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Key events
Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid have met each other on 14 previous occasions, all in the Champions League. Real have won six games to Dortmund’s three, but both clubs boast one particularly notable victory. In the 1997-98 edition, Real knocked out the reigning champions in the semi-finals thanks to first-leg goals from Fernando Morientes and Christian Carambeu at the Bernabeu, while in the 2012-13 semi-finals, Dortmund stunned Real at the Westfalenstadion, with Robert Lewandowski getting all their goals in a 4-1 defeat. .
Just like Real Madrid before them, there are no real surprises in the Borussia Dortmund beginning XI. Mats Hummels is the only player from 2013 still in the starting XI; Marco Reus, who also started here 11 years ago, will most likely come off the bench at some point for his swan song. Jaden Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, lines up alongside another former Old Trafford star in Marcel Sabitzer, while Emre Can is playing in his second final since winning a runners-up medal with Liverpool in 2018.
The teams
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel, Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen, Kahn, Sabitzer, Sancho, Brand, Adeyemi, Fulkrug.
Reserves: Yozcan, Nmecha, Haller, Reus, Wolff, Mukoko, Malen, Sule, Meyer, Laurence Lotka, Watjen, Binoe-Gitens.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy, Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos, Bellingham, Rodrigo, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Eder Militao, Alaba, Modric, Lunin, Joselu, Lucas, Chuameni, Ceballos, Garcia, Diaz, Guler, Arrizabalaga.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
This is the fifth European Cup final between teams from Germany and Spain…
1960: Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
1974: Bayern Munich 4-0 Atletico Madrid (replay after 1-1 draw)
2000: Bayern Munich 1-1 Valencia (Bayern won 5-4 on penalties)
2002: Real Madrid 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
… and although both of those Spanish triumphs were by Real Madrid and on British soil, there is little historical support for Dortmund, who have enjoyed some success on these islands of theirs: they won the 1966 Cup Winners’ Cup at Hampden, beating Liverpool to Bill Shankly 2-1 in overtime.
This will be the eighth European Cup final to be played at Wembley…
1963: Milan 2-1 Benfica
1968: Manchester United 4-1 Benfica (aet)
1971: Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos
1978: Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge
1992: Barcelona 1-0 Sampdoria (aet)
2011: Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United
2013: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
… but the first of these involves 18-time finalists Real Madrid. However, the Spanish giants contested two finals in Scotland – the legendary 7-3 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960 and the Zidane show against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 – plus the 2017 edition in Wales where they thrashed Juventus 4-1. Hey, any old excuse…
The Yellow Wall is on tour and its presence is already being felt at Wembley. Party noise galore, not least because an old friend is also in town and his trademark smile has just appeared on the big screen. Ah Jurgen, we will miss you.
Real Madrid don’t hang around. They have already announced their starting XI. Thibaut Courtois starts only his fifth game of the season and his first in Champions League since Manchester City went four goals behind him in the semi-finals at the Etihad last May. His substitute Andrii Lunin has recovered from the flu and is taking a place on the bench. Toni Kroos will play his 153rd and final Champions League game for Real Madrid.
Preamble
This is the 69th European Cup / Champions League final! Real Madrid have participated in 17 of the previous matches, winning 14 of them, last losing in 1981, nine appearances ago. This isn’t a point that desperately needs to be made, but let’s say it anyway: los merengues are pretty good at it.
Borussia Dortmund on the other hand have a more solid record than one in two. BVB lifted this trophy in 1997; they lost in their other final appearance, here at Wembley, in 2013. They are very much the underdogs tonight, and not just for all those historic, date-stamped reasons: Real are Spain’s new champions, while Dortmund finished a disappointing fifth place in the Bundesliga; Real boast Vinicius Junior, Toni Kroos, Jude Bellingham, Luka Modric plus the Goal Wall; The real ones are the Real ones who always find a way to do it.
But then Dortmund were underdogs against Juventus in 1997 and won comfortably. So there is also some precedent in their favor. Throw in the unflappable way they handled Atletico Madrid and PSG in previous rounds, plus the purity of their Wembley return narrative and last hurray for 2013 veterans Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, and maybe this year just has something in the air. All of which is a long way of saying that this is a great set-up: the kings of European football against a club that relishes the role of underdogs, facing off in the biggest club game of the season. Wembley kicks off at 20:00 BST. It’s on!
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