Real Madrid come full circle with second great European dynasty
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LONDON – Real Madrid added another chapter to their already astonishing love affair with European football’s elite club tournament by claiming a 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final on June 1 to lift the title for a record-extending 15th time.
The story of the season they finished at Wembley was about two generations of players who met, bonded as a group and connected on the pitch like a well-oiled machine to establish the second great dynasty Real spent half a century looking for.
It all started at the dawn of the competition when, during the Alfredo di Stefano years, the Madrid side won the first five editions of the European Cup from 1956 and another in 1966.
The current crop of youngsters and seasoned veterans have matched that with a sixth title in 11 seasons, although Dani Carvajal, who scored the opener, is the only remaining starter from the side that won La Decima – their 10th crown – in 2014.
Vinicius Jr, hero of their 14th title triumph in Paris in 2022, on June 1 became the first Brazilian to score in two Champions League finals and is the symbol of Real’s young guns who keep proving they can prolong the club’s success.
“Why not think about the seventh? We don’t reset, we always want more and more and more,” Carvajal, 32, said.
The defender matched Real great Paco Gento’s record six European Cup titles, alongside Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Nacho Fernandez – a long-time reserve who stepped up this season and ended it by lifting the trophy as team captain.
“I have never lost a final. I hope the streak continues,” he said. “To get our 15th and my sixth is a wonderful thing. As we keep winning... we end up making it harder for any other team to come close to what this club have accomplished over the history. It is something remarkable.”
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham, who got his first taste of Champions League glory, said it was the “best night” of his life.
“I have always dreamed of playing in these games,” the emotional 20-year-old told TNT Sports. “You go through life and there are so many people who say you cannot do things. I was all right until I saw my mum and dad’s face.
“My little brother (Sunderland’s Jobe Bellingham, 18) is there and I’m trying to be a role model for him. I cannot put it into words. The best night of my life.”
On the game itself, he added of his former side: “They were the better team in the first half. They could have been two or three up, but it’s just that character... (Real can) come back to haunt you.”
In March, Carlo Ancelotti gave a three-minute insight on managing suffering and happiness inside a changing room to explain the complexity of handling the personalities at a club constantly under pressure and held to such high standards.
Real Madrid players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League on June 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
He has expertly managed to keep momentum going after Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Karim Benzema and Casemiro had all long gone and with Modric, 38, becoming a rotational player in a young squad brimming with talent.
Next season, Ancelotti will face another challenge by having to replace Kroos, who will retire after the European Championship, but will have added firepower up front with Kylian Mbappe’s imminent arrival.
The Germany midfielder said farewell after delivering the corner for Carvajal to score with a glancing header in a match Dortmund dominated for large swathes.
“I’ll miss this,” he said. “I wanted to say goodbye with this Champions League victory. The title means an unbelievable amount to me.”
Real Madrid’s Joselu kisses the Champions League trophy after receiving his winner’s medal on June 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
But Ancelotti, who as a coach holds the record of most Champions League finals helmed (six) and won (five), did not seem too worried about the challenge.
“We will have to adapt ourselves to the players we have and try to maximise their qualities like we have always done,” he told a press conference. “This season we’ve had a lot of problems, we’ve lost quality players. We have solved this with collective sacrifice.
“We didn’t always play at our best, but we never gave up.
“We lose a very important player for us in Kroos, but we will replace him, in a different way. We will think about how.” REUTERS, AFP
