Europe belongs to Real Madrid once again. This Saturday, the Spanish club beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0, at Wembley, England, in the grand final of the 2023/24 Champions League. The goals came from Carvajal and Vinícius Júnior, both in the second half.
With the result, Real Madrid further isolated itself as the greatest champion in the history of the Champions League. The club reached its 15th cup. The second biggest winner is Milan, with seven.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team ended the tournament undefeated, with nine wins and four draws. In addition to the international competition, the Merengues also won the Spanish Championship this year.
Borussia Dortmund, in turn, remains with just one cup, won in the 1996/97 season. This is the second runner-up on the team. In 2012/13, the Germans lost to Bayern Munich, also at Wembley.
And the Brazilians?
Vinícius Júnior was one of Real Madrid’s highlights in London. The striker served as an escape valve for the Spanish team on several occasions and was crowned with a goal. Rodrygo, in turn, went blank, but helped in the construction of some offensive actions. Éder Militão, in turn, entered the final stretch.
The game
The match started well studied at Wembley, with both teams exchanging passes and finding it difficult to find spaces to attack.
As time passed, however, Borussia Dortmund began to take control of the match. The first arrival with the most danger came in the 13th minute. Fullkrug was released into the area and passed it to Brandt, who dominated and hit the ball from the side.
At 20, Adeyemi missed a big chance. The striker came face to face with Courtois and dribbled past the goalkeeper, but went too far forward and saw Carvajal appear to avoid the goal. Three minutes later, it was the post that saved Real Madrid. Fullkrug received a great deep pass and finished at the post.
Moments later, Adeyemi left with freedom once again and finished off a cross. Courtois hit and Fullkrug headed in for another intervention from the Belgian goalkeeper. The archer returned to work at 40. Sabitzer took a risk from afar and forced his rival to stretch out to land the shot.
2nd half
After the break, Real Madrid finally managed to scare us. With three minutes, Kroos took a free kick with venom and Kobel sent it to the corner. From the corner, Carvajal headed over. The full-back had another chance soon after, after a cross from Vini Jr., but it stopped at the goalkeeper.
Borussia responded in the 17th minute. Fullkrug took advantage of a good cross from Adeyemi and headed the ball for a difficult save from Courtois.
At 24, Vini Jr. made a move on the left and crossed to Bellingham, who went up to share with Kobel. The ball went past both of them and skimmed the post.
With the clock showing 28 minutes, the net finally shook at Wembley. Kroos took a corner with great precision and Carvajal, 1m73 tall, rose between the rival defenders to deflect it into the back of the net and put the Spanish ahead.
Moments later, Bellingham had a golden chance to expand. The English midfielder received it alone on the penalty spot and looked for a corner. The ball deflected off the mark and hit the post.
At 34, Kroos took a free kick and forced Kobel to make a good save. Afterwards, Camavinga took a risk from distance, looking for the angle, and saw the German goalkeeper make another intervention.
Already at 37, Malen played the wrong way and caught Bellingham, who served to Vini Jr. The Brazilian dominated and, left-footed, sent it into the net to increase Real’s advantage.
Borussia even scored at 41, but Fullkrug was in an irregular position and the goal was disallowed by the referee.
From then on, Real Madrid only controlled the result to confirm another European Champions League title.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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