB Leipzig in the round-of-16 before a nerve-shredding penalty shootout win against a dominant Manchester City in the quarterfinals.
Then came this season’s greatest escape act. Two goals from Joselu – the man who attended Real’s last final in 2022 as a fan – in the 88th and 91st minutes turned a 3-2 aggregate deficit into a 4-3 win against Bayern in the semifinals.
Real, again, perhaps should not even be here – but this team always seems to find a way.
“It’s difficult and simple to answer this question, why is it unique in this type of competition?” Ancelotti said, trying to explain Madrid’s remarkable Champions League record.
“The club has created its history in this competition. The history of Real Madrid began in the ’50s. It’s something special for the club, for all the madridistas and for us, who are also madridistas. It’s a competition where we’re more focused.”
Dortmund, meanwhile, hadn’t reached the Champions League final since a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in 2013. Die Schwarzgelben’s sole triumph in the competition came back in 1997 when it beat Juventus 3-1.
To say it is unexpected that Dortmund made the final would be something of an understatement.
After a heartbreaking finale to last season which saw Dortmund throw the Bundesliga title away to Bayern, the team has struggled this campaign and finished the season fifth, 27 points behind runaway champion Bayer Leverkusen.
Head coach Edin Terzić was moved to tears while standing in front of Dortmund’s ‘Yellow Wall’ following that defeat. Victory on Saturday would certainly make that crushing disappointment a distant memory.
“It doesn’t matter what comes at us from the outside,” he said. “What has made us so strong, especially in the Champions League, is what we can influence. We want to show that on Saturday, so that it’s very successful.”
A defiant Terzić said Real’s history in the competition won’t count on Saturday.
“I’m firmly convinced that anything is possible in one match,” he said. “If anyone has shown that you can achieve a lot in one game, it has been us, especially this season and especially in this competition.
“They haven’t lost in eight Champions League finals in a row. What’s important is what happens in the next one and we’re responsible for that.”
