The Champions League final is a potpourri of stories. This Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund is packed with special stories.
A small selection: Both Marco Reus in a BVB shirt and Toni Kroos in a Real Madrid shirt will play their last game for their long-standing clubs this Saturday evening. The long-serving Black & Yellow player may be heading to America to play in the MLS, while the 2014 World Cup winner will retire after his title-winning spell at Real – but only after the European Championships in his home country with Germany.
Headlines naturally also belong to Jude Bellingham: the England international only moved from Dortmund to Madrid last summer for over €100 million – and is now playing in the final of the Premier League against his former love back home after a year at Real.
The tireless Ancelotti and the tireless Real
But there are other nice things to be found in the depths of this CL final
There is no way around the name Carlo Ancelotti. The now 64-year-old coach, who has been under contract with the Blancos since 2021, turned down a job with Brazil’s Seleçao and is now planning to retire in the Spanish capital, knows the top flight better than almost anyone else in history. “Carletto” has seen an incredible 203 games live on the touchline – for comparison: Cristiano Ronaldo leads the all-time list of players with 183 appearances, ahead of Iker Casillas (177) and Lionel Messi (163).
But that’s not all: Ancelotti is the first coach to reach six Champions League finals after 2003, 2005 and 2007 with Milan and 2014, 2022 and now 2024 with Real. His record: two wins each time. Winning is naturally in the blood of the madridistas, as they are the record champions in this competition with 14 triumphs – and have won all of the last eight (!) finals, all of them in the Champions League. In total, the Whites have won an impressive 14 of their 17 finals
Terzic like “Pep” and “Mou”?
On the other side, Dortmund are the underdogs, coached by Edin Terzic. However, the 41-year-old could make CL history on several levels with a coup at Wembley. First and foremost in terms of age: Terzic will be exactly 41 years and 215 days old on the final day. He could therefore become the third youngest coach to win the Champions League after Pep Guardiola (with Barcelona in 2009 at 38 years, 129 days and in 2011 at 40 years, 130 days) and José Mourinho (with Porto in 2004 at 41 years, 121 days).
However, that can only happen if Terzic’s side can successfully stop Real’s formidable attack led by Vinicius Junior, for example with Mats Hummels or Nico Schlotterbeck – and also make the most of the few chances up front, for example with Niclas Füllkrug. Few is also the key word: BVB have only scored a meagre 17 goals in twelve CL matches this season. Only in 2009/10 has there been a title winner with just 17 goals in 13 games: Inter Milan won the cup sparingly back then. Borussia would have to win the penalty shoot-out after a goalless 120 minutes to equal that mark.
