In an explosion of gold and silver confetti, Actual Madrid held aloft the Champions League trophy for a record-extending fifteenth time on Saturday.
Essentially the most acquainted sight within the historical past of European membership soccer’s biggest competitors felt as recent as ever after a 2-0 win in opposition to Borussia Dortmund within the closing at Wembley Stadium.
“Getting used to it? By no means,” stated Carlo Ancelotti, who prolonged his personal document of wins as a coach to 5. “The dream continues.”
A white wall of Madrid followers at one finish of the stadium serenaded their conquering heroes after objectives from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior sealed the victory.
A predictable consequence got here in lower than predictable circumstances after Dortmund dominated the probabilities within the first half.
“It was a really troublesome recreation, far more troublesome than we had anticipated,” Ancelotti stated. “We modified issues as a result of within the first half we had been a bit lazy.”
Carvajal headed Madrid in entrance within the 74th minute and Vinicius doubled the Spanish large’s lead 9 minutes later.
Ancelotti’s fifth Champions League title was his third with Madrid.
In the meantime, Carvajal, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Nacho received the European Cup a sixth time to equal the benchmark set by Madrid icon Paco Gento.
Dortmund paid the value for not profiting from its first half superiority when Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois pulled off a collection of saves and Niclas Fullkrug hit the publish.
Madrid took full benefit after the break.
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Carvajal met Kroos’ nook on the close to publish to energy a header previous Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel.
Jude Bellingham almost doubled the lead moments later, however then turned supplier when slipping in Vinicius. With simply Kobel to beat, Vinicius fired his shot into the far nook and raced off in celebration.
Vinicius was dancing after his aim killed off Dortmund hopes of pulling off one of many greatest Champions League upsets in latest reminiscence.
For a very long time, the German facet appeared able to halting Madrid after dominating the probabilities within the first half.
Coach Edin Terzic tactically outmanoeuvred Ancelotti in each division, and Madrid’s stars had been subdued.
Solely a mix of Courtois and the body of the aim saved the scores degree on the break after the keeper twice saved Karim Adeyemi from scoring after which watched as Fullkrug’s sliding effort got here again off the publish.
The break clearly helped Madrid and it slowly took management within the second half.
Carvajal’s aim got here straight from the coaching floor, with the defender heading over from one nook earlier than finally changing. Then Vinicius put past doubt one other Champions League triumph for Madrid.