Amid an explosion of gold and silver confetti, Real Madrid won a record 15th Champions League title on Saturday.
One of the most familiar sights in European club football history felt fresher than ever after the 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Carlo Ancelotti, who extended his winning record as coach to five, said: “Are you getting used to it? Not at all.” “The dream continues.”
A white wall of Madrid fans at one end of the stadium serenaded their conquering heroes after goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior sealed the win.
After Dortmund dominated the chances in the first half, the result was more expected than expected.
“It was a very difficult game, much more difficult than we expected,” Ancelotti said. “We were a little lazy in the first half so we changed things.”
Carvajal gave Madrid the lead in the 74th minute before Vinicius doubled the lead for the Spanish giants nine minutes later.
Ancelotti’s fifth Champions League title is his third in Madrid.
Meanwhile, Carvajal, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Nacho won the European Cup for the sixth time, equaling the benchmark set by Madrid icon Paco Gento.
Dortmund paid the price for failing to make the most of their first-half advantage when Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a series of saves and Niklas Pulkrug hit the post.
Madrid took full advantage after the break.
Provides power to the header.
Carvajal met Kroos’ corner kick at the near post and headed his shot past Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Jude Bellingham almost doubled the lead moments later but turned provider as Vinicius slipped. As Kobel won, Vinicius fired a shot into the far corner and ran to celebrate.
Vinicius was dancing after dashing Dortmund’s hopes of pulling off one of the biggest Champions League upsets in recent memory.
For a long time it looked like the German team could put Madrid at bay after dominating their chances in the first half.
Coach Edin Terzic tactically outclassed Ancelotti in all areas and Madrid’s stars were overwhelmed.
Only a combination of Courtois and a goal frame kept the scores level at the break after the goalkeeper twice blocked Karim Adeyemi from scoring and watched Fullkrug’s sliding effort go off the post.
The break certainly helped Madrid and they slowly took control in the second half.
Carvajal’s goal came straight from the training ground, when a defender headed the ball in from a corner and ended up scoring. Vinicius then undoubtedly gave Madrid another Champions League title.
