Real Madrid’s existence in the Champions League mirrors a high-wire act, where the Spanish giants often stumble and appear on the verge of falling, yet rarely do.
Under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti, who claimed a historic fifth Champions League title, Real secured their 15th win in the tournament by overcoming Borussia Dortmund’s bold challenge at Wembley with late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr.
As Ancelotti and his players hoisted the giant trophy amid pyrotechnics and fireworks over the stadium, it was a familiar conclusion to a story replete with elements of old plotlines.
Although it’s not entirely a case of “if you’ve seen one of these victories, you’ve seen them all,” many of the opponents Real have left broken-hearted in recent finals—Atletico Madrid and Liverpool chief among them—will sympathize with the pain Dortmund felt as they walked forlornly in front of their magnificent fans who illuminated Wembley with their color and made it echo with their noise.
Real stumbled around in a dreadful first half, spooked by Dortmund’s pace and the sheer intensity of Edin Terzic’s side, living on their nerves and luck to somehow go in at half-time on level terms.
🏆 ¡SOMOS LOS #CHAMP15NS DE EUROPA! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/E2JJbJm7Vi
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 1, 2024
Karim Adeyemi will wonder whether he should have shot rather than tried to go around Real keeper Thibaut Courtois when clean through, then whether he could have done better with another chance that was saved. Niclas Fullkrug saw his shot bounce back agonizingly from the inside of the post, and the striker was thwarted by Courtois after the break from a powerful header.
Throughout the match, there was a growing sense of inevitability that Real would survive and prevail, as they did against Manchester City in the quarter-finals and Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
😎 ¡FIEBRE DEL SÁBADO NOCHE! 😎@Camavinga | #CHAMP15NS pic.twitter.com/IhjvsYyZsD
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 2, 2024
Real Madrid is quite simply the Champions League’s most ruthless winning machine. And in Ancelotti, they have a coach with the Midas touch, in charge of players who have accumulated so many wins in this competition and know how to get the job done.
They demonstrated this again when Dortmund blinked 16 minutes from time, Carvajal meeting Toni Kroos’ corner to glance a header beyond keeper Gregor Kobel and the despairing hand of defender Mats Hummels, who was clearly tempted to risk a red card to keep the effort out.
The game was up, Vinicius Jr swiftly adding a second to ensure Real’s supporters could enjoy triumph in the competition where they are the dominant force.
😎 ¡FIEBRE DEL SÁBADO NOCHE! 😎@Camavinga | #CHAMP15NS pic.twitter.com/IhjvsYyZsD
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 2, 2024
Those of us who have followed Real’s fortunes in the Champions League over the years are now old hands at this.
We can recall watching them steal victory from under the noses of arch-rivals Atletico Madrid with Sergio Ramos’ 93rd-minute equalizer at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light in 2014, going on to win 4-1 to give Ancelotti his first Champions League at the club.
And again in Paris two years ago, when one of the great faultless goalkeeping performances from Courtois left Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, in particular, driven to despair with Vinicius Jr emerging as the match-winner.
-Brócoli, salmón y pasta para cenar.
-¿Y de postre?
-De postre… ¡UNA COPITAAAAAAAAAAAA! pic.twitter.com/yBtTeExwhb— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 1, 2024
The temptation is to label Real lucky, but it simply happens too often for this to be a justified description. A straw poll among neutrals at half-time at Wembley would have come down firmly on the side of a Real victory, even though they had been abysmal.
Real may have been mediocre for large parts but ended up writing another fresh chapter in their rich history. So Real. So Carlo Ancelotti.
Credit: BBC.com