This Saturday Europe will have a new champion, as two of the most important clubs on the Old Continent face each other in the Champions League final. On the one hand, the real Madrid arrives as a favorite, being the biggest winner of the competition, they will face the Borussia Dortmunda German club that surprised this 2023-24 season in the competition.
The merengue team arrives with the recognition of not knowing about defeats in everything so far in the tournament, although with several victories with the minimum, but they were always candidates to reach the last instance. Quite the opposite with the Bavarians, who were in one of the most complicated groups and showed that they could finish first in the group by a large margin.
Without a doubt, both have merits and reasons to raise their eyebrows, since there are those who point out that football owes this great triumph to Marco Reuswho has already announced that he will leave the team of his loves after an entire career at Dortmund, and Madrid fans want number 15, a triumphant farewell for Toni Krooswho hangs up the boots.
A long way
The die was cast from the moment their local leagues ended during the 22-23 season, and each secured their place in the Champions League. Both qualified as runners-up in their respective tournaments, Real lost La Liga against Barcelona, and the Bundesliga was taken from Dortmund by their usual rivals, Bayern Munich.
Finally, on Thursday, August 31 of last year, the group draw was held, where it turned out that the Spaniards would have to face: Napoli, FC Union Berlin and Bragaopponents that led to the assumption that the meringues would advance to the next phase without problems, and so they did, remaining leaders of the group with eight points of difference with the Italians. On the other hand, the so-called group of death was made up of the Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Milan and Newcastle. An even series in which the Germans passed without problems alongside the French led by Mbappé.
The round of 16 was complicated for the whites, since Leipzig gave them the fight, and they won by the minimum in the first leg, and in the second leg they tied. He BVB didn’t have it so easy against PSV in the first leg, and they only saved a draw, but on their own field they became giants and crushed the Dutch 2-0.
The most complicated match that Real Madrid had on the way to the final was without a doubt against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, an almost impossible mission but they achieved their revenge and left out the last European champions on penalties. The quarterfinals were also epic for the Striped team, since in the first game they lost 2-1 against Atlético de Madrid, but again the Signal Iduna Park would be filled with mystique, in a match that ended 4-2 in favor of the Germans to seal their qualificationleaving the colchoneros on the road.
An unexpected ending
With Real Madrid fighting in La Liga, and Borussia Dortmund focused on the Champions League, both clubs reached the semifinals to leave everything. Again those led by Carlo Ancelotti were with Bayern Munich, the third team with the most titles in Europe and which usually complicates things for the Spanish. At the same time, the yellow and black team once again faced PSG, their rivals in the group stage.
A difficult Madrid barely rescued a draw in the first match, while Dortmund had already found a way to neutralize the French, so they had no problems winning by the minimum score. The second leg would be decisive, and everyone was clear: if they wanted to secure their place in the final, they had to win.
Real was as graceful as ever, and came back from a game that was lost in the final minutes, in a game full of emotions and controversies, the meringues they defeated Bayern 2-1 and qualified for the final stage. For its part, Dortmund made no effort to leave PSG out, crushing Mbappé’s last chance to win the title for his country.
As it is, the Bavarians are full of enthusiasm for win the second Champions League in its history, so the mysticism of Madrid does not intimidate them, and the meringues go with the certainty that they arrive as the main favorites, even if they lose throughout the game. The match that will be played at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom, starts at 3:00 p.m. Chile time.
